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Tying to check my timing and can't see the mark on damper. Anybody have a picture of what it looks like, the tab has all the markings and appears ok. I found and and disconnected the a tan with black striped wire which i believe is est wire. I have several books, including FSM, but they don't have a good picture.
Drake, are you having a problem seeing the groove in the harmonic balancer or are you missing the silver tab?
In your picture, it looks like the tab is the black cruddy thing with the white bloches on it. Clean that sucker . If you can't see the mark/groove on the balancer, get under there with a rag or even some sandpaper and clean it too. You should be able to feel the groove. I usually use white touchup paint to mark the line.
The groove is what i can't see. I tried bumping the starter but the groove never seems to come up, or maybe its so cruddy i can't recognize it. I'll spray rhe whole thing with cleaner, maybe that'll help.
From: Hampton, VA Yea, i'm a redneck... but you love it
Cruise-In 8-9 Veteran
aka/Trunk Monkey/Banned For Life/Corvette For Life
Originally Posted by DRAKEFAMILY2
The groove is what i can't see. I tried bumping the starter but the groove never seems to come up, or maybe its so cruddy i can't recognize it. I'll spray rhe whole thing with cleaner, maybe that'll help.
After pulling the pulley off i've come to the conclusion the outside of balancer has came loose from the middle part of pulley and now is sitting beneath the timing tab. Does this sound possible?
Your conclusion is right on the money! The outside ring of your damper has slipped backward and is headed right in the direction of your timing chain cover. How do I know - because this exactly what happened to my 85 except I didn't catch it in time before it rubbed a hole through my TC cover and I noticed a small oil leak which I thought was a front seal. When it reaches your TC cover, there is a little less than 3/8 of an inch holding the outer ring from coming right off and if it does - look out! Time to pull that old damper off and replace with a new one.
Your conclusion is right on the money! The outside ring of your damper has slipped backward and is headed right in the direction of your timing chain cover. How do I know - because this exactly what happened to my 85 except I didn't catch it in time before it rubbed a hole through my TC cover and I noticed a small oil leak which I thought was a front seal. When it reaches your TC cover, there is a little less than 3/8 of an inch holding the outer ring from coming right off and if it does - look out! Time to pull that old damper off and replace with a new one.
You were right on
I can't see any oil leaks but it was rubbing against the cover pretty good. The damper was a PIA to get off, no room. Tomorrow i'll see if i can see any leaks.
I didn't have much trouble changing mine. I think I had to remove one power steering line on the R&P, and I used the proper puller. My key stayed in the crank so rather than trying to get it out and have it fall into the oil pan, I left it there. Be sure to use the right installer tool as well and torque to specs. By the way, if you do find that it wore a hole through the TC cover, I did a temporary fix and applied some JB weld and covered it with RTV sealer. It was only supposed to do the job temporarily, but a year later and it is still not leaking so maybe the temporary fix will be a little longer. There isn't much pressure in that area to worry about. Good luck with the repair - always nice when you can do it yourself!
I hope to get in there and clean the area up so i see if it wore a hole or not. At the very least i'll replace the crank seal while i can get at it. There is so very little room in there it makes it hard to get a good look at everything. It seems that everything i work on this car is a PITA to get at.
Cleaned and looked at TC and didn't see any holes. Popped the seal out, surprise, no problems. Will pick up new damper and seal later this week. Thanks for all the help.
be careful when you install the new seal - the TC cover is a pretty thin piece of tin and it can easily be bent when you are pressing the seal back in.
I Had the same thing happen and used a shorter bolt to pull it and use the the three bolts to reinstall the harmonic balancer. I went through CNC-Motorsports for a new balancer could not beat their prices and took just 2days to get it. Good luck wro87