CRANK PULLEY ORIENTATION

[Weldguy]

Never too old to learn. I replaced the Harmonic Balancer on my '70 440 engine today. When I was degreeing the engine, I noticed the TDC mark on the original vibration damper was nearly 1/4" off. I have since read that, with age and heat, the bond in the construction of the vibration damper can fail. Under the right conditions, it can even come completely apart.

I didn't realize until after running out of swear words, that the mounting holes of the crank pulley are NOT symmetrical. So, I placed the pulley on the old damper and rotated it until the holes alll lined up. Then, I made a mark on the pulley where the crankshaft keyway is located. That made orientating the pulley correctly easy to do.

I thought this would save someone else the aggravation I had today.

 

[mrmopar340]

Never too old to learn. I replaced the Harmonic Balancer on my '70 440 engine today. When I was degreeing the engine, I noticed the TDC mark on the original vibration damper was nearly 1/4" off. I have since read that, with age and heat, the bond in the construction of the vibration damper can fail. Under the right conditions, it can even come completely apart.

I didn't realize until after running out of swear words, that the mounting holes of the crank pulley are NOT symmetrical. So, I placed the pulley on the old damper and rotated it until the holes alll lined up. Then, I made a mark on the pulley where the crankshaft keyway is located. That made orientating the pulley correctly easy to do.

I thought this would save someone else the aggravation I had today.

View attachment 126353

Torque converters same way. We always rotate to find a bolt and a shot of paint on the bolt head and torque converter makes everything easy to line back up. I bet you could do the same on the crank pulleys too.

 

[Weldguy]

Torque converters same way. We always rotate to find a bolt and a shot of paint on the bolt head and torque converter makes everything easy to line back up. I bet you could do the same on the crank pulleys too.

Except it was a new harmonic balancer.

 

[mrmopar340]

Except it was a new harmonic balancer.

Got ya. We all learn tricks over the years for sure.

 

[Weldguy]

Got ya. We all learn tricks over the years for sure.

I wonder why the engineers decided to make the hole pattern so it only lines up one way??? I can't see any potential out-of-balance issues... it's a pulley.

 

[mrmopar340]

Yep I agree. Balanced torque convertor for externally balanced motor I can understand.

 

[73-Cudah2]

Oh I didn't mark mine after pulling it. i sand blasted it and repainted it. I'll have to check how it lines up. I have not cleaned up my harmonic balancer yet I did mark that. Thank for the information.

 

[Weldguy]

Oh I didn't mark mine after pulling it. i sand blasted it and repainted it. I'll have to check how it lines up. I have not cleaned up my harmonic balancer yet I did mark that. Thank for the information.

If you haven't installed the balancer yet, take a couple of minutes to orient the holes with the pulley holes before installing it. I marked the pulley so it lines up with the keyway of the balancer when the holes line up.

 

[73-Cudah2]

Thank for the info I'll do that.

 

[73-Cudah2]

Wow I seem to have 3 posable positions for the pulling to fit on the balancer. I did try the bolt on all 3
and the work. I'll have to do some more digging, Thanks Weldguy.

 

[Weldguy]

Wow I seem to have 3 posable positions for the pulling to fit on the balancer. I did try the bolt on all 3
and the work. I'll have to do some more digging, Thanks Weldguy.

Check every hole... there were a couple of times I thought everything was good, but one hole was just a bit off.