Hi,

Today I was looking at my turbo, trying to figure out if I could replace the drain grommet in my parking lot... Looking around, I saw the Harmonic balancer, down by all the belts on the lower front of the engine.

What I saw was that the TDC mark on the balancer was not ligned up with the pointer.

I have my car apart somewhat, and dont want to start it, so...

I assume the hqarmonic balancer is a piece of rotating equipment. That said, does part of it with numbers inscribed to indicate how many degrees off TDC the engine is a rotating piece as well? If it is not, I am ~7degrees off of YTDC in my harmonic balancer setup.

If it rotates, then all is well...


On another question, how do I get the turbo drain bolts off the turbo? Between my hands and the ratchet, I couldnt get access to the bolts... Whats the secret?

Thanks

JMH

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)

JHZR2,

Yes the harmonic balancer rotates. It is pined to the crankshaft and held on by a large bolt. Where it stops when engine stops means nothing, it probably stops a different place each time the engine is shut off.

Its callen a harmonic balancer because holes are drilled in at the factory to balance the engine.

P E H

The purpose of the timing marks on the harmonic balancer is to check for chain stretch.

JHZR2,

The timing marks on the balancer are also used to time the injection pump.

P E H

A few cars do have crankshafts designed to receive part of their dynamic balance from the pulley and flywheel, but in most cases all these parts are zeroed on balance separately. What the harmonic balancer does is dampen out (through its layer of rubber) some of the harmonic wave effects which are generated by the power strokes and acceleration and deceleration of the reciprocating parts even when everything is in perfect balance otherwise.

I think you are mixing up the vibration dampener and the harmonic balancer. I know you can replace the vibration dampener without replacing the harmonic balancer, but when you replace the balancer you have to replace something else(?) along with it. It's been a few months since i replaced my dampener...
Ryan

__________________
83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.