Recommendation for crankshaft pulley remover

[Sgt_Lemon]

Aux pulley I thought. Only way is lube, wiggling and some hammer persuasion.

[motah33]

You're right, it's the pulley, not the crankshaft gear. It does have some additional holes, other than the 4 one's for the bolts.  It looks as if the hammer is what's left. Just don't want to knacker anything to do with the crankshaft.

[Steve_B]

The 4 additional holes are for the bolts to go in to push out the pulley, although chances are the thread on them has rusted so can't use them anyway. Just have to keep tapping it with the hammer.

[motah33]

Thanks Steve. That makes sense. Yep, the threads in those additional holes have completely gone.

I've been using a dead blow hammer which is rubber coated. I can't hit it from behind because the sump is in the way. So, I've been hitting it from the side, rotating the pulley and then hitting it again etc. to give it same force from all sides. It's not worked so far.

To give you an idea of how badly it's jammed in there... the space around the spacer on which the crankshaft pulley's main bolt sits, was completely filled and looked like a solid lump of metal! I had to use a tiny screw driver and hammer to remove the rust in order to reveal there was some space between the spacer and the pulley itself.

[Sgt_Lemon]

Have you tried heating it up first? Then use a big block of wood and try and get an angle on it from somewhere and give it some big hits.

[motah33]

I've got nothing to heat it up with, I'm afraid. I've tried to get a piece of wood in there but it's so difficult to get a good strike with a hammer. Would this work: http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_spares_Tool-crankshaft-pulley-puller-AC000122_act_shop.product_pID_142453.htm

[Sgt_Lemon]

For the price of that thing I would buy a slide hammer, you have much more chance of using it again for something else. So many awkward things can be made easier with the right tool and a slide hammer is one of the things you didn't know you needed till you own one.

[motah33]

Thanks. I looked at slide hammers but wasn't sure how effective they would be. I've seen that other puller before but for a one-off it's expensive.

[motah33]

Sgt_Lemon - the slide hammer did the trick! I wrapped some tape around the end of one of the attachments I used so it didn't damage the pulley and it didn't take long at all before it came off! I rotated the pulley, hit it a few times before rotating it again and following the same procedure. Eventually, it fell off.

Thanks for that suggestion!

[Sgt_Lemon]

Always happy to help