3.4 crank timing gear removal

I'm trying to get the timing gear off the front of the crankshaft so I can swap out a super leaky front crank seal. I've put a puller on it with the bolts threaded into the holes you're supposed to pull from, and it's not budging. I'm worried if I crank the puller any harder it's just going to rip the threads out of the holes. Anybody have any tips for how to get this thing off?

I'd rather not buy another timing gear, but I will if it comes to that. The most important thing is that I have to get it off of there without damaging anything else.

 

I'm gonna say rust and corrosion is causing your problem. Soak it with kroil, pb blaster, or transmission fluid for a day or more, then try again. Sometimes it takes a lot of pressure to get them to break loose.

 

yeah, it's been well soaked in pb blaster - didn't seem to help. I'm thinking of putting a really big 3 jaw puller on it and just risking messing up the gear to get it off. Those little bolts that go in the holes on the gear (6mm?) seem too small for the amount of force I'm going to have to use.

 

how did you end up getting it off? I am in the middle of doing the same thing and ended up breaking off one of the teeth on the gear. had to buy a new one from dealer for $70 ($20 higher than the original part number, since it is supposedly the new improved replacement). I ended up finally getting it off by using a crankshaft gear puller borrowed from auto zone but had to get some 3" long metric thread bolts from hardware store to fit the holes in the gear to use with the puller since the bolts that came with the puller were SAE thread and way too big. I busted the tooth off the gear trying to pry it off with a crowbar. I won't do that again! the teeth on that thing are very brittle and weak. I had the same issue getting the crankshaft pulley off, it was froze on the crankshaft. Finally got the crankbolt off after breaking 3 wrenches and getting a buddy to help with his oversized chain wrench and a 3 foot 1/2" breaker bar. I did make a tool I found on another forum out of 1/4 steel that I wish I had when I started, that will hold the crankshaft and camshaft pulleys to remove and replace the bolts. But I guess at 270,000 miles I can't complain too much.

 

I went to the nuts and bolts store and bought metric bolts that fit into the holes in the gear so that I could use them in my puller. Then I ended up having to gently heat it with a propane torch to get it to pop off. It was surprising how little heat it took before the puller worked its magic (pre soaked in PB Blaster). If you're not worried about saving the gear, you could be more liberal with the heat. I oiled and sanded (very fine grit) the rust off the end of the crankshaft before I put the new one on, and it slid on snugly with no problems.

 

yes I am getting ready to put everything back together. I did lightly sand the crankshaft too, so hopefully everything will slide back on without any problems. Did you replace the crankshaft and cam seals while you were in there? How about the timing idler and tensioner? Just curious. I was a little insecure not going ahead and replacing those as many miles as I have on mine.

 

I did the crank and cam seals. The crank seal was really leaky. Timing idler and tensioner I reused, but my truck only has 140k miles on it. I was in there for a head gasket job (previous work was done poorly, possibly by Toyota tech on HG recall years ago), so cam seals were part of that. I also did the water pump and timing belt, new t-stat (the PO had left it out), all new belts, some new seals in the AC, a used replacement compressor. Now I'm on to rust removal and treatment on the frame, cutting off the rusty rear bumper and replacing it, replacement of a gas tank with a hole rusted in it, replacement of rusted out fuel and brake lines, a new steering column seal, and various other odds and ends. Hoping to get it off the lift and out on the road in another 10 days or so after 2.5 months of slow steady work.

 

Wow major undertaking there. I am going to tackle valve cover gaskets, plugs, wires, etc while I'm in there. Hopefully that will go better than what I have run into so far.

 

did get the crank and cam gears off finally, but had to pull the timing cover back plate to replace the oil seals. On the back of the metal back plate I removed there was some type of spongy sealant used around the cam seals, crank seal, and other openings to keep dirt and oil out of the timing belt area. The old sealant was coming off so I removed it. Just curious if anybody else has run into this and what they may have used to insulate/reseal these openings.

 

it didn't look too different from weatherstripping to me.

 

Most of it was in a circle to seal out the round openings. From the looks of it, it looked to be squeezed on out of a tube maybe. I have the timing cover seal kit I purchased which is all weather stripping type material but nothing that would work in a circle. What year truck were you working on?

 

ahhh...I was thinking of the timing cover seal that looked like weatherstripping. There was no noticeable seal on the back of my timing cover back plate, just bare metal. The previous owners of my truck had been in there before - the head had obviously been off and not put back on very well, and another guy made a botch job of some parts of a timing belt job. So who knows what it was like to start with based on what I saw. My 3.4 is a '96 T100, which I think is basically the same as a 3.4 Taco. My Taco is a '96 2.7.

 

>>did get the crank and cam gears off finally, but had to pull the timing cover back plate to replace the oil seals.<<

When I did my water pump I started to remove the 3 seals (on my 3.4l engine, 1998 Tacoma). I did remove the black thin metal plate; however, then I stopped because the shafts protruded out of the seals' centers preventing me from using a seal puller. I am curious as to how you removed those seals with the camshafts and crankshaft still in place. Fortunately my truck has only 88K on it and the seals were still good. Please let me know how you did this...

 

drill a small hole in the middle of the seal ring and screw in a screw a 1/4" or so, just enough to grab the seal well. Use the claw on a hammer to pull on the screw and seal. I tried several methods but that was the only one that worked since my seals were so old and froze in place (270,000 miles)
Caution, you must be very careful not to score the shaft with the drill bit or the screw when using this method!