Crank balancer bolt help needed

[citadel]

In the midst of reinstalling the crank pulley after replacing the water pump and I have a question. Torqued the bolt to 74 ft lbs and then turned the bolt approx 105 degrees. Went to pull out the crank holding tool from the flexplate and she's wedged in there nice and tight. No problem, I'll just rotate the crank back a notch and pull her out. Instead of turning the balancer, the bolt turns. So I retorque it again, maybe go a bit over 105 degrees but she's definitely tight now. Back it up and the bolt turns again. Snug it down, take the BFS and pop the flexplate holding tool out. So no tool now, let's make sure she still turns over, and nope, still tightening the bolt. So my questions are:
1: How easy is it to overtorque this bolt?
2: Is it possible that the water pump gears are binding the timing gears and causing this issue?
3: Or am I being completely paranoid?
Thanks in advance for any assistance,
Chris

 

[Chevy1925]

Balance bolt is torque to yield meaning it stretched when properly torqued and generally one time use only. That said, that bolt can be reused a couple times but if it is turning that easy, it’s beyond its ability to hold torque on the balance and it’s time for a new bolt.

Use a pry bar on the fly wheel teeth to turn the engine over and make sure it’s free

 

[torqued2dmax]

Did you use a new bolt as recommended ? What did you put on the threads ? How long was the cheater bar on the 3/4 breaker bar ? I just finished this job 2 hrs ago with no problems , sorry you had problems !

 

[torqued2dmax]

Sorry chevy 1925 I didnt know you were responding to his post , I am a slow typer ! LOL !

 

[citadel]

Thanks for the quick replies! I didn't put anything on the bolt although I should have. It's the original bolt, but just put a new one on order, should be in Friday. I have red and blue loctite. Which do y'all recommend? I'll pull the starter tomorrow and see if I can turn the flexplate, if not, I'll pull the water pump and try again.

 

[citadel]

Did you use a new bolt as recommended ? What did you put on the threads ? How long was the cheater bar on the 3/4 breaker bar ? I just finished this job 2 hrs ago with no problems , sorry you had problems !

Also, cheater bar is my entire jack handle (3 to 4 foot) on 3/4 breaker bar. Tried 1/2" before but snapped like a dry chicken bone.

 

[hondarider552]

I wanna say the total torque is something around 260 ft lbs.

 

[Tothemax]

Balancer is flipped. aka wrong side out

 

[Chevy1925]

Thanks for the quick replies! I didn't put anything on the bolt although I should have. It's the original bolt, but just put a new one on order, should be in Friday. I have red and blue loctite. Which do y'all recommend? I'll pull the starter tomorrow and see if I can turn the flexplate, if not, I'll pull the water pump and try again.

You don’t need to put anything on the bolt. Just put it in. If it’s backing out, there is another issue

I wanna say the total torque is something around 260 ft lbs.

I think it’s higher than that. My vw type 1 stubs I use to have on the sand car were torqued to that and those were waaaaaay easier to hit torque on a torque wrench than having to use a breaker bar and jack handle lol

 

[TheBac]

Thought torque was 285 ft/lbs?

 

[$chultz38]

Balancer is flipped. aka wrong side out

Yep if you do that the balance hits the front cover and the engine will not turn over making the bolt back right out

 

[citadel]

So you guys nailed it again! Definitely had that sucker in backwards. Pulled and flipped it and she turns nice and easy now. Will still put the new bolt in when it comes in tomorrow. Feeling glad it was simple, a bit embarrassed that it was that simple, although I'm thinking at least one other person has done this since y'all called it so quick. Thanks again for all your help!

 

[torqued2dmax]

It is 74 ft lbs then 105 deg , because you probably do not have a 3/4 torque wrench to read 278 ft lbs , and do not put anything on the threads except a few drops of motor oil if you must ! The 105deg is from the left side of the rad to the right side of the rad , just did it yesterday with a crank ind and it just happened to line up with those two points of the top outer edges of the upper rad , just for any ones easy reference points to use .

 

[torqued2dmax]

I am sure you know that after you go to 78 ft lbs you remove the torque wrench and switch to a 3/4 breaker bar to not destroy the torque wrench that hes a 250 lb limit , just a reminder !

 

[Chevy1925]

It is 74 ft lbs then 105 deg , because you probably do not have a 3/4 torque wrench to read 278 ft lbs , and do not put anything on the threads except a few drops of motor oil if you must ! The 105deg is from the left side of the rad to the right side of the rad , just did it yesterday with a crank ind and it just happened to line up with those two points of the top outer edges of the upper rad , just for any ones easy reference points to use .

There is not “actual torque” for the stock balance bolt. It is strictly tighten via the angular method. People have guess the actual torque for many years and really it will vary as it’s a tty bolt. Same reason stock head bolts are set via angle and the fly wheel bolts are set via angle.

 

[Awenta]

I am sure you know that after you go to 78 ft lbs you remove the torque wrench and switch to a 3/4 breaker bar to not destroy the torque wrench that hes a 250 lb limit , just a reminder !

It’s the amount of stretch that sets the bolt not the ft lbs. there’s plenty of torque wrenches that go past 250.


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[N2BRK]

ARP bolt and washer is cheap as hell. I replaced mine when I changed damper and pinned.

 

[torqued2dmax]

It’s the amount of stretch that sets the bolt not the ft lbs. there’s plenty of torque wrenches that go past 250.


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My point was that if you have a torque wrench that only goes up to 250 like mine , to not use it as a breaker bar , if you have one that goes over 250 thats nice, he may not .

 

[OregonDMAX]

Besides the op making a simple mistake there is a serious amount of overthinking going on in this thread

 

[Chevy1925]

Besides the op making a simple mistake there is a serious amount of overthinking going on in this thread

Lol go back 10 years, you will find the same discussion. It’s kinda funny