The Harmonic balancer Bolt again

[steve911]

Here's the scoop. Just bought a new K&N sytem for my 04. I was removing the factory setup, and while things were apart I wanted to check the tightness of the new high pressure Power steering/fan hose. (If you recall I had one fail catastrophically at 130+ mph). LOTS of SMOKE and a small momentary fire to boot.

After the hose fittings checked out fine, I instinctively reached down to the balancer bolt and HOLY CRAP, its finger loose and out about 2 turns. My question today is, DO I need to take the tension off of the serpentine belt to find out if the balancer is either loose on the crank, or slid partially out from it normal position. I can't really get a clear view of the pulley to see if it is in alignment.

thanks in advance.

 

[Viper Specialty]

yes, you do. Pop the belt off, and see if you are able to move the balancer at all by hand. If so, remove it and inspect it. I would still suggest removal and inspection anyways, however, if it it still able to "hang on" by itself, chances are the crank snout hasnt been damaged/been damaged enough to cause any future problems. Red-Loctite the bolt, and re-torque to 130 Ft Lbs if everything checks out.

 

[Daniel Cragin/DC Performance Inc]

David is right, release the belt and torque the bolt down with green loctite, not red, unless you never want the bolt to come out again for further work. You may want to make sure your car does not qualify for the factory recall.

 

[Viper Specialty]

Dan Cragin- (check my name again, lol, same as yours)

I havent had problems with the red loctite actually? I dont use a Std. mix however, I found out about many Loctite products through a mutual friend who is with Loctite Canada.

It is product #2760, for anyone wondering. EXCELLENT stuff, and beats the hell out of Std. red. Also check out product #2440, it also beats the hell out of Std. Blue Loctite. They are both "automotive" grade Loctites, and not affected by oily conditions. Both also work incredibly well as pipe thread sealants... Teflon Tape be gone!

 

[ViperRay]

OK, perhaps they have this info on the LOCTITE site but the colors are starting to get a little much.

Red, blue, green and I don't know what else...then you can combine these to get other shades.

Is it just a matter of how tight it locks the threads?
What's the order of these colors from loosest to tightest?

It's getting like the color codes for the terrorist alert system....which can be simplified to 1) Oh my God, 2) Holy **** and 3) we're f*cked!

 

[SNAKEPILOT]

ViperRay,
I am also waiting for a clarification of the Loctite color codes/numbers.
As to the terrorist alert codes, I would suggest:
1) Oh my God
2) Holy ****
3) YOU are f*cked!

 

[snakebitdave]

I haven't worked on engines for many years but when I wanted to keep the crank from turning I put a large screw driver in the teeth of the flywheel to keep it from turning. What is the best method when checking the torque on the crank bolt? My 03 has 1900 miles on it. It isn't finger loose so should I take the bolt out anyway, loctite it and retorque it?

 

[Viper Specialty]

In General, color corresponds to how hard it is to A; Break the threads free, B; continue to loosen the threads.

Basically, Purple is the easiest, followed by Blue, Red is the hardest. Green is an offshoot, IE "Wicking grade" that can penetrade open threads even after assembly. The SRT bolt threads arent open, so this doesnt matter in this case. Green is generally inbetween Blue and Red, the only prblem with it is that is is very susceptible to Oil, and does not have a high prevail torque.

SNAKEBITDAVE- 03's arent affected like the 04's, you have a different balancer bolt, which is torqued to 250 ft lbs.

 

[ViperRay]

Purple-blue-(green)-red....got it.

Thanks Daniel