It looks like the harmonic balancer on my 84 separated. Any tips or gotchas to replacing it would be appreciated.
TIA,
Dennis

 

This became a major PIA for me because the rental tools for removal and assembly from Autozone were both screwed. I am confident that it would have been a minor hassle otherwise. I recommend that you replace the balancer bolt. My replacement had a much more pronounced head and that made rotating the engine much easier when I did valve lash.

The outer ring of my balancer was also slipping back toward the engine block. I couldn't imagine why the timing mark guide had been placed so that it essentially covered the timing mark. It finally dawned on me that the outer ring had moved.

 

Definitely replace the bolt and washer, and like Chatman says, get a puller that works...

 

I got some great help on this topic from forum member "ski_dwn_it". I was in the process of buying a custom chip due to a smog/timing issue, when I discovered the spun balancer... even though it pre-empted my purchase, he was great enough to guide me through the replacement process....very cool. I cut and pasted his PM instructions here.... good luck.

Note from: www.azzatochips.com


......Ok, now for the balancer:

You can do it in the car, I have done it many times on my stock 350, when I had to remove it.

There are lines along the powersteering, that will need to be loosened, to allow you to slip the puller threaded rod through. The tubing actually has a little bent section to allow room to get it through. You have to under the "fanned" portion of the puller off, until you get the rob through, then screw the fanned portion onto the threaded rod. Its kinda a pain in the ***, but you can do it. Then you can install the puller bolts through the fanned part. Also be sure to use a tip on the end of the puller, to avoid any damage to the threads in the crank. They usually come with a coned, swivel on the front which will work fine, but have known people to not use it to only find upon assembly they messed up the crank threads. That will only cause more pain to an already painful experience.

Once you have the balancer off, promptly disc throw it across your yard into your neigbors pool that complains about your loud car - this will get you ready for part II of your work.

For installation, its best to slip the balancer on to the crankshaft by hand as far as possible to make sure its alinged ok with the keyway. It will not go on very far. You will need to use a threaded rod that is screwed into your crank, might be hard to find the right threaded rod, but as luck would have it, they make balancer install tools. I highly recommend you get one. Use this along with a large ratchet or better yet an air gun to push the balancer into position. Make sure its seated properly.

Again I would verify with your TDC stop that your TDC is the true TDC. Another thing that would help in determining everything is ok, is get some of that timing tape and put it all the way around your new balancer. Its probably not 100% perfect for timing marks but it will give you a REAL close approximation.

Hope all this helps, and talk to you soon.

Jesse



Quote:
Originally Posted by LangstC4
Hi Jesse,
Thanks for the reply..what is the next step to get the chip? Now that the car is torn down it might be the right time to try to do this. To you question about the timing mark....
I figure if the stock balancer has the timimg mark at 10 degrees before centerline (the key slot), mine is rotated about 1.5" clockwise past centerline...maybe 15-20degrees ....a combined difference of about 25 degrees off. Best case at 25 degrees off center...plus the 6 degree btdc spec...the car is timed at 31 BTDC est. It knocks, stalls at idle and failed the emmisions test on the second try (small wonder). I am shopping a new balancer part now and was wondering how hard it is to remove the balancer. I have a puller but it is too long to use...any special pullers out there? I have a choice of reassemble and taking to a repair shop to be torn down again...or trying to replace the balancer myself. Any experieince on how hard they are to install? (another consideration.....
thanks again,
Bruce

 

Thanx everybody for the info. Looks like it's time to get out the wrenches.

 

Auto Zone has a nice tool rental program. I recommend renting the tool and do be careful with crankshaft threads. I struggled with mine due in fact that I did not have the proper tools. With the correct tools, the job is actually very easy.

 

When I have replaced the balancers I also went ahead and replaced the timing gears and chain. What could be a better time to do it? My 86 had a top gear that had teeth missing when I did that. Really I feel lucky to find it in time. Good Luck

 

I bet that felt great "knowing" you find a possible bad failure about to come up down the road.Preventive maint is a blessing in disguise at best because usually the rule of "It it aint broke,dont fix it applies", but you can never be sure unless you check.