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Somehow the harmonic balancer bolt stripped and was turning non stop, managed to removed it by applying some pressure while turning it. Now the new bolt won't catch any threads. Not planning on rebuilding the engine again. Have replaced all seals already.
How can I resolve this issue.. was thinking of welding the crank to the pully, and run the engine until it dies.
Did you use a balancer install tool to at least get it started before using the bolt to snug it down? Looks like not. It also doesn't look like the balancer is yet pressed on as far as it should be. You'll likely have belt alignment issues.
Drill it and install Heli-coils or some other thread repair. Or drill it and tap it and use an oversized bolt.
Did you use a balancer install tool to at least get it started before using the bolt to snug it down? Looks like not. It also doesn't look like the balance is yet pressed on as far as it should be. You'll likely have belt alignment issues.
Drill it and install Heli-coils or some other thread repair. Or drill it and tap it and use an oversized bolt.
Though that how far it would go. I had painted the timing cover before removing the balancer, so i used the paint mark as a guide to how far in it goes. Should the balancer be flashed with the crank?
Did you use a balancer install tool to at least get it started before using the bolt to snug it down? Looks like not. It also doesn't look like the balance is yet pressed on as far as it should be. You'll likely have belt alignment issues.
Drill it and install Heli-coils or some other thread repair. Or drill it and tap it and use an oversized bolt.
It also doesn't look like the balance is yet pressed on as far as it should be.
It's where it should be, you clearly haven't done many LS Engines from your statement.
Originally Posted by Tma120
what am I drilling?
You drill out the wrecked threads in that Crank and tap them for the thread insert.
Balancer doesn't sit flush with the Crank, other guy doesn't know his stuff.
I made my own Balancer Install Tool, good to have.
As above, balancer looks seated to me. Balancer install tool is the way to go to help avoid this stomach turning thing. As has been said, either drill it out for a larger crank bolt or
No, the balancer doesn't sit flush with the nose of the crank, but it sure looks like the snout of the crank is not yet pulled through far enough. The snout should end up about .100 deep in the hole when the balancer is properly seated. Yours looks deeper than that. And from the looks of the destroyed bolt that was used to pull on the balancer it would appear it gave up pretty early in the process, thus the balancer may not be on all the way.
No, the balancer doesn't sit flush with the nose of the crank, but it sure look like the snout of the crank is not yet pulled through far enough. The snout should end up about .100 deep in the hole when the balancer is properly seated. Yours looks deeper than that. And from the looks of the destroyed bolt that was used to pull on the balancer it would appear it gave up pretty early in the process, thus the balancer may not be on all the way.
You're saying it should go in more then that, or it pressed in too much? I removed the damaged bolt, and used square wood on the balancer, and taped it in, and stopped at the paint mark I had on it from spaying the front cover. That how I knew where to stop.
You're saying it should go in more then that, or it pressed in too much? I removed the damaged bolt, and used square wood on the balancer, and taped it in, and stopped at the paint mark I had on it from spaying the front cover. That how I knew where to stop.
To me it looks like it needs to go on a little farther. Can be hard to really judge from a few pictures, but like I said, the snout of the crank should end up about .100 of an inch below the outer edge of the hole in the balancer. Doing the math conversion, the snout should be about 2.5mm into the hole when the balancer is properly seated. Apparently the range GM states for the depth ranges from 2.40mm to 4.48mm so maybe you are okay given the outer range of the allowed measurement. But I'd still be concerned it isn't fully seated given that it looks like the bolt you used gave up pretty early. The used bolt is supposed to be torqued to 240 lb/ft to fully seat the balancer, I'm guessing from the looks of the bolt you used that you got nowhere near that before the bolt gave out.
How much torque were you able to apply to the bolt before it stripped?
To me it looks like it needs to go on a little farther. Can be hard to really judge from a few pictures, but like I said, the snout of the crank should end up about .100 of an inch below the outer edge of the hole in the balancer.
How much torque were you able to apply to the bolt before it stripped?
I cant remember, but the balancer wasn't all the way in. Like I said above, I had to push it in by using a piece of square wood, and hammer, and slowly worked it in.
Before you do anything else, run a tap into the hole to clean out the damage and metal shards created by the old bolt. Then see if your new bolt can find enough threads to grab. I'm guessing not and likely too much of the threaded area has been damaged, but worth a try to find out. Right now there may be too much garbage in the way left behind by the old bolt so that the new bolt can't even get in there to where the good threads may still be. You are going to need a fairly long tap and it needs to be a high quality tap or it could break off in the hole and then you are really screwed.
Before you do anything else, run a tap into the hole to clean out the damage and metal shards created by the old bolt. Then see if your new bolt can find enough threads to grab. I'm guessing not and likely too much of the threaded area has been damaged, but worth a try to find out. Right now there may be too much garbage in the way left behind by the old bolt so that the new bolt can't even get in there to where the good threads may still be. You are going to need a fairly long tap and it needs to be a high quality tap or it could break off in the hole and then you are really screwed.
I did run a tap and it cleaned it really nice. I was able to install my new bolt and torqued it to 240lb ft. Can I leave it there or do I need to back it up and get a new bolt?? I read to back up old bolt and install new and torque to 37lb ft. Okay to just leave the new bolt at 240lb ft???
It's good news that the new bolt held 240 lbs of torque. A bit bubba but maybe a couple tack welds from the balancer bolt to the balancer? Tack welds small enough you can grind them out if needed.
05-14-2024, 08:16 PM
Stripped Harmonic balancer Bolt 
