Harmonic balancer seperated

[Gene Gorman]

My harmonic balancer seperated. The good folks at Southern automotive are sending me a new one. Is this something that happens often to FE engines, or is this just a fluke problem?

[fsstnotch]

I've heard of it happen, that's what happens when they go bad.

This is what happened to the one I replaced mine with on my 5.0. Needed one quick so i just went to autozone and grabbed the best one they had with a warranty. the old one was on the crank tight, put the new one on and it wasn't really snug at all. It wasn't wobbling around, but it just slide right onto the crank. I didn't think too much about it, had to get the car put back together so I could drive it to work in the morn. It ran great for a few weeks then, coming home from work it just went out. Car was shaking violently!!!! Get home and pull the balancer off to find this....






Notice... MADE IN CHINA!!!!!!! Anyways, i took it back to autozone and wanted a replacement. It had a LLT warranty. the guy at the desk accused me of improperly installing it. Lifted his shirt and showed me his Mustang tattoo and basically called me an idiot! He exchanged it after I threw a fit in the store and I was on my way. Put the new one on and it fit the same way. I took it to Orielly's and had them Mic it. It was 125 thousandths bigger in diameter than the original. They recommended I take it back. Autozone refused it. I called and talked to their manager and he said to bring it back and they'd exchange it. Every single one they had was the same. I ended up having my friend exchange Autozone's part for theirs and it worked perfect! I've never shopped at autozone since!

Moral of the story... make sure it fits properly or it will keep going bad!

[tcrist]

fsstnotch,
125 thousands isa lot. It would have flopped around all ovr the place when installing. 125 thousands is 1/8 of an inch. Are you sure it was not .0125 thousands.

Terry

[767Jockey]

Originally Posted by fsstnotch

Lifted his shirt and showed me his Mustang tattoo and basically called me an idiot!

That's the funniest damn thing I've heard in a while. This clown has branded himself for life with the name of a car, and he's calling YOU an idiot??!!

[fsstnotch]

Originally Posted by tcrist

fsstnotch,
125 thousands isa lot. It would have flopped around all ovr the place when installing. 125 thousands is 1/8 of an inch. Are you sure it was not .0125 thousands.

Terry

My bad!!! lol You are right. it was .0125! it was just big enough that the bolt didn't push it onto the crank at all. It just tightened down. i wanted to reach across the counter and ring that guys neck after he showed me his tattoo and claimed to be the almighty mustang god and this was my fault! lol He almost ate the broken balancer!

[tcrist]

Mustang God

[Rick Parker]

.0125 is a HUGE dimension here. Many demand a .0004 - .0008 smaller bore than the diameter of the snout, to create a "Press Fit". A vibration damper should NOT be able to be slip fit but rather require being pulled on with a Balancer installer. It has to have a tight fit to tranfer the vibration and allow the vibration to be absorbed by the Balancer, especially in an externally balanced application. The key alone will not be able transfer or accept the forced. Your fractured sleeve is evidence. Consider yourself lucky.

[fsstnotch]

Originally Posted by Rick Parker

.0125 is a HUGE dimension here. Many demand a .0004 - .0008 smaller bore than the diameter of the snout, to create a "Press Fit". A vibration damper should NOT be able to be slip fit but rather require being pulled on with a Balancer installer. It has to have a tight fit to tranfer the vibration and allow the vibration to be absorbed by the Balancer, especially in an externally balanced application. The key alone will not be able transfer or accept the forced. Your fractured sleeve is evidence. Consider yourself lucky.

Ya, luckily it also went out as i was pulling onto my street and I was able to coast all the way to my driveway! No damage other than the balancer. I thought when i was installing it that "something wasn't right.. this should press on?" But it was late and I needed to drive the car the next day to work. Luckily for me that no permanent damage was done!