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What did you do with your GMT400 today...or yesterday....

Success!!! I located a GM balancer. Thanks to the gentleman at Chuck Nash Chevy, he said he didn't have one, but Partners Chevrolet in Cuero TX had one left. he kindly gave me their phone number to call. once I called Partners, thy lady I spoke to was very kind. she pulled the balancer out on the counter and has a ticket with my name on it ready for me to pick up this afternoon.

the cost on it is $90. a bit higher. she said the oemcats site isn't updated regularly but the prices are dealer costs, which is understandable. I'm not against paying $90 for one of these. she also mentioned I am lucky because the part was discontinued and was supposed to be sent back. it's unfortunate about all these discontinued parts. I would assume when they are returned from dealerships, they are sold to places like RA and re-sold there.

have not located the seal or the pulley yet, but at least with the balancer, my rig will live a little longer LOL. I will probably pick up a seal here in my home town. it's about an hours drive to Cureo from where I'm at so that's my plan today after work!!
 
dbrannon79 said:
Success!!! I located a GM balancer. Thanks to the gentleman at Chuck Nash Chevy, he said he didn't have one, but Partners Chevrolet in Cuero TX had one left. he kindly gave me their phone number to call. once I called Partners, thy lady I spoke to was very kind. she pulled the balancer out on the counter and has a ticket with my name on it ready for me to pick up this afternoon.

the cost on it is $90. a bit higher. she said the oemcats site isn't updated regularly but the prices are dealer costs, which is understandable. I'm not against paying $90 for one of these. she also mentioned I am lucky because the part was discontinued and was supposed to be sent back. it's unfortunate about all these discontinued parts. I would assume when they are returned from dealerships, they are sold to places like RA and re-sold there.

have not located the seal or the pulley yet, but at least with the balancer, my rig will live a little longer LOL. I will probably pick up a seal here in my home town. it's about an hours drive to Cureo from where I'm at so that's my plan today after work!!
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I remember getting a seal at Motion Industries
 
J_dude said:
Ummm... that’s not the right way to use a torque wrench... 😳
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I did not use the "torque wrench" to break free or torque on. I used a breaker bar. Just know from experience that the 5' long floor jack handle removes it and should be good enough to put it on. The cordless is more than good enough. Fortunately it's only been a couple of times for the crank bolt. Used it more on the CV axle nuts which are torqued to similar levels.
 
Out of curiosity. the "front crankshaft" seal and the "timing cover" seal is the same seal on these engines? I was looking up on RA to get the part numbers and see they list both and with different part numbers.
 
Big T said:
I did not use the "torque wrench" to break free or torque on. I used a breaker bar. Just know from experience that the 5' long floor jack handle removes it and should be good enough to put it on. The cordless is more than good enough. Fortunately it's only been a couple of times for the crank bolt. Used it more on the CV axle nuts which are torqued to similar levels.
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Ok that would make more sense then lol. You'd said torque wrench in the post I quoted.
 
dbrannon79 said:
Out of curiosity. the "front crankshaft" seal and the "timing cover" seal is the same seal on these engines? I was looking up on RA to get the part numbers and see they list both and with different part numbers.
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That would be correct. Timing cover seal keeps the oil from running past the harmonic balancer sealing surface.
Did You get a new pulley too.
Could Leroy Diesel the billet pulley and have that out of the way for life.
 
No I haven't ordered a pulley. Yet. I will though. not sure about the solid pulley just yet. It would be much better than the rubber as for standing the test of time. I need to look on his site and see what the cost it. and how shallow my pockets are lol. the aftermarket ones are about $100 that I've seen. even that extra expense might need to wait till the next week or two.

I can squeeze the pennies for the HB this week and since I located a GM one, I'm not passing it up.
 
MrMarty51 said:
I always apply some sealant to the HB side of the thick HB washer and also to the head area of the HB bolt where it contacts the washer to keep oil from seeping through those two areas.
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That is not where it seals.

Yes the seal is called by both names. But the seal is to the crankshaft going through it.
If the crankshaft is scored, then get a speedy-sleeve. No oil can come out the bolt threads. It’s a blind hole in the crankshaft. That should be cleaned really well with brake cleaner or similar, then fully dried out. Same for the bolt and washer. Then Apply medium strength loctite to the threads of the bolt, install and torque. This is crucial.

I understand people using cheater pipes, impacts, etc as it is hard to get it to proper torque. But I torque mine as the balancer coming loose from bolt being loose or breaking if overtourqued can be an engine killer. 2c
If you’re gonna use an impact- get a torque extension. Yes the radiator is in the way. But it is what will catch the HB & pulley if it goes wrong…
 
Well I just returned from the road trip. GPS had shown an hour there and another going back but this turned into a 3-1/2 hour trip in a little ford car. My arse and back hurts from the trip lol

But all in all here is the results from the trip.

2785C81A-7A9B-4F3E-A1DF-ADC4A59A95B6.jpeg
E9B9BEFA-8EC0-49F4-BBBA-C3EFEAC646DA.jpeg6621AFF9-B8CC-46FB-AC0B-1E6429A7EC22.jpeg9FF70B5A-288E-43DB-BE78-601149899359.jpeg
 
Big T said:
Couldn’t they have just shipped it to you?

Eeeuuuuw, Texas has sales tax?
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They probably could have. I wanted to make sure I had it for this weekend.

HAHA yep sales tax, 8.25%. but I think the other side to that is they don't require a state tax return. I have heard rumors about them dropping sales tax, but I'm sure they will get it out of us another way. if it means more $$ for them I'm sure they'll try it.
 
dbrannon79 said:
They probably could have. I wanted to make sure I had it for this weekend.

HAHA yep sales tax, 8.25%. but I think the other side to that is they don't require a state tax return. I have heard rumors about them dropping sales tax, but I'm sure they will get it out of us another way. if it means more $$ for them I'm sure they'll try it.
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No sales tax in Montana, but state income tax of 5.9%. Capital gains tax of 3.9%. Compare that to Cali where both are 12% for us AND sales tax of 7.75%.
 
Seal should arrive here tomorrow sometime, ordered the National brand one. then Saturday morning the fun can start, I hope. I can hopefully get it back to running again and plan out for the pulley. I will take a good look at is as well while it's off making a decision if It will last me till the end of the month I'll be happy.

I need to plan on getting the timing belt done on the Jetta too so I will have a sound spare vehicle. I feel like it's on egg shells right now. rolling the dice hoping it will be fine for tomorrows trip to work and back as it's on borrowed time. getting the truck derivable for the next couple weeks for work, and by the end of this month can replace the pulley and start on the Jetta.

if I roll the snake eyes, that means the wifee is taxiing me to work a few days lol
 
dbrannon79 said:
Seal should arrive here tomorrow sometime, ordered the National brand one. then Saturday morning the fun can start, I hope. I can hopefully get it back to running again and plan out for the pulley. I will take a good look at is as well while it's off making a decision if It will last me till the end of the month I'll be happy.

I need to plan on getting the timing belt done on the Jetta too so I will have a sound spare vehicle. I feel like it's on egg shells right now. rolling the dice hoping it will be fine for tomorrows trip to work and back as it's on borrowed time. getting the truck derivable for the next couple weeks for work, and by the end of this month can replace the pulley and start on the Jetta.

if I roll the snake eyes, that means the wifee is taxiing me to work a few days lol
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I hear ya. Both of my 6.5s are not primary drivers. They just too hungry for attention.

Primary driver is my ‘05 Honda Accord w/ 156K miles on it and it only needs to go 6 miles round trip to the train station 2 days a week. It’s more at risk for tire rot, LOL.

Wife’s 4Runner is good as gold. 327K miles on it now and no sign of issues. It should easily make 500K.
 
Lol, I don't mind driving the 12 mile round trip to work and back on rotted tires. It does does get rough trying to maintain a fleet of older vehicles especially with they all get hungry. it's always my luck when I give one too much attention the other two get jealous. Good thing the dodge is at my daughters house else it would doing the same thing!
 
dbrannon79 said:
it's always my luck when I give one too much attention the other two get jealous.
Click to expand...
My goodness I do believe you’ve struck it! That must be what’s going on with my “fleet”. Never occurred to me before but it makes perfect sense, they’re just like dogs, you pet one and they all come running and shove each other out of the way 🤣
 
Will L. said:
That is not where it seals.

Yes the seal is called by both names. But the seal is to the crankshaft going through it.
If the crankshaft is scored, then get a speedy-sleeve. No oil can come out the bolt threads. It’s a blind hole in the crankshaft. That should be cleaned really well with brake cleaner or similar, then fully dried out. Same for the bolt and washer. Then Apply medium strength loctite to the threads of the bolt, install and torque. This is crucial.

I understand people using cheater pipes, impacts, etc as it is hard to get it to proper torque. But I torque mine as the balancer coming loose from bolt being loose or breaking if overtourqued can be an engine killer. 2c
If you’re gonna use an impact- get a torque extension. Yes the radiator is in the way. But it is what will catch the HB & pulley if it goes wrong…
Click to expand...
The front crankshaft seal hugs the harmonic balancer. Oil csn drift between the crankshaft and the harmonic balancer, especially along the keyway, and then, it exits out around the washer and the head of the bolt. This I know. I have had to pull a couple of bolts and seal the washer and thd bolt head where it contacts the washer.
Some repair manuals even directs a person to seal those areas when installing the HB.
I also know that the seal grips the HB as the HB on My truck looked good but there was quite a groove from the seal. I will never install a speedy sleeve, seal fits tighter and cuts them fairly quick.
I took the HB from my 6.5 over to the machine shop, My standard practice, for about $25.00 he will cut the OD of the HB snout and machine up a hardened sleeve and install that sleeve onto the HB. Now it is back to factory dimensions.
He would not cut and sleeve the 6.5 balancer, He asked if this is off of a diesel, YUP, his reply, if I cut the OD down to install a sleeve, there is not enough meat between the square cut key stock groove and the OD of the HB and the high compression of the diesel will cause it to crack. OK, I ordered a fluid dampener.
I have had him cut and sleeve many HBs but they all have been from gas engines.
 
Sorry, i said crank but meant balancer where it is round in the rear like the crank.
But as to cutting down the balancer for a sleeve- I never had to do that. The sleeve is 0.01” and comes with a special install tool it is interference fit. So maybe if you have a rust caused an uneven surface where it fits on to- that could make sense to machine it flat. But the idea of the speedy sleeve it to avoid machining costs.

A new balancer should solve that issue regardless.

On the keyway, I know guys have used silicone there and all the way around the crankshaft to help seal when the fit from crank to balancer is not perfect.
I would think that is the same issue why putting it under the washer is used- just finding a place to stop the oil. But again it’s an interface fit meaning the OD of the crankshaft is the same size as the ID of the balancer hole- that why getting the correct torque is critical. It takes that much torque to force the balancer into place.

Something not in many of the modern manuals except for military ones- if the vehicle is in “extreme temperatures” it is important to have the balancer sit in same temperature as the crankshaft for 24 hours before install.
If the engine is outside in extreme cold and the balancer is in the building at 75°, there is the shrinkage vs expansion thing going on that can introduce a difference in interference fit causing improper torque during installation and you’ll reach spec before the unit is all the way on.

Like how you replace the ring gear (teeth ring) on a flywheel by heating it up.
 
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