That's not good. Vibration damper coming apart

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MileHighDart

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So I'm about to pull the 318 out of my dart to do some upgrades on it. I pulled the water pump just to get a little more room. After pulling the pump I look down and see the vibration damper has separated and the outer ring has moved back about a eighth inch and is dragging on the front cover. Guess that's one more thing I'll be replacing.

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Might be a good idea to extend the TDC mark on the outer to include the inner ring on these old balancers. Could be a quick reference to any slip.
 
Daves69 said:
Might be a good idea to extend the TDC mark on the outer to include the inner ring on these old balancers. Could be a quick reference to any slip.
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Yea, I wouldn't trust that TDC mark for nothing. :D
 
I wasn't lucky. I had a new balancer go bad in the first few hundred miles. First it went up against the cover and slowly went through it. While it was doing that it wiped the thrust bearing. When that was gone it wiped the crankshaft. In a customer's engine. Cost me $2500 to fix. The up side for those shown is if it went all the way through you'd have oil everywhere under there.
 
That is why I DETEST rubber band dampeners. Step up for a Fluidamper or an Innovaters West piece. It's not worth screwing around with OE style junk.
 
Got the damper off today, the outer ring has rotated a little in addition to slipping sideways. The timing mark is about 1/2" off from where it should be. Don't think it's been like this very long. Front of the timing cover is scuffed up a little, right by the timing mark area, but still totally usable.
 
Same thing that happened to mine. Like I said live and learn. I'm sure you'll be well under $100 for a new aftermarket one sent to your front door. Install and enjoy.....
 
j par said:
Same thing that happened to mine. Like I said live and learn. I'm sure you'll be well under $100 for a new aftermarket one sent to your front door. Install and enjoy.....
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If you want another issue - the fastest way to it is to cheap out on the balancer. I'd prefer an SFI approved versions that are made better and are a bit more than $100, and ATI for race engines, or the fall back of a good used factory one if the build can use it. Those are the only choices I give my customers now. I'm not a fan of the fluid balancers due to leaks.
 
moper said:
If you want another issue - the fastest way to it is to cheap out on the balancer. I'd prefer an SFI approved versions that are made better and are a bit more than $100, and ATI for race engines, or the fall back of a good used factory one if the build can use it. Those are the only choices I give my customers now. I'm not a fan of the fluid balancers due to leaks.
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I have never had one leak and I can't count how many I've used. That said, the ATI is just another rubber band damper. For the money the Innovaters West is the most cost effective piece. I have only used one but they are nice.

Again, I would NEVER use a rubber band damper. They are used by OE's because they are cheap to manufacture.
 
Just different experiences. When the fluid ones came out they were the rage. I wasn't able to afford one, but of the first 5 I knew about (all makes), four leaked. I've not used one since and still won't. I can't imagine the knock off versions for less $$ are any better in terms of QC.
The "rubber bands" have been successfully protecting even race engines of all kinds for decades. Like it or not, economical design or not, they do what they are intended to.
 
moper said:
Just different experiences. When the fluid ones came out they were the rage. I wasn't able to afford one, but of the first 5 I knew about (all makes), four leaked. I've not used one since and still won't. I can't imagine the knock off versions for less $$ are any better in terms of QC.
The "rubber bands" have been successfully protecting even race engines of all kinds for decades. Like it or not, economical design or not, they do what they are intended to.
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It is a maintenance item on high performance engines. And something to keep your eye on in stock form. OE works ok for its intended purpose. Even HP engines used them, Hemi, 340, 273, high reving 273's! 396, 302, 454, on and on an on.....
 
I think we need to clarify if this is just a stock 318 with a couple modifications? Or is this some kind of high-dollar 318 build? Personally I wouldn't want to cyber spend the original posters money into buying a harmonic balancer that's worth more than his entire motor!
 
moper said:
Just different experiences. When the fluid ones came out they were the rage. I wasn't able to afford one, but of the first 5 I knew about (all makes), four leaked. I've not used one since and still won't. I can't imagine the knock off versions for less $$ are any better in terms of QC.
The "rubber bands" have been successfully protecting even race engines of all kinds for decades. Like it or not, economical design or not, they do what they are intended to.
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Not to belabor the point but Chrysler did a bunch of testing in the 90's and said the Fluidamper was the best. I had one of the first to come out. Still have it. Never leaked. Never snapped the snout off a crank either, but a bunch of guys did because they didn't fit the damper to the crank.
 
j par said:
I think we need to clarify if this is just a stock 318 with a couple modifications? Or is this some kind of high-dollar 318 build? Personally I wouldn't want to cyber spend the original posters money into buying a harmonic balancer that's worth more than his entire motor!
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So cyber spending is 3-400 dollars for something that works? One that never wears out and the other I mentioned that can be rebuilt for under 100 dollars?

I call that stepping over donuts to pick up dog turds.

Junk is JUNK at ANY price...as quoted by Jerry Bailey in 1973, when a mutual friend had built a roadster with a hemi and hung it on the wall at PIR on its first pass. If you were there, it is STILL talked about to this day. Sadly, I'm one of the few left who was there from the group.
 
Does the saying picking up dog poop over Donuts or whatever or fly poop out of pepper ever get old for crying out loud? That's exactly what I was saying why the hell would someone buy a 3 or $400 dampener for a $200 motor that doesn't make one lick of sense we're not talking about a Hemi here.
 
j par said:
Does the saying picking up dog poop over Donuts or whatever or fly poop out of pepper ever get old for crying out loud? That's exactly what I was saying why the hell would someone buy a 3 or $400 dampener for a $200 motor that doesn't make one lick of sense we're not talking about a Hemi here.
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Only if the cheap damper takes out a crank. Ask me how I know.

Sure is cool all the shiny aluminum stuff but a cheap damper? I never tire of pepper, fly poop or donuts. Dog poo on the other hand makes me weary. So does turd buffing and putting lip stick on a pig.
 
j par said:
Does the saying picking up dog poop over Donuts or whatever or fly poop out of pepper ever get old for crying out loud? That's exactly what I was saying why the hell would someone buy a 3 or $400 dampener for a $200 motor that doesn't make one lick of sense we're not talking about a Hemi here.
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BTW, did you read the OP??? He is wanting to do UPGRADES. Wouldn't a quality damper, which has a very difficult job at best, not be considered an UPGRADE?

The OP needs to consider what the crank goes through, and consider cylinder pressure, RPM and load. All those things he expects to change.

As I said before, and now again, junk is junk at any price.
 
It's nice to see you do have a sense of humor after all. My mom always said "The more you roll with a turd the stinkier you get"and my dad always said "you can't bullshit the bullshitter" I try and live by those two.
yellow rose said:
Only if the cheap damper takes out a crank. Ask me how I know.

Sure is cool all the shiny aluminum stuff but a cheap damper? I never tire of pepper, fly poop or donuts. Dog poo on the other hand makes me weary. So does turd buffing and putting lip stick on a pig.
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