U Wont believe it till u see it, thats why i took pics
11-20-2000, 02:09 PM
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U Wont believe it till u see it, thats why i took pics
I dont know how to upload the pics so when sombofdy replies and tells me i will post them.
Well some of you might remeber my post a couple of days back about my car running like crap, after i replaced my gaskets after blowing them at the races. Well i got all those replies about my probs and eliminated one after another until i found out that the harmonic balancer was cracked. Well i started the fix last night. and suprisingly it was going really smoothly. The bolts on the crank were breaking very easily. The only thing that i had to unbolt was a power steering line to make clearence for the puller. well we got the crank pully off. And i sat there with a flash light in amazment and said WTF. The BALANCER WAS IN THREE PIECES. The rubber part of the balancer came right off! I just stood there with one piece of it in my hand and the other on the crank, (the rubber bearing i hadnt found yet) It ha all these wierd lookin groves and scratches in it. I put it up against the new one and took pics.Well we took the dust plate off and i stuck a screw driver in to one of the teeth and held it while he took of the harmonic balancer. All this was a breeze. Heres the hard part. I only have about 4 inches of clearence from a frame brace. The stock washer was to thick so it wasnt catching because we didnt have it on far enough. So we did what we could to try to get it back on
suspension shims, washers we reemed out to fit the screw,even a ford part of some kind that looked like a fork, he said it was to do w/ something with his doors.) After all these broke or bent from stress we gave up for the night. @12:45 So here's my question. How do i get it back on? Goto autozone and try to get a longer bolt? Also what made all those scratches and grooves? Should i check the immediate area for damage? if so what am i looking for? The pics will explain everything.
Thanks
Bowtieguy01
Well some of you might remeber my post a couple of days back about my car running like crap, after i replaced my gaskets after blowing them at the races. Well i got all those replies about my probs and eliminated one after another until i found out that the harmonic balancer was cracked. Well i started the fix last night. and suprisingly it was going really smoothly. The bolts on the crank were breaking very easily. The only thing that i had to unbolt was a power steering line to make clearence for the puller. well we got the crank pully off. And i sat there with a flash light in amazment and said WTF. The BALANCER WAS IN THREE PIECES. The rubber part of the balancer came right off! I just stood there with one piece of it in my hand and the other on the crank, (the rubber bearing i hadnt found yet) It ha all these wierd lookin groves and scratches in it. I put it up against the new one and took pics.Well we took the dust plate off and i stuck a screw driver in to one of the teeth and held it while he took of the harmonic balancer. All this was a breeze. Heres the hard part. I only have about 4 inches of clearence from a frame brace. The stock washer was to thick so it wasnt catching because we didnt have it on far enough. So we did what we could to try to get it back on
suspension shims, washers we reemed out to fit the screw,even a ford part of some kind that looked like a fork, he said it was to do w/ something with his doors.) After all these broke or bent from stress we gave up for the night. @12:45 So here's my question. How do i get it back on? Goto autozone and try to get a longer bolt? Also what made all those scratches and grooves? Should i check the immediate area for damage? if so what am i looking for? The pics will explain everything.Thanks
Bowtieguy01
11-20-2000, 02:22 PM
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Car: 4
Engine: 6
Transmission: 5
I'm not going to try to guess about grooves and scratches, other than to say that the inside of the rings thst I have seen come off, and the outside of the hubs, both have grooves to try to keep them from coming unglued from the rubber quite as easily. It doesn't seem to be terribly effective though.
Actually, that is a very common failure. Most balancers have already failed that way to a greater or lesser extent. Think about your experience the next time you are pretending to be precisely adjusting your timing, thinking you're being so careful with your degree-dial light, but you're actually using a mark cut on the outside of that little weenie ring of spooge as your "standard".
Yes you should inspect the area for damage; in particular make sure the back side of the pulley isn't worn thin, and that it hasn't been wearing the timing cover. Those are the 2 things that have been keeping it from just flying off. Probably nothing else could have been damaged.
Balancer installation tools are available. Basically all they are is a 6" piece of threaded rod, a thick washer, and a nut, which you can fairly easily duplicate. Screw the threaded rod into the crank as far as it will go, and draw the balancer on with the nut; then put the bolt on and tighten it to 60 ft-lbs or so.
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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
Actually, that is a very common failure. Most balancers have already failed that way to a greater or lesser extent. Think about your experience the next time you are pretending to be precisely adjusting your timing, thinking you're being so careful with your degree-dial light, but you're actually using a mark cut on the outside of that little weenie ring of spooge as your "standard".
Yes you should inspect the area for damage; in particular make sure the back side of the pulley isn't worn thin, and that it hasn't been wearing the timing cover. Those are the 2 things that have been keeping it from just flying off. Probably nothing else could have been damaged.
Balancer installation tools are available. Basically all they are is a 6" piece of threaded rod, a thick washer, and a nut, which you can fairly easily duplicate. Screw the threaded rod into the crank as far as it will go, and draw the balancer on with the nut; then put the bolt on and tighten it to 60 ft-lbs or so.
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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
11-20-2000, 02:27 PM
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Car: 1986 Firebird
Engine: 2.8 V6
Transmission: 700R4
Don't use the engine's original center bolt to draw the balancer on. I tried that; wound up snapping the 10.9 grade bolt off inside the snout of the crank. I snapped it off flush with the crank, and not only did I snap the bolt in half, but there were 3 stress cracks across the center of it. It's still there. My mech welded the balancer to the crank, after using a hammer to pound it on.
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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!
I snapped it off flush with the crank, and not only did I snap the bolt in half, but there were 3 stress cracks across the center of it. It's still there. My mech welded the balancer to the crank, after using a hammer to pound it on.------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!
11-20-2000, 04:36 PM
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You can either Buy a Balancer Tool for arounb 100 bucks, wich Is a worthy investment if You plan On doing it alot, But if this is a 1 time thing, head down to the local Hardware store, get a peice of 1/2inch Allthread, a 1/2 Nut a 1/2 inch Fender washer and a Nice big fat Bearing plate, cut the rod So it Will fit inside the engine bay, and thread it all the way into the Crank snout. Then put the balancer on and Push it on with the Nut/washer/bearing plate...
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