pressing harmonic balancer
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Joined: Jan 2014
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pressing harmonic balancer Well fellas.... the plan was to change the opti on my 93 LT1 formula.....I removed all the stuff, water pump, radiator etc.... got to the harmonic balancer and the pulley was stuck after I took off the bolts,.... I have a "mechanic" that could get the pulley off for me... or so he said.... he used a harmonic balancer puller to seperate the balancer enough from the block to remove the opti and swap it out with the new one... problem is when it got pulled it pulled the whole hub... balancer and all.... now the problem I have is pressing it back to the block and a regular harmonic balancer installer won't work, any ideas on how to get it pressed back in with that pulley still attached?? All help is appreciated
OP -
Other may chime in, but I believe the three eared "hub" (which, when properly installed, has a notch that points either straight up or straight down [I can't remember] when Cyl #1 is at TDC) is bolted onto the front of the crankshaft with a single, centrally-located bolt.
If (and this is a BIG if) that hub has not been rotated relative to the crankshaft when it was pulled back, then (in theory) you can use a longer bolt and an impact to 'pull' this hub back onto the crankshaft; then replace this 'starter' bolt with the proper shorter bolt to finish the job.
Having said all that, the angle of the hub (relative to the crankshaft position) is indeed critical, so be sure things are rotated properly before torquing anything to 180 ft-lbs.
Good luck!
Other may chime in, but I believe the three eared "hub" (which, when properly installed, has a notch that points either straight up or straight down [I can't remember] when Cyl #1 is at TDC) is bolted onto the front of the crankshaft with a single, centrally-located bolt.
If (and this is a BIG if) that hub has not been rotated relative to the crankshaft when it was pulled back, then (in theory) you can use a longer bolt and an impact to 'pull' this hub back onto the crankshaft; then replace this 'starter' bolt with the proper shorter bolt to finish the job.
Having said all that, the angle of the hub (relative to the crankshaft position) is indeed critical, so be sure things are rotated properly before torquing anything to 180 ft-lbs.
Good luck!
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Joined: Oct 2011
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From: Apopka FL
Stock Hubs are not keyed so you shouldn't have any problems with that. As for pulling it back tight. You can buy a installer or get some grade 7 or 8 all thread and a bunch of washer to pull it tight. And do not torque the bolt to 180 ft lbs. It will break the bolt.
The hub center bolt that threads into the crank is torqued to 75 ftlbs. As was said NEVER pull the hub on with the hub bolt. Check out this thread for info on making a inexpensive but useful hub installer tool.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...tall-tool.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...tall-tool.html
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TECH Veteran
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,143
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From: Little Rock, AR
Threads are missing on the bolt or the snout? If it is the bolt, then the crank threads may be ok. Use a thread chaser (not a tap) on the crank snout.
Oh no I hope not. Good luck buddy. I thought my crank was stripped once too. Thread chaser cleaned it up. The all thread tool works great. I made one and have used it several times.
TECH Veteran
Joined: Apr 2008
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few "home made" options....none involve a hammer though
These come up on ebay every now & then....makes pulling/installing plug & play
I have also used it for my ATI hub/damper by adding a larger grade 8 washer to go over the larger ATI hub hole
These come up on ebay every now & then....makes pulling/installing plug & play
I have also used it for my ATI hub/damper by adding a larger grade 8 washer to go over the larger ATI hub hole
In the Navy, I was in a motor rewind shop. Smaller bearings got heated up by sitting them on a 100 watt light bulb.
Bigger bearings went into a zillion dollar bearing oven-along with a few slices of pizza.
Bigger bearings went into a zillion dollar bearing oven-along with a few slices of pizza.
If you don't use the proper tool for removal and installation, you can really damage the crank and/or the balancer.
Not sure where you're located, but if you have an Autozone near by they'll rent you the proper tool for free. Pay them $80, and when you bring the tool back, you get your $80 back.
Pull the balancer all the way off. Clean the hub and the balancer really well. Heat up the center of the hub with a torch. Not so hot that you can't touch it, but get it pretty warm.
Place a light smear of silicone sealer inside the hub, that helps prevent oil leaks. Use the proper tool and install the balancer. It should slide right on there with a few easy turns of the installation tool.
You said you couldn't get it installed with the regular tool, but you could get it off. There are a couple of threaded holes that you used to attach the tool to the balancer. Put bolts in those holes, and thread them in enough so they're all exactly the same height. Put the balancer tool back on so that it presses on those bolt heads.
Not sure where you're located, but if you have an Autozone near by they'll rent you the proper tool for free. Pay them $80, and when you bring the tool back, you get your $80 back.
Pull the balancer all the way off. Clean the hub and the balancer really well. Heat up the center of the hub with a torch. Not so hot that you can't touch it, but get it pretty warm.
Place a light smear of silicone sealer inside the hub, that helps prevent oil leaks. Use the proper tool and install the balancer. It should slide right on there with a few easy turns of the installation tool.
You said you couldn't get it installed with the regular tool, but you could get it off. There are a couple of threaded holes that you used to attach the tool to the balancer. Put bolts in those holes, and thread them in enough so they're all exactly the same height. Put the balancer tool back on so that it presses on those bolt heads.
That sucks but you can still repair it, get the next size bolt grade 8, get a tap of the same size. Remove entire hub assembly. Then get towels and stick into cracks where hub was, this is very important to keep debris out of oil pan. Pb blaster Iis the first step, spray Into crank bolt hole and wash any metal that might be in there. Get the tap spray with pb, center it and slowly 1/4 turn in then out until you reach the end. I like to spray PB in while i do this. Once to take tap out clean the snout out very good. All done ready to install hub