[That73Lemans]

Hey guys, so iii had a friend come over with a torque wrench to properly torque the crank bolt, basically the way iii had jammed a wrench to keep the harmonic balancer from rotating while iii was REMOVING it did not work for keeping it from rotating while INSTALLING it.
My boy decided it was okay to spin the balancer clockwise (in order to get the wrench to lock in place) because the keyway was locked in.
The second pic is how it used to be, with the two holes directly on the bottom. First pic is how it is now, two holes at the teeth,
Im wondering hardddd about if this threw off the timing?
Should i turn the balancer counter clockwise back to its original position?
Or is it fine & im juss overthinking?

 

[RMTZ67]

Hey guys, so iii had a friend come over with a torque wrench to properly torque the crank bolt, basically the way iii had jammed a wrench to keep the harmonic balancer from rotating while iii was REMOVING it did not work for keeping it from rotating while INSTALLING it.
My boy decided it was okay to spin the balancer clockwise (in order to get the wrench to lock in place) because the keyway was locked in.
The second pic is how it used to be, with the two holes directly on the bottom. First pic is how it is now, two holes at the teeth,
Im wondering hardddd about if this threw off the timing?
Should i turn the balancer counter clockwise back to its original position?
Or is it fine & im juss overthinking?


View attachment 159589
View attachment 159590

It's a two-piece balancer. So, you're saying the outside spun while holding the inside. If so, that's what happens to them with age, get a new one from butler.

 

[That73Lemans]

It's a two-piece balancer. So, you're saying the outside spun while holding the inside. If so, that's what happens to them with age, get a new one from butler.

Oh naw we weren't holding anything down while turning the balancer

 

[lust4speed]

Your explanation is a little vague. I gather that you were using a torque wrench on the crank bolt bringing the bolt to 160 foot pounds?

While unorthodox, the jerry-rigged holding device on the inner part of the balancer wouldn't have hurt it. As long as no holding force was applied to the outside ring the balancer should be good. If for some reason you can turn the outer ring on the inner then it is junk.

Most of us just clamp a pair of vice grips to the flexplate and let it bottom out on the passenger side bottom of the block. While 160 pounds seems like a lot of force, it really doesn't take much to hold the crank from turning. Just remember to unclamp the pliers or you can cause damage.

 

[geeteeohguy]

No way you can change your timing----unless you have the distributor out of the engine. You simply changed the position of the rotating assembly (crank/cam/pistons).

 

[That73Lemans]

Your explanation is a little vague. I gather that you were using a torque wrench on the crank bolt bringing the bolt to 160 foot pounds?

While unorthodox, the jerry-rigged holding device on the inner part of the balancer wouldn't have hurt it. As long as no holding force was applied to the outside ring the balancer should be good. If for some reason you can turn the outer ring on the inner then it is junk.

Most of us just clamp a pair of vice grips to the flexplate and let it bottom out on the passenger side bottom of the block. While 160 pounds seems like a lot of force, it really doesn't take much to hold the crank from turning. Just remember to unclamp the pliers or you can cause damage.

sorry guys iii knew this one would be funky to describe,
Just wondering if turning the whole harmonic balancer throws off the timing,
The outer ring & inner did not separate or turn separately.
We placed the balancer back on in the same position that it was removed, just used that Jerry rigged gold piece to turn the balancer clockwisein order to jam a wrench under, then we put the torque wrench on and torqued the bolt. Resulting in the first pic above ! 🙏🏽

 

[That73Lemans]

No way you can change your timing----unless you have the distributor out of the engine. You simply changed the position of the rotating assembly (crank/cam/pistons).

Thank you! iii had a feeling iii was just overthinking and confusing everyone out here 😂

 

[That73Lemans]

No way you can change your timing----unless you have the distributor out of the engine. You simply changed the position of the rotating assembly (crank/cam/pistons).

Should iii turn it counter clockwise back to original position?

 

[geeteeohguy]

????? How could turning the harmonic balancer throw off the timing? EVERY engine that runs has a harmonic balancer that turns thousands of times every minute. ????
Why is rotating the engine even a concern? Every engine that runs is rotating. What are you NOT telling us here???

 

[That73Lemans]

????? How could turning the harmonic balancer throw off the timing? EVERY engine that runs has a harmonic balancer that turns thousands of times every minute. ????
Why is rotating the engine even a concern? Every engine that runs is rotating. What are you NOT telling us here???

myfault literally went from knowing nothing about engines to fixing up the 73 Pontiac wit a 69 428 swap lol

 

[Baaad65]

What I got from it and maybe he's trying to ask is if he moved the outer ring throwing off the timing marks from the crank position...idk maybe I'm wrong...sure wouldn't be the first or last time.

 

[That73Lemans]

What I got from it and maybe he's trying to ask is if he moved the outer ring throwing off the timing marks from the crank position...idk maybe I'm wrong...sure wouldn't be the first or last time.

just wondered if turnin the balancer would influence the timing but that apparently makes no sense ! 😂

 

[RMTZ67]

Timing should not change, what would change would be where your timing mark is on the balancer. How exactly did it get in that position? They only go on one way. Seems you used the puller bolted to the balancer to hold it while you tighten the crank bolt.

 

[That73Lemans]

Timing should not change, what would change would be where your timing mark is on the balancer. How exactly did it get in that position? They only go on one way.

we placed the balancer back on in the same position as the second picture above, and then spun it clockwise a lil over a quarters way, then torqued the crank bolt

 

[1969GPSJ]

Lemans
I wanna make sure you are not confusing the holes as the timing mark,which is a straight line on the HB

 

[That73Lemans]

Lemans
I wanna make sure you are not confusing the holes as the timing mark which is a straight line on the HB

Oh no was just wondering if turning the balancer would've somehow turned the actual timing chain & cause some kind of hiccup or something when starting back up lol

 

[RMTZ67]

If you turn the balancer and crank while you are tightening it it will not change anything, your fine.

 

[Jared]

Seems like a lot of confusion here. The damper can only go on in one place on the crank due to the key way. Turning the damper while, on the crank, will turn over the entire engine. This will in no way affect the engine timing. The cam and crank are kept in time by the timing chain. Others my tell you different, but I wouldn't want to turn an engine over backwards but would only turn it over in the direction in which the engine runs. That being said, this really only matters if you were messing with the distributer too, or wanted to make sure that your #1 wire form the distributer goes to the #1 plug. Not a bad thing to check if you replaced the timing chain. Ensures you are not 180 degrees out on ignition timing.

 

[geeteeohguy]

Oh no was just wondering if turning the balancer would've somehow turned the actual timing chain & cause some kind of hiccup or something when starting back up lol

The balancer is connected to the crank, which is connected to the timing chain, which turns the camshaft while the engine runs. Every time you shut off the engine after it runs, it stops with the balancer in a different location than it was when you started it. The timing chain is supposed to turn when the balancer/crankshaft is turned....if the chain is connected. As stated, the ONLY worry would be if you had the distributor out of the engine. But you didn't say that you did.

 

[ylwgto]

did you replace the key for the crankshaft keyway when you put the balancer back on?

the only way a balancer can spin WITHOUT spinning the crank is if no key was installed when you reinstalled. Like Jared said, there is only one way the dampener can fit on the crankshaft snout.

See the pic (different engine, but same idea showing the key).