harmonic balancer and timing

**marshprince** · 22nd March 2025, 01:58 PM

Hey everyone,

I'm a bit unsure about the relationship between the balancer and timing..

So I used my rattle gun to remove the pulley bolt, there was no crankshaft movement. When I fitted the new pulley, I used torque wrench and this time nudged the crankshaft around, no more than 1/6th of a turn. At this point, the pulley should be holding the crankshaft gear in place so there shouldn't be an issue with timing right?

There just seems to be a lot mentioned about "tension" and the need to use the special tool for this job. Not sure how lack of tension can mean the crankshaft moves independently.

Do you guys think I should check timing to be safe? I'm also interested in how this works and if I'm on track or way off 😄

**TonyC** · 22nd March 2025, 04:54 PM

What engine are we talking about?

Tony

**Tins** · 22nd March 2025, 05:52 PM

The crank pulley should be fixed in place by a key, no matter which engine it is.

**V8Ian** · 22nd March 2025, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by Tins

The crank pulley should be fixed in place by a key, no matter which engine it is.

And totally unrelated to timing, once set.
Bear in mind injection, spark and cam rely on timing of some description.

**marshprince** · 23rd March 2025, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by TonyC

What engine are we talking about?

Tony

Oh yeh 300tdi sorry!

**marshprince** · 23rd March 2025, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by Tins

The crank pulley should be fixed in place by a key, no matter which engine it is.

This is what I thought.. so I find it odd that manual and others say to use special LR tool for locking the pulley while you undo/tighten bolt!

**TonyC** · 23rd March 2025, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by marshprince

This is what I thought.. so I find it odd that manual and others say to use special LR tool for locking the pulley while you undo/tighten bolt!

The harmonic balancer has nothing to do with timing on a 300Tdi, as others have said it's keyed to the crank, so it can only go on in one place.

The special tool is to stop the crank tuning when undoing or doing it up.

The bolt is torqued to a value then a further 90 degrees its very tight, so you need to hold it somehow.

I've had one that was loctited on, that need the crank held to get it undone.

Tony

**Tins** · 23rd March 2025, 02:20 PM

Don't confuse the locking tool with the timing pin you insert to hold the flywheel. The forces used on the HB bolt will break it, or something else. It's only to hold the crank still while setting the pump and cam timing.

**Tins** · 23rd March 2025, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by TonyC

I've had one that was loctited on, that need the crank held to get it undone.

Tony

This particular bolt is what started me down the 'Waukee M18 Fuel rabbit hole in the first place. Nothing else I had would undo the bloody thing, but the 3/4 drive rattler made short work of it. Doing it back up?

**Tins** · 23rd March 2025, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by TonyC

The harmonic balancer has nothing to do with timing on a 300Tdi,

Tony

Not strictly true, it indicates TDC, at least enough to get the timing pin into the right indent on the flywheel. But yes, once that's set it is all down to the timing of the other sprockets.

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