Harmonic Balancer Technical question

[Godwin]

The speedi-sleeve kits come with instructions and an install tool.



Georg @ Valley Hybrids & Cruiser Brothers

Speedi-sleeves are usually installed with both the harmonic balancer and sleeve at ambient temperature. Could this be a workable option to ease installation and removal of the mounting flange on the sleeve?

Place HB in freezer overnight. Heat sleeve to ca. 300F prior to installation. Place sleeve on HB with flange upward and push it on to cover the groove. At this point the flange would be easily accessible and more easily removed.

Good idea or bad?

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Som not so good news. Either my seal blew or got shredded. Took it on a test drive and stopp d to fill it at the gas station. No leaks and all was good. Got home and oil is pouring out from behind the HB. Gonna pull it and see what happened. Will send the HB off to get rebuilt. Will use the link above. Thanks again for everyone's help. At least I can rip into this a lot quicker now that I've had some practice

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Som not so good news. Either my seal blew or got shredded. Took it on a test drive and stopp d to fill it at the gas station. No leaks and all was good. Got home and oil is pouring out from behind the HB. Gonna pull it and see what happened. Will send the HB off to get rebuilt. Will use the link above. Thanks again for everyone's help. At least I can rip into this a lot quicker now that I've had some practice

Just stinks. Plain and simple. I will for sure be curious to see how the hb backside looks once you pull it.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

So I now understand what happened. My mistake was removing the original seal and not marking the depth of the original. I put the sleeve on the HB and covered the original wear marks. With the new seal set all the way in the inner lip ended up running on the back edge of the sleeve. You can see the wear marks of the seal on the sleeve. Looks like it even damaged the back edge of the sleeve. Complete disaster!!! Question...if I remove the sleeve and install a new seal (all the way back), I should be able to run my Harmonic Balancer without having to send it off for rebuild. If so, my next question is how do I remove the sleeve? I have some ideas, but would like some recommendations from those more experienced. Thanks, Jim

 

[CenTXFJ60]

View attachment 1379252 View attachment 1379250 So I now understand what happened. My mistake was removing the original seal and not marking the depth of the original. I put the sleeve on the HB and covered the original wear marks. With the new seal set all the way in the inner lip ended up running on the back edge of the sleeve. You can see the wear marks of the seal on the sleeve. Looks like it even damaged the back edge of the sleeve. Complete disaster!!! Question...if I remove the sleeve and install a new seal (all the way back), I should be able to run my Harmonic Balancer without having to send it off for rebuild. If so, my next question is how do I remove the sleeve? I have some ideas, but would like some recommendations from those more experienced. Thanks, Jim

@orangefj45
Georg, any suggestions on removing the sleeve? I'm thinking of scoring it with a drimmel and then breaking the line (carefully) with a small chisel. Also, I figured out what caused the damage to the edge of the sleeve. The seal spring was floating around behind the seal and must have caught on the edge. This was most likely the noise I was hearing as I pulled into the shop from the test drive.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Jim, I would try the dremel trick, or heat the speedi sleeve up with a torch and try to pry it off. Being thin, I'd wager that you could heat it up and get a chisel or something behind the speedi sleeve to pry it off.

Failing that, chisel and dremel.

 

[Output Shaft]

You could go to all this trouble trying to band aid the HB only to discover later that the rivets holding the whole thing together are failing. HBs don't last forever. Sometimes they fall apart. If there was ever a good time to have it rebuilt, now is it.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

OS, you bring up a great point. Unfortunately my patience wore out and I put it back together. Just set the seal a little shallow of where it was originally and it worked out. The sleeve came off fairly easy. Drove about 30 miles and no signs of a leak. With 340k on it oil was coming out of every possible seal/gasket. The only gaskets I have not replaced are the oil cooler O-rings and the fuel pump gasket. At least now my son can park it in the driveway without leaving puddles everywhere .