Can the harmonic balance come loose?

blownhemi said
That's not going to fix it, the thrust bearing is hammered. Time for a tear down.

blownhemi said
I might have come off a bit harsh in my post above, but I'd say 95% something is screwed up with the thrust bearing. Try tightening the balancer bolt if you like, it'll only take 5mins but don't go crazy. If it doesn't budge then you've got bigger issues and you certainly don't want to go swinging off that thing and possibly snapp the balancer bolt (that'll require some force though).

exactly

Both sides of the thrust bearing would have to be gone, to get that amt. of movement.. and not likely to have broken crank.. - so loose bolt, hopefully, and only "takes a coupla mins to check"..

The 2 experiences I had with burnt out thrust bearings,, the motors stunk, the 2 friction surfaces turned blue from heat, the smell of burnt oil was unmistakable,, especially when running..