Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Harmonic balancer problems

I pulled my 250 motor out of my truck today and as am transfering parts over to my 292 I noticed that the balancers are not the same spacing. Is there some balance differences between the two or is it only the groves that are different? The 250 one is old and worthless and the 292 is brand new. Should I now just buy one for a 250? Thanks for all your help again, Perry

Dear Perry;

The 292 is a truck engine & has different acessories etc.

Don't buy anything till Larry or Mike G. posts here for you, as they will know the (exact) answer to this problem.

Good luck.

Thanks I will wait until I hear

The weight of the crank and rods in a 292 is far heavier than in the 250. Use the 292 balancer on the 292. You may need to shim your water pump pulley, alternator etc if you do not have the 292 pieces, but it beats the heck out of randomly needing to tighten the flywheel or flexplate bolts.

For grins, it might be interesting to know the weight differences between the two balancers.

Thanks for the info Bruce. What you say makes sense. I would rather it not be true because it would be a lot easier to just change the balancer. As far as shiming things the P/S pump is just too far forward, I think I'll have to find some brackets and a water pump pulley. Thanks again, Perry

Perry,
i just weighed a 250 2 groove balancer and a 3 groove 292 balancer on my bathroom scale. the 250 one is 6 lbs and the 292 one is 11 lbs. i tried running a 250 balancer on my 292 when i swithced over, 100 miles and the flywheel came loose, 50 miles later the balancer seperated. plus the engine vibrated alot at certain rpms. swithed over to a 292 balancer and it made a huge difference in smoothness. i only run an alt. so i had no pully problems. matt

Yes you will run into balancing issues If you run the 250 dampener On the 292. The factory Motors are not as well Balanced as one mit think. Meaning Not as well balanced as a Newly Rebuilt motor. So it is in your Best interest to stay with the 292 And find The right parts ie. brackets pullys and so on.

Thanks everyone for the answers that I was looking for. Does anyone have a p/s and alt bracket, and water pump pulley they are willing to sell for my 292 (late 70's truck). I have spent most of the day looking at all my local yards ... nothing. Thanks, Perry

Try looking in the bigger Truck Bone yards for Old Milk,UPS trucks Or Buses And Bread trucks.

Dear Perry;

Larry's right.

Try; Tom's Truck Parts in Miami, Ok. The # is: (918) 542-3871.

Good luck.