Can't Get Balance Shaft Sprocket Off

[simple jake]

Ok so today I noticed that my car was leaking a lot of oil from the timing belt side of the engine, so I decided to put the car up on jacks, take the timing cover, timing belt, and balance shaft belt off to find where the leak is. I'm actually pretty sure that my leak is coming from the seal back behind my balance shaft sprocket. Well to my surprise, I find that my balance shaft sprocket is able to spin around by itself, and now the bolt that holds it on won't come off because the sprocket isn't catching that little lip thing on the balance shaft. I've tried for at least 15 minutes straight to get it to catch on the little thing but haven't been successful. Here's a video to show what I mean. The audio isn't in sync, and is choppy because my cell phone is crapping out on me:

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

So does anyone have any suggestions as to how I get it off? I don't feel like grinding it off with an angle grinder mainly because the car is a DD and I'd like to get it done by tomorrow.

Ok well for some reason the video isn't working. I'll try to get another one real quick.


Well for some reason, NONE of my videos are working :/ so I guess you guys won't be able to see what it looks like.

 

[bryanwheat]

I don't understand what you mean by notch. The shaft will keep spinning . You will need something to hold the pulley, or to lower the engine down and use an impact.

 

[simple jake]

What I mean by "notch" is this:

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

The sprocket has a flat spot just like that so it can spin the shaft instead of spinning around it. Well sprocket isn't catching on that so I can't remove the bolt holding the sprocket onto the shaft.

 

[eclipse94turbo]

vice grips

 

[92AWDHX40]

Impact gun baby, best 50 dollar investment i made.

 

[simple jake]

I don't know if I can get an impact in there at that angle. I guess I can try an impact wrench.

 

[bryanwheat]

I see what you are talking about. The bolt should be somewhat loose if the pulley is spinning. You will have to drop the engine down quite a bit to be able to get an impact on it. I'd say that you are going to have to remove the balance shaft regardless because it will likely be damaged, so you might as well pull the pan. The pan will have to come off to get the shaft out. You will have to drop the engine down to do that also.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Get some tools now is a good time to invest in some,and learn to pull the engine or drop it low enough to get in there.

 

[simple jake]

I think I'm going to try the air ratchet first to see if that helps. If not then I guess I'll be pulling the pan to get it off.

 

[jimbob_843]

Pull that pan and throw in a bse!

 

[bryanwheat]

As i said, it will have to come off anyway. There is no way that the end of the balance shaft isn't damaged.

 

[simple jake]

Why do you think the balance shaft would be damaged? The shaft isn't seized because I can use a 12mm wrench on the bolt to turn the whole shaft; it's just the bolt itself wont come loose.

 

[bryanwheat]

You said that the sprocket is spinning on the shaft. IF it is spinning on the shaft than there is going to be a ton of wear on both the shaft and pulley. It would just wear the pulley and not the shaft.

 

[simple jake]

Well I got an air ratchet today from Harbor Freight for 25 bucks, and I managed to get the bolt off! Luckily the balance shaft itself wasn't damaged or scored so I really lucked out. Unfortunately, the sprocket is no good since it rounded out the small flat key/notch spot. So I'm going to need that part. Will JNZ tuning have it?

 

[GIRman67]

I have one if you want it?

 

[simple jake]

I ended up getting one from the stealership just cause I can't afford to wait too long. The part is gonna be here on Friday, along with a new balance shaft seal. Hopefully that will fix my oil leak problem; which is what caused me to get to this point

 

[simple jake]

Well I got the new seal and sprocket back on, but the balance shaft seal is still leaking. I pushed it in all the way with a socket so it would seat fully, and I even lubed the inside of the seal so it would slide on the shaft easily. But its still leaking from the inside where it seats to the shaft. Should I get a new seal? The one I got was directly from Mitsubishi so I know for a fact that its OEM. Maybe try some RTV? I wouldn't think that would help since the shaft is constantly rotating. Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[2GbTalonGuy]

I ended up using a vice grip. I didn't care if I damaged it though, because it wasn't going back on.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

Some seals are intended to be installed dry. Is this one of them?

I have no idea, just food for thought. Bummer it still leaks. Was the seal "receptacle" cleaned and in good condition?

 

[simple jake]

Black Widow, I'm trying to get it to seal, I don't know what you mean

And Piper, what does "receptacle" cleaned mean?

 

[bryanwheat]

Do you have the seal sleeve around the shaft?

 

[simple jake]

Hmm I'm not too sure. Can you throw up a picture of what it would look like?

 

[bryanwheat]

IT is just a sleeve that goes around the shaft that the gear butts up with. It is what the seal surface is on.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[simple jake]

Oh ya I've got that on the shaft. I'm thinking maybe it got out of round when the balance shaft sprocket got messed up. I might just pull the engine so I can get a new front cover and delete the balance shafts. Didn't really want to do that but I might not have a choice.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

Black Widow, I'm trying to get it to seal, I don't know what you mean

And Piper, what does "receptacle" cleaned mean?

I was strapped for words at the time. I just meant to ask if you cleaned all the surfaces before installation. Any left over debris could cause a leak.
Let us know what happens.