hello, i am working on a friends 98 eclipes, needs new water pump, so as you know i need to take off every thing possible off the front of the motor, motormount, mount plate, timing belt and cover, timing gears ect., so i am having seriouse problems with this harmonic balancer or crank pulley or main pulley, whatever you call it, i broke my puller because it is on so tight, i have never had this problem before, its almost comical how tight it is, i am useing the 3 prong type jaw with the bolt thru the middle, i put in the bolt for the pulley only about 4 or 5 threads, then i clamp the jaws and tighten the nut, like your suposed to do but it pulls soo hard that the bolts holding the puller together bend and break, does anyone have any suestions ?

this is the type of puller i am using

 

The bolts holding the pulley together need to be snug fit. Tight enough so the the jaws can still move, but that's it. OTC makes a specific 3 jaw puller for this particular application that is pretty bullet proof. Good Luck!

Joel, CA

 

i did make sure they were snug fit, but i think they are grade 5 bolts instead of grade 8, but even so i have never had one on so hard, the plating on the jaws is chiping away because even the jaws are moving, i know the specific puller you are refering to and since i need it only for this one job i didnt want to spend 100 bucks on the tool, plus its a friend on top of it so its not like i would be making money with it, i tried to rent one thru autozone but they dont rent that model, also i tried to spray some penatrant inside the hole and all around the pulley and let it sit for a few days and that didnt help, it seems as if it is welded on.
well thanks for the help, i might try and heat it up with a torch, but i dont want to melt the timing cover.

mike