Lessons Learned

All the write ups and the FSM tell you to remove the belt first, before you start replacing the water pump and/or the harmonic balancer, but that isnt what you should do.

Instead, I tightened the belt, which helped keep the pulleys in place while untighting the pulley/HB bolts.

If you need to replace the water pump, start with spraying the pulley with some of your favorite penetrant be4hand...and be gentle with it because it is a dealer only item...

Oh, and apparently you have to take the front bumper off if you want to pull out the harmonic balancer.

Thank me later

Boris

Wow. Thanks for the heads up. (too soon?)

~James

In case it's not obvious from the post above, the water pump hub protrudes through the center of the pulley, and tends to seize, so even with the bolts out it can be a bit hard to remove. Hence the penetrant. And yes, belt stays on to loosen those bolts, or you're gonna regret it!

i just wedged a prybar between to of the bolts?

What year XJ? IIRC I pulled the HB on my 87 with out pulling the bumper, then decided to pull the bumper for the reinstall of the HB.

I also used the pry bar trick after puling the belt too soon.

I have replaced the harmonic balancer with out removing the front bumper.. the only thing I had to remove was the fan belt, front skid and engine bay mat.