Yet Another 3.0 Head Gasket Thread

[oldskewel]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

Don't need a puller it's only held by the 8 bolts. It will fall off by gravity.

The Jesus bolt is in the way of going straight across but you might figure out a forked solution to go around both sides. I think the factory bar bolts to four bolts and has approx 5/8" bar that comes out and levers against the top of oil pan the "Leno chin" of the motor.

I believe all that advice may be great for a V8, but it was a little bit completely different from that on my 3.0i.

No puller needed, no extra bolts. If you look at the great pics in the e46 thread, I can believe that is exactly what mine was like:

https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/...l-seal.912460/

So there is one bolt to remove = the crank pulley bolt. Once that is out, the pulley slides off and everything else can come off.

Also, BTW, the crank pulley is actually a harmonic balancer since the pulley is not solid. It is made from inner and outer steel parts sandwiching a thin rubber compliance layer. You can see that layer in the e46 pics. Mine was fine, but it is not unheard of for that rubber to have disintegrated / delaminated to allow the two steel parts to separate. If you find that, you'll need a new pulley. It should feel completely solid, and you would not even notice that rubber layer if not looking for it.