I am planning a visit to the dealership and was attempting to revert to stock. I can't get the C3 off. I pulled the thick spacer off and found some cooked lubricant, so I am assuming it is baked on. Anyone have a remedy? There is not really anywhere I can grab to pull, and I have tried beating around it with a rubber mallet to loosen it up. I need some help from the masters, PLEASE.

 

Did u put lube on the pulley shaft are u certain that it's baked on and is the car hot while ur removing it
oh and last what exactly are u having fixed at the dealer if yup don't mind me asking sorry for being nosy

 

jason thats the same issue i had. repeated licks with a fiberglass dead blow hammer helped but in the end my buddy has vise grip hands and with me holding the clutch with the strap wrench he was able to break it loose and pull it off.

 

car is cold, for I haven't started it today. I dont' think I put any lube on when I installed last year. It was snug but went on without problems. When i pulled off the thick washer, there was a small collection of brown semi hard, brittle substance. I assumed it was the bearing lubricant.

 

Well u can gently rock it side to side or hit it with ur rubber hammer on each flat side Just don't pry it off u could also try penetrating spray or get 32's friend with the Kung-fu grip!

 

It is not budging, and my hands are toast. I am afraid of penetrating spray, for it may eat up the bearing.

 

the browm is bearing grease burned onto the shat. its like glue!! you have to keep at it until it breaks free. the dead blow has beads inside to transmit more shock than a rubber hammer

 

Well, I haven't a dead blow hammer, just a soft rubber and 4 pounder. This C3s are kinda brittle when it comes to pounding on them. I will keep at it but I don't see it happening.

 

U could try taking it off while hot with heat resistant gloves I took mine off while hot being in a rush,use caution though I had gloves

 

harbor freight about 4 $.

 

Dude, I can sympathise... the night before I was scheduled to get the ECU tuned last December, I was trying to take the stock pulley off and had the same problem. I'd had
it off before, when I did the initial install of the C3, but had swapped back to the stock
before going to the Service Center to have scheduled maintenance. I spent about an
hour pulling and tapping with a rubber mallet. All to no avail. I got real frustrated, as
I'd made this change a couple of times already.

Anyway, I noticed that one side of the pulley was slightly (maybe 1-2mm) advanced on
the shaft as we the other side. So, I put on the gloves and grabbed the pulley and
started trying to wiggle it. No joy. So, I gave a little tap with the mallet on the side that
was advanced. Grabbed the pulley again and found that it wiggled a little. Worked
that wiggle for a few seconds, moving the pulley ever so slighly down the shaft, and
then it came off the rest of the way easy as pie.

Hope you had were able to get your pulley off... It can be a bear, but it will come off
with a little patience. Good luck.

Coyote

 

What would be the suggested action to someone that's going to install one of these pulleys for the first time? Any sort of prep work to avoid this scenario in the future?

 

really no way to avoid this . as the bearing goes bad it seeps grease. as the pulley spins it basiclly burns the grease on to the shaft. once its off clean everything and from then on frequent inspections will be your best friend!

 

So I guess the bottom line is if you want to swap out your pulley often, make sure to maintain it well. If you want to keep the aftermarket pulley on there forever, dont worry about it.

 

my dealer could care less if you are just getting normal service....I will never put the stock back on unless the C3 fails for some reason....I never have said a thing to them and they haven't said a thing back...only to compliment the dual cai from needswings....find you a shop full of good ole' boys, that like racing....and they will cover for you...I just had a meeting with my local dealer/service mgr...explained my mods, shared knowledge of some the more common failures on the srt6...and they are happy to do whatever I need. You need a good relationship with the dealership....never said anything about the pulley or boost...as long as they think you haven't went internal on the engine...they know the air intake won't hurt anything...but, increasing the boost might change their mind, so that wasn't discussed, and can't tell the difference...the tune is another problem...so, you have to mention this, or they will destroy your tune...in fact, unless something fails, like the IC Pump, or a sensor, they don't need to do anything to the car....I was there still trying to get some fog lts replaced, and few other body part problems...nothing mechanical, and I change my oil....good luck...

 

not quite. its not the pulley but the bearing it rotates on that goes bad. could happen to either. once it starts to fail replacement is mandatory. so inspecting for seepage or listening for any grinding will help you find the failure sooner hopefully making it easier to remove.
i know your considering the c3 so let me warn you in advance. the bolt that holds the pulley on is hollow. it WILL break if more than 14 ft/lbs. (20 nm) of torque is applied. there is no replacement for just the bolt. it requires a whole pulley replacement which costs 1000$!!!!!! so be careful with the bolt! those that broke the bolt have replaced it with a solid grade 8 bolt. but its hollow for a reason. what that reason is is still unclear to most

 

What about a little "Never Seez" pre install.

 

Well I tried to remove it while hot, and found that either more grease has seeped, or the grease that was present was hot and liquid state. However, pulley still won't budge. I am tring to find a gear puller that will grab it properly and hopefully will get it off.

 

You might want to try some WD-40 spray it really good and let it set for a little and try again ..

 

Well SUCCESS... I went and grabbed a different puller, A bearing puller or something. It has a two piece circular clamp to press onto the pulley. I came straight home after a good drive, stripped everything down and used these clamps to grab the pulley and just pulled and it finally released.

What a pain this was. I suppose the pulley being aluminum and the S/C snout being steel that while hot they were able to expand just enough to come off when pulled straight out. Whatever the reason, it is off and the stocker is on. Thanks for everyones help.

Now I need a new bearing the the C3 for I am guessing it is on its way out and may be the cause of the pulley noise I was concerned about. Although I still would like to change the bigger idler too. Cheers