Don't feel like you're being criticized here, you're not. As you're finding out this is a somewhat technological and fairly complicated hobby. Sad part is, I had a couple 59 Ranchero's, one with Y-block, one with 352 that later got a 390 engine out of a GT Mustang and I can't remember how the pulley stack went. Any chance you could post a photo?
I had a 400 sbc throw the balancer took out my radiator front right wheel still makes me sick to think about it I missed my date. I was young and poor first time my truck was on a wrecker going to see my ******* dancer girl friend.
Cleaning them in gas or letting them have oil on'm for a long time can soften the rubber and lead to screw ups,using a puller on just the out side can lead to screw up,droping motor on them can screw them up,drilling holes that are deep in them can screw them up,small holes for balancing is OK if the guy knows what he's doing. Some have holes to add balance pins in too,but if wrong pin is too big it can over load hole and screw it up. Using the wrong one for motor is bad also=this is done on Chevys a lot cus some fool things it's OK to use the smaller balancer for space/if that's the case,buy the NHRA small aproved one. Chevy makes a good HD one that id nodgler iron,vs cast iron on most.
Like mentioned, they wear out and come apart. It happened to my first 55 oldsmobile , i had it rebuilt cause i couldnt find one. and my 56 olds, thats the first thing i checked when i got it, and it was loose already,so i got that rebuilt also. if you need the rebuilders info let me know. lifetime warranty on his rebuilds
so what do i do???? back to the question that doesnt seem to get answered...do i get a new one or try and fix it, and if i should try to fix it how should i do it?????
it cant be repaired, just get a new one and try and post some pics so we can get a better idea of the setup....
I hit a bad pothole with my old 350-powered '48 and instantly heard a light grinding sound. Popped the hood and didn't see anything wrong. Drove like that for awhile then noticed the engine was using more oil the normal. Turns out the pothole hit loosened the outer ring on the balancer and it walked back into the timing cover. D'oh!
A new one is the only way to go (i've been working on cars and stuff for over 30 years and I wouldn't even try to fix a broken one), and yes there are quite a few engines that have a v belt groove thats made into the outer balancer ring Here's a pic of a 390fe balancer with a v belt groove
As stated above some do drive belts directly from the balancer. Later inline Chevy's are an example of this. I have had only one that went bad on me. For some reason I had the engine running with the hood opened and noticed the outer ring fluttering. I put a long thin stick up against it, and could feel it, so I knew I wasn't just seeing the problem. It was a high milage unit that I had put a repair sleve on, although it was fine when installed. I ***ume the rubber was going bad. So it got tossed and a new one went on in it's place.
balancers can be rebuilt there are companies that specialize in doing it but unless you have a special reason for wanting a factory balancer just buy a new one.Rebuilt units are available for cars like corvairs and the companies I have checked will rebuild balancers for other applications.
Google Damper Dudes. Mail the dead damper to them and let them redo it, it will be as good as a new one. They only last about thirty yeras or so and the rubber gets soft.
to all you guys that know FORD 390 MOTORS so ok my damper is in a stack of 3 pulleys, do i just need to remove the first 2 pulleys replace the damper/balancer and reinstall the other 2 pullies? seems to make sense to me. the reason i ask is because the car is not right in front of me, it is on the other side of the city and i havent been able to look at it...so i just want to make sure that this one is ther right one...i can get it at damperdudes.com for 75 bucks and i just need to make sure i dont need a full stack.
My dodge truck balancer came apart a couple months ago, just made a buch of clanging noise, I thought the engine let go at first.
I had a balance come off of a SBC, as well. Every motor that I had after that, would get the snot drilled and tapped; if it wasn't already done. That's probably why GM started drilling and tapping them; then installing bolts.
You need a puller to get it off. The right puller has three bolts and a large middle bolt. It looks just like a steering wheel puller only bigger. Of course, since your outer ring already came off, a three jaw puller would work too. When you order from Damper Dudes, you gotta remember that this is what they do. Give them all the info on your car and motor. ****** too, and they will get you the right part. Now I'm gonna tell my damper story to dammit! A buddy and me put a Dodge 383 together for his '68 Dodge truck years back. After we had it in and singin' like a song, we took it on it's maiden voyage. We drove around for a few minutes and got it warmed up. Then we decided to see how it ran, and it ran like a scalded dog! Of course we had to run it out again, only this time the oil light came on, the gauge went to zero and the cab filled with a m***ive amount of oil smoke. And of course it was night time. Upon inspection, it appeared the oil filter had exploded. It wasn't til the next day we noticed all the holes and dents in the hood and fenders where all of the pieces of balancer decided to exit the engine bay!!! We went back and found about two dozen pieces of outer ring in the road, on the sidewalks and all over the place!
Can't tell without pics, my older 390 had a stack of 3 pullies COVERING the damper with the built in pulley, the built in pulley was not used.
yea im glad i pay attention to my car...any noise i hear that wasnt there before, my eyes go strait to the guages. and when one guage went to one extreme and one went to the other in about a half a second, i pulled over with a quickness. when i saw that the v-belt ring came offand was just sitting on the protruding part of the case i immediatley stretched the hell out of my belt and ran it from the back pulley(balancer) to the middle one(not used) to try and make it off of the freeway...i knew that it was going to sound like hell and i only had about a minute of drive time before the belt snapped... but i figured being on the freeway at night with no hazard lights, no road flares(thanks to drunk friends) in a primer grey car under a bridge was not an ideal location for me. i could see that teh next exit was about 1/4 mile away and there was a gas station right there...only problem was that i was on the inside shoulder of a 4 lane road at the tail end of rush hour traffic, and my right turn signal only works when you manually opperate the lever yourself...lol. so i start her up and she is squeeling like a stuck hogand i wait for the biggest gap i can possibly see in headlights. i make it accross 3 lanes and i still have about 50 yards before the offramp and this lady on her cell phone isnt paying attention, and doesnt see my frantic signalling (if i had a gun i would have used it) and i miss the exit. so i try my luck for the next and i get about halfway and pop and the guages spike again... luckily i was under a streetlamp and i have full coverage insurance on the old gal with towing coverage... so we towed her to my parents house about 10 miles away and there she lovingly sits in the garage awaiting my return with money and medical supplies... i hope you found my story entertaining...i cant sleep
The Jalopy Journal
