Harmonic Balancer

This is probably a stupid question but here goes.

I noticed a noise when I got out of the car yesterday I knew it was from the engine because I was parked and it was idling and the sound was consistent. So I investigated. Popped the hood and noticed a slight woosh woosh sound. It appears to be coming from the belts and the harmonic balancer has a slight wobble as it turns. I assume this is not supposed to happen. Am I correct? If so how difficult a job is it to replace? Any suggestions on what and where to get one?

well you need to remove the belt and then run the car for just a minute to see if the noise goes away...

but changing a balancer requires pulling the rad out (usually) and then just use the correct puller... not a 3 jaw!

they have some OEM style ones on ebay for a good price

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodg...r_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item336ca9ba1a

Should the damper wobble at all or stay true at all times?

jhdeval said:

Should the damper wobble at all or stay true at all times?

Click to expand...

it should be true but some stoop could have lifted the motor with a jack and bent the snout of the crank... usually not the case but it happens...

If the balancer has a "wobble" to it, it could be that the rubber degraded and the outer ring is on its way off! You might be able to tell with a closer inspection after taking the pulleys off (engine off). But take precautions because if it does slip all the way off while the engine is running, it will come off turning the same rpm's as the engine and will do damage to whatever it hits, including people.

If it's a 273, any 273, 318 or forged crank 340 balancer will fit. But in the later '60's, I think, they changed the location of the TDC mark on the balancer/timing cover and in the early '70's, they offset one pulley bolt hole. (But that can be overcome by elongating one of the bolt holes in the pulley to match.)

Don't know if /6 engines have any little "quirks".