Write-Up: Removing the Crank Pulley/Harmonic Balancer

when my OEM one went the rubber part had cracks untill it finally went completely and the outer part would spin separate from the center.

On the second and 3rd time mine went out it was from shitty parts from advance auto and the center metal cracked apart.

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3.4, N*, 1.84RR, P&P blower and LIM, 3"DP, 4"WAI, plog, 6K HID, Eibach pro springs, KYB GR-2, Fbody 12" brakes,caddy STB & sway bar. Rear addco sway bar is next twisted

Right. Nate, the harmonic balancer uses a rubber insulator between the piece which bolts to the crank, and the outer pulley. The insulator helps absorb crankshaft vibrations. Unfortunately it dries out over time and then you have a lot of rattling and clanging and throw belts and stuff. That's when it's time to replace the HB.

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'98 Buick Riviera; Gen V 3.25 pulley, N*, VS Cam, 180 stat, Custom PCM (Powrtuner), headers & HF cat , 42.5 lb inj.

Grant-built/PRJ/Thrasher trans 3.29 gears, 7/8 chain, zzp hardened IS

deekster_caddy wrote:

Right. Nate, the harmonic balancer uses a rubber insulator between the piece which bolts to the crank, and the outer pulley. The insulator helps absorb crankshaft vibrations. Unfortunately it dries out over time and then you have a lot of rattling and clanging and throw belts and stuff. That's when it's time to replace the HB.

How many miles/years does it take for the HB to dry out?

Albertj

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1998 with all fac. opts. (exc. CD changer and subwoofer); 209,000 miles. Mods: KYB front struts, extra noise barriers, fire extinguisher, Magnecor 8mm plug wires, 4-note horn, custom-made stainless exhaust.

Avatar is missing.

albertj wrote:

deekster_caddy wrote:

Right. Nate, the harmonic balancer uses a rubber insulator between the piece which bolts to the crank, and the outer pulley. The insulator helps absorb crankshaft vibrations. Unfortunately it dries out over time and then you have a lot of rattling and clanging and throw belts and stuff. That's when it's time to replace the HB.

How many miles/years does it take for the HB to dry out?

Albertj

It varies a LOT. But any motor 'build' I would do to a 3800 today would probably include a new balancer.

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'98 Buick Riviera; Gen V 3.25 pulley, N*, VS Cam, 180 stat, Custom PCM (Powrtuner), headers & HF cat , 42.5 lb inj.

Grant-built/PRJ/Thrasher trans 3.29 gears, 7/8 chain, zzp hardened IS

Albert, you have over 200k miles on your car.
Have you ever had to change the harmonic balancer due to failure.?

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98 Riv, 102K Miles, EBC, LS1 Ft.Calipers, STB, Addco Rr Sway Bar, 180* stat., SSAC Headers, HF Cat, 1.9's,
105# springs, MPS 3.4, DHP tuned by the Deekster.

Mine went out at ~135k miles and the rest of my car is in pristine condition with 0 rust anywhere and garage kept most of its life. Dont know why mine decided to die other than it was 13yrs old at the time.

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3.4, N*, 1.84RR, P&P blower and LIM, 3"DP, 4"WAI, plog, 6K HID, Eibach pro springs, KYB GR-2, Fbody 12" brakes,caddy STB & sway bar. Rear addco sway bar is next twisted

Ok... F@#^ taking the balancer off with the engine outta the car.. you can't get any leverage without moving the whole motor. it took me 3 hours to break one bolt loose.... I was furious..

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1.9RR's, SSAC, LQ4 maf and N*, Gen V-ported, L32 LIM ported and polished, L26 block, L67 heads, tune, E85, 65# injectors
Worthy quotes:

Rickw wrote:

What a dipshit, grow up.

deekster_caddy wrote:

LOL @ guessing Rick's age. Since we've gotten together a couple of times I won't guess wink

he'd probably hit me

Use an engine stand?

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'98 Buick Riviera; Gen V 3.25 pulley, N*, VS Cam, 180 stat, Custom PCM (Powrtuner), headers & HF cat , 42.5 lb inj.

Grant-built/PRJ/Thrasher trans 3.29 gears, 7/8 chain, zzp hardened IS

Rickw wrote:

Albert, you have over 200k miles on your car.
Have you ever had to change the harmonic balancer due to failure.?

No. As far as I know it is the original HB, however it would not surprise me if it had been swapped out for a better (but used) one during a service call.

In order to prevent callbacks the mechanics at my local GM dealer will do that sort of thing, with discretion. Say for instance you have this dealer do a brake job and nothing else is apparently wrong going in. If your ABS sensor quits at that time for whatever reason, they will most likely get a good used hub and put it on without telling you that they did that as well as the brake job. As it stands, I've had the HB off a few times at the dealer for various reasons. It would not surprise me much that if it had a problem a mechanic would have swapped it with a good used one off a car they were sending to auction or scrap, OR if it was going but not gone they would have recommneded me to buy a new one.

As far as these HBs go I would try to get a factory one. I suspect they used some sort of high-spec polymer instead of the typical rubber.

Albertj

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1998 with all fac. opts. (exc. CD changer and subwoofer); 209,000 miles. Mods: KYB front struts, extra noise barriers, fire extinguisher, Magnecor 8mm plug wires, 4-note horn, custom-made stainless exhaust.

Avatar is missing.

deekster_caddy wrote:

Use an engine stand?

Can't you can't put the flywheel on when the engine stand is being used.. and i jammed the balancer thingy in the lifter valley (forgot what its called at the moment) and it just kept slipping... it was a HUGE pain in the ass

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1.9RR's, SSAC, LQ4 maf and N*, Gen V-ported, L32 LIM ported and polished, L26 block, L67 heads, tune, E85, 65# injectors
Worthy quotes:

Rickw wrote:

What a dipshit, grow up.

deekster_caddy wrote:

LOL @ guessing Rick's age. Since we've gotten together a couple of times I won't guess wink

he'd probably hit me

You can put a couple of flywheel bolts in and put a lever in there to stop the crank from turning. Jamming the vibration damper is a bad plan.

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'98 Buick Riviera; Gen V 3.25 pulley, N*, VS Cam, 180 stat, Custom PCM (Powrtuner), headers & HF cat , 42.5 lb inj.

Grant-built/PRJ/Thrasher trans 3.29 gears, 7/8 chain, zzp hardened IS