So my ur pulley came in today! Really nice looking, I need some advise on whether it would be best to take it to a shop or not. I took the passenger wheel off and began the install but quickly became discouraged by the cheap jack that was holding the car up. I think since I am away from home at school that I'm just going to take it to a mechanic or something since i dont have my tools pr my good floorjacks. but I dont want to mess anything up. What should I do this pulley is just sitting in my back seat... If I do take it to a mechanic is there anything I need to tell them to watch out for?

 

nope just go to a mechanic. shouldn't take the guy more than 15 minutes to do it.

air tools are a must for this job IMO. it takes a lot to budge free that bolt.

shouldn't cost you more than $40-$50 tops. it's a very easy job with the right tools.

 

Cool thank you for the advice. If he quotes me higher on the price I will tell em sharks breath told me it would only cost 50 tops!

 

Air tools aren't much help to get the bolt out the first time unless you have one of those monster 1" impacts.

But the right tools are. I used the jackstand supporting extensions with a breaker bar method to break mine. Also needed a 6ft pipe over the breaker bar to get it to pop.

 

correct. i meant use the air tools to put the bolt back on. no way you're getting it off with a gun. i've always wondered how many lbs torque that thing was on there from the factory.

 

Soooo heres the deal.. I went to 4 mechanics....First one said he wouldn't touch it and that the ur pulley scared him. Then i went to the second one and they just scared me so i left. Third one was like oh no problem we can do that. it will take us 3 1/2 hours to do and we charge 82 an hour....wtf...and then the last one i went to was meinike, guy was nice he said it would take at minimum 1 hour. and he charges 85 an hour.. do i need to suck it up and just do it myself? via the honda crank pulley tool? bc i have everything except that and a 6 foot pipe to break it....

 

KN_TL did you use the honda tool?

 

^i used a honda tool and it was necessary IMO. idk what i would've done without it.

it's for sale, if interested. PM me.

 

I just called o reilly they said the tool is available to rent for 53 bucks and then if you bring it back they refund you. So I'm about to go grab that and i have the 19mm socket 2 shitty jacks and a breaker bar.. what else do i need? an extension? if so how long. I've done my fair share of talking to mo--rons today don't want to have to keep going back.

 

Absolutely. After doing it, I couldn't see how you could do it without it.

Unless you use the blip method. I wouldn't but others will tell you otherwise.

The extension I used was long enough to bring the breaker bar outside the fender so I could use a pipe on it.

 

I'm fairly certain there was a DIY thread in the Garage section on this. You will definitely want to get the tool to hold the OE pulley to remove the crank bolt.

 

I took it to a local Honda/Acura mechanic that did it for 75 bucks. Honda wanted to charge me 220 and Acura said they wouldn't even touch it.

 

That's because it eliminates the OEM harmonic damper. Without it your crank is free to resonate any way it likes.

 

There is.

A-098: DIY: UR Crank Pulley info
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153549
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-112/04-08-tl-07-08-tl-s-crank-pulley-install-diy-lots-pics-098-a-836369/


First link. And YouTube vids. And several pages of a pissing contest about "hamonic balancing".


And here's your tool list (plus jack stands and a floor jack):

 

I hope you are raising your car and using 2 JACK STANDS to keep it up, and not just 2 regular jacks to lift it and hold it up...

Yes, using a jack to lift and hold the car up is possible but it's just a accident waiting to happen. A jack isn't meant to support the vehicle weight for the amount of time you are working on the car.

Please use jack STANDS to securely hold your car up. Would hate for someone to get hurt because they decided to use 2 floor jacks to hold the car up.

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...9&postcount=20

 

^Good luck with that. I would not take the opinion of someone selling something.

 

^^^ 94eg! I honestly want to see where you are getting your info from....i am just curious and not pointing fingers....

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...6&postcount=31

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...0&postcount=26

 

^^^ I have seen both those post but looks like 94eg! did come to conclusion by himself....does he/you have some honda documents stating anything about the harmonic damper/balancer and its pros/cons of loosing it ???

I have had the UR pulley for 3.5 years and 70K miles....no issues.....so am wanting to see some evidence where the UR STOCK sized pulley has messed anything up or evidence that its not good to lose your harmonic damper/balancer....

 

Not me.

I've had mine since Nov 2008 and ~38,000 miles with no issues as far as I can tell.

As far as I can tell there is no compelling 'evidence' either way; just observation, rumor and opinion.

 

Guess I'm old fashioned or something but I hate jack stands. :x

 

^use jack stands, champ! There was a guy on the s2k forums (I never saw the posts, just heard it from a friend) that got killed when his car rolled off whatever was supporting it. I don't want to lose any azine members that way--especially very knowledgeable members like yourself!

Ironically though,I also almost lost a finger when my friend's hydraulic floor jack failed as I was setting jackstands under his car
scary as shit. The mounting point of the car fell on top of my thumb; I was lucky enough to pull my hand out before the car fully fell onto the jackstand. I only lost the nail in my thumb from that accident; however, if I were already under the car (and not using jackstands) when that hydraulic jack failed, I might have lost a life.

After this incident I refuse to do work under the car, even with jackstands lol. My friend is a tech at a local Benz dealership and he lets me use his lift

Also, to the OP. I paid $30 for my install. Took it to a random domestic mechanic shop next to a Honda/Acura/Toyota/Lexus specialists. I orginally went to the import specialist to get it done but he wanted $70 Gave the guy my keys and got the keys back in 30 minutes!

 

What do you use? Something more than just a jack, I hope.

 

That's a big no-no...

 

It's actually better to use the crank itself to loosen the bolt (provided you brace it on the counter-rotation). My buddy (certified master mechanic, and expert with Honda) did the job in 15 mins, start to finish. I'll try to find his write-up that he made with my car, and I'll post it up here. Side note, the pulley is an awesome mod, I've loved every minute of it!

 

I think that's the so-called "blip" method. It's recommended in the link I posted earlier. But with some of the 3G TL's with "one touch start" ('07 and '08's ??), I don't think I'd do it.

 

I wouldn't do it even with the conventional key start.

Gotta love it when people throw around "Master Mechanic and Expert" when something is done out of the factory method.

The cost of the tools pays for itself if you DIY and you have the tools forever. I've used my pulley tool to replace my timing belt on my Pilot and to put the stock pulley back on.

I didn't go back to stock because I was afraid of the debated harmonics, I have a LWFW and wanted to maintain at least some inertia for standing starts.

 

Here's the link to the DIY as promised guys. http://elitecm.net/forums/index.php?topic=3927.0 I should probably clarify, I have an 06 TL, in case anyone is wondering. Much respect as always to my friend Thien for the skillful install.

 

I did it!! Went ahead and got a new belt too ( gates micro-v). Ok so here is my final question, how do i get it tight? I dont have an impact drill.

 

Well, on Honda-Tech back in the day it used to be debated to no end (as it is here now). But pretty much all the reputable engine builders say a harmonic damper is a necessity on any motor. Larry Widmer at Endyn was so adimant that the harmonic damper was a necissity, that he helped Fluidyne devolpe their B-series application. After that, ATi jumped in and made theirs version for the Honda motors as well. The aftermarket options are cool becuase they function at every rpm where the OEM pulley is matched to the specific crank (only functions in a specific rpm window where the specific crank will resonate).

I'm no engine builder, but do your research. I know oil pump gear failure is common for these types of pulleys in Miatas. Honda probably uses a better quality oil pump though. Even still, the proper way to reduce drivetrain mass is via a lightweight flywheel. I just wish there real options for flywheels on the TL.

 

so i did it, its great so far, i might tomorrow pull my wheel off again and quadruple check the bolt to make sure its not loosening up on me. pulls allot harder already, when i first started it i was pretty scared.

 

go to a nice mechanic shop and kindly ask them to shoot the crank bolt with a strong impact gun, tip em goooood,.

 

^^^ he helped.....he actually did