Doc tells me that some members have contacted him indicating that they are having difficulty removing their oil pump drive gears so that they can send them to him for the upcoming batch hardening. The puller Doc pictured in the "gear hardening" post is no longer available from JC Whitney. Here's the alternative that worked for me:
I wound up using 2 pullers. You can see them at Eastwood and Whitney sites to get the idea.
Eastwood catalog
Tie Rod Puller
Item No. - 4902
http://www.eastwoodco.com/
(then do "search" function for "tie rod puller")
JC Whitney catalog
BEARING SEPARATOR/PULLER AND GEAR PULLER SET
http://www.jcwhitney.com/item.jhtml?ITEMID=2254&BQ=jcw2
I know you can rent at least the tie rod puller from Kragen's, but it's a real handy (though not cheap) tool to have and works great busting ball joints and tie rods loose for a disk brake swap, without the downside of a pickle fork.
First I used the bearing seperator, but turned it upside down so the bevel was facing AWAY from the gear. I was going to do it the other way at first, but was afraid that to much stress would be placed on the tips of the
pump gear teeth themselves.
Once I had gotten the gear to move about 3/8" up the shaft, I switched to the tie rod puller, using the flat-ended drive bolt tip from the bearing seperator (instead of the tip that comes with the tie rod puller) as a spacer because the tie rod puller "drive bolt" doesn't have enough travel otherwise to finish the job, and is too large to fit in the hole in the pump gear. Once the pump gear is about half way off, the going gets alot easier and not so much torque is required to get it the rest of the way off.
Basically, the problem with getting these gears off is that the tips of most puller jaws are too fat to get in between the gear and the neck of the pump housing. That makes it hard to get a solid purchase that (A)-isn't stressing the gear teeth and (B)-isn't likely to slip off when grunt is applied. Also, until you get the gear started, the end of the pump shaft is flush with the gear end, so lots of pullers want to "walk" and slip off.
I have several pullers of various types, but none of them would get this done, each for its own reason. The tie rod puller, which I already had, came closest as the tips of its jaws taper to an edge (though at too steep an angle to let them snug up to the pump shaft in that little space between the gear and the housing neck). Also, I couldn't find a way to hold the TR puller stationary when applying enough torque to get the pump gear "started", so it wanted to "walk off" the gear. The the pump shaft turns freely when you apply torque to whatver puller you're using...all this would be alot easier if there was a way to "lock down" the pump shaft during the procedure.
Went ahead and bought the bearing seperator as I figured it is a versatile tool which will pay for itself in the long haul anyway, even if it ended up being unable do this job. The gamble paid off, as it was just what I needed to break the gear part way loose.
Doc says that the gears on the pumps with the iron housings (which is what I had to deal with) are the toughest to get off, since the gap between the gear and the housing "neck" is the smallest, leaving the least room to get a solid purchase with your puller jaws.
Hope somebody finds this helpful.
---Red
