Underdrive Pulleys (Cont'd)
You will need to jack the car up as far as possible to get the proper access to the lower pulley. Set the parking brake on as hard a possible and if you have an automatic, you will need to restrain the transmission with a special tool. The bolt that holds the pulley on has had some lock tight applied at the factory. With the parking brake set as hard a possible, you will notice that you are going to be taking up a lot of the slack in the drive train by trying to remove this bolt. You will need the extra space under the vehicle to turn the bolt far enough to break it loose. You may need to add a snipe (pipe extension) to your strong arm to give you extra leverage on the bolt. Once you are able to break the bolt loose you will need to use a gear puller to remove the pulley. You can rent these from your local auto parts store as well.
The harmonic balancer is fairly heavy so be careful not to drop it when you get it free of the puller. When installing the new pulley, you must put a dab of silicone sealant on the keyway of the new pulley. This prevents oil from working it's way up the keyway and getting by the seals. To install the new pulley, you will need to use the bolt supplied. The stock bolt is not long enough to start the pulley on, you will only use the longer one to get the pulley started, then re-use the stock bolt and washer. Do not forget the washer!
When you follow the supplied instructions for torque specification, it will seem a little odd. They will probably indicate to torque first to a high number and then back off and re-torque to a lower number. The initial torque spec is to seat the new pulley on the tapered shaft of the crank. The second torque spec is for the bolt itself. Do not leave the bolt torqued to the first specification or you will have a very difficult time trying to remove it later on. With the new pulley on, the water pump pulley bolts tightened and the alternator replaced, it is time to put the serpentine belt back on. The Steeda pulleys do not require a different belt. Once you have the belt installed, start the car and let it idle, making sure that the belt is tracking properly on all the pulleys. Stop the engine and check that there are no nicks on the side of the belt and that it is still tracking properly now take her for a spin and enjoy, this is a real Seat of the Pants improvement! Enjoy!
