Hey guys, I'm trying to do a timing belt change, this is my first one. I've got the mount, water pump pulley, A/C bracket, belts, etc out of the way...now I'm trying to remove the crank pulley. I managed to get the 4 12mm bolts off, but the damn thing will NOT budge. My understanding is that the center nut for the crank sprocket does NOT need to be removed, however I've tried spraying penetrating lubricant and smacking it with a rubber mallet but it hasn't budged AT ALL.

Any tips on how to get the stupid pulley off? Crow bar?

Edit: Smack / Tap it on 4 adjacent conners of the pulley with a real hammer and it will come off.

You are correct you do not need to remove the centre bolt, just the four that surround it

If your hesitant to use a real hammer, than try a rubber hammer. You dont want to knock off the edges on the crank pulley.

He said he was using a rubber mallet. I always went with a piece of bronze (wood will do in a pinch) to avoid bending the metal. Also, the pulley has a rubber 'seperator' piece that will also take up some of the shock. Try going inward of this and giving it a few taps to see if it helps.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I was going to use a metal harmer but was a bit hesitant on bending the metal, but I think I will give it a shot tomorrow morning, and like Troy suggested, tap it inward of the separator and see what happens. In either case, as long as I can get it off I'll be happy, if I bend/break it, I'll just get a new one. The pulley that's on it now is in rough looking shape anyway.