balancer bolt fails again !!

anlo

Registered User
same deal bolt snapped balancer moved a hair forward and shut down that was a new mustang bolt found the bolt head right where the car coasted to a stop. didnt see the washer balancer still seems intact and still on keyway just going to throw a new bolt and washer and hope for the best...
 
The bolt breaking is not the real problem, it's a symptom of a bad balancer. Replace the balancer with a new one and the bolt will stop breaking.

David
 
bolt

the bolt was a 10.9 just got the replacement have to wait on the washer of course my local dEALER have none in stock.
 
i to agree with Dave. i recently was blessed with a failing balancer found upon inspection thats done everytime i change the oil. im 1 of those that are nearly considered to have ocd when it comes to mechanics. so needless to say i went all out and did a retarded level of research before i went forth with replacing the balancer.
in my research i found these things have a very very tight tolerance that must be adhered to. the bore of the damper requires a .001 to .0015 press fit. if its to loose it could cause the damper to move and damage the key way and or the retaining bolt.
if its to tight it could cause the damper to gall and weld itself to the crank. (these are not my opinions these are the facts)

since yours is braking the retaining bolts that would stand to say your balancer is to loose and needs rebuild/replaced. you could have it rebuilt as they would refill the bore and hone it, however after the cost of this process you would be better off getting a new 1. the cost will be about the same. scp, ford, midnight auto, and im sure even Dave Dalke would have the proper retaining bolts for the damper. im not sure but i would almost bet on it that dave can get you a new balancer. if not then scp has the bhj balancer. autozone also has the stock balancers (new) but if i recall its like $40 or so and you can have the better bhj.

when installing the (NEW) retainer bolt ensure its torqued down to a minimum of 103ftlbs up to 132ftlbs. the bolts for the crank pulley should be torqued to 20-28ftlbs. in order to torque the retainer bolt properly your going to have to restrain the crank pulley in order to apply enough torque. this will not happen without restraining the movement of the crank. i got mine as tight as i could before i started to turn the engine then installed the belt and had a helper use a strap wrench on the water pump pulley to hold everything still. it worked like a charm.
i hope this helps, good luck.:)
 
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good info,

if you have a manual trans car, then throw it in 1st or reverse, apply parking brake full on.. then torque that bolt down to the torque spec. if you have an auto car, i think there was a tool to hold the balancer, using the pulley bolt holes. but thats a ford tool.

i still cant help but wonder why ford would design a balancer this prone to breakage. one thing I noticed is that the area of the balancer that the washer seats against is not flush with the end of the crank. if the snout was flush with the balancer when installed would that help the situation?
 
the bolt was a 10.9 just got the replacement have to wait on the washer of course my local dEALER have none in stock.

If you keep replacing the bolt without addressing the balancer, the crankshaft could be the next failure.

David
 
Ditto to David's comment.

You can only dodge the disaster bullet for so long. If you like I will sell you my crankshaft with the broken off easy-out in it so you can experience the agony of defeat first hand.

Of course the stupid bolt has made it possible for me to spend lots of money on a new engine so I guess all was not lost.

Sean
 
Ditto to David's comment.

You can only dodge the disaster bullet for so long. If you like I will sell you my crankshaft with the broken off easy-out in it so you can experience the agony of defeat first hand.

Of course the stupid bolt has made it possible for me to spend lots of money on a new engine so I guess all was not lost.

Sean

That's a possibility, but I meant the crank actually breaking.

David
 
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