Loose harmonic balancer AND crank pulley

[dipietro9006]

Just wanted to share my recent experience. A few drives ago, I noticed my belt was squeaking. I figured it was an idler pulley. Upon closer look, my harmonic balancer was wobbling around. I loosened the sep. belt, took the balancer bolt off, and reinstalled the bolt with with red loctite and a 4 ft pipe. I could see that the balancer was pulled straight. I go to restart the viper, still have a squeak and the pulley still wobbling around. I realized the 3 pulley bolts were loose too! I don't see many people talking about the 6 balancer pulley bolts coming loose. Those got some red sauce, too. I've driven the car a few hundred miles since and everything good. I also painted a line on the bolt with nail polish (thanks, wifey) to see if it moves in the future.

I was ignorant and thought "nah, this won't happen to me". GO TIGHTEN YOUR CRANK BOLTS AND PAINT. Also, check your 6 crank pulley bolts! I'm happy the pulley and/or balancer didn't fly through my 96 GTS hood at 5,000 RPM.

 

[BoondocSaint]

Good looking out, think I might want to take a peek at mine after hearing that.

 

[GregVP]

Unfortunately many years ago I was not aware of this engineering defect the pulley bolt came loose spun the pulley on the crank nose beyond use. Had to replace crank. I then pinned the pulley. So far all is good. Beware. Happened at 18,000 miles.

 

[daveg]

Ya, I was going to ask OP how the snout looked.
I indexed the Balancer day one of purchasing my car about 10 years or so ago..

 

[Old School]

The worst offending Viper is the 2004 with its reduced size damper retaining bolt.

Duramax diesels are infamous for this problem also.

 

[Goggles Pizano]

The worst offending Viper is the 2004 with its reduced size damper retaining bolt.

Duramax diesels are infamous for this problem also.

The duramaxs shear the small pin on the crank.

 

[gregrowell]

Yes indeed. My '03, I heard the screetch, belt then frayed (brand new belt). I had heard about this as fairly common concern. Reached down and could 'hand turn' the crankshaft pulley. Couldn't believe it and this is NOT good! Got with a friend and it took taking the airbox off and both of us darn near in the engine bay ---to re-torque to 250ft-lbs. (I believe it varies on the torque, but '03's had the large size diameter bolt and 250ft-lbs. Had to use an extension/breaker bar to get to that torque Marked bolt with white marker---hasn't moved since and I'm at around 54K miles 6 months later. I'd estimate I had around 48K miles on my car when it came loose (Or I noticed it was loose). I would recommend all of you, All Gens (for sanity) reach down and check that bolt on your Viper---

Lucky it didn't come off completely.....

More info on this:

Gen 3 - Crankshaft pulley bolt --add me to the list.

Hello Viperland from Big D., '03, 2nd owner, bought in '11 at 3,900 to now 48K miles. Loved every one of them. Recently shredded the serpentine belt (only on the edge of the belt closest to the front of the car). Looking around and thought...what they heck. I hear about the ole' crankshaft...

www.viperclub.org

 

[TEALLIFE]

there's paint markings on my crank bolt. always figured they were factory, but must've been the Previous Owner.

 

[Dyno Dave]

I had that happen on One Lap of America. The bolt fell out at the Indy dragstrip and fortunately one of the spectators saw it and brought it to me. I questioned the garage and found out they did not use the special tool to seat the damper before installing the bolt. I did my best to get it torqued up and won the event without further incidents.

 

[ISMarco]

Good catch! The pulley bolt torque spec is super high, ~250 ft*lb. But unfortunately they still come loose.

I feel like this problem has remained common as the cars have aged and with tires being stickier than they used to be, shocks to the driveline and therefore the crank are harsher.

Some cheap insurance is to pin the damper to the crank with a kit like this https://www.revzerors.com/products/dodge-viper-crank-pin-kit-gen-1-2-3

+ torque all the bolts of the damper and pulley adequately upon reinstallation. The marker lines are smart, too

 

[Viper514]

Does the ARP bolt get torqued to the same spec? I read the instructions that came with the new bolt and not only does it say 160 ft lbs, but says to use the torquing lube on the treads, not red locktite. What is the correct procedure?

 

[GTS Dean]

The ARP bolt was originally spec'd for the B/RB big block Mopars that all have a Woodruff key to keep the damper from spinning. They do not depend on friction fit. I originally used the 160 lb-ft spec - it unscrewed itself and the damper fell off in my driveway - thankfully not destroying the crank snout. I would recommend pinning your crank NOW. I did so, then used blue Loctite and 220 lb-ft on the bolt. I've done 3 weekends at COTA and one at Hastings, Neb. and it's still rock solid.

 

[Viper514]

Thank you. I was in there to pin the crank. I’ll pull the bolt out and clean/locktite it.

 

[GTS Dean]

I would recommend NOT using red when pinned.

 

[Old School]

Old school Mopar's, both big and small block, had a larger diameter crank snout. A large diameter and thick washer was required to attach the damper because the head of the bolt was too small to contact it. The torque on the bolt was reduced because the washer would deform instead of the bolt stretching.

The Viper doesn't have this problem, not only is the crank snout smaller, but the hole in the damper is reduced to support the head of the bolt. This allows the bolt to be fully torqued.

I was going to use an ARP bolt, but since that 12 point head is taller I was unable to get a socket on it without lifting the motor or moving the rack. I ended up using the factory bolt, torqued to 250 with red Loctite.

 

[TEALLIFE]

I would recommend NOT using red when pinned.

Doesnt it get hot enough to degrade either version anyway?

 

[Old School]

Doesnt it get hot enough to degrade either version anyway?

Blue good for 300 F, reds good for 500 F. So not a problem.

I’ve recently started using the orange stuff for these type of applications.

 

[TEALLIFE]

i probably should have googled first lol looks like 350F for both

 

[daveg]

Also, Red is Permanent and Blue is Removable.

 

[GTS Dean]

^^That's my point.^^ If you use a bunch of Red on the bolt, you'll probably have to use either a propane, or O-A torch and heat the crank snout for it to break loose. The bolt is in there several inches, so you will cook your front seal, possibly melt the front cover, and likely ruin the heat treat on the nose of the crankshaft. Blue is fine for the job.