Hey everyone, I am replacing my vp44 and I dont have a puller on hand for the gear in the front cover, any suggestions on how to work around that?

The truck is a 2002 5.9HO 6-speed 4x4, 45hp injectors, and a superchips programer

 

well...IMO i wouldn't even atempt it without the puller. and unless you've seen it done up close and personal i wouldn't even touch it...i had a guy do the one on my truck a couple of weeks ago and last weekend i did one for one of my friends in NC and i was so dag on worried about the key i almost nocked it out of it's place and down into the engine...

 

A decent steering wheel puller will do it -- I used a Harbor Freight kinda heavy multipurpose one. Have the key on top per instructions to prevent it from falling out.

Note that the key is matched to each individual VP44. There are 21 keys each with a slightly different offset and you need the matching one with the arrow stamped on top pointing to the pump. The number is coded on the side of the pump. The key should match the last digits of the number - example: 043 or 046 as I had on my old and new pump.

 

you can use a timing gear puller, or steering wheel puller, just pulled my vp yesterday, and a new one will be on tomorrow. If you have an autozone near, you can rent them for free pending a 10 dollar refundable deposit.

 

There was a post a long time ago where a guy used the lifting plate and drilled and tapped a hole in the center between the bolt holes and used a couple sockets under the intake bolts for spacers. pretty creative.

Small gear puller from Harbor freight is bewst. $6-7.