I am trying to remove the crankshaft pulley on my 98 XJR. (Timing Chain Replacement)
After securing the pulley with the locking tool and removing the center bolt, I ran into major difficulty removing the pulley. It appears to have red lock-tite smeared all over it. I applied a harmonic balancer puller to it and attempted to get it off. Ended up pulling the threads out of one hole in the pulley. I think these threads were defective or corroded. I have now removed the radiators and re-tapped the threads. I was told by one Jag Tech it was OK to use the Camshaft locking bars when turning the puller centre screw. It has proven to be so stubborn that I am concerned I may damage the head or camshafts as the amount of force required on the puller seems to be considerable. (I did not put the crankshaft setting pin in place on my first attempt). I read one thread where someone who did not have the crankshaft securing tool locked the crankshaft by wedging a bar between the drive plate & the torque converter in order to get the centre bolt out, which is torqued with about 350 lb. ft!. I had the tool so did not need to do this for the bolt, but now the pulley is giving me major grief. The locking tool can not be used when using a puller, so I am wondering if someone can provide details on how to go about locking the crank with the pry bar or some other safe method. The only access hole I see is where one would access the timing sensor and view the timing mark on the drive plate. I could not see an obvious way to secure the drive plate/crankshaft there. Would greatly appreciate some advice before I go much farther.

 

JWT, what you may need to do is apply a little bit of heat to the crankshaft to cause the locking goo to soften. From there, with a little bit of force, you should be able to get the pulley off. So, break out the propane torch (oxy torch if you have one), apply some heat and go from there. Odds are, you will need a new seal on the timing cover for the crankshaft once all is said and done. Probably have a new one already since it is a good idea to replace it any time you have the cover off.

As long as you are pulling straight out on the pulley, the need for the motor to be locked down is not needed. Simply the trapped air in the cylinders will be enough to hold the motor when pulling the pulley.

If you need some more ideas, let me know. I will see what I can gather from the machinists at work. They have to deal with this sort of issue all the time when tearing apart electric motors and whatnot.

 

Thanks Chris ,
I did try heat the first time, but could not get anything more than a small Butane torch on it before I had pulled the radiators out. Now I have much better access and will be able to get a regular Propane torch on it.

The pulley will not come off without a puller, so when tightening the puller, the engine will turn. I have the camshaft lock down bars mounted on both banks, so they will stop the crank from turning, but I am concerned about applying too much torque to the puller without using a more robust method of securing the crankshaft.

 

There is a tool to lock the Crankshaft. It replaces the timing sensor near the flywheel. It is shown in this pic:

 

FYI – MAPP gas is hotter than Propane gas and is the same application. You can get it locally.

 

Hi Paul,
I was warned by the Jaguar Tech at my local dealer to ensure that the locking peg that replaces the sensor is for positioning the engine for camshaft timing purposes only. He advised that if too much torque is applied to the crankshaft with it installed, the timing slot it fits into can be distorted. If that happens the engine timing will be affected and will run very poorly. That advice applies mainly to the removal of the centre securing bolt on the crankshaft that is torqued on very tightly. I did have the large tool that locks the pulley while extracting the bolt, so that was not my concern. After clearing that hurdle, I found the pulley to be extremely tight on the shaft and a puller was required. The locking tool for the bolt can not be used in conjunction with a puller. As mentioned, I pulled the threads out of one hole in the pulley when applying tension to the puller. That forced me to pull the radiators to gain access, so I could drill out and tap in new threads, one size up. (what a pain!) To hold the pulley while using the puller, I was using the camshaft locking bars that bolt over the flats on the cams, but since the pulley was seemingly welded to the shaft, I was concerned the torquing force needed on the puller would overcome the camshaft locking bars and perhaps cause damage to the cams or even worse, the heads. At any rate, after getting new threads and heat on the pulley and rapping it with a wooden mallet, I managed to get it off. Now I can finally go about replacing the chains and tensioners. I sure hope no damage was done.... will find put when it is back together.

Thanks for your input