ATI balancer pinning kit warning
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 4,449
Likes: 409
From: Portland OR
ATI balancer pinning kit warning
Hey gang.
So I bought the ATI pinning kit and installed the pin. I used the 918993 tool.
Front cover is off for a cam swap. Decided now is the time to remove the oil pump drive and crank gear and guess what?
With the new pin in place (the location is wherever you put it) there isn't enough room for the oil pump drive to disengage it's keyway bofore hitting the new pin I just installed. Wonderful!
It turns out that there is a 918993-1 kit that requires the pump drive and crank gear to be removed and is keyed so the new pin aligns perfectly with the existing key.
Interesting huh? Because if you were to pin the crank with the timing cover installed (the way the kit works) and then at some later date you wanted to replace the crank gear, you are stuck just like I am now.
It's not a huge deal because I can punch the pin out but wouldn't it have been nice if this were known ahead of time? I would have bought the other kit.
So just a heads up for those who would like to pin the crank this way in the future.
Still baffles the shyt out of me why GM didn't just have a keyed balancer.
Ron
So I bought the ATI pinning kit and installed the pin. I used the 918993 tool.
Front cover is off for a cam swap. Decided now is the time to remove the oil pump drive and crank gear and guess what?
With the new pin in place (the location is wherever you put it) there isn't enough room for the oil pump drive to disengage it's keyway bofore hitting the new pin I just installed. Wonderful!
It turns out that there is a 918993-1 kit that requires the pump drive and crank gear to be removed and is keyed so the new pin aligns perfectly with the existing key.
Interesting huh? Because if you were to pin the crank with the timing cover installed (the way the kit works) and then at some later date you wanted to replace the crank gear, you are stuck just like I am now.
It's not a huge deal because I can punch the pin out but wouldn't it have been nice if this were known ahead of time? I would have bought the other kit.
So just a heads up for those who would like to pin the crank this way in the future.
Still baffles the shyt out of me why GM didn't just have a keyed balancer.
Ron
Last edited by RonSSNova; Feb 5, 2012 at 02:11 AM.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
Not sure which kit I used but I got as close as I could to pinning the damper so the 0 degree mark was at TDC for future reference when working on the valve train. My pin was somewhat a sloppy fit and I actually went to an over sized pin for this reason. With the bolt out, the pin will drop right into the inside of the crank. I wasn't aware there was a second kit.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 87,357
Likes: 1,592
From: Western NY
Ron, thanks for the "heads up". I've been considering the installation of an ATI damper on my car, and if I do so, I was also going to "pin it".
As usual, I tend not to jump on things without doing some research, as I was wondering how you properly orient both the damper, as well as the pin, should you decide to install one....especially if you're doing the job with hte front cover in place.
I assumed that you'd want the pin in line with the factory keyway, so oil pump and/or timing gears could be easily removed, but I also assumed that being able to accurately locate the keyway, then the pin, with the cover in place, and the engine in the car, would be a bit of a challenge.
As usual, I tend not to jump on things without doing some research, as I was wondering how you properly orient both the damper, as well as the pin, should you decide to install one....especially if you're doing the job with hte front cover in place.
I assumed that you'd want the pin in line with the factory keyway, so oil pump and/or timing gears could be easily removed, but I also assumed that being able to accurately locate the keyway, then the pin, with the cover in place, and the engine in the car, would be a bit of a challenge.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 4,449
Likes: 409
From: Portland OR
The -1 kit requires the cover to be off and the crank gear removed so it can slide over the key.
With the cover on, I think it would be very difficult to drill the new pin in alignment with the key for the crank gear. I would think even if you were off by .010", the pump drive would bind up between the pin and the key during removal.
With the cover on, I think it would be very difficult to drill the new pin in alignment with the key for the crank gear. I would think even if you were off by .010", the pump drive would bind up between the pin and the key during removal.
