Hello all,

I just joined the forum to see if anyone can offer some advice
regarding removal of the front drive pulley on the 3.0 DOHC engine?
I have a 1996 Taurus that just tonight developed a rapping noise.
After a quick inspection I was able to determine that the front drive
pulley on the crankshaft ( the one the serpentine belt rides in) has a
bonded rubber core and that it had seperated from the pulley itself.
the noise comes from a tang that is slapping in a slot. The backup
tang drive allows you to still run the engine.

I have a spare engine for parts which has a good pulley on it, so the
plan was to remove that pulley and replace the bad one. I read a
service manual and it warned about turning the engine in
reverse direction and to unscrew the large nut holding on the pulley
in a clockwise direction while holding the crankshaft from turning.

Removing that large nut was easy say, no easy do,:) I struggled
for a half hour trying to get it off a few degrees at a time. After it
finally loosened it still will not come off nor will the pulley.

I then gave up on the spare motor and went to see if I could move the
large nut on my car's pulley. Since the car is on jackstands and
access is not the best I couldn't budge the nut a degree, so I gave up
for now.

I'm stuck, what is the trick to get that damn nut off and after you
get that off how do you get the pulley off? It looks very tight in
there on the 96 Taurus clearance wise between the frame rail and the
pulley. Will the pulley come off while the motor is in the car or do
you have to drop the cradle slightly?

Thanks in advance

Wray

Hey man, I was having the same problem with my 93 SHO, and my bolt head was stripped out! If you are turning the bolt head clockwise, you're turning it the wrong way. The engine turns clockwise, and that bolt was designed to tighten the harder it is turned clockwise. So you may have a little trouble getting it off now. Try this: Place a 19mm impact socket over the bolt. Now, take a CRAFSTMEN LIFETIME 1/2 drive wrench, attach the impact socket, and set the wrench to take the bolt off, and rest it on the subframe. Now, bump the starter on the vehicle. It should be off.