Hey im in the process of getting behind my timing cover and I need to get my crank pulley off. I have the oil drained and both valve covers off..is it cool if I lock a breaker bar on the pulley and tap the starter to break it loose?

 

personally wouldnt do it. valve covers off is fine but with the oil drained i wouldnt

 

any recommendations to getting it off? I read you can jam the flywheel from beneath the tranny..but it looks like you have to take the cross-member off..or jam it from where the starter goes in. Any other quick way of taking it off without removing any parts?

thanks

 

i usually use an air gun, once the bolts off i use a pulley puller to get the pulley off. but most likely you dont have an air compressor etc at your disposal

 

If you want the truth, I have used that approach two times on VQ30DE and once on my VH45DE -- so basically every time I need to remove the crankshaft pulley. I have a long breaker bar for that purpose. I let the bar have about 1" of free travel before it makes contact to break the bolt free. The first time I tried to break the bolt loose, I did not allow any free travel and the starter just locked up without turning the crankshaft. I do not let the bar hit another component like the guy video. I have the spark plugs removed and the fuel pump disconnected before attempting this operation also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G-adEVjfWI

If you have a 99 model, be sure to get in and "close the door" before you start tapping the starter for a maintenance operation. The 99 models have an immobilizer that can be tripped if you unsuccessfully try to start the vehicle with the driver's door open.

 

Since the over head cams are fully exposed, how about pouring oil over the cams and into the spark plug holes, let soak a few moments, then tap the starter?

Just an idea

 

Just in case you haven't already seen the following thread, you might want to give it a look. I learned a couple of things the hard way in that exercise..

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...moval-tip.html

 

Bumping the starter won't hurt a thing! Just a couple of bumps and it should break loose!

 

I too was stuck with the crank pulley bolt for like over a week then I Thankfully found a post from Aaron92se on his VQ35de 3rd gen build.
heres the link
https://maxima.org/forums/all-motor/...-thread-3.html
page 3, post #120

wrap the belt around the pulley then around 1 of the transmission bolts and turn the crank pulley counter -clockwise until the belt overlaps itself then Voila!
it helps to have 2 people but i was able to do it by myself.
1 person the turn the crank counter-clockwise and 1 person to guide the belt to make sure it overlaps and gets real tight.

breaker bar with a 4 foot pipe attached helps a ton also.

 

I've bumped the starter several times with everything removed with no issues whatsover and works like a charm. There is enough residual oil on everything even after it is drained that it won't hurt anything. Just don't keep cranking and cranking, just a quick blip and it should come right off

 

I concur. You won't be on the starter for more than 1 second. That's just not enough time to hurt anything.

 

And it wouldn't be enough time to pump any oil anyways. The engine won't know the difference.