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Old 12-27-2005, 05:55 PM
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Strife Strife is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: KY USA
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According to some, you MIGHT NOT have to remove the harmonic balancer on a pre-86 (but I think you have to on a 380). If you do, it isn't that tricky (assuming that you are going to take this great opportunity and change the belts). With the belts loosened, rotate the engine to the zero mark using a 27(?)mm socket on the hub nut inside the lower pulley and put a mark on the lower pulley in line with it. Remove the six bolts inside the lower pulley (use a strap wrench and DO NOT turn the engine backwards or fowards much, if at all-turning these engine counter-clockwise is VERY VERY BAD). The pulley will come off.

Then, spray liquid wrench all around the harmonic balancer/hub interface. Wait a while. Then, with a plastic hammer, tap the harmonic balancer off by walking it towards you (hit left, right, etc). This can be a PITA. Do not use the radiator as a backstop for the hammer or harmonic balancer (I put a thin piece of plywood behind it while working on this area).

Use a torque wrench on the water pump installation and follow the manual's recommendations. Aluminum threads in blocks or the water pump do not like to be overtorqued!!! It won't take much to strip them, and then you have real problems.

When you replace the balancer and pulley, note their alignment (as you marked above) because the bolts in the pulley are not equidistant from one another and this is very difficult to judge visually - there is one, and only one way to align the pulley and harmonic balancer on correctly.

You MAY have to install the water pump pulley and belts while you replace the lower pulley (that is, put them on simultaneously). On an '86, there is no room to put on and tighten the lower pulley, then the upper pulley. This is one of the reasons why I got so good at doing this!

Don't overtighten the belts when reinstalling them. Wear on the bearings - all of them, alternator, power steering pump, water pump) goes up exponentially with overtightened belts. I'm really anal about this and I actually bought the tool mentioned in the M-B manual for belt tension (about $20 shipped). If you don't have one, use the 1/2" deflection to 1 foot rule (reasonably close).
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