So I just ordered my harmonic balancer and was wondering if their is anything else I need and any tips or tricks to changing it on a Supercharged 1992.

You need a HB puller, and some M6 bolts and washers. They typically don't come in the kit. Do NOT use 1/4-28 bolts even though they seem to fit. If you strip the threads in the balancer, it will cost you to get it removed by a shop.

Remove the black plastic dust cover to expose the flywheel on the opposite end of the motor, and jam something in there to keep it from turning. You will need a LONG breaker bar with a cheater bar on it to break the golt loose, or a GOOD 500ft/lb impact wrench. You will be working through the RF fender, so remove that wheel, both belts, and the inner fender liner.

After the bolt is out, install the puller and remove the balancer.

For reassembly, you'll have to prevent engine movement in the opposite direction at the flywheel.

No flywheel access is necessary with a good impact wrench.

What length for the M6 bolts? Do you have to remove the passanger side motor mount to get to the HB or to get it out? Also i heard their was a seal behind the HB should I change that? If so Does it just get pulled out?

6mm diameter x 70mm length x 1.0 pitch (1.0 thread per mm) will work fine with a Sears HB puller. You will need washers (I use hardened washers) to fit the HB puller.

I think (?) you should be able to just de-tension the belts and slip them off the smallest pulley on each run so that the HB can be pulled without removing the belts.

The seal behind the HB is the crankshaft front seal and it is set into the front cover. I don't replace it unless it is leaking, and then I remove the front cover to do it.

On jamming the flywheel: When you remove the plastic covers, you will see the flex plate. There will be some holes about 1/2" in diameter in the plate (not the bolt holes that attach the torque converter to the flex plate). I slip a really big (about 15" long) heavy phillips head screwdriver in one of those holes on the front side and turn the engine counterclockwise with a socket until it jams nicely up against the engine block. That will hold it firmly without damaging anything. Try to find a screwdriver or long bolt with a shaft nearly as big as the hole.

update on this:

broken rubber around 3800 balancers, causing loud metal rattling noise at idle speed:



i just removed the old separated balancer from my 1992 3800 a bit ago today

with a normal 15 dollar steering wheel/pulley puller 70mm bolts wont work

i got 100mm ones thinking they would be more than plenty long enough

wrong!

they were JUST BARELY long enough to do the job, any shorter and i couldnt have had enough threads into the balancer bolt holes to pull it off

and that was with the crank bolt only unthreaded a couple threads in the beginning, for the puller shaft foot to push against

but i got it

it actually didnt take very many revolutions of the puller shaft to get the balancer loose enough to pull the rest of the way off the crank snout by hand

but i had to stop a few times and unthread the crank bolt a bit farther out and pull some more to do it

because i could not initially unthread the crank bolt out very far at all, except a couple threads or so- as already mentioned above

it took about 6 feet of cheater pipe to get the crank bolt snapped loose

it takes ALOT of force
an insane amount

and the starter trick didnt work

the starter doesnt put out the amount of torque needed to bust the bolt loose

no where near it

you have to put so much torque on it that you think youre going to bust the breaker bar

i busted it once during ford truck balljoints replacement

craftsman replaced it of course :P

On the length of the M6 bolts. I think it varies according to the puller used. On a generic one, I bought 90mm, but had to use a lot of spacers. In my case, 80mm would have been best. I had to go to a bolt and screw company to find them that long.

Also, one of the bolts (on mine) would only thread in a minimal amount. Trouble is that the sheet metal behind it was not punched for a hole there. The other two would screw all the way through, though.

Finally, Bill Buttermore posted a cool method for breaking that 24mm loose. It uses a jackstand, set and shimmed with 2x4s to the right height to hold up the breakover bar with extensions. Basically to hold the thing straight while you use a persuader pipe on the bar.

There is a picture, etc., in the post at this address
http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...er=asc&start=0

It worked like a charm for me. Good luck

yep it depends on the puller indeed

i used a milke crate and 4x4 block of wood to hold up the breaker bar setup- you really have little choice but to block it up to keep it all straight haha

one of the balancer bolt holes has the sheetmetal right behind it yep lol. -you can tell pretty easily which one by looking through the holes, even with the balancer still on the crank snout, the metal is so bright


wont be the last one ill have to replace, and wasnt the first either lol, enjoy! not..

blocking the flexplate was virtually impossible on this 92
i had the HARDESt time getting it to block

i tried al kinds of screwdrivers, jack handles, bars, you name it, i tried virtualyl anything i could find around the building, and i have ALOt of parts and tools and items from over a decade of vehicles and stuff

nothing ever did end up working perfectly,

what did end up working finally was one of those wheel cover locking T handle tools, yeah,,
now i gotta block it again to tighten the bolt hmm what a pain.

almost broke off the oil pan oil level sensor, it broke but its still able to be plugged in but hopefully it wont come unplugged by itself hmmm- its really in a BAD location there


i plan on putting the new one on by the end of the week or so

I used a pair of vice grips on the flexplate when I did mine, worked awesome, they just have to be cranked down good and tight.

Yes, vise grips worked great for me too. Glad you got that done,though.

All you have to do is put a 6" long 3/8" extension through one of the holes. When the motor turns, it'll stop when that hits the bottom of the engine block.