Do I have to take off the crank gear?

[1990clipse]

I have had timing issues over the last couple of days and im replacing the timing and balance shaft belts. tkelly27 helped me out by telling me how to get the crank gear off which would be so easy if i had air tools, however i dont have an impact and dont really want to remove the gear. I was searching and SUBLIMEJS says that you can get the belt on without taking off the crank gear if you take off the balance shaft idler pulley. It looks like a really tight squeeze to me, has anyone else done this?

 

[1_2befast]

I had a buddy help me do mine and we took it off. I think it is a big enough pain in the butt when you have the pulley on. I wouldn't want to try with the pulley on. You could maybe use a strap wrench to hold the pulley while you loosened and tightened the bolts.

 

[Dsmj89]

Work smart, not hard my friend. If you know a friend or a local friendly shop around have them do it, if not, go buy yourself some airtools cause regardless you will need them in the future again, hence you do own a dsm... I personally wouldn't remove the crank pulley, just take all the belts off, the timing covers, then loosen the timing tensioner, slip the timing belt off and on with the new one, but yet i do see you need to fix your timing, i would recommend if you don't know or aren't sure of yourself on this fix get a hayne's repair book before doing the job.

 

[duwackerTSi69]

I rebuilt my 7 bolt motor a few months ago and I left the balance shaft gear on when I replaced the belts.. It wasnt to bad. But I did have the engine on a stand though.. There is a little section of tin like metal that you can insert part of the belt and have a friend rotate the crank to get the rest of the belt in..If that makes sense.

 

[WIDSM]

I couldn't figure it out at first also when I did my timing belt, the water pump failed 2 days later "oh it'll be fine" so I decided I should change the bs belt also do it right the first time. I shimmed it through without taking the crank pully off it was a pita but I didn't have air tools the metal shim idea sounds pretty good actually I wish I would have thought of that one it sounds easier.

 

[duwackerTSi69]

I couldn't figure it out at first also when I did my timing belt, the water pump failed 2 days later "oh it'll be fine" so I decided I should change the bs belt also do it right the first time. I shimmed it through without taking the crank pully off it was a pita but I didn't have air tools the metal shim idea sounds pretty good actually I wish I would have thought of that one it sounds easier.

Yeah those things happen when you own a dsm..If its not one thing then its another,..

 

[nlzn]

I might be confused here but how do you expect to get the lower timing cover off without removing the crank pulley?

You don't need air tools or a strap wrench to get that pulley off. I just did mine last weekend. Break the 4 bolts loose then take a nice big breaker bar to the center bolt(I positioned mine against the driver's side rack) and crack the starter once or twice. (NOTE: I don't consider this dangerous but don't be an idiot when you do this, make sure your hands aren't near it etc.. and position it the correct way so you don't damage anything or yourself.)

 

[1990clipse]

I might be confused here but how do you expect to get the lower timing cover off without removing the crank pulley?

You don't need air tools or a strap wrench to get that pulley off. I just did mine last weekend. Break the 4 bolts loose then take a nice big breaker bar to the center bolt(I positioned mine against the driver's side rack) and crack the starter once or twice. (NOTE: I don't consider this dangerous but don't be an idiot when you do this, make sure your hands aren't near it etc.. and position it the correct way so you don't damage anything or yourself.)

Im not removing the crank PULLEY, im removing the crank GEAR for the balance shaft belt.

 

[da_reeseboy]

My personal experience with the balance shaft belt -
In the summer of 07 my water pump was on its way out so I replaced the water pump, timing belt and balance shaft belt all at the same time since I was there anyway. I couldn't get that stupid crank gear off so I just slid the balance shaft belt past that thin metal guard. I might have damaged the BS belt in doing this since its a really tight sqeeze. This past summer (1 year and almost 10,000 miles later) the BS belt snapped nearly taking the timing belt with it. It bent that thin metal guard into the timing belt and shredded about 1/4 of an inch off the inside of it. It also made it skip a few teeth. After that, I decided to go without the BS belt. Here is the thread I discussed whether or not to put the BS belt back on - http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/cylinder-head-short-block/302463-snapped-my-bs-belt.html.
If you want you can read thru that and decide if you even want to mess with it or not. Just my 2 cents...