Sheared balancer key....i think(pic inside)

[Odrapnew]

So I noticed my engine had an odd vibration after putting it back together after pulling the blower off to fix an oil leak. I kept thinking it was a cylinder missing. Check the plugs and they all looked fine. Decided to take a peak under the hood when it was running and noticed the crank pulley wobbling all over the place. So I pulled the blower pulley off and put on a stock one, same thing. Pull the balancer off and this is what I found. Does that look like a sheared key, or just a messed up balancer? I'm pretty sure a small piece of the key fell out when I pulled the balancer off. I was planning on bringing the car up to storage next weekend, now I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

[Slow35th]

Looks like it wasnt lined up when it was pressed on.

[Turbohwagon]

Looks like it wasnt lined up when it was pressed on.

If that is the case, then the sealing surface for the front crank seal will have a big fucking lump where the key shoved the material out of the way as it chewed it's way through the balancer. Trust me, i know.

How big of a huffer do you have on this stang?

[Slow35th]

If that is the case, then the sealing surface for the front crank seal will have a big fucking lump where the key shoved the material out of the way as it chewed it's way through the balancer. Trust me, i know.

How big of a huffer do you have on this stang?

He has a novi2000

[Turbohwagon]

How bad is the crank snout?

[MINNESOTA 5.0]

thats why you install dual keyways in the crank and balancer.

[Odrapnew]

I looked into it a little deeper. I think the shock of a shift(loading, unloading, and loading of the crank) caused the tip of the key to break off and the rest just deformed the balancer. This is a Romac balancer. That little piece came out when I pulled the balancer off. The rest of the key is still there, but it's definitely not as tall as it was. The crank snout doesn't look too bad. There are a few little grooves where some material was built up from something(not sure what). I think the balancer inner surface looks worse than it is because most of that is a thin layer of rust. I decided to grab a factory balancer from Napa and put that on. I was surprised how easily the balancer went on, I was able to wiggle it onto the crank(and line it up with the key). I was able to push the balancer all the way onto the crank, is that normal? It wasn't loose, but I was able to get it all the way on. I suppose the slight layer of rust came from the crank and was enough to give a slight clearance. Well, the wobble is gone, go figure. I just put on a factory crank pulley so I can drive it up to storage next weekend and I'll pull it apart in the spring.

[Turbohwagon]

I looked into it a little deeper. I think the shock of a shift(loading, unloading, and loading of the crank) caused the tip of the key to break off and the rest just deformed the balancer. This is a Romac balancer. That little piece came out when I pulled the balancer off. The rest of the key is still there, but it's definitely not as tall as it was. The crank snout doesn't look too bad. There are a few little grooves where some material was built up from something(not sure what). I think the balancer inner surface looks worse than it is because most of that is a thin layer of rust. I decided to grab a factory balancer from Napa and put that on. I was surprised how easily the balancer went on, I was able to wiggle it onto the crank(and line it up with the key). I was able to push the balancer all the way onto the crank, is that normal? It wasn't loose, but I was able to get it all the way on. I suppose the slight layer of rust came from the crank and was enough to give a slight clearance. Well, the wobble is gone, go figure. I just put on a factory crank pulley so I can drive it up to storage next weekend and I'll pull it apart in the spring.

I've never had one slide on all the way by hand. If that's the case you might be putting too much pressure on the crank key IMO. If you can slide that thing on all the way by hand, I'm sure it will try to slip on the crank snout when you get the blower and accessory belts pulling on it. I think you'll end up with similar issues down the road.

[2baditsnotachev]

Pull the crank out and machine dual keyways and broach another slot on your balancer problem solved
That's what happens with superchargers.

[MINNESOTA 5.0]

the balancer should have a slight press fit to it when installing it. not just slip on by hand.

[TitaniumGT]

The balancer shouldnt just slide on. Perhaps look into doing double keyways. It should have a press fit to it.

[Odrapnew]

Well, I'll have to decide what I want to do over the winter. So, is the crank snout too small since the balancer can be slid on? Are there smaller ID balancers out there? Do I need to get a new crank is the question I guess.

[MINNESOTA 5.0]

Well, I'll have to decide what I want to do over the winter. So, is the crank snout too small since the balancer can be slid on? Are there smaller ID balancers out there? Do I need to get a new crank is the question I guess.

have to measure the crank snout and the i.d. of the balancer and see which one is out of spec.

[5.0stang85]

My ford Motorsport SFI balancer needs a BFH to go on then once on enough I use the bolt to go the rest of the way then torque the bolt to 80ft.lbs

[octanehuffer]

I had to hone a TCI balancer to get it on. I forget the specific tolerance, but it would have never gone on if I hadn't opened it up.