Parts that won't come off

What engine are you working on?
To remove the dipstick tube use a razor to separate the gasket from the block.

When you say harmonic balancer I think you mean flywheel. You may have to work it with the puller, hammer and a little heat. The best way is to tighten the puller, rap it with a hammer and then tighten the puller a little more and repeat until she pops off. I have had some that take a hot second to come off and then other I have fought for hours.

As far as the love joy coupler, I use this bearing separator that attaches to my puller like this one for the stubborn ones.
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp ... ir=catalog

Take your time with the dipstick tube as they are cast and will break easy.

What type of puller are you using on the flywheel?

It is a bolt puller type I ordered from Horbor Freight. I am worried about overtightening the bolt and mushrooming the end of the shaft in the engine. There is already some deep cuts in the end of the shaft where it looks like someone may have worked on this before.

The puller you are using will do the job. That is why I suggested it. Get it low against the flywheel for the best leverage. I have used an impact wrench on it with success as well.


Make sure you put the nut back on the shaft before cranking on it. That will prevent mushrooming. From my experience it will not come off slowly. It will pop off.

The bearing separator that was suggested also works for steering wheel removal. HF sells a kit with two sizes. They sell the large one separately, but you really want the smaller one. They go on sale occasionally, and there is always a 20% off coupon floating around.

I wouldnt worry about damaging the crank. That is alot harder than any butter bolts from HF

I would be careful using a impact on a cheap puller. Not saying it can't be done but I have had a few pullers let go on me while I was just tightening them with a wrench. Its not pretty when that happens.

Don't give up yet. Try what mastifflawyer and I said. Get the puller low to the flywheel then tighten it up rap it with a hammer and repeat till it pops off.

Thanks guys.. That is a great idea to put the nut back on. I don't have an impact wrench so I may have to invest in one. So how do you keep the flywheel from spinning when tightning the bolt on the puller?

An impact wrench

Or a strap wrench

If you have neither of those you may be able to be a little creative and use a racheting tie-down somehow..

I've had luck tighening the pullers push bolt and letting sit for a while then retighteninga little while. Do this and check push bolt every hour or two and it just might pop after a while.

Remove a spark plug and push a foot of 3/8" rope inside the cylinder. The piston will come up to the top but the bunched up rope won't allow it to rotate over Top Dead Center. Compressing the rope will do no harm. Just remember to leave some hanging out the spark plug hole or you will be removing the head.

Thanks Hydriv. Never worked on small engines. I am learning a lot.