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Harmonic balancers play an important role in engine performance and longevity. These devices help to cancel out many of the potentially destructive vibrations caused by an engine's high-speed rotating assembly.
Location
Harmonic balancers are attached to the front of an engine's crankshaft. These devices can either be mounted behind or inside of the main crankshaft pulley.
Function
As the individual cylinders fire, they impart a little bit of stress on the crankshaft that acts counter to other cylinders at certain RPM. Balancers are designed to absorb energy, preventing this "resonance twist" and its accompanying cracks.
Construction
Balancers have three basic components: a central hub that connects to the crank, a rubber isolator wrapped around the hub and an outer mass ring that acts like a flywheel to resist rotational fluctuation.
Balancer Failure
The rubber isolator on any balancer can degrade over time. Failure can result in severe crankshaft damage and engine failure.
Failure Causes
Since the rubber isolator is designed to absorb engine harmonics, any excessive vibration will cause it to heat and fail prematurely. Persistent misfires and an unbalanced rotating assembly will cause such vibrations.
Source:
2CarPros.com: How Does it Work--Harmonic Balancer
PartsTrain.com: Harmonic Balancer
Carpartswholesaler.com: Harmonic Balancer
Resource:
Video: The Sound of a Bad Balancer
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