ironradio

Does an '86 50 oz externally balanced Ford 302/5.0L engine need a 50 oz
imbalanced flywheel AND a 50 oz imbalanced harmonic balancer?

The reason I'm asking is the following. When I bought the vehicle
containing the subject engine, there was a lot of engine vibration. I
looked and the outer ring on the harmonic balancer was cocked so I
started to do research and found that the balancer for an '86 5.0L
should be a 50 oz model. So I got one and put it on, finding the old
one was a 28 oz model. Doing so smoothed the engine out quite a bit.
Later for other reasons, I replaced the flywheel (which I found was
also a 28 oz model) with a 50 oz model. After this, the engine
vibration came back.

So what's the deal? should both the balancer AND flywheel have a 50 oz
imbalance on an '86 5.0L or only one?

Thanks! Dave

japhar81

Not that I'm by any means an expert, but I would think only one.

"ironradio" <ironradio@qwest.net> wrote in message
news:1113927678.962717.208010@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Does an '86 50 oz externally balanced Ford 302/5.0L engine need a 50 oz
> imbalanced flywheel AND a 50 oz imbalanced harmonic balancer?
>
> The reason I'm asking is the following. When I bought the vehicle
> containing the subject engine, there was a lot of engine vibration. I
> looked and the outer ring on the harmonic balancer was cocked so I
> started to do research and found that the balancer for an '86 5.0L
> should be a 50 oz model. So I got one and put it on, finding the old
> one was a 28 oz model. Doing so smoothed the engine out quite a bit.
> Later for other reasons, I replaced the flywheel (which I found was
> also a 28 oz model) with a 50 oz model. After this, the engine
> vibration came back.
>
> So what's the deal? should both the balancer AND flywheel have a 50 oz
> imbalance on an '86 5.0L or only one?
>
> Thanks! Dave
>

66 6F HCS

"japhar81" <japhar81@gmail.com> wrote
>> So what's the deal? should both the balancer AND flywheel have a 50 oz
>> imbalance on an '86 5.0L or only one?

I'm no expert either, but on my 351W engine balance, of the two, only the
flywheel had weight added to it to balance out the system, not the harmonic
balancer.
--
Scott W.
'66 HCS Mustang 289
'68 Ranchero 500 302
'69 Mustang Sportsroof 351W
ThunderSnake #57
http://home.comcast.net/~vanguard92/

gcroix

From what I understand, the harmonic balancer and flywheel/flexplate are a
set. A 50 oz harmonic is for a 50 oz flywheel, etc. You can't mix a 28 oz
balancer with a 50 oz flywheel/flexplate.

Gary in EC, NC