If something broke while doing that, then you have bigger issues than the crank pulley. I've had the wheels spin with the e-brake once while doing that method to get it loose, so I just set the rear wheels down and let the weight of the car help, and that was enough to crack it loose. Having somebody sit inside and hold the brakes works great too.

 

just did this last week...

1) park brake
2) 6th gear ( very important, 1st gear will just spin the rear wheels)
3) driver with foot on the brake
4) 1/2 breaker bar with 1.5' pipe over it

make sure and lube the threads of the old bolt thread as you are seating the balancer back in AFTER you tap it on with a wood bock and 3lb hammer.

I also used black RTV under the new bolt washer/head to seal things up so water can't get in there and give you problems if that thing has to come off again.

good luck!

 

I'm sure nothing would have happened just me being paranoid I guess lol . Thanks agian everyone

 

1) Never use the bolt to seat the balancer! No matter how much you lube the threads, they can still gall and then you have to remove the crankshaft to repair the threads...that's assuming you can repair them, otherwise you're replacing the crankshaft. Get a length of all-thread with the correct threads, cut off a 6" piece, screw it all the way into the crank snout, and use a nut/washer to push the balancer on/seat it. If the threads of the nut/all-thread gall, remove the piece of all-thread from the crank, cut you another one and get a new nut...much easier/cheaper.

2) Never hit the balancer with a hammer/block of wood. Use the above procedure to push it on.

3) Never put anything under the washer that will affect the proper torquing of the bolt.

 

hitting the balancer, will get you thrust bearing problems on the crankshaft.........trust me, i know..........

 

thats the last thing i need another problem with my car so glad i didnt have to beat it on. hopefully i get it all wrapped up tomorrow im ready to drive this beast again was waiting for the part so its been like almost two weeks feels like forever lol

 

It is a torque to yield bolt. RTV under one side of the washer isn't going to cause a problem. Snug it to 35 ft-lbs and rotate 170*, and it'll have the right bolt tension. If that bolt relied purely on a torque wrench value (aka worthless), then I'd tend to agree with you.

 

What does it matter if it's torque to yield or torque to a specified value? Torquing a bolt basically makes it a spring set to a higher value than the load its expected to see. Adding RTV is like adding another spring constant...not a good thing. If you see no problem, go ahead and add RTV under the main bearing cap bolts and rod bearing bolts on your next engine.

 

1) I love the method you layed out above. given the choice/knowledge I would have done it in this manner. Its not the only method that works as several people have used the old bolt method with great success in the past.

2) I used a very light hammer with a block of wood to better distribute the force over the entire surface of my ATi balancer to fit over my callies magnum crank shaft. I doubt very much in my situtaion that I damaged the thrust bearing, but time will tell.

3) I disagree on this. If moisture gets in there, that stock bolt/crankshaft could rust together like no ones buisness. For the little amount that the torque ratings may fall off, I'll take the insurance that its sealed.

FWIW, Before pulling my balancer. My LS7s' ATI balancer was installed using the methods I outlined onto my Callies magnum crank. It had 10K miles on it and saw 7K rpm and over 10hrs of road race time. I can assure you that old balancer bolt did not just spin off.

 

1) True, there are many ways to accomplish the same thing and you can even buy a special "balancer installation tool". The service manual says to use a balancer installation tool. You got lucky and didn't have any problems and that's great. What the novice doesn't know is the danger associated with using the old bolt and when things go wrong, they go very, very wrong. I bought a '71 'Vette the previous owner had changed the cam in and the "old bolt" method was used to install the balancer. Things went wrong and the crankshaft bolt hole was stripped out but he decided to glue the old bolt back in and let me find out later the crankshaft was ruined. I also found out he had changed the power brake booster and neglected to put the clip back on the pin for the brake pedal linkage...I got to find that one the hard way too when the pin fell out on a race track and the pedal went to the floor. In his defense, it was in a very difficult to reach location...half-azz mechanics **** me off.

2) A 3 lb hammer is not a light hammer and again, a novice could easily take full swings as there was nothing in your post to define "tap it on". Keep in mind your "audience" here potentially includes complete novices who don't have a clue but will take your posts to be the bible. They should have a full set of FSMs and ignore most of what is posted here.

3) I've never seen a balancer bolt rusted into a crankshaft...even on the big block Chevys in my boat which is in a salt water environment. There are some engines that use RTV under the washer to seal any oil leaking between the balancer and crankshaft snout and in fact my big blocks are one of them. I make sure RTV doesn't get between the washer and balancer but I'll admit it probably doesn't make a whole lot of difference.