Is it a bad thing for your Harmonic Balancer to free spin? :)

[MLGower]

I can't believe what I found today!!! I am in the process of swapping my Q-Jet for a Holley Carb and find that the Fuel pump is dead. Joy and thrill. Well, while I am under the car to remove the fuel pump, I bump against the Balancer, to find it spins all by it's self!!!! I can actually spin this thing freely by hand!!!! I just HAD to say something about it here. I've been wondering why I was having such a time setting up the timing. I even picked up a new timing chain set so I could replace it in the next couple of days. Thanks for letting me rant!!!

Michael

 

[Rowdy1]

Not Good

Is the whole thing spinning or just the outer part? Hopefully you can just change the balancer. I'm confused, does your fan belt spin? Sure hope you didn't sheer the key off the crank.

 

[MLGower]

It appears that it's just the outside piece spinning. I don't think it'll be a problem to change, it just pi**es me off. I found a balancer on ebay with 1200 miles for $2.00. I may get it. I plan on building a new motor in the next year, so this one only has to do me for a while longer. As for the fan belt, it is still attached to the crank. Except the fan it's self exploded a few months ago. I switched to an electric when that happened. I'm just trying to fix the problems as I find them. I'm just getting frustrated because it seems that all the problems are happening at once. Oh well, it can only get better, right?

Michael

 

[Rowdy1]

Fan Belt

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the pulley for the belt (belts)mounted on the outside of the balancer? So, what's running the alternator and the water pump?:confused

 

[vigman]

Harmonic balancer

Well on MY cars the pullies are mounted on the INSIDE portion of the harmonic balancer.

The OUTSIDE has no mechanical attachment with the exception of the rubber doughnut coupling the inner to the outer weight.

But it FREE SPINNING...YIKES get that OUTA THERE...NOW! Stop running the car till that is changed!



Vig!

 

[78SilvAnniv]

fix 'em as you find 'em

Hi MLGower,
You'll find that everything does tend to run in 'groups' of problems. We had LOTS happen in a short time, requiring mucho dinero to repair.
Good news: after those spendy repairs, just little bugs for the last couple years! 78 has been a reliable daily driver for many years now.
Down time in 13 years: Accumulated Total of approx. 14 months... about 5 weeks for little problems (day here, 2 days there), rear end rebuild took about 3 weeks, 6-7 weeks for the paint job and almost 11 months while saving MY money (10hr/wk part-time job) for a GM crate engine and R&R by brother-in-law.
*I almost didn't survive the 11 months without the 78!*

Many items need replacing because of age, not mileage. Work through yours on the issues of safety before cosmetics. Be assured that when you're done, you'll have a reliable vehicle!
Heidi

 

[vigman]

I agree 100% with Silver!

Oh yes......

Have you checked your wheel bearing free play yet?


Vig!

 

[MLGower]

Yea, slowly but surely, I am getting everything straightened out. I'm going to get a new Balancer today, and get it installed with a new timing chain set (may as well since I'm in there). This all started yesterday after buying a slightly used Holley 600CFM Street Legal carb for $50 bucks. (old racer pulled it off his '50 to install a new intake and a pair of quads, Lucky me ).

Vig,

Yea, the back wheels are fine (already replaced the right rear bearings, inside and out), I'm not sure about the fronts yet. I noticed a bit of play on the right front, but haven't gotten in there to see what's up yet (another project for today). This is my daily driver, so I have to be sure it's not going to die and leave me stranded.

Thanks for listening everyone, I just wanted to let off some steam about this and appreciate the feedback a lot.

Michael

 

[vigman]

Fronts wheel bearings

That's cake.....

you remove the cotter pin & tighten as needed.....



Vig!