Tip for "baking" crank pulley
 

Thought I would pass on this tip. I own a 97 stratus 2.0 that I've had to remove and install the crank pulley twice on. The method I used was to put the crank pulley in the oven at 500 degrees for an hour in order to get it to go back on the crankshaft. This method works, but there was one problem. The rubber damper between the hub and outer ring would soften each time I baked it and consequently would be misshapened and wobble when it got back on the car. Well, the crank finally let go last Friday (fortunately near home) - the outer ring separated from the rubber piece. This time, I took a new approach. Instead of putting the crank in the oven for an hour by itself, I wrapped a damp towel around the outer part of the pulley covering the rubber and covered that with tin foil exposing just the inner hub to raw heat. This kept the rubber from experiencing direct 500 degree temps that would normally distort it. I took the pulley out of the oven and installed it on the car and there were no signs of stress to the rubber and no wobble when the engine is running.

Maybe some of you have done this before or have a better method but this worked out well for me.

Thank you tacoboy for your excellent suggestion. I have been an amateur mechanic for many years, and was just about to try heating the pulley, but I was concerned about damaging the rubber of the harmonic balancer. Your suggestion about how to keep it cool was great, but I think I have an improved procedure.

The hub of the pulley is connected to the outer harmonic balancer portion by a very thin spider of the casting. Also, the spider's legs are angled. This suggested to me that the center was intended to be heated while keeping the outside cool. The thin sections would minimize heat transfer, while the angle of the legs would allow to hub to tilt outward as heated without damaging anything.

Here's what I did:

1.) Cut a washcloth in half. Soak each half in cold water (dripping wet), and wrap them completely around the outer rim (harmonic balancer portion) of the the pulley, especially covering the rubber. Then cover the wet cloth with aluminum foil to hold the cloth in place. Be sure both wash cloth and foil cover the entire outer section, especially the rubber to keep if from getting hot.

2.) Place the balancer on a brick or stone to keep if from burning anything, and preferably do this outdoors.

3.) Heat the center (hub) portion only with a torch. (I used MAPP gas, on low to medium temp) for about 5-10 minutes and keep the torch only on the center. Continue feeling the outer section where the foil is to make sure it is not getting hot. Stop if it does, let it cool, use new cold water on the washcloth, replace the foil and start over.

4.) Pick up the pulley by the foil/washcloth section which is cool (be careful not to touch the center heated portion...ouch!), and immediately slide it onto the shaft. Bingo...it slides on easily, right to the limit. If you did not heat the hub enough, it will lock on the shaft before you hit the end, so you will have to use a 3 jaw puller to remove it, cool the outer edge with new cold washcloths, reheat the center longer, and try again. It took two tries for me to get it right, but I figured it was better to underheat until I got a feel for what was needed rather than chance damaging the rubber on a $92 pulley.

5.) Once in place, cool the center section with wet rags before you remove the foil and washcloth on the outer rim.

That's it, and it works like a champ! Good luck and hope this helps some of you! ....and thanks again to tacoboy. You were certainly on the right track, but this method takes about 10 minutes, and I feel it is much less risky than exposing the rubber to 500 degrees for an hour.

RLT

Never tried it that way, I have a puller to remove the pulley and a swing press to install it back on the crank.

harmonic balancer installer
 

You can rent one from Autozone for a $44 deposit and get all your money back when your done. This tool makes life a whole lot easier.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=391373_0_0_