Do you need the $312 J-23523-F SPX-Kent Moore flange type harmonic balance puller that Mercruiser lists for the 496HO or is there a more economical HB puller that will work?

You can pick up a decent puller at any auto parts store for about 50 bucks. I use a Snap-On puller set myself but you don't need anything that crazy for home use. When you go to reinstall it you will need an installer though, do not hammer it on or use the bolt to suck it in. You can make your own installer pretty easily with some threaed rod, a bearing, a couple washers, and a nut. The 496 has a metric thread in the crank so you may have troulbe finding the rod in the thread you need. You can also buy an installer kit if you want for about 50 bucks, again most decent auto parts stores should carry it.

hillbilly24,

Do the GM L-18 Vortec engines in the pickups use the same harmonic balancer, metric threads./size and all, as the Merc 496HO so that I can tell them it is for the truck engine? Everytime I mention Mercruiser to anyone other than a marine facility their eyes glaze over and they start wandering aimlessly.

hillbilly24,

Why does using the bolt to draw the harmonic balancer back onto the crank shaft not work?

What kind of bearing?

The bolt is too short. If you hammer it on a bit, then you run the risk of stripping out the few threads that the bolt has reached. I like the homemade installer idea.

You need a jacketed bearing, they are designed to be loaded on the sides instead of the inner and outer races. Get one with an I.D. just a bit bigger then the threaded rod that you thread into the crakshaft. Thread the rod all the way into the crank until it bottoms out tehn slide the balbnce on as far as it will go, you can give it a light tap with a dead blow hammer to get it to stay still if you need to. Then slide the bearing on followed by a washer and then the nut. As you tighten the nut the balncer will be drawn onto the crankshaft,You will know when it is seated. If you can, try and get hardened rod and hardware to make it with, if you can't it's not the end of the world but it will probably only be good for one or two times before the threads start to gual on the threaded rod. Make sure you lube the threads good with a light grease too this will help reduce the risk of destryoing the threads if the balancer is real tight on the crank. Balancers have a min max machine spec as does the crank, if the crank is towards the max diameter and the I.D. of the balancer is towards the minimum they can be real tight.

Thanks again for the information. It is appreciated

snap on makes a real nice puller for the 8.1 which is the same as the truck if you look they dont have the three holes to use the cheap pullers found in parts stores but the snap on one get the job done every time i need it