I'm putting the harmonic balancer on my motor, and it is not going on very easily at all. It's a brand new balancer, and I'm using an installer tool. It went on ok for a while, but about the point where the back of the balancer is just past the timing tab, it started to get really difficult to turn. Like, difficult to turn with a 2.5 foot long cheater bar. So, is this normal for a balancer that has never been installed? And does installing it put stress on the crankshaft threads if I'm using the proper installer tool?

 

There should be pretty consistent resistance the whole way. Sounds like their is something wrong. If you can remove it easily enough, try heating it and see how it goes if everything looks OK.

 

Woa!

Take it off and double-check to see that you are not bending or gouging something.

I have not installed a Chevy balancer but it sounds like you might be hitting the woodruff key (I assume it has one). Sometimes those puppies get pushed along their groove and then emerge when you get close to fully seating the [fill in the blank].

Extreme force is a warning sign.

 

Don't force it on, and definatly don't use a 2.5' cheater bar! If it doesnt go on with a standard wrench, there is a problem

 

Remove the dampener.

Look for proper positoning of the crank key. Feel the crank snout and observe any dings /marks. If you have measuring tools measure the snout o.d. and the dampener i.d.

Check the seal in the timing cover....many chrome aftermarket timing covers do not have the seal register where it belongs. You might have to enlarge the dowel pin holes and final tigten timing cover after dampener installation. But you will crush the timing cover if there is big interference here.

If all seems correct retry....lube the crank snout, the dampener i.d. and the seal o.d. with moly lube. Put a drop of silicone seal in the keyway of the dampener so as to give an oil seal in the crank key area when dampener is tight. It should, in the last half...be pretty snug. A one foot 1/2" breaker bar should do it....no more.

The PROPER tool is a threaded mandrel in the crank threads with a thrust bearing and big thick washer against the dampener....turn the big nut to install.

Gud luk.

 

is it a fluidampr? i have been told by my machine shop that a fluidampr needs to be honed out slightly to fit some cranks, esp. eagle and scat cranks.

 

Yup, sounds like the Woodruff key is partway up out of its slot... take it back off and check to make sure it's parallel to the crank's axis, and doesn't have burrs on it or anything.

You can also heat the damper up (with boiling water or something, not a torch) to expand it and give a couple of .001"s more clearance.

 

Thats a common problem with some aftermarket balancers, Fluidampr, ATI, etc. It may need to be honed slightly, don't try to force it!

 

pretty hard to hone the I.D. with the keyway slot in the dampener...thats why I suggested measuring.

Even in tolerance it should be tight. There shud b NO movement in the mating surface areas.

He might b putting it on dry???

Polishing with a strip of 360 or 400 the crank snout but removing the crank gear and masking thoroly...BUT the motor sounds assembled.

A thought...IF the crank gear went on decently the dampener should also.

When Sid Vicious gets back to us with some post-op notes we can go from there.

 

Thats what a lot of the manufacturers recommend...honing. I used to sell this stuff for a living, and we often got calls from people trying to beat their damper on with a hammer because it wouldn't budge. You should never have to take very much off.

 

I had to wait till morning for the parts store to open so I could get a puller. Anyway, the balancer is off, and nothing appears to be screwed up. Looking at the balancer I can tell exactly how far it went on, because that area is shiney. The rest of it has paint overspray that got down in the center of it. I'm betting that is what made it so difficult to pull on. It's a new balancer, nothing special, made by Pioneer, because the machine shop lost my old balancer and had to buy me a new one. Although it is a Scat crank. I guess I'll clean off the paint on the inside of the balancer hub and try to reinstall it. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

It still won't go on. I cleaned all the paint off and tried to reinstall it. It got to about the same point, and refused to go any farther. I've ruined three wreches trying to turn the installer tool, including a craftsman. And looking at the crank and the balancer, I can't see any indication of what the problem is. There is no galling on the key or the keyway in the balancer, and no marks on the crank snout or the inside of the balancer. I don't own any precision measurement tools, so I can't check the inside diameter of the balancer. What now?

 

Call Eagle/Scat/whomever and find out what they require for an 'interfearence fit' with the manufacturer of the balancer you have. Then you will have to goto your local machineshop and get it honed. There is no other way.....

If you are running a FluidDamper, and a cast crank from Scat, they are going to tell you NOT to do it. The FluidDamper has been known to breakoff the snout of Scats cast crankshafts. If it is any other damper, just get the advised interfearence fit dimention and get on with it.

http://www.scatcrankshafts.com/

 

I had to get medieval on the SOB. Got a brake cylinder hone and hogged out the balancer a tad bit. It went on like it should after that.

 

Well, this treads actually over but. . ., a little moly lube on the threads of your installer tool will/would help a bunch.