Engine Harmonic balanced slipped?

sav22rem22

Active Member
Feb 6, 2020
380
77
38
North Carolina
So a few days ago when I was under the car with it running I noticed the harmonic balancer didn’t look all that great. I tried to set my timing today (of course with spout out and at operating temp) and set it at what the balancer says is 10 degrees but it doesn’t seem to like it. I have to have it lower or at about what the balancer says is around 6-7 degrees. At 10 or higher it idles up and doesn’t seem to like it at all.

As far as I’m aware the balancer looks stock and given the condition of the other components when I got the car I’m sure it’s the original one. Do you all think it could have slipped and therefore I’m getting the incorrect timing?


I would like to get a new factory balancer but it’s out of stock on lmr and cj pony parts. At least the Ford performance one
 
  • Sponsors (?)


If it’s that old, you may just want to replace it as preventative maintenance. Just replaced mine and there was a huge difference in the driveline vibration and even at idle it doesn’t shake side to side.
426B0C50-892A-405B-ADF2-F6C98E3F720C.jpeg

here’s what I got after being recommended by one of my favorite members of this forum. It’s SFI rated, laser etched timing marks, and won’t break the bank.
 
If it’s that old, you may just want to replace it as preventative maintenance. Just replaced mine and there was a huge difference in the driveline vibration and even at idle it doesn’t shake side to side.
426B0C50-892A-405B-ADF2-F6C98E3F720C.jpeg

here’s what I got after being recommended by one of my favorite members of this forum. It’s SFI rated, laser etched timing marks, and won’t break the bank.
Yeah I agree I’m actually going to take it super easy on the car until I can get a new one. Thanks for the link I’ll look into that one while I wait for parts to come in. My car also does shake pretty bad and I’ve looked at the balancer and looking at it from the front it looks pretty wobbly
 
I got mine from ford but that was a minute ago. Shop around.
To check yours turn the engine over to TDC and the pointer should be at 0* +- a degree or two.
Alright I’m going to try the paper towel in the #1 plug hole method to get me on the compression stroke then I’ll see how close it is with an old screwdriver in tape trick. Hopefully all goes well and the timing isn’t too far off and I didn’t grenade an engine lol
 
To end this thread off properly, I checked and the balancer had slipped a little. Thankfully not enough to throw the timing off very bad. If anyone still has their stock crusty balancer I recommend checking yours as well
 
Final update on this subject. I got the new balancer on and set the car at 10 degrees. A lot of driveline vibration gone from the car. I also have the peace of mind of it not destroying my engine. However a new issue has arrived and I’ll make a new thread on this one