replacing harmonic balancer

[nstone63]

Hi guys,

I did a heap of searching last night after the harmonic balancer let go in the vn (series 1), and I'm pretty confident at giving it a go. Just a few questions my searching didn't answer..

If I'm redoing the seal, do I need to drain the engine oil first?

Is the pulley and balancer the same component, or is there a balancer AND a pulley?

Thanks guys

[zskinner]

The pulley IS the harmonic balancer (the same thing just different names for them) and no you dont need to drain engine oil, just make sure to remove ALL of the old seal. Dont leave any, I used a small flathead screwdriver if I remember correctly. Good luck with it mate

[lepht93]

make sure you soak the bolt at the front in WD40 for atleast 24 hours before trying to remove it, otherwise it probably won't budge.

[Farqhed]

I had to replace mine about 2 months ago, i couldnt get the nut undone. Me and my old man both tried every possible thing we could think of and still nothing. Drove it to the local mechanic and he changed it for $77 (we supplied a brand new balancer) and he also adjusted the kickdown cable. Can't go wrong really

[IBLOWN]

Use a breaker bar with a socket. Put the breaker bar on the ground, take out the EFI relay and turn the engine over for a split second at a time. It'll soon come undone.

[wraith]

Yeah bogan way works to. My balancer is on nice and tight and hasn't come flying off. Better off getting a balancer puller too. Makes it a lot easier.

[delcowizzid]

vn s1 doesnt need a puller and the balancer doesnt even have holes for one

[wraith]

Cool well there you go. Sorry to derail but can you go an ecotec balancer on a S1? Is there any gain?

[Farqhed]

I was told no. The VN S1 balancer is different to the VN S2 and VP balancers. So i'd say the ecotech wouldnt fit.. The holden dealer wanted my engine number to be perfectly sure. Hope this helps

[Andrew426]

Cool well there you go. Sorry to derail but can you go an ecotec balancer on a S1? Is there any gain?

Ecotec balancer wont fit a VNs1 - and fitting an ecotec balancer to VNs2-VR will make it shake at idle as the ecotec has a bigger weight on it.

And no, there is absolutely no gain to be had.

[nstone63]

Did it today, with the breaker bar on the frame and turned the engine over to undo the bolt. The box the new one came in said something like "don't use any other balancer unless it is EXACTLY the same as the factory one".. not sure if that's a serious warning or mainly them waiving their responsibility for you stuffing it up.

But yeah, I'm pretty keen to torque it up properly before I take it back out on the roads so I'm gonna pinch the torque wrenches from work tomorrow. What's the best way to hold the balancer still to torque the bolts?

[Andrew426]

I would wrap an old belt around it and use vice grips and a bar to secure it. Pretty hard to picture in your head.

I just used a 1/2" rattle gun on mine. Probably not meant to use a rattle gun on the end of your crank though.

[nstone63]

yeah I borrowed one from a mate, nice 14volt cordless one - kicks arse for my job, didn't do very good on the crank bolt though

[nstone63]

is there another way to secure the balancer? I haven't got an old one around and can't really drive around to get one..

[Andrew426]

Tighten the #### out of it with a flex bar or a rachet with a bar over it.

Its not going to fall off.

[delcowizzid]

i just use a breaker bar and a heavy hammer to do them up havnt fallen off yet