New balancer won’t press on

-
justinp61 said:
I always use the guidelines in the link I posted for damper fit. I mic the crank snout to make sure not tapered or out of round. Once I'm satisfied I'll put the mic on the crank and lock it down. Then I take my mic to the machine shop and they use it to set up their machine. My machine shop uses a Sunnen rod hone to hone dampers. I've never had an issue doing it this way.
Click to expand...


And this is how ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^it should be done
 
So I removed the front cover today and BOOM! The balancer slid right on. The problem I was having was an interference problem with the front cover. I had calipered the crank snout and the ID of the balancer and everything looked good so that’s where my confusion came in. The balancer itself was fine until I took the extra .002 out of it. Now it’s too big (FFS!) I’ll order up a new balancer and go from there. Next time the front cover is staying loose until the balancer is on. Anybody else ever run into this issue?
Thanks for all the replies.
 
It seems that everyone including me thought it was a balancer problem. Not the case. Won’t make that mistake again.
 
When you get your new damper don't use a caliper to measure your crank, buy or borrow a mic and take it with you to the machine shop.
 
I also leave the timing cover loose until the damper is installed. That way the balancer centers the seal. The dodge doesn't use dowel pins to locate the timing cover so it can flop a bit on the damper.

I've seen many leaks at the damper caused because the timing cover was snugged before the balance went on.
 
So what was the exact interference mechanism? The seal's flexible rubber area is quite large compared to the OD of the damper's seal surface. Was the timing cover that far off???
 
.002 oversized is too big? The thing now bottoms out with no interference at all? In Mexico they would knurl that crank snout in a heartbeat and crank the damper on to 135 ft/lbs to get the truck on the road again. Shame you couldnt get some .002 shim stock and just make it work, poorman style.
 
Not 100% sure what the exact interference point. Since the end of the balancer went through the front cover opening into the seal I’m guessing it was hitting the edge of the seal (?). Seems hard to believe but there was nothing else there and whatever was there was solid. The end of the balancer is rounded on the end so I wouldn’t think it would hang up. Still scratching my head on this one. New balancer will be here this afternoon. Probably be a couple of weeks before I get to put everything back together.
 
7D389101-8165-4672-B34C-D3CF43DA5884.jpeg
988057C4-41F5-4102-9746-6BFC0188627F.jpeg
So after closer inspection the balancer is butted up against the oil slinger and I still have this much room at the front (see pictures). Either I have the wrong balancer or something else is wrong. Are the 340 and 360 balancers different (besides the internal/ external balance)
 
Is the crank sprocket 100% flush up against the shoulder on the crank? Looking at your 3rd pix in post #10, the damper was way out there too.

I can't answer the question on the depth of the end of the damper that slides onto the crank. I thought they were all the same depth but cannot say that 100%.
 
yellow rose said:
I also leave the timing cover loose until the damper is installed. That way the balancer centers the seal. The dodge doesn't use dowel pins to locate the timing cover so it can flop a bit on the damper.

I've seen many leaks at the damper caused because the timing cover was snugged before the balance went on.
Click to expand...
This.
 
stock and CAT fluiddamper have a 1.39 snout length: CAT length was from end to edge damper ring where it extends back. Stock was from end to a pressed on cup shaped flange that your damper does not have.

s-l225.jpg
polea-ciguenal-damper-dodge-1972-1993-motor-239318-3952l-D_NQ_NP_339915-MLM25351319094_022017-F.jpg
 
Thanks for the heads up on the Cat stuff. I bought a new Powerbond balancer. I found out that there are two different lengths of balancer bolts which I think was my problem. 1.44” and 2.23” I’ll find out in the next couple of days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top