Crankshaft Pulley

My '98 with a 3.2 engine started knocking last week in the engine compartment, so I took it to the local Isuzu dealer. He told me I needed a short block, to the tune of $6,600, not including tax. It only has 51,000 miles on it. After reading the posts here, I thought I'd take a shot at replacing the timing belt tensioner. Well, I'm down to the crankshaft pulley and just can't get that mother off. I saw one post where someone asked if it was a left-handed thread, but no response. Is it a left-handed thread? If not, then whoever put it back on after they replaced one of my heads that was cracked must have torqued the bejeezus out of it.

If it does not knock with the timing belt covers off, then it's not the hydraulic t-belt tensioner. The crank pulley nut should loosen the opposite way the pulley rotates, have someone bump it over to see.
G/luck
Joel

I just took my front pulley off today. To loosen the bolt, lodge a breaker bar on the top of the drivers side frame rail and touch the starter. Loosens that bad boy right up. The pulley was not a tight fit and came off with my hand. If the belt is loose the tightner is not doing the job. The pivot shaft on the idler might also be froze. This would not let the idler travel freely.
Good luck

Well, I got everything apart using the breaker bar against the frame trick. Thanks. It doesn't appear that the tensioner is the problem. It's very stiff. I tried using a big pair of channel locks to compress it and, either it's stuck, or it's holding pressure like it should. I'm not sure how much pressure it's supposed to take to compress it.

Here's a little more info on my noise. I only hear it above 2200 RPM and it sounds like someone is banging on the block with a hammer. When I first crank up, the engine revs up and I hear it, but after the RPMs drop, I don't. When I take off, I don't hear it again until the gear change, about 2200-2300 RPM. After the gear change, automatic tranny by the way, and the RPMs drop back down, I don't hear it. I've also begun hearing some valve rattle noise, not noticed before this started happening. Could it still be the tensioner, even though it appears to be OK?