[Help! Cant get Crank pulley off for Timing Belt]

UPDATE:

 

WISH i had a digital cam to compose a detailed T.belt replacement write up but i dont //

 

good news ! got the harmonic balancer off with the h.balancer puller ..took me a while and a lot of pressure but it finally gave in .. noticed some sealant kind of stuff on the crank and the inner hub of the crank pulley ( must be lock tite ???) .. am happy i got that SOB out of the way ..

 

noticed the white lines on the timing belt were one tooth off , but all the marks on the cams and crank matched up with the marks on the rear timing belt cover and the block so thats nothing to worry about ..

 

got both the cam sprockets off .. there was a LOT of grime build up and leak from the Passenger side camshaft seal ...

 

my water pump used to leak a little on and off, and the weep holes at the bottom of the water pump were wet with coolant .. got the WP out of the way ..

 

the timing belt looked in great shape for 110 k miles but was a bit greasy at the outer edges .. also looked like there was a little bit of coolant from the water pump leak .. looks like this was the perfect time for this service..

 

am going to take my time and work on the camshaft seals first thing in the morning .. then attack the crank seal .. and put all the new parts back together ..

 

thanks for all the tips ..

[Help! Cant get Crank pulley off for Timing Belt]

ok guys, got everything out of the way and packed up for the night..will work on the stubborn h.balancer tomorrow..

 

i bought a harmonic balancer puller from NAPA .. couldnt get any M6 60mm ( 1.0 thread) screws anywhere .. so i just got 2 screws that fit the threaded holes in the harmonic balancer .. i test-screwed them on the NEW harmonic balancer and they fit ..

 

the threaded holes in the old h. balancer are rusted bad and the screws barely screw in, so i sprayed a rust remover and am going to let it work over night .. might need to get a wire brush and clean up the holes with a rotary tool ..

 

 

got 2 questions .. ive never replaced seals before..

 

1st question: are the crankshaft and camshaft seals easy to get off ?? dont have a seal puller so would a small screwdriver be good ?

 

2nd question ? how much do u drive in the cam shaft seals ?? all the way in ?? do BOTH the right and left cam seals need to driven in the same amount ? as for the crank seal do i drive it until it stops going in ??

 

just needed some tips ..and i JUST FREAKING hope the stubborn old harmonic balancer will come off tomorrow with the puller ..

 

thanks in advance ..

[Help! Cant get Crank pulley off for Timing Belt]

thanks for the input guys .. just got the h.balancer from nissan.. will get the job done this weekend ..

[Help! Cant get Crank pulley off for Timing Belt]

*Cringles and bites tongue*

Just had this same problem. Ruined one harmonic balancer pulley and the results were not pretty!

But I am sure the reasons will not turn out the same

so were u able to get the harmonic balancer out easily with the harmonic balancer puller? what happened ?

[Help! Cant get Crank pulley off for Timing Belt]

ur right guys ..

 

just checked the harmonic balancer.. it has "2" small threaded holes to place the screws and use the puller .. the 2nd hole was kinda covered by rust but if i spent 30 extra seconds to locate more carefully, i would have been good to go without all this drama, but im ready to learn from my negligence..

 

thanks and im looking forward to changing the tb / wp this weekend ..

 

am also definitely going to get a new harmonic balancer, coz a buddy told me if the rubber inbetween the balancer moved (pried out) out more than 1/2 inch when i was trying to extract it with a 3 jaw puller, its "crankshaft vibration" absorbing/balancing properties are screwed and a pulley rotating even with a slight "wobble" will definitely hurt the crankshaft in the long run ..

 

so lewisinc100 ..did urs go tb/wp replacement go smoothly ??

 

also how did u guys torque the crank bolt ?? doesnt the whole crank turn after u get the bolt in tight .. ? i have an auto tranny ..so putting it in gear might not lock the crank from turning . .

[Help! Cant get Crank pulley off for Timing Belt]

no i didnt rent the harmonic balancer puller coz i thought mine had only "1" hole in the pulley .. so the pulley has "2" threaded holes for the harmonic puller ?? how could i miss that ??

 

thats why i rented the 3 jaw pulley puller as it worked for my buddys pathfinder last week..

 

lemme go check .. so ill try it again with the harmonic balancer puller this weekend .. and since im not risking the old balancer with chipped edges i just called nissan and found out the new balancer is $215 .. feel like an idiot ... :furious:

[Help! Cant get Crank pulley off for Timing Belt]

hey guys ,

 

as a few of u know , i helped a buddy change his timing belt and water pump 2 weeks ago and got the job done easily ..

 

so my 96 pathy has 110,XXX miles and i got about changing it this weekend so confident that it would be easier this time around but i ran into a HUGE problem .. i just couldnt get the CRANK PULLEY also known as the harmonic balancer off the crankshaft ..

 

For the life of me and my mechanic friend , we couldnt get the crank pulley off the crankshaft .. i used a 3 jaw 5 TON pulley extractor from auto zone and it wouldnt even budge and even chipped the edge of the pulley .. sprayed a lot of rust penetrant bet. the pulley and crank but didnt work..

 

we put full pressure on the extractor over night and after 24 hrs it wouldnt budge.. im surprised the pulley didnt break .. i hope it wasnt installed with locktite .. the rubber between the inner and outer rings of the pulley expands but the whole pulley wont slide off the crankshaft..

 

last week when we changed the t belt and w pump on my buddys 99 pathfidner, the pulley came off so easily with the auto zone tool in 30 seconds ..

 

anyways, to prevent potential damage to the crankshaft/crank pulley, i put it all back together with only 1 new part.. the new thermostat and its running great again .. sanded off the rough chipped crank pulley edges and it looks like there is still some clearance for the drive belts so looks like the chipping wont cut the belts so soon..

 

except im so PISSED off that i could see the t belt and water pump in front of my eyes and couldnt get to change it .. worked 10-15 hrs to take it apart and put it all back together and didnt even get to do the t belt change ..

 

is there another method of removing a stubborn harmonic balancer ( crank pulley) ? is there a special tool NISSAN makes like other manufacturers to remove the harmonic balancer ?? any suggestions and tips will be greatly appreciated..

 

thanks for the input in advance .. HELP !!

 

also, how do u torque the crank bolt to the recommended 150 or 175 lb / square inch .. ???

[How many people offroad their Pathy's]

wow..old thread..

 

mine is a 1996 pathy SE .. i offroad it when i go fishing .. some of the farms here in KY dont even have gravel roads ..thats about it...

 

i do feel guilty that im not utilizing the full capability of the 4 wheel drive..

 

but then again i feel even worse when im not hitting the top speed on my big kawasaki ZRX 110 as well .. im @!*%itng in my pants once i hit 130 mph ..

[Just did a Timing Belt replacement]

ok .. just ordered all the parts from courtsey nissan .. all belts and hoses along with the tb / tb tensioner/ wp/ seals .. not bad for around $320 when i can save on the labor ..

 

am sure ill be ok coz this is the 2nd time im doing this in a week ..

 

any tips on getting the old camshaft seals out ?? and putting them on in ?? is the crank seal easy to get out ?? the Haynes manual doesnt cover these thing clearly ..

 

i would REALLY appreciate it if someone can copy and fax these 2 sections for me from the Nissan Service Manual ..

 

my fax # is 606-564-7696 .. please att: it to "Vijay Munagala" the Crappie Killer ..

 

thanks folks ..

[Just did a Timing Belt replacement]

now i get it .. thanks lewisinc100

[Just did a Timing Belt replacement]

thanks explorX4 .. got it now ..

[Just did a Timing Belt replacement]

so on 98+ models the tranny cooler is incorporated in the radiator ?? so then is the radiator different on the 96 and 97 models ??

 

lewisinc100 .. thanks for the tip .. im going to ordering all the hoses inc. the bypass hose when i replace mine .. hows ur tranny shift shudder after u changed the oil ?

 

vengeful, good luck on the tb / wp change ..im sure u can get it done .. btw, where are u getting ur parts.. www.courtesyparts.com always seem to be cheaper than the nissan dealer even after shipping charges..

[Just did a Timing Belt replacement]

yeah guys ..that was a lot of work .. never worked on a car or motorcycle for 10 hrs like a mad dog .. he owes me a real "case" of beer acc. to liquor store terminology.. 15 of those 12oz 12 packs ..

 

dont think the cam seals were leaking but u cant say coz i didnt remove the rear timing belt cover coz we didnt have the seals ..

 

im still stumped as for not being able to locate the tranny cooler in front of the radiator to the right side of the vehicle ..

 

good luck on ur tb change pathfinder_rookie .. its hard, but its not so hard at all.. takes a lot of time and patience..

 

now i got to get my parts from courtsey nissan and get mine done soon ..

[Just did a Timing Belt replacement]

just did a timing belt / water pump replacement on a friends 99 pathfinder LE .. his pathy had 210,xxx k miles and he NEVER got any maintenance done as he doesnt really care and is on the road cross country all the time .. beleive it or not, he didnt even know the tranny oil was something he needed to get changed.. hes one of those with too much money and too many cars around the house but he religiously gets the engine oil changed at walmart once a year he said..

 

so i told him ill do everything if he got the nissan parts and he agreed .. hes in the market for a new pathy and doesnt care if i screw it up .. so i rented a pulley extractor from auto zone ( the bigger one) and bought a 27mm socket for the crank pulley and the red atv high temp. gasket sealant..

 

when he was ordering the timing belt and water pump parts from the nissan dealer they screwed him by also selling him a new radiator, radiator fan, radiator clutch as they said they should be changed coz the pathy is over 200k miles .. they also sold him a thermostat, radiator hoses, drive belts, distributor cap and rotor, plug wires, sparkplugs and the tranny filter ( all understandable replacements).. im surprised they didnt sell him a fuel filter, the camshaft seals, timing belt tensioner, and most imp. they didnt sell him an AIR FILTER .. so he got all the parts and dumped them on me ..

 

took me 10 hours non stop.. i had him and a freind help me.. couldnt beleive how smoothly it went ..my first time doing something this hard.. went by the haynes manual i made him buy .. a few bolts were tight but apart from that everything went smoothly.. had to use a long wrench and crank the motor only ONCE to get the crank pulley bolt off.. the crank pulley puller from autozone was really cool.. used a torque wrench the tighten all the stuff .. the only bitch was scraping the old water pump gasket off ..took some time putting all the belts on .. took some time understand how the timng belt tensoner worked ..

 

then drained the tranny fluid and dropped the tranny pan .. the oil was freaking burnt and stinking ( over 210 k miles and tranny oil never replaced ) .. the magnet on the pan had a decent amount of metal shavings..no big pieces.. replaced the tranny filter too..

 

replaced all spark plugs ( 6th plug was easy coz ive done it before) ..distributor cap and rotor were a piece of cake.. while i was in there, cleaned the throtte body with the STP carb/tb cleaner .. the plate was GUNKED up soo bad ..

 

put it all back ..fired up and sounded sooo smooth .. ran for a while until i got all the rad. coolant in there .. no leaks so far.. turned it off coz i wanted to give it atleast 12-24 hrs for the ATV sealer in the water pump/thermostat and tranny pan to cure properly ..

 

today he took it to cincinnati , 60 miles ..called me, told me its running soo smooth and running like a champ .. he noticed the tranny shifts were smoother..im still going to drain and refill the tranny fluid after a 1000 miles ( 5 quarts at $2.75 for a quart of Castrol dexron III / mercon ATF fluid is cheap insurance) .. i am NOT going to try a tranny flush on a high meilage tranny coz it "might" bust it ..

 

but i still feel guilty i didnt change the cam shaft seals and the timing belt tensioner but what could i do ?..nissan didnt sell them to him..

 

my 96 SE pathy is at 110,xxx k miles now and am going to do the timing belt, water pump next month ..feel so confident ..

 

also noticed his 99 LE didnt have a tranny oil cooler next to the radiator like my 96 SE .. or it is located somewhere else on the 99 models.. ??

[Help ! Coolant Leak/ Water Pump failure ???]

I changed both cam seals, here's the full list of parts replaced:

 

21501-0W501 Radiator Hose Upper

21503-0W001 Radiator Hose Lower

14055-0W000 Coolant Bypass Hose

14055-0W??? Small Hose to Thermostat

21200-V7206 Thermostat

13028-0B785 Timing Belt

13070-42L00 Timing Belt Tensioner

21010-0W028 Water Pump

13042-0B001 Camshaft Seals

 

02117-88023 Drive Belts

11720-0W002

11920-0W002

 

I have to admit I tore the cam seals apart with every type of seal puller and screw driver I had, they didn't want to budge. Didn't seem to be anyway to get them out without scraping things up. I remembered a post in the past that said to carefully drill a very small hole in the center of the seal, and insert a small screw into the seal until it gets into the spring on the back side. Then just pull on the screw head with a pair of pliers and the seals pull right out.

 

This worked for me but is risky, one slip with a drill bit and you'll have a nasty mark.

hey lewisinc..

 

didnt u replace the crankshaft seal ? or do u have to replace it only if u mess it up while removing the crank pulley ?

 

thanks ..

[Trannny Shifts With A Shudder From 3-4 Gear]

the front 2 bolts that hold up the tranny pan are a PITA to access ..the tranny oil cooler lines get in the way .. is it ok to loosen the bolts on the bracket that hold the oil cooler lines and move them out of the way ??

[Help ! Coolant Leak/ Water Pump failure ???]

lewisinc 100,

 

which manual did u use to change the timing belt .. were the instructions accurate.. ? i heard the haynes doesnt cover the cam/crank seal replacement .. true or false ?

[Help ! Coolant Leak/ Water Pump failure ???]

would anyone mind copying and faxing me the timing belt/water pump replacement procedure from the factory service manual ? i ordered the parts from courtsey Nissan and am planning to change the t. belt and wp and other related accessories myself ..

 

any other tips on getting the old cam seals out ?

 

or if there is already a thread that describes the prodecure in detail, a link would be greatly appreciated ..

 

thanks in advance..

[Trannny Shifts With A Shudder From 3-4 Gear]

matty,

 

good to know the tranny oil change got rid of the shudder .. hope this simple tip helps a few other members out too ..

 

werent u surprised how burnt the oil was while draining ? when u check for the tranny oil level using the dip stick, the oil doesnt even look that bad and ppl prob assume they got many more miles, but once i drained mine i was shocked to see how different the oil looked ..

[Trannny Shifts With A Shudder From 3-4 Gear]

hi guys ..

 

just got back from the trip to canada and realized i made a embarassing mistake when i started this topic ..

 

the transmission shudder i was having was NOT from the 3-4 gear but from the

4th to Over drive (lock up ?) .. i sincerely apologize for the mistake as this is my first ever automatic and i thought it was the shift from 3-4 .. only when i started counting the gear changes, i realized it was doing it from 4-5th and since there is no 5th gear, im thinking its the overdrive lock up ..is that what u call it ?

 

as u know, the shudder dissapeared after i changed my tranny fluid ..but im still dropping the pan and cleaning the magnet this week ...

[Trannny Shifts With A Shudder From 3-4 Gear]

i didnt jack up the Pathfinder but i parked it in an incline with the slope towards the drain plug .. i let it drain for over an hour .. once it stopped draning, i shook the vehicle in ALL directions until more fluid came out till the last drop .. i then measured the old fluid and got exactly 5.5 quarts .. refilled about 5.6 quarts..

 

will check the fluid again today before my trip ..

 

MATTY: let me know if changing the fluid gets rid of ur shudder ..

[Trannny Shifts With A Shudder From 3-4 Gear]

just drained the old tranny fluid ( 5 1/2 quarts, was bad but not burnt ) and replaced it with Castrol Dextron III / Techron .. went out for a short drive, and beleive it or not, the 3-4 gear shudder has gone ..

 

but a buddy of mine told me, if there really was a problem with the tranny, the shudder will come back after a couple of thousand miles when the fresh oil gets mixed with the old oil ( 4 1/2 quarts still in the tranny).. so after my 1000 mile trip to canada, im planning to drain the fluid again, and this time drop the pan, clean the magnet and refill ..and hope the tranny will atleast make it to 150,000 miles.. .

 

for all those who have the similar problem, why dont u change the fluid and see what happens .. thanks for all the tips and advise guys ..

[Trannny Shifts With A Shudder From 3-4 Gear]

ok guys .. i need to go on a long trip to toronto, canada tomorrow and i dont have time to drop the pan and clean the magnet and replace the gasket .. so temporarily, im going to remove the drain plug under the tranny pan and drain the old fluid and replace it with ATF till the proper level and see how it starts acting ..

 

also, i noticed, the 3-4 shudder happens mostly when im under 50 mph and am "easing" off the throttle ( 1500-2500 rpm) .. when i acclerate briskly and merge into highway traffic and keep the pedal floored ( > 2500 rpm) , the 3-4 gear shift is smooth and there is no shuddering ..

 

what gives ?? can it be a tranny mount or something axle related too ? but if its a tranny mount, shouldnt it shudder each time the gear changes ?

[Why is Engine in a Slant]

i agree.. the # 6 plug was a real bitch to replace ..

 

I replaced the other 5 plugs once and left it alone for a month when i said ill give the # 6 plug another shot .. this time the boot snapped off easily and i finally got to replace plug # 6 easily..

[Trannny Shifts With A Shudder From 3-4 Gear]

wow .. looks like the 3-4 shift "shudder" is pretty common ..

 

since i do not know the history of the transmission maintenance, ive heard from a lot of ppl and on the internet that you DO NOT want to do a transmission flush when a high mielage transmission is showing symptoms, as this will most certainly ruin the transmission ..is this true ? they recommend driving the vehicle till the tranny breaks down or just made do with tranny oil/filter changes but NOT flushing ..

 

as per ur suggestion for changing the rear differential oil- last month my rear differential was making a whining noise in tight U turns .. i decided to change the diff. oil myself and it turned out, there were only 2 quarts left in the rear differential as opposed to the ~3 Quart capacity .. after i replaced the the rear diff. oil and filled it up to the filling hole, the whining noise is GONE ..

 

going back to ur 2nd suggestion, i'm sure i can do the tranny fluid replacement myself, BUT, i have a few questions first.

 

1: can the tranny filter be changed at home ? is it that hard ?

2: is it a bitch to get the old gasket off ?

3: what do i use to seal the new gasket to the pan ?

4: does the Pathfinder have a drain plug on the pan too or just the transmission itself ?

5: does the tranny filter have to be replaced ? or is it the kind where it can be cleaned ?

5: is there a write up on how to change the tranny filter in these forums ? i do not have a service manual ..

 

 

can anyone give me the Nissan part # for the tranny filter and the pan gasket

 

any help/info is greatly appreciated.. im new to the forum ..u guys are great..