Harmonic Balancer went south

hytorksc

Registered User
I just wanted to post this for info purposes. What happened was very strange to me. i was turning a corner at an intersection yesterday, and suddenly i heard a snap, then a bang bang bang noise. it scared the hell out of me- i initially thought i broke a rod. but the engine was still idling very smoothly. so i got out to check the situation, and i saw the HB wobbling violently. but what's strange about this is that the crank sensor was holding together, and the engine was still running good. so then i shut it off, and wiggled the crank pulley, it felt a little loose, and i found that all but 1 pulley bolt in there had been either sheared off or dropped out. very strange.

luckily, i was able to limp the car to an auto service center across the street, they looked at it, and called me back two hours later at work. they said the HB cracked and a big chunk of metal fell out (basically disintegrated), it took my water pump with it, and destroyed both the crank and water pump pulleys- you should have seen it, it was mangled beyond belief. then they really scared me when they first thought the crankshaft was bent :eek:

amazing part to me was that the crank sensor was in tact undamaged from all this crazyness.

But anyway, i think you all would like to know that there is a new HB kit for our cars (not a BHJ) that resolves the issue forever. it is as expensive as a BHJ though. i saw it, and the HB is solid steel- no rubber wedged in between metal rings, and it even comes bolted onto a new crank pulley and crank sensor vanes already balanced as a unit. i figure this may be better and easier to install than a BHJ. i will post the brand name as soon as i pick up the car today. BTW, the bill was $1,070 to fix the balancer, and water pump.

just thought you guys would appreciate this info...
 
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There should be some other balancers for this car. The BHJ is nice, but why is it over 350 bucks when the BHJ balancers for most other cars are 200 or less? The stocker is 170 bucks and should get me another 100 to 145K miles on a stock engine. Please do post this new brand, we need more options.
 
the car ran pretty good today

i will post the brand name after the holiday- i got so excited to pick up the car that i forgot to get it. i'll post it on tuesday. everyone have a very nice holiday and be safe.
 
Thats awesome, i didnt know anybody else offered a harmonic balancer. Do post details about it. About your repairs.....thats quite a pricetag for the job, but good thing you have it back!
 
Guys-

i just found out that they installed supposedly a new HB kit for our cars from Ford Motorcraft- it just came out. Check it out- it is a solid steel piece just like the BHJ, it comes with the pulley/new bolts already balanced as a unit, but it will set you back by $370.00 (as expected because it came from a Ford parts department). So far, it's working very good. I think the balancer has alot to do with how well these cars run and idle, because i was fooling around yesterday spinning the tires and i got this thing to spin all the way thru 1st, and part of 2nd- that's awesome to me. And i have brand new sticky kuhmo's on it- highly recommend if you are serious about keeping the sc to change the balancer. if you have the original, it will fail on you at an unsuspecting moment like it did me.
 
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Can you provide us with the Ford part number for this new balancer.
 
Joisey Jim said:
Can you provide us with the Ford part number for this new balancer.

I asked him about the part number, and he has to call his supplier to get it. The supplier got it from a Ford dealer (?). I told him about me disclosing this important info to the sccoa, so he said he would call me back with the part number this week. i will stay on top of this and call him back in a day or so (he's gonna forget on purpose). what i can also do is call a Ford dealer directly and see if they have it.

either way i'll post the part number when i get it (soon).
 
Thanks - that would be great to have an alternate source for balancers. I wonder why he needs to call the Ford parts supplier though, because normally the part numbers are right on the box & I'm sure it wasn't delivered loose.
 
Joisey Jim said:
Thanks - that would be great to have an alternate source for balancers. I wonder why he needs to call the Ford parts supplier though, because normally the part numbers are right on the box & I'm sure it wasn't delivered loose.

i think he threw the box away.
 
Very interesting...I would like more info on this new balancer too, because last I heard Ford was discontinuing them.

BTW, I don't see how the balancer can absorb harmonic vibrations if it doesn't have an elastomer ring or isn't fluid filled.

David
 
David Neibert said:
Very interesting...I would like more info on this new balancer too, because last I heard Ford was discontinuing them.

BTW, I don't see how the balancer can absorb harmonic vibrations if it doesn't have an elastomer ring or isn't fluid filled.

David

it looked pretty solid to me, i didn't see a rubberized ring- in fact i was going to have him put in a BHJ, but when he showed me the motorcraft one, i told him to put that one in because it was solid, and he would cover the warranty on that and not the BHJ (that was the primary reason). We also discussed how many balancers he did that actually failed after the install (he seemed very honest which is odd).
Assuming they did it right, the solid-ness may just be a reason for the failures, and it would make sense that a solid balancer could do this. I also thought that some here experienced failures with the BHJ too. i suppose this Ford balancer was fluid filled.
 
hytorksc said:
it looked pretty solid to me, i didn't see a rubberized ring- in fact i was going to have him put in a BHJ, but when he showed me the motorcraft one, i told him to put that one in because it was solid, and he would cover the warranty on that and not the BHJ (that was the primary reason). We also discussed how many balancers he did that actually failed after the install (he seemed very honest which is odd).
Assuming they did it right, the solid-ness may just be a reason for the failures, and it would make sense that a solid balancer could do this. I also thought that some here experienced failures with the BHJ too. i suppose this Ford balancer was fluid filled.


hey whats up :) well i was reading your post and i was wondering if you got the part number i'm in the point of buying a HB and if they have one like that well i would really be interested on buying one thanks .... ivan :D
 
ivan said:
hey whats up :) well i was reading your post and i was wondering if you got the part number i'm in the point of buying a HB and if they have one like that well i would really be interested on buying one thanks .... ivan :D

Well here's the latest scoop...

I called the mechanic today, and he has confirmed the HB kit as being a NEW Ford motorcraft product. It came from a Ford parts warehouse in Baltimore, MD. He is still researching the details, specifically the Ford part number, which should be disclosed shortly.

So that is good news for the sccoa community. The Harmonic Balancer Kit includes 4 new pulley bolts, a new crank pulley (already balanced for the HB), and the HB itself which appeared to be completely solid- NO rubber/elastic ring built in. I don't really know if it is fluid filled or not, but at least it should last the life of the SC if nothing else. It didn't seem to be as heavy as the original either. Unfortunately you will still have to use the original crank bolt or get another one that fits. In the state of maryland, this kit will set you back by $370.00.

I will disclose more details as soon as I get them.
 
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[

hey whats up .... so did you get any info on that part number for the harmonic balancer kit. i called the dealer here in san diego but i dont think the guy had any idea of what i was talking about.
 
ivan said:
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hey whats up .... so did you get any info on that part number for the harmonic balancer kit. i called the dealer here in san diego but i dont think the guy had any idea of what i was talking about.

Nope not yet. But you can PM me and I will give you the shop manager's phone number if you need a balancer right away. I have been calling him everyday, and he says he's waiting on his supplier to call him back with the part number. I'm kinda wandering if he's holding back so he can get all the business for this balancer- i don't know for sure, but i think he's being honest. But in the meantime, he says he can get you the new Ford balancer kit for $470 and drop ship it to you if you like for now. Let me know if interested.
 
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have a quick question
Is my hb is going out, in park car is running smooth and idling just fine, but when put in gear(any) i get a somewhat rough idle but a fairly noticable vibration. Vacuum will also drop to near 10 idling in gear.
Bolt is still on and crank pulley has a very little wobble to it, but nothing i would consider abnormal.
 
motor mounts

That sounds like it could be a cracked motor mount to me. It makes your idle feel rough and makes vibrations when in gear.
 
so it whent from $370 to $470 thats to much thanks for the help do i can do $370 but not $470 just for the shipping thanks

hytorksc said:
Well here's the latest scoop...

I called the mechanic today, and he has confirmed the HB kit as being a NEW Ford motorcraft product. It came from a Ford parts warehouse in Baltimore, MD. He is still researching the details, specifically the Ford part number, which should be disclosed shortly.

So that is good news for the sccoa community. The Harmonic Balancer Kit includes 4 new pulley bolts, a new crank pulley (already balanced for the HB), and the HB itself which appeared to be completely solid- NO rubber/elastic ring built in. I don't really know if it is fluid filled or not, but at least it should last the life of the SC if nothing else. It didn't seem to be as heavy as the original either. Unfortunately you will still have to use the original crank bolt or get another one that fits. In the state of maryland, this kit will set you back by $370.00.

I will disclose more details as soon as I get them.
 
ivan said:
so it whent from $370 to $470 thats to much thanks for the help do i can do $370 but not $470 just for the shipping thanks
i misquoted the price earlier- i wasn't looking at the receipt directly when i posted it. so much for my memory (worthless sometimes). The shop manager gave me the $470 price over the phone. Sorry about that.
 
Well a BHJ balancer is at least $350, then you need a neutral balanced pulley (unless you are lucky enough to be able to get your old pulleys balanced locally at a machine shop) for about another $170 (alum.) plus new bolts, Total $520.00 min. And the new Ford unit can be priced checked at 5 Star Ford and other discount Ford supply houses. I bet you can get that for about $350.
 
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