Recently, I changed the timing belt on my 92 Honda Civic. In the process, I broke the original harmonic balancer (20 years old) while breaking the retaining bolt loose. After replacing it with an aftermarket part, I’ve noticef that the new harmonic balancer fits loosely on the crank shaft snout. I thought the problem may have been a worn out woodruff key, but after replacing it, I can still rock the balancer 1/16 of an inch to either left or right with the key inserted. I can also pull the balancer off the snout with no effort. The original harmonic balancer fit very tightly, and it was difficult to remove, and to slide the woodruff key into the keyway. My question is, is the harmonic balancer defective, or is the snout on the crankshaft just worn out. There’s no play between the key and the crankshaft snout keyway, just between the balancer and snout. I’m an amateur, just getting started at doing my own servicing, and don’t want to a lot of money replacing parts out of ignorance. Thanks for your time.
You probably got the wrong part from the aftermarket. The pulley should fit snugly onto the crankshaft.
Call local auto recyclers to see if one has an original pulley for the engine and install that.
Tester
Tester is right. If you try to use a harmonic balancer that’s not a snug fit you can destroy the crank in the process. Good catch by the way. Most people would have just tightened the bolt and gone on to destruction.
For sure, don’t run the engine with the balancer flopping around like that…Find the correct part…