LS1/LS6 timing chain dampener
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,235
Likes: 51
Wish i saw this when i did my cam instal. My car is a 2003 z. I used a Romac balancer with ARP bolt, but did not pin it. What is pining a harmonic balancer and why would one do this?
My holes seem centered. Do they need to be tapped?
Wouldn't Teflon be a great material to use?
Thanks
My holes seem centered. Do they need to be tapped?
Wouldn't Teflon be a great material to use?
Thanks
Last edited by Georgies; Mar 28, 2018 at 07:20 PM.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 477
Likes: 21
From: Knoxville TN
If your block has the holes, they are already tapped. m8x1.25x35
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
"I get a lot of questions about the dampener rubbing the chain on the driver side. I wanted to post up here to try and answer the question for as broad of an audience as possible"
I bought one of these but have not installed it. I did find a pic of the UNAVAILABLE GM unit:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-in-stock.html
Notice in the GM design, the bolt holes are not symmetric with the dampener; the right bolt is located further to the right edge and lower than the left bolt location. This would move the center of the dampener slightly to the left away from the drivers side and rotate the right top closer to the cam gear.
I am not sure if this is of any significance at all and it might be in the same mounting position as the GM design. It would be great to hear from some people who have installed it, put on some miles, and then inspected it. Experience counts. I would really like to have the benefits of a dampener in my engine.
I bought one of these but have not installed it. I did find a pic of the UNAVAILABLE GM unit:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-in-stock.html
Notice in the GM design, the bolt holes are not symmetric with the dampener; the right bolt is located further to the right edge and lower than the left bolt location. This would move the center of the dampener slightly to the left away from the drivers side and rotate the right top closer to the cam gear.
I am not sure if this is of any significance at all and it might be in the same mounting position as the GM design. It would be great to hear from some people who have installed it, put on some miles, and then inspected it. Experience counts. I would really like to have the benefits of a dampener in my engine.
Last edited by vettenuts; Mar 29, 2018 at 12:34 PM.
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 203
Likes: 31
From: Baltimore MD
So the GM dampener design has offset bolt locations to reverse match the non-symmetric offset holes in the block. Case of two wrongs making a right! Maybe GM had to space the holes non symmetric to not interfere with a cavity in the block. Really want to hear from someone who has inspected it after installing it and putting on some miles.
A little hard to tell from the pics, but it appears with the new unit installed in a block that the curvature of the dampener does not match the curvature of the cam gear, i.e. the drivers top is lower than the passengers relative to the cam gear?
A little hard to tell from the pics, but it appears with the new unit installed in a block that the curvature of the dampener does not match the curvature of the cam gear, i.e. the drivers top is lower than the passengers relative to the cam gear?
Last edited by fmvette9; Mar 29, 2018 at 02:25 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
So the GM dampener design has offset bolt locations to reverse match the non-symmetric offset holes in the block. Case of two wrongs making a right! Maybe GM had to space the holes non symmetric to not interfere with a cavity in the block. Really want to hear from someone who has inspected it after installing it and putting on some miles.
A little hard to tell from the pics, but it appears with the new unit installed in a block that the curvature of the dampener does not match the curvature of the cam gear, i.e. the drivers top is lower than the passengers relative to the cam gear?
A little hard to tell from the pics, but it appears with the new unit installed in a block that the curvature of the dampener does not match the curvature of the cam gear, i.e. the drivers top is lower than the passengers relative to the cam gear?
Last edited by vettenuts; Mar 29, 2018 at 02:56 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
There was a small bit of slop in the chain, I wouldn't put too much stock in the gap that is in the photo since it's not rotating. Once I started moving it that slop went away as I recall. The damper is there to prevent chain wrap on the opposite side (passenger side) as the system is spinning. Chain wrap is the main cause of failure.
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 788
Likes: 105
From: Olathe Kansas
Because it is NOT A Tensioner.. It's just there to prevent wrap around when racing and shifting gears.. More prevalent on a stick car vs an automatic..
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
There is one other critical factor for a damper to perform its job correctly and that is the interference fit. As part of installation, you are supposed to measure the crank snout and hub internal diameter. If the interference fit does not fall within the given tolerance, the hub is supposed to be honed to obtain the correct interference fit. This is provided in the ATI and Innovators West instructions and other aftermarket dampers.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
I have 20 plus thousand miles on my LS2 chain, GM chain dampener and powerbond harmonic dampener. ZERO issues. I run the engine hard.
A new chain will have some slack (as designed) If you rotate the engine in a CCW or CW direction, there will be some slack (space between the chain and chain dampener on one side or the other.
As others have stated, the dampener is designed to PREVENT chain wrap during hard engine acceleration or hard deceleration.
Bill
A new chain will have some slack (as designed) If you rotate the engine in a CCW or CW direction, there will be some slack (space between the chain and chain dampener on one side or the other.
As others have stated, the dampener is designed to PREVENT chain wrap during hard engine acceleration or hard deceleration.
Bill
.
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,042
Likes: 1,157
From: Oregon
St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23
I have his dampener going in my 02 vert along with Bret's timing chain
And yes the 02 LS1 blocks are threaded to add this dampener
And yes the 02 LS1 blocks are threaded to add this dampener
Last edited by Smoken1; May 28, 2018 at 02:48 PM.
No Hostility Be Happy
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 10,082
Likes: 7,398
From: South Hill Wa
2022 C5 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2021 C5 of the Year Finalist - Modified
I made that video for you guys the other day. Very impressed with the product. I'm no pro youtuber but I like to make a video for products where there are none.
Hopefully it is helpful to someone.
Hopefully it is helpful to someone.
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 193
Likes: 16
From: Vegas NV
I know it's been two months, but can you give me a little insight on the oil pump o'ring? From what I've read I have to make sure it goes on correct and also it doesn't fall into the pan. My FSM shows the task with the oil pan off. Thanks Mike
No Hostility Be Happy
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 10,082
Likes: 7,398
From: South Hill Wa
2022 C5 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2021 C5 of the Year Finalist - Modified
Unfortunately I don't remember the oring details perfectly. The Melling instructions if you use a Melling pump are quite specific and clear on which oring to use with which pick up tube you have to the point where it's a no brainer.
This is not my picture.
