Removing Crank Pulley?

[Marcs318is]

Hi guys,

I have no air tools and need to remove my crank pulley to get the lower timing cover off...anyone have any tricks? I've heard that you can use your starter to get it off but I'm looking for alternatives first, because there is a lot of shredded plastic and quite possibly a cam gear bolt (wooops!) at the bottom of the timing case.

Anyone have any ideas on how to lock it in place?

[por911]

Why not use a M42 crank lock tool(Sir Tools # BMW3034-2)? Sir Tools also make a nice cam shaft holder tool set for the m42 engine as well. They are a cheaper alternative to factory stuff.
regards

[flyfishvt]

I just did this last week on 2 M50's. One was in the car the other on an engine stand. If the engine is in the car then use a drill bit to lock the flywheel at TDC. Then use the a deep socket and a minimum of a 1/2" breaker bar with a piece of pipe for an extension then put all your weight on it and it will crack loose. I used a 3/4" breaker bar with a 4' piece of 2" copper pipe and it came right off.

Once its loose you'll need to remove the Belt tensioner for the A/C (3 bolts) then you need to use a large puller to get the toothed crank wheel/pulley off and you'll need it again to get the hub they bolt onto off. That hub is held in place with one of those kind of square keys that fit into a slot in the crank shaft. Everything you took off the crank is keyed so it only goes on one way.

Good luck and make sure you use a deep socket on the crank bolt. I didn't have a large enough metric socket so I used a 7/8" socket. Dont even try using a socket that is set up for a 3/8" drive ratchet. If you have one of those metal rods in your trunk tool box that is used to center the holes for the wheel lug bolts that is the perfect diameter for a locking pin. Unfortunately its too long to fit so use it as a guide and get a dril bit that's close to the same size.

To get the timing cover off you'll need to remove a ton of bolts. You'll need to remove the water pump to access some of them. You'll also need to remove the 2 small torx bolts at the very front of the head. One of them is in the front corner of the head and the other is one of the ones that holds the chain tensioner on.They both screw down into the top of the cover. You'll need to also remove the 4 bolts on the very front of the oil pan that bolt up into the bottom of the cover. Once all the bolts are out there will still be a LOT of pressure on the cover from the cylinder head. You'll need to find a place you can gently tap on it to push it out.

DO NOT pry it off. PUSH it off. If you pry it off you risk damaging the gasket surface on the aluminum cover or the block.

[Boland01]

I ended up using a 3/4" wrench with a 4' breaker bar. Took alot of force to break it free. To loosen it turn counter clockwise. The Bentley lists the torque force needing to retighten it too. I remember it was quite a bit of force. I used a 3/4" torque wrench.

[PG256]

I just put a piece a wood between the block and the crank so the crank wouldn't spin, 4' cheater bar made it easy.

[318Eric]

I'm in the middle of said project as we speak; I (wasted) a few weeks attempting to order the special tool from Pelican, BavAuto, etc., to no avail. Finally just asked a forum member if he could loan me his. I'd read all the workarounds but wanted to use the proper tools on such a major component (just my .02).

I will say, though, that once that center bolt was off mine, everything else came off extremely easily; no pullers, etc. required.

[Marcs318is]

Thank you guys so much, going to try Flyfishvt's method now!

Okay, so I got the pulley off (thanks flyfish!!!) and now I'm stuck once again.

How many bolts holds on the AC Compressor mounting bracket? I see two in the front and removed those, as much as I could at least (the bolt would only come partially out of the hole due to the A/C tensioner pulley being in the way).

It's coming off pretty nicely on the right hand side, but is getting caught on the left. Any advice?