2005 W22 8.1
On my way back from a weekend trip, I noticed at idle and slightly above idle I had a mild vibration in the steering wheel, hardly noticeable, but I know I never had it before, and because of this thread
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f22/harmo...ec-373856.html
I decided to take a look at my harmonic balancer.
The first video you can see a slight wobble, because it was so slight, I was trying to convince myself it was normal. Had my buddy Olskool4x4 take a look and he could see it too.
So after gathering the parts, and reading up on how to change it out, I put a new one on.
After reading about the 8.1 Harmonic Balancer, I found out that this is not your normal HB, it is a press fit, with no keyway.
On most HB installs you can simply use the crankshaft bolt to push the HB on, that is because they are not a "press fit" HB and this is how I have put on HB in the past.
I read about numerous people trying to use the crankshaft bolt to push the 8.1 HB on and have stripped the crankshaft threads.
The proper way to get the 8.1 HB on is with a HB install tool, it is a simple tool that you could make your self.
I am sure there are some that have used the crankshaft bolt to get it on and had no problems but this time I was taking no chances.
After an order from Amazon and a couple of trips to the autozone for the install kit, none of them had the right thread pitch for the 8.1 crankshaft threads.
So I went ahead and bought the OEM dealer install tool as I did not even want to take a chance with stripped out crankshaft threads. I paid $115 for the install tool.
Here are some pictures of my old HB, and a before and after video of my old and new HB.
Also if you look at the video, I had a slight crankshaft seal leak, not enough to form drops, but I replaced it has I had the HB off. Pretty easy task. I found that a 2 1/2" pvc coupler made for a perfect fit to install the new seal.
Slight wobble that I could feel in the steering wheel
New installed HB
The picture of the old HB you can see the rubber is not uniform around the pulley, the new one is, this is what I believe if left alone would result in HB failure, just my opinion, based on the new HB install with even rubber and no wobble or vibration in steering wheel.
I just wanted to post this, so WH owners that have a slight vibration in your steering wheel to check your HB, of course if you have the UFO chassis you will probably not feel the vibration, so visual inspection could validate a faulty HB.
Sorry I did not take any pics of the install, but did take a pic of the install tool in the old HB it has a nice spacer to compensate for the deep HB.
While I was waiting on the install part, I inspected the idler pulley and tension pulley and found on bearing was slightly worn, I replace both pulleys.
I have to mention that I referred to Kevins videos of how to change out the fan clutch and used to the tools he mentioned in the video.