WTF, what would cause this to happen. engine shut down, come to find out the balancer cracked at the keyway and timing cover engine looks very clean on the inside even though the OD says 125k someone must have been inside. car ran great for about 5k that ive owned it. i just ordered the new parts before i install the new parts is there something i need to look at???
cracked balancer and timing cover
- Thread starter spooky
- Start date
Never seen a balancer just break on it's own, not to say it's impossible. Only obvious thing I know is improper installation somewhere down the line. Wrong torque on bolt, beat it into place with a hammer for some unknown reason (supposed to just slide on and off) Do you have the cover off? Curious if someone replaced timing chain.
I had two balancers crack on me , now prior to this the car got wrecked hitting a pole . The steel crank pulley took a shot and got bent as a result . I belive now that the crank got damaged as a result from that , possibly throwing the ballance off . Later on after the two balancers broke the crank broke on the street . Thank God i had a girdle on the block which saved the tranny . Just some info for thought .
the inside of the motor looks real clean so does the timing chain an gear crank looks nice and shinny from what i can tell esp for 125k on it??? the balancer cracked right along the keyway??? i couldnt find the cam spring which also leads me to believe someone was inside....
thanks for the replies
thanks for the replies
The cam gear, is it solid metal or does it have nylon around the outer edge? No cam button tells me somebody went inside for whatever reason. If cam gear is all metal it's a replacement chain. Still sounds like maybe the key was lost and replaced with the wrong one and perhaps the balancer was hammered on because key was to big or the kew was too small and the balancer wiggled back and forth. Again the key word is maybe. Check the straightness of the pulleys while you have it apart. Galoush does have a good point as well.
Turbo Brian
What do I type here?
- Joined
- May 24, 2001
At 130K, I replaced the stock cam gear and chain with a replacement set. The cam gear was in excellant shape (considering it has nylon teeth) for the miles but the chain was rather stretched.
On inspection, the harmonic balancer had a crack in the keyway area and this engine appeared never to have been apart before the timing chain/gear replacement. I felt real fortunate to have found the crack before it grenaded or took out any expensive parts.
On inspection, the harmonic balancer had a crack in the keyway area and this engine appeared never to have been apart before the timing chain/gear replacement. I felt real fortunate to have found the crack before it grenaded or took out any expensive parts.
In the process of replacing the timing cover and the balancer I decided to replace the gears with a cloyes unit. everything went well until I pulled of the gears and chain, hmmm thats strange why does the crank snout move in and out thrust play shouldnt be this bad, my first fears were true dropped the oil pan and there it was broke on the first throw. 1 each broken crank shaft. which went first. the balancer I guess throwing off the harmonics inside and blamo' there went the crank. F!@#, F!@#, F!@#.
Next question do I rebuild or buy a rebuilt say from Poston, or some other reasonable company Im not looking for wild. Just a reliable short block.
serious dissaray
jason
Next question do I rebuild or buy a rebuilt say from Poston, or some other reasonable company Im not looking for wild. Just a reliable short block.
serious dissaray
jason
- Joined
- May 28, 2001
Likely the crank broke, and then the crank snout whipped around and cracked the balancer.
Cracked balancers are also found when the retainer bolt comes loose and the balancer walks around on the crank...
