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| Harmonic Balancer | Login now/Join our community |
 03/08"First Year of Inception" Membership Club  |
Hi Gang! I’m just starting dismantling the back end of my Breakaway to replace the Harmonic balancer…(another 1000 feet and it would have been an uncontained explosion); any suggestions on type and price of replacement would be appreciated? Also best place to purchase the part. If any one has any pearls of wisdom before I remove the radiator, evaporator, and assorted extra parts to get to it I’d love to hear from you. | ||
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 2/16Captain Doom  |
It sounds like this might interest you. Rusty  "StaRV II"'94 28' Breakaway: MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP Nelson and Chester, not-spoiled Golden Retrievers Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. - Arthur C. Clarke It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I've been searching thirty years to find her and thank her - W. C. Fields | |||
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"Host" of Barthmobile.com 1/19 |
Please read this post on Barthmobile. Because most members just read these post and move on I am going to strongly stress again what I said earlier This Year. Because of the age of these coaches, and the design of these harmonic balancers, we now have 2 types of people on our forums... Those that have replaced their balancer and those who will soon be replacing them...  One can be done relatively cheap, the other can be done at the end of a tow truck, damage to the radiator and a ruined vacation...  Good luck Eric, I'm glad you caught it before "another 1000 feet"  Again, mostly directed towards the Cummins Diesel Owner... If you own something else, it couldn't hurt to at least have it checked.
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FKA: noble97monarch 3/12 |
Bill, Is it age, mileage, heat or some unknown combination that kills the HB? My coach is 13 yrs old and has 30K, I wouldn't think it's a candidate yet, but you have me thinking.  Formerly: 1997 Barth Monarch Now: 2000 BlueBird Wanderlodge 43' LXi Millennium Edition DD Series 60 500HP 3 stage Jake, Overbuilt bike lift with R1200GS BMW, followed by 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” | |||
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| "Host" of Barthmobile.com 1/19 |
Yes Corey, you might be ok for a few more years. Seeing that your coach is at the tail end of the production run and is newer. But you should have it checked out. Look for excessive wobble, cracking of the rubber between the 2 pieces and look to see if the timing marks are still aligned. If it is of a viscous style, look for leaks. It is always preferable to purchase a viscous style damper to a rubber one. Most current big diesel engines use a viscous style damper. If your front main seal is leaking and oil gets in there, it will speed up the deterioration of the rubber between the harmonic balancer. Some things that will speed this up... Oil leaking onto the balancer, high temperatures, too tight of belt tension and being struck by a foreign object are but a few of these.
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| 6/12 Formally known as "Humbojb"  |
I had never heard of a 'harmonic balancer' until one fell off the flywheel of an old Volvo I once had. In fact, maybe they didn't call it a 'harmonic balancer' at all. My really old Volvos didn't have them. What are/were they for? Does a 454 have one? Like I have always said, 'I'm just a little mechanically challenged'. Jim
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| "Host" of Barthmobile.com 1/19 |
Your 454 Chevy does have a Harmonic Balancer. Here is a wiki on the Harmonic Balancer.
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| 6/12 Formally known as "Humbojb" |
OK, not being quite as lazy as I seem, I did a 'Wiki' on it and understand what it does and what it looks like. Volvo started putting them on their cars in 1985. It was a combination crankshaft pulley/vibration damper. I did a quick search for a P30 454 and they show them there as well. I guess it the same arrangement, ie combination crankshaft pulley/vibration damper? Jim
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| First Month Member 11/13 |
Yeah, about the same. It consists of two parts, the inner hub and the outer heavy balancer. The outer is joined to the inner by vulcanized rubber. As it ages, it deteriorates, and the heavy outer balancer can slip on the inner hub. This can cause vibration, and will result in incorrect setting of ignition timing, as the timing mark is on the outside. A good visual check is to see that it is not oily and the rubber is still pretty firm and not swelling. Oil leaking out of the front seal can hasten the deterioration of the rubber. If the rubber looks good, it is very unlikely anything has shifted on a non-performance engine with an automatic transmission. When I get a new (to me) vehicle, I clean the dampener and paint a white strip across the rubber, from the outer to the inner part. This allows me to immediately see any shifting. If you want to check yours for slippage, holler. . 84 30T PeeThirty-Something, 502 powered | |||
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| 2/16 Captain Doom |
Fluidamprs are available for a variety of engines. Even for those that don't have an OEM one, an addition may be suitable. Rusty "StaRV II"'94 28' Breakaway: MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP Nelson and Chester, not-spoiled Golden Retrievers Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. - Arthur C. Clarke It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I've been searching thirty years to find her and thank her - W. C. Fields | |||
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1/11 |
i THINK IT IS PRETTY COMMON(cap locks off) the rubber in the balancer gets pretty dry with heat and age replaced mine. Had to take off the back safety support on the rear and four bolts pretty easy if you can get off the support. the belt can get pretty worn or will brake .Check the belt. I have a 8.3 cummins good luck. lenny lenny and judy 32', Regency, Cummins 8.3L, Spartan Chassis, 1992 Tag# 9112 0158 32RS 1B | |||
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| 03/08 "First Year of Inception" Membership Club |
Thanks for all the input. Looks like next weekends project. | |||
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| 4/08 |
Would be interested in know how removale of the radiatior itc turned out. '92 Barth Breakaway - 30' 5.9 Cummins (6B) 300+ HP 2000 Allison Front entrance | |||
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| 6/12 Formally known as "Humbojb" |
Is there any type of warning before this fails & what happens when it does fail? How do you check it? We had a strange higher pitched hum/whirring noise on our trip home from Stone mountain, GA this weekend. We had the cruise on doing about 60-65mpg. It went away after about 30 sec then occurred a few minutes later for about 15 sec. the last time was about 15 or so minutes later but no obvious consequences. I thought it was coming from right rear area or drive shaft. I checked the drive shafts the u bolts & the differential is not leaking. Jim thinks it is either exhaust(I checked & didn't see any leaks)or exhaust manifold gasket. I don't see any carbon type leaking anywhere. Nor could I repeat the noise. But it didn't last more than 30 sec & we could't make it happen on our own. Ideas? things to check? Tere
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Glassnose Aficionado 2/09 |
I had a similar experience this weekend with a high pitched squeal, which I'm sure is related to the clutch fan. Either the belt or fan, and intermitant due to the fact the fan only wants to turn when needed. A much simpler place to start than the HB, which I've rarely heard of a failure. 79 Barth Classic | |||
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