So, I'm assuming that the instructions must have been for an engine sitting on a stand b/c they are vastly inadequate. Anyway, has anyone taken this on? I've removed a horrifying amount of crap to get enough room to get my air-impact gun on the crank pulley bolt and it is not coming off.
I assumed that I could snipe a flex bar with the car in gear and with someone holding the brakes, but that also isn't working. (I suppose I'm torquing beyond the capability of the clutch?) Any thoughts/suggestions? The "instructions" say remove starter and "lock ring gear in place." That seems a little excessive considering the starter's location. And, wtf do I "lock" it with?! Probably Nissan Part # 6N112dIeEE for $87...

 

It should be a piece of cake, there's no way you can't break it loose with a breaker bar.
Put the car in 4th or higher gear, get a breaker bar and the crank pulley bolt comes right out. Use some PB blaster as well, it helps.

If you are desperate, and I don't recommend this but I've heard people done it. Prop the breaker bar against the floor with the socket in the crank pulley bolt, and try to turn the starter with your ignition. Then again, you might be risking damage the crank pulley bolt or any adjacent items in the engine bay.

good luck.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it in a higher gear tomorrow, but I don't think that will make a difference since I had the thing in gear yesterday and everything was still turning (except the wheels.)
Yah, I've seen those YouTube videos of people turning the key with a flex bar braced on the ground. If I could remember which way the engine turned, I'd be more tempted...

 

Hope you like crank bearing wear....

 

Was away for a while but finally got back to it... Yeah, putting the car in a higher gear made a big difference but I still had to lay the propane torch to the bolt and pull harder than my air-impact was capable of. It was pretty horrible, but I got that bugger off and the pulley came off quite easily with the incorrectly sized puller that I have, so that was nice. I didn't see any evidence of Loctite on there but it would not come off without the torch, so... Who knows? I put a dab on for replacement and I can't believe the torque required to put it back on.
As for "crank bearing wear," I say Boo-Urns. There's not enough credible evidence to prove that it will ever be an issue. If there is additional wear, I'd put it in the nanometer range, and I've got bigger fish to fry than that.
My next out-of-practice mistake has seen me warp one of the internal fins in the alternator when I stupidly stuck a screwdriver in one of the holes to brace it while I tightened that pulley on... I can't seen to separate the 2 halves of the alternator so I think I'll drop it off at a shop and take the hit on that. What a dumb thing to do.
Because I removed the radiator, I will have to deal with the air-lock and bubble issues that I've read all about, so I'm not looking forward to that. Plus, I'm sure it will be 'much worse' because I'm putting Peak brand coolant in. OmG!! Say it ain't so!!! Commence flaming me about failing to consider "hybrid organic acid technology" and whatever else you choose to believe to justify buying "Nissan brand" coolant. What a load of rich creamery butter.

 

So how did everything work out for ya?

 

I tried to install mine yesterday and the bolt wouldn't come off. I used heat and a 1/2" breaker bar with a jack handle slipped over it. I leaned into it and pushed and it wouldn't break with another person heating the bolt.

I then tried the ignition method and still had no luck.

Should the pulley turn and feel like it's trying to bounce back? It moved some and then felt like it was pushing against me. I could have pushed harder on the bar but I was afraid of doing damage to the crankshaft. Is that even possible or should I just push as hard as I possibly can without worry?

 

i know it's a stupid question, but you turned to the correct direction right?

 

Mine was a piece of cake. I just used a breaker bar and slipped a piece of 3 foot pipe over that and gave it a good tug (toward the passenger side) and it popped loose. Try doing it that way. I can't see why they would be so tight, all I had to take off was the engine cover and do it from the top. I was finished in an hour easy.

 

I tried turning it counterclockwise as I read on here. Lefty loosie. Please tell me I didn't get misinformed?!?!? It isn't reverse thread is it?

That's exactly what I was using. Breaker bar with a 3+ foot jack handle slipped over. I had plenty of leverage. I weigh 200 lbs and I lift weights. I wasn't pushing as hard as I could but I'm sure I had a good 300 lbs or so into it and it felt like the pulley was spring loaded, so I was afraid to push harder for fear of breaking something internally. At one point, it got as far as it "wanted" to go and I gave it a good jolt with no result. Do I need to just give it all I have and push for all I'm worth?

 

Mine wasn't that tight, it broke loose first try, but I did feel that "springy" feel in it. Idunno, maybe try the breaker bar on the floor and kick the key on again. I'd be afraid if you put that much weight into it and it still didn't break loose that you might break your car lol. I wouldn't push it!

 

I have the 4.083 ring and pinion and all my parts. I may just sell the pulley and go get that installed. I got quoted $300 if I just take them the diff. I really don't see this thing coming off.

Do you guys think it would help if the engine was warm? The car sat overnight and wasn't driven prior to trying to remove the bolt.

 

Didn't notice this thread got revived...
W ihen get home from work tonight I can offer a little help.

 

That's great! Do you have the 3pc Stillen pulleys?

 

So to answer some questions a little late...
Yes, mine is the 3-piece set. I figured it was going to be horrible to get the crank pulley off but I had new air tools so I had to take off enough stuff to fit the impact gun in there. It turned out that that was a lot of things and even then the impact gun is jammed against the fins on the A/C condenser.
I had some pretty bad luck combined with the fact that I hadn't worked on a car in quite a few years so as I mentioned below, a laughable number of things went wrong. My impact gun was defective, so all that extra work to remove the fans and the rad etc. was not required when I ended up having to wrench it off, anyway.
I used a long flex bar and didn't have any pipe, so I "sniped" it with a box-end wrench, which was pretty awkward. (I'm surprised you guys didn't break your flex bars if you used the lengths of pipe you mentioned, because I have broken a couple of these over the years!) I couldn't touch it until I put the torch to it and even then, I don't think I've ever pulled (counter clockwise) so hard in my life. I was sure that the car was going to start sliding sideways on the garage floor because I've had that happen tightening head bolts once, but I guess it was a much lighter car.
Once I got that, everything else started to go a little more smoothly. I put a tiny bit of Loctite on when I replaced the crank pulley and I pulled like a mental patient to get it tight enough. I wish that my stupid impact gun would've worked there, too. Putting the alternator back in was a little tougher than it needed to be IMO. If I didn't have an assistant holding it in position, it would have been brutal to reconnect its wiring as the harnesses were very short.
The instructions were poor enough that it will influence my decision to purchase Stillen products in the future. They describe it in something like 5 steps and there was a glaring error in them about removing the idler pulley. They tell you to use an impact gun, but don't mention anything about removing the cooling fans and radiator so I think they must be intended for an engine that is on a stand. They also say to remove the starter (and that's how they say it, not "use a 14mm 6-point socket to undo the four bolts located...") and I did not see how starter removal would have made the job any easier. Plus, they say something about locking the ring gear after and I imagine they intend for you to use a specialty tool that I just didn't have or know where to get or what it was called, etc...
Anyway, I knew it wasn't going to be a cake-walk and I made a lot of errors that helped me get some of my skills back on the tools but I wish the instructions would have pointed me in a more fair direction from the start. Everything is running fine now and it felt good to get this done and become a little more familiar with this vehicle.