Oldblue

And 3 brands to choose from, I’d go with the GM Genuine

UnknownError

Because of the time constraint I was under I couldn't wait for shipping so I had to buy one at the local auto parts store, the only brand any of them had was dorman. It fit much better than what I had and when I got to the key it would only go on a little bit and couldn't get it to seat all the way. Afraid I might do things wrong again I went and rented a harmonic balancer installer; even tho it said it was a universal kit it would not work for this, so I put the crankshaft bolt in to see what would happen and it seated the balancer just fine without using force. Was able to reset the balance shaft tensioner (luckily I saved the pin), put it all back together torquing everything to specs and took it for a test drive.. No more water pump whine and is running good! Thanks for the help guys! I would have bought a new bolt and the GM balancer if time were allotted for it. I had replaced the bolt 04/2020 so hopefully reusing it and the dorman part won't be an issue.

redslim73

Got my water pump and timing chain installed,everything was correctly lined up.Went to torque the harmonic balancer bolt and it rotated about an inch without being torqued!Before I go any further,will my timing be screwed?

donbrew

No.

RJ_RS_SS_350

No. Unless you didn't release the tensioner yet. Even then, probably not. Unless you turned the balancer bolt counter clockwise.

redslim73

Thx guys!HappyNewYear🎉🎉🎉

Oldblue

Now, let’s review,
A: did you line up the balancer with the keyway at 12:00 o’clock?
B: is the key in the keyway in the crankshaft at 12:00 o’clock?

if these answers are yes, then torque the bolt, you are using something to hold the balancer from spinning, aren’t you, a screw driver or pry bar?



Like this ^^^^

redslim73

Yes to everything.Tried the screwdriver and pry bar but couldn't get the torque wrench to budge.I'm going to try your method and see if that works out.So its 74 foot pounds plus 75°.What does that mean?

Lonwane

You torque the bolt to 74 ft lbs AND then continue tightening another 75 degrees.
I know, weird ,huh.
A lot of modern torque specs use these procedures.

redslim73

OK thx