Well I worked all day on my car getting ready to replace the oil pump. I have everything ripped apart that I need too, except the timing pulley in front of the oil pump (not my UDP, that's off). The bolts I bought at Sears Hardware aren't long enough (only 2") to mount a gear puller on there. I see in the Chiltons it calls for some "special tool" to remove the gear pulley - is that true? I'm going to try to find longer bolts tomorrow when the stores open, otherwise I'm at a lose. Any suggestions from someone whose got the gear off before?

Oh, and, I see it's keyed, once it's started, is it easy to get off ... say in comparison to the crank pulley ... PITA?

i have heard a lot of guys on this board say it a major bitch to get off. Some have had to heat it with a torch just a little. the bolts i have arent the right ones otherwise i was going to give it a try last week on my spare block.

Anyone?

Terry

96 Eagle talon ESI
Star Stage II - Boost/oil/EGT gauges

97 Eclipse
Greddy header - Apexi N1 3" exhaust - SFMU/return line - Apexi SAFC - Stage 2 6 puck Sprung hub MIBA clutch - Shortened shifter - Koni Yellows w/eibach prokit - Stillen Fr/Rr swaybars - ceramic intake - DEI Keyless entry alarm - Niche 17" Shoks

Waiting to be installed: HKS EVC IV, 450 Turbo injectors, GSX Front brakes (need rotors)

Mitchell on Demand copies available

Well that's exactly what I didn't want to hear after fighting for almost 3 hours getting my UDP off with a harmonic balancer last night. That thing was on there so freakin' tight. Anyway, it makes me nervous to hear that b/c the bolts that thread in are a 7mm bolt, very skinny, and I can't see them being able to withstand a lot of load with a gear puller.

Terry - I'm going to be leaving in a about an hour or so to head down to work on my car. I'll let you know what happens today when I get home tonight.

Well, I'm home ... and it's not even night time. It's the middle of the day. We couldn't get it off so we gave up. We torqued on the gear puller so hard today we actually streched out and snapped the 6mm (I was wrong they're not 7mm) bolts in half today that were threaded into the timing gear. And it didn't even budge, oh, and that was after heating it with a torch pretty well. I'm at a complete loss, I don't know what to do. I got a brand spankin' new oil pump ready to be installed and I can't even get to it. Tomorrow will be 8 months since I've driven my car. EVERYTHING I've done has been with difficulty - I'm ready to stick a pipe bomb in the tailpipe and forget I ever owned a 2GNT.

Anyway, I talked to Metal Jim by phone today and didn't have any suggestions either ... he said his timing gear pretty much came off after a bit of resistance. I'm wondering if there is anyway my crank shaft is out of round or something. I'm going to swing by SATAN on Monday and see if they have any suggestions or something. I don't know what to do.

Any ideas? ... there has to be people on this board that have replaced their oil pump.

EDIT: Terry, I tried it on my spare block too, I just have a short block, so when you turn the gear puller it just spins the crank b/c there's no compression - couldn't get that one off either.

I used longer bolts and threaded them in as far as I could so they pocked out of the other side, then I used the puller like you should and all of a sudden I heard a pop, then it was easy from there, the bolts should hold, just keep everything straight, its even more fun to get back on

Yeah, i used i believe around 3-4" long bolts, with a harmonic balancer puller. BE SURE to use some washers on the bolt heads where it touches the puller face, and also be sure to have the flat side of the puller touching the bolt heads. The puller needs to be parallel and square to the gear, so as its not tilted in one direction..it needs to put equal, even amounts of torque on the pulley. I used an impact wrench on my puller, and the gear came off without too much problems, using the tips i mentioned above.

Matt - I made sure of everything you mentioned right down to the washers. I didn't use an impact, I used a breaker bar slowly. I was afraid the impact would just shear the bolts. The only difference between what I did and you guys is the lenght of my bolts. I couldn't find 3/4 inch ones. Like 2" at best. I check Sears, Lowes, and Home Depot. Where did you get yours? I'm thinking I need a specialty hardwares store. My puller has a ton of bolts with it, but none that are 6mm.

I've been struggling to get my timing belt gear off ... I finally got it off tonight. I had to use the *speical tool* mentioned in the Chilton's manual to get it off. I took a picture of it, so if someone can host it, you guys can see it. I got it at the strangest place. I called the area Mitsu dealers, they were all clueless. Eventually I got to talking to a friend who had a friend that worked at a Jeep dealership. I got to thinking most Jeep dealerships were once Jeep/Eagle, so we drove over. Sure enough in 15 minutes he pulled out this tool that he said hadn't been used in 5 years. He was kind enough to lend it to me for free. Basically, it's just a slightly modified gear puller specifically designed to pull off that gear. I still had a hard time getting it to pop, but it came off. When I put it back on I used anti-seize compound. :thumbsup So .... I'm going to work my butt off the rest of the week and hopefully get it to my show on Sunday. The new oil pump is already on.