It is possible, although not recommended, to replace the harmonic balancer without lowering the engine, only removing the oil filter. This is what I did:
After removing the oil filter, I used rather long 5/16" bolts treaded through the treaded holes in the balancer against thin steel plates towards the engine block to force the balancer out. It is impossible to use a puller due to limited space.
I then replaced the oil seal. The difficult part is to line up the new balancer over the woodruff key without the key falling out of its groove. If it does it will fall down into the distributor housing which will cause major damage to the engine if not located (mine did - twice!). The only way to locate and retrieve the lost key is to remove the distributor. The easiest way is to initially mount the oil seal onto the balancer until it is confirmed to align with the woodruff key and then push the seal into position in the engine block. Anyway, to use this method, the groove in the axle should be in the 12 o'clock position when installing the woodruff key.
Before tightening the bolt I used a mirror to confirm that the woodrufff key was in the correct position in its groove.
Well, it worked but I'm not sure if I will do it that way again.
Statistics: Posted by Boxer — Wed Nov 25, 2015 4:14 am