Has this ever happened to you?
I was coming home from my buddys house, and I got on it. I didn't know what happened at the time I just saw sparks flying, heard a loud noise, and felt the car come off the ground . At first I thought it was the clutch, but then I felt the pedal and it was fine so then I thought it was the balancer. The engine was still running and idling just fine. I was 5 miles from home at night and my phone was dead so I just drove it home. When I got home I popped the hood to check out the damage and the crank pulley was gone, the water pump was snapped off, antifreeze everywhere, the belts were gone, and a few nice dents and dings to the hood and fenders (nothing major thank God). After looking at it a little closer there was one of the bolts sheered off and the other 2 were gone as well as the balancer bolt. The worst part is I know they were all tight. Maybe it was the RPM, but I dont know how it happened, it just sucks.
No, never had that happen to me. The center bolt wants to be on good and tight, 60 ft. lbs. (70 if it's a 7/16" bolt). And lock washers on the other three. Perhaps the harmonic damper wasn't on quite all the way, and it eeked in on it's own just a fraction, loosening the center bolt.
I don't think the balancer bolt does anything to hold the crankshaft pulley on, so it wouldn't matter if it was tight or loose if only the pulley came off.


