froby944

So the front engine seal replacement is done minus the lower balance shaft. Here is the problem - can't get the sleeve/race on far enough to get clearance to insert the woodruff key.

The balance shaft turns nice and smooth like it should, no binding. It seems like the race is not on far enough or the balance shaft has to come forward a bit. There is some play allowing the shaft to move forward and back. Can't get either to move any further and I just need a couple mm to get the woodruff key in.

Anyone had this issue? I am pretty sure the two sleeves/races are interchangeable b/t the upper and lower shafts, am I mistaken? (I know the seals are not)

Any help is appreciated.

spanky

Yep . this is a pretty common problem. Take your thumb and index finger , grip the shaft end and pull it out toward the front of the car. It should move/ slide forward about 1/2 mm. The very rear of the shaft key recess will then just clear the lip of the seal race allowing you to put the shaft key into its place. Good luck

froby944

Yeah have tried that. I even wrapped some cloth around the end of the shaft and pulled on it with channel locks trying to get just a bit more. No dice. Going to try taking it apart again and starting over for the 3rd time. Sounds like I'm just not getting in slid forward all the way. Thanks

spanky

I would also take a measurment of the lip height for this seal race and compare it to the one that you removed. I have also taken a file to a few of these and removed a mm or 2. This part of this rece has 0 to do with forming a leak proof seal.

michaelmount123

No need to file anything for clearance. Put a bolt into the balance shaft and pull on it. Then (2nd person?) lightly tap on the race/sleeve with a brass drift (or very gently with anything steel). It will move enough to clear the keyway.

What's likely causing the interference is a burr on the keyway.

froby944

Oh Duh!! Screwing the bolt back in would make things much easier. I bet that will do it. Worse case scenario I have to do some filing. Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.

spanky

Try my 1st suggestion first but using a threaded bolt ( OP suggestion). Use a brass or plastic drift only tor tapping on this race . No steel to steel tapping. You can also use a hair drver to heat up this race just a bit and then slide it into its correct position on the shaft. Not to hot as you have the mylar seal directly behind this race

Mark Hubley

Had this same problem when I did my seals a couple of weeks ago. Don't bother with any drifts.

Place one of your balance shaft sprockets on the problematic balance shaft. Don't worry about the key, you're just going to use the sprocket to press the sleeve. So, place the sprocket on the shaft, insert the bolt, and tighten the sprocket. The sprocket will then push the sleeve further back on the balance shaft. Then take the sprocket off, put your key in, and continue assembly.

Very simple, takes 30 seconds, no banging on anything with a drift.

PM me if you have any questions.

froby944

Thanks guys, got it. Once I remembered the bolt I did exactly that ^, pressed it on with the sprocket. Piece of cake. When I tighten down the lower balance shaft sprocket bolt with everything back together, however, the balance shaft doesn't want to turn freely. Will check again tonight, maybe I've just torqued it too much (33 ft. lbs.?)

Mark Hubley

Guess this depends on how you define "freely." Mine never turned what I'd call freely. For one thing, since they are not weighted neutrally (not sure how else to say it), they don't want to spin freely. Kind of like a wheel out of balance. Plus, there will be some friction from the seals. Mine spin without binding up, but I can't flick it with my finger and have it rotate multiple times. Not sure if that helps much. Hopefully somebody else will weigh in.

froby944

I know what you mean Mark, thanks for the input. The lower BS is definitely more restricted than the upper. I can turn the upper using my hand with minimal effort, really have to crank on the lower. Appreciate the help from everyone.

1933beer

I don't know if you had any more issues. I replaced my seals and could turn both upper and lower bs with minnimal effort.

froby944

Here is the update, spent the morning working on it yesterday. Everything turns nice and smooth, no binding until I torque the sprocket back on. The more I tighten the bolt the harder it becomes to turn. Took the front housing/support, seal and race off, lubed everything up again and reinstalled. Actually, ended up doing this multiple times getting nowhere.

I had the thought that maybe the bearings or even the BS itself were damaged but that doesn't really make sense - everything is great until I torque the damn bolt on.

Got to be an alignment issue with the front assembly.
I did a search and found a thread dealing with the exact same thing but it never came to any useful conclusion or how they fixed it.

Thoughts?

spanky

Is this sprocket rubbing aginst the blk plastic cover in some way?? Is this cover bolted to the engine correctly?? Before you tighten the sprocket to the shaft, remove this cover, look for marks on the cover that wld match the sprockets and do a test by mounting each sprocket correctly , tighten to spec and then turn each by hand to see if they rotate freely. Tightening of this bolt should have no effect on rotation of this shaft.

froby944

Not being effected by the timing cover at all. I took it completely off but it didn't change a thing. It was the last thing I tried on Sat. Haven't had to time work on it since.