There is nothing scary about this. Just annoying. In the attached picture you can see a black washer as an example. The actual steel washer in place is still less the the total depth of the crank face to front of balancer. The original washer is still used. The idea was to provide a little more support up front.
Hope it’s not an optical illusion as these balancers have a cut out on them for external balancing.
I still don't understand the benefit of adding washers and bronze sleeves. Be sure to transfer any balance weight from the perimeter hole(s) in the original damper to the corresponding hole in the replacement damper, clocked properly in relation to the keyway.
The pupose of the additional washer was to center the front of the balance on the bolt. Think of the balacer as a tire, the washer as a wheel and the bolt as an axle. The added washer is siting between the front surface of the crank in side the diameter of the balancer as illistrated by the previous picture, the bronze takes up the gap between the threads and the id of the washers.
I'm gonna guess that the crank is bent. Has the engine been rebuilt before? If so maybe somebody dropped the crank at somepoint??
I believe the most likely cause was uneven wear. The original balancer cracked. I'm not sure how long I ran it that way, but I do need to remove the front cover and inspect closer. I believe at this point I am faced replacing the crank or having it reconditioned.
How does the new balance fit? Does it go on tight or is it loose fitting? I had a problem with a romac balancer and the snout was worn unevenly do to bolt being too long. After a few thousand miles the balancer started to wobble. I got a new balancer and the correct bolt from t/a. The new balancer slipped right on too easily. no resistance. Mic'd the snout and either needed a new crank or a custom machined balancer. BHJ would do do it but it was expensive. I had a local chromer add one thousandth of chrome to the inside of the balancer. One thousandth worth so it would total 2 thousandths on both sides. The balancer went on nice and tight. I also machined a new washer to fit the inside of the balancer to a closer tolerance just for added support. After the installation the balancer and pulley run true. I'm not saying it will work for you but it did for me. It did save me replacing the crankshaft,pulling the motor and all that good stuff.
