I removed my crank damper/balancer from the front of my 96 and being a newb did not mark or note how it went onto the hub. I reinstalled it and it has a slight wobble now. First of all, how do I fix this and what is the proper way to reinstall the damper on the hub?

 

Torquing it the proper amount should guarantee it's as straight as it can be.

Vibration on the other hand is somewhat harder to deal with. It is advised that if it shakes, rotate the hub 90degrees and reinstall it. Keep doing the 90 degrees until the vibration is eliminated.

 

The pulley can go on the hub only one way, as the bolt holes are not symmetrical. Make sure you did not somehow force it on wrong. Unless you damaged something during your work, there should be no wobble when correctly installed.

 

Hopefully when you pulled the damper off the hub, you didn't pull or lever on the outer diameter of the damper, damaging the rubber ring that holds the inner and outer halves together.

 

Yeah, that makes sense, I just noticed how it will only go on one way, thought I was going crazy. I'm going to reinstall it and torque it perfectly. If it still has a wobble should I be looking into getting a new damper?

 

Well I just used a cheapo puller from Napa and it came off pretty straight. I did take a brass brush and cleaned it up and painted it lightly. Would this screw up anything?

 

Where did you place the jaws of the puller, on the outside of the pulley edge or on the inside?

 

Um, didn't have any jaws, just the big duck foot looking thing with the three screws that hold it to the pulley and then the center bolt that goes into the hub bolt which backs out the pulley as you tighten it. Should I be looking into a new damper now? The wobble isn't terrible but it's there.

 

So, you used the little bolts holes in the pulley to pull it off the hub or did you pull the hub and pulley as a unit? Regardless, if there wasn't a wobble there before, something had to be done to cause it. You really don't want it to wobble. The whole point is to dampen harmonics. A wobble is going to cause unwanted harmonics, IMHO.

 

This might sound silly, but I've seen a few pulleys that have either been painted or have had some type of oil on them that made the pulley look like it wobbled when it really wasn't. It was just an optical illusion made by the inconsistent finish/color of the pulley.

Perhaps this is the case...?

 

yeah I used those smaller bolt holes in the pulley itself to remove it from the hub. I guess I'll be replacing with a new one if I can't get it smoothed out. I already have a small leak coming from somewhere in the timing cover and I think that wobble will only make things worse. Thanks for the help. Always appreciated.