I'm doing timing belt and front oil seals on my 88 740 GLE, 230F, and I've read that the crank pully need "motivation" to come off... some on the FAQ have mentioned pullers being required.

My question is, what type of puller is required...???

pictures would be cool

No puller needed. Watch your toes.

A different question to ask, though, is how you lock up the front pulley (harmonic balancer) while you loosen the bolt and, later, when you tighten and torque the bolt.

An air impact wrench is not such a good idea on the B230 series (even though it was a fine idea for the B21/23 engines). The crankshaft in the B230 is cast (vs. forged in the B21/23). A cast crank is very brittle, and you have a slight chance of shattering it with an impact wrench -- admittedly low probability, but not zero probability, and not an easy or cheap repair if it happens.

Get the crank tool, if possible. It makes it all sooooo easy. (Construction plans are in the archives.)

You can probably find a way to jam a screwdriver in the ring gear.

Look in the archives for "rope trick" (no, it's not holding the front pulley with a rope). Don't consider a strap wrench -- you'll tear apart the rubber donut in your front pulley (harmonic balancer). Anyway, the required torque's too high.

--
Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

one of the more interesting and costly shop mishaps i have seen.
volvo on lift,
eager tech sure that the balencer is pressed on,
after removing bolt and washer grabs with both hands and pulls,
WAY TO HARD!
balancer falls to floor and pie shaped piece breaks out of casting.
oop's
i agree with the others.even the rusty ones come off pretty easy.good luck

No puller. Tap around perimeter with a hammer if it's "Stuck". The worst one I've ever seen was only a few taps away from coming right off anyway.
--
1992 940 wagon, low miles
as well as others.

Weezy,

I've never had any real trouble removing the crank pulley (harmonic balancer) on any B230 engine. Once the belts are off and the center bolt removed, they generally slide right off. A little B'laster can help if there is corrosion and a bit of tapping on the back side around the perimeter with a drift can usually get the job done. I've never had to use a puller ... I would suspect it is rarely necessary. Good luck. My $.02

Guys, I realize that it may just come off without a problem, but I would like to be prepared in case it DOESN'T come off. I worked on cars before where there was no way in hell that the balancer would come off with anything less than a puller.

Can someone PLEASE give me an idea of what type of PULLER to use?

Thanks.

I've done timing belt on 3 B230 cars and my experience is same as reported above - all came off w/o even thinking about a puller. If you want to have the right puller hand before you start work, you'll need something that pulls on the INTERNAL section of the pulley. That's because it's made of two parts bonded together by rubber. If the inner part is stuck on the shaft and your puller grips the outer part, you will likely break them apart. Hope this helps...