1988 Jeep Cherokee Wheel on front of engine fell off

LSKILES

MEMBER
1988 JEEP CHEROKEE

Engine Mechanical problem
1988 Jeep Cherokee 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic 150k miles

On the freeway there was a clunk and bump and a metal wheel rolled to the side of the freeway. I stopped and picked it up. It goes on the front of the crank right up front. It is part of the route for the serpentine belt so I lost the power steering/alt/cooling fan/etc. I got it home, but I do not see how the wheel is attached. Do I have to have it pressed on? Can I hammer it in place?
Please do not tell me to take it to a shop as I just got back to work and can not afford it. Also can not afford to donate to an answer, sorry.

Thanks for any help.

Saturday, January 17th, 2009 AT 1:21 AM

2 Replies

TGFISHEL

MEMBER
52 POSTS

Man though I had problems - ok not sure if its your pulley to your water pump or your power steering pump or is it your idler pulley it may be your crank shaft vibration damper pulley I know money is tight but if you can get a repair manual from autozone the one I have is a (haynes repair manual ) it will help you out. Page 1-23 will show you the pulley that fell off also it shows you how to put your serpentine belt back on. Good luck let me know how you make out on this.

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Monday, January 19th, 2009 AT 8:27 PM

LSKILES

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Thanks for the reply and for the advice.
I went to the public libarary and found a repair manual for my jeep. It is the harmonic balance wheel. I went to Autozone and they have a free tool loan program and I borrowed a wheel puller and it was a bear to get the old one off. Only the outer wheel had come off. It is prooving to be even more difficult to get the new one on. You are suppose to press it on with the bolt and washer that holds it on, but it was too short so I bought a longer one and then I do not have enough leverage with my ratchet handle so I picked up an 18" length of pipe at work for a cheater-bar. I will try and get it wrenched on tonight.

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Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 AT 9:09 AM