Ever seen a 6.2 balancer break?

[CARC686]

I had planned on installing a Fluidampr until it occurred to me that for the same budget, I could replace most of the rubber on my truck and get a conventional harmonic balancer as well.
Now that I've got the part in my hand, something occurs to me. I've seen some balancer failures in passenger cars built in the last 25 years, but I have yet to hear of a balancer failing on a 6.2 diesel.

Has anybody ever seen it? I'm starting to think I might be better off with the 40 year old balancer that's already in the truck. I've no way of knowing the longevity of a bottom shelf OEM-style part. The only mention of a broken balancer I can find here via search is on a deuce. Are we replacing these parts for no reason other than broken crank paranoia?

 

[Tinstar]

Yes
It’s catastrophic for the engine.

If you’re going to still run the original, it’s not a matter of “if”, but “when” it will fail.
Might be a few more years before failure or the very next time you drive it.
But it will fail at some point.
Not necessarily coming apart like a grenade, but the failure of the rubber to dampen as it hardens with age to the point of no return.

 

[WWRD99]

In my decades of dealership life I've seen a few come apart but never an old gm one. The ones that did were only 5 or 6 years old too. Korean cars. Even my 69 corvette still has the original one on it. So when I do replace one it's when a front main has leaked on it for some time and the rubber part starts popping out. One thing that's come up the last year is the 6.2 balancer from gm is gone but the world answered and made a spacer so you can get one for a 6.5 and be ok. They're like 5 or 6 $. I've always seen the fluid damper good for high revving engines so I'm not sure if you'll get much out of it on a low Rev 6.2.

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[CARC686]

In my decades of dealership life I've seen a few come apart but never an old gm one. The ones that did were only 5 or 6 years old too. Korean cars. Even my 69 corvette still has the original one on it. So when I do replace one it's when a front main has leaked on it for some time and the rubber part starts popping out. One thing that's come up the last year is the 6.2 balancer from gm is gone but the world answered and made a spacer so you can get one for a 6.5 and be ok. They're like 5 or 6 $. I've always seen the fluid damper good for high revving engines so I'm not sure if you'll get much out of it on a low Rev 6.2.

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As a matter of fact, it's been exclusively Korean harmonic balancers I've seen fail as well. That's what I got to thinking about this evening. What if this ATP balancer is made of the same stuff? But then the leveraged portion of the rubber in those KDM balancers is dozens of times bigger, which certainly contributes to the problem. There's a guy I follow on YouTube who replaced his CUCV balancer and showed it needed replacement by crumbling a fraction of a millimeter off the rubber surface, digging at it with a pick, which wasn't terribly convincing. I didn't know about the 6.5 spacer. RockAuto still carries ATP 6.2 OE-style for a hair under $100 shipped.

 

[CARC686]

@WWRD99 Since you mentioned it, that's the notchback, right? That thing got a 427 in it?

 

[87cr250r]

A damper doesn't have to fail to be bad. Over time the rubber hardens and reduces the damper's ability to dampen. Broken crankshafts are one result but I wonder if the cracked main bearing webs are also symptom.

If you do replace you damper the standard units all appear to be made by the same manufacturer. Fluidampr is certainly an upgrade. Dayco has a premium damper that is made in Australia. It falls in the middle price wise at $300. I put one on my truck. I don't have any way to tell you if it's better. It has a retaining ring to keep it together if the rubber fails and some timing marks.

 

[WWRD99]

@WWRD99 Since you mentioned it, that's the notchback, right? That thing got a 427 in it?

I think the company that I've seen is quadstar that makes or sells the spacer. 6.5 is about a quarter inch shorter on the snout, it opened up a easy fix so you can get a quality balancer not from China. I've seen a few online forums where they didn't use the spacer then needed a front cover once they crashed the new balancer into it.
No 427 here!! I bought it in 2009 from a housing developer that was losing everything with the crash...needless to say I got it for a great price. It's a 350 but not the base but not the lt1 either. It is convertible though with the m21 close ratio.

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[CARC686]

A damper doesn't have to fail to be bad. Over time the rubber hardens and reduces the damper's ability to dampen. Broken crankshafts are one result but I wonder if the cracked main bearing webs are also symptom.

If you do replace you damper the standard units all appear to be made by the same manufacturer. Fluidampr is certainly an upgrade. Dayco has a premium damper that is made in Australia. It falls in the middle price wise at $300. I put one on my truck. I don't have any way to tell you if it's better. It has a retaining ring to keep it together if the rubber fails and some timing marks.

Allegedly, the ATP unit that goes for around $80 via RockAuto comes from Mississippi, though their corporate page says they're owned by a Mexican firm now, so there's no telling. The Dayco unit you speak of is also sold on RockAuto for $293. You always get 5% off at RockAuto if you plug a code into the "How did you hear about us?" field, which is worth $15 on the fancy damper, but I've got the ATP on my desk already. Honestly, my fuel pump was washing crud off the front of my engine and made me think my front main seal was bad by leaving big black stains under the front of my block. That's the only reason I've got a front main seal and harmonic balancer here ready to go. Now that I've R&R'd the lift pump, I'm considering how much priority to give to R&Ring the front seal and balancer. It's only the rear seal that's really marking its spot on my particular M1009.

 

[CARC686]

I think the company that I've seen is quadstar that makes or sells the spacer. 6.5 is about a quarter inch shorter on the snout, it opened up a easy fix so you can get a quality balancer not from China. I've seen a few online forums where they didn't use the spacer then needed a front cover once they crashed the new balancer into it.
No 427 here!! I bought it in 2009 from a housing developer that was losing everything with the crash...needless to say I got it for a great price. It's a 350 but not the base but not the lt1 either. It is convertible though with the m21 close ratio.

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Can I see it? The '69 was always my favorite 'vette, but I admit I've never driven one. How's the rearward visibility on that thing? I bet the swell of the fenders and hood looks muscular like a shark from the driver's seat. I'm at least a little bit jealous. The headlights do a whole 180 cowl spin on that one with quad lights, right?

 

[WWRD99]

Can I see it? The '69 was always my favorite 'vette, but I admit I've never driven one. How's the rearward visibility on that thing? I bet the swell of the fenders and hood looks muscular like a shark from the driver's seat. I'm at least a little bit jealous. The headlights do a whole 180 cowl spin on that one with quad lights, right?

It's locked up in storage now for winter! Visibility with the top down is 100%...top up about 10%!! The hard top is nice to have on it for cold days since it's insulated less noise too. It has the flip up lights that are double bulb each. I don't drive it much and my son jokes it'll be a barn find someday when someone opens the container I store it in.

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[CARC686]

It's locked up in storage now for winter! Visibility with the top down is 100%...top up about 10%!! The hard top is nice to have on it for cold days since it's insulated less noise too. It has the flip up lights that are double bulb each. I don't drive it much and my son jokes it'll be a barn find someday when someone opens the container I store it in.

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I kinda figured on the visibility. I knew a guy who worked for an exotic rental place once upon a time and that's when I got to drive a Plymouth Prowler. Better visibility in a Porta-John. lol

 

[Sezzo]

DAYCO PB1102N is always my choice. I rather spend some money in replacing the HB than worrying about a catastrophic failure that can occur every time and will give you and the truck a very hard and expensive time.

 

[cucvrus]

I have never changed one. I think it is pointless to worry about things that may never happen. I have driven CUCV's a half a million miles and never had the issues that some people encounter. When I did deeper into the issues on the CUCV vehicles that are brought to me I discover the problems were not caused by the CUCV OEM design but changes and modifications that had been made along the way. Sop called improvements. I am not saying that things do not fail and that harmonic balancers last forever. If I see one wobble, I will change it. I am just saying that all the CUCV's I ever owned and drove I never changed a harmonic balancer. I inspected them closely and reinstalled them during rebuilding and resealing. Same as an oil pump being changed during rear main seal change. Oil pump does not make oil pressure. To each his own. I don't worry about something that may never happen. I maintain and correct what is evident and appears to need replaced or repaired. Good Luck and Happy Holidays.

 

[Sezzo]

Better safe than sorry. The stock Harmonic Balancers are nearly 40 years now. Time is running and rubber will fail.

 

[Barrman]

Without getting into opinions. I don’t believe I have ever seen a picture of a broken 6.2 crank without a bad/destroyed balancer also in frame. The same goes for bad/destoyed balancer pictures without a broken crank shown or mentioned.

 

[cucvrus]

I bought an M1028 in Augusta Georgia that had a bad rattle in the engine. I hooked a tow bar on the back and towed another M1028 behind me. I drove back to towards my home in PA and this engine really rattled but ran good. I got home and was wondering what the rattle was. Come to find the crank shaft was broken at a turn in the crank and the rattling was the pieces hitting together. At home I pulled the engine and replaced the crank and bearings and ran the truck as my daily for a few months and sold it. Not sure what broke the crank but it was broken. Had another with a lot tap and rattle and it was the new harmonic balancer spinning freely on the crank after the key was pushed out. Never found the key but it was a customers truck so he just needed it fixed. New key, used balancer and JB Weld. That’s what he wanted. I never seen any pictures of these failures either. And back in the 90’s I didn’t need to prove my labors. Good Luck change everything and something you changed is bound to be the first part that fails.

 

[Finnegan1008]

Mine was wobbling and I just replaced it with a fluidamper.

you could see the rubber was dry rotted on the original (low mileage engine)

Truck runs a little smoother now but it wasn’t some amazing transformation. I’d like to think I avoided a problem.

Not much else to say about it

 

[nyoffroad]

I changed one HB when rebuilding the engine, that engine was the smoothest idling 6.2 ever, but it also had a big HEAVY flywheel and pressure plate on the other end. With that in mind I did not change the HB in my latest truck.

 

[chevymike]

I haven't seen one come completely apart but I have had two (on SBC engines) where the outer ring had slipped so timing marks no longer line up correctly (one was over 180* spun). I have had one where the outer ring moved inward, almost rubbing on the timing chain cover. When I pulled my 6.2L balancer off, there were a number of cracks in the rubber and it was starting to push some of the rubber out.

I put the Fluidamper on versus any standard one, as I wanted this to be a "one and done" situation.

 

[1x1_Speed_Craig]

My M1008 balancer wobbled a bit (looked partially delaminated), and I was having terrible belt tension issues. I was having to tighten belts weekly or every other week. I bought an (expensive) Fluidampr, and had a local mechanic install it and a couple NOS pulleys a few months ago. It feels a bit smoother when running, and I have yet to have to tighten the belts again. I have made a couple 4-8 hour drives since the installation, and now feel 100% comfortable with the truck's reliability.