I was wondering if any of the buick 350 guys out there could help me out. I have a 73 lesabre with a buick 350 engine in it. I dont drive it much, maybe one every 3months. The last time I cranked it up, I noticed a significant amount of wobble around the crank pully/harmonic balancer area. After pulling off the crank pully, which was good, I fired up the car again & noticed the balancer was wobbling. My mechanic and I inspected the balancer as much as we could without actually removing it & the center bolt was tight. The balancer "looks" ok. From my understanding, & I may be wrong, but if it is bad, wouldnt it show signs of wear that would be noticible with the pully removed? Can they be worn out or going bad with no cosmetic signs of wear & tear? The only other thing I can think of is a bent crankshaft but I think my engine would have a knock if that is the case. After deciding to just try replacing the balancer, I HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH HELL & HIGH WATER TRYING TO FIND A STOCK ONE FOR THIS MOTOR! A few shops even told me I have the wrong one on my engine. The attached image is identical to mine. Is this the correct one? I had this engine rebuilt years ago & hopefully the shop that did the rebuild didnt screw me. If its the wrong one, can anyone post a pic of the correct one or point me in the direction of one thats not high performance & going to cost an arm & a leg? Thanks in advance!
That looks correct to me. There are 2 parts to the balancer, the hub and outer ring. They are separated by rubber. The outer ring can slip relative to the hub, and the 2 halves can actually come apart in extreme cases. TA Performance sells new ones, just replace yours. http://www.taperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TA_2025
Doesnt look dried or cracked, I may be wrong though. Guess I'll just try replacing it. Thanks for the quick responses & link. Hopefully thats the problem & a new one will stop all the shaking. Praying its not something worse
I seen them crack along the keyway. The bolt can be tight and they will wear the end of the crankshaft. Easy to remove for inspection.
I think the chances are the outer ring has moved and that is why it appears to wobble. What Steve suggested is certainly possible, but not as likely. I suggest you remove your balancer and replace it, then go from there.
ALL balancers that are 46+ years old are shot.....time for dampner dudes rebuild or new which is a bit more $.
Guess I'll try messaging dampner dude. Didnt know he rebuilds them. Should have checked here before I looked anywhere else!
The TA 2025 is a brand new billet steel balancer that has an interlocking ring on the back that prevents the outer hub from separating from the inner hub. If the balancer were to come apart it would be held together rather than the outer hub shooting off like a missile. Doesn't happen often, but it can. It'll put a nice dent in your hood.
Warranty? That is expired way before it breaks. Unless it's 5 yr, 50k warranty. Even then usually not.
