Harmonic balancer temporary repair

[Sneaky]

I have a 99 Disco 2 TD5.
In may 2015 I had my alternator bearings seize - original alternator with 300 000 km's so not surprising.
I was almost home so drove it home and checked it out....The belt was broken and the harmonic balancer had the rubber in it separate from the metal so it was clacking very loudly as they do when they break.
I live 75 km's from any help or shop and no means of transport so I managed to find some old bearings that fitted from old items in my back shed so got the alternator back up and running.
I had to work the next day and couldn't miss work so I had to get it running.

After a few drinks I had an idea how to patch it. I made a template up from paper and used spray paint to mark the shape on an old bald tyre from an old Falcon. I then spent the next few hours cutting out 3 pieces of tyre with an angle grinder (more smoke than a burnout!) and a hammer and chisel for the hard corners. I ended up with 3 pieces that fitted nicely and glued them in with super glue - just to be sure - after it dried and every thing put back together it worked. I did a test drive around my block (didn't want to take on the road after the drinks) and no vibrations or any issues I could find.

It has been almost 3 years now and due to poor finances it is still in the car and running just as good as the original. It has done 144 000 km's with it like this.
I don't recommend that people try to cut up tyres to do this - lots of damage to your fingers from the steel belts etc.
BUT if some enterprising person on the forum has a balancer that is not fitted to a vehicle - they could measure it and get some old rubber conveyor belt and have it laser cut in the perfect shape.

That way you could make up a kit with 3 rubber pieces and a tube of super glue as an emergency patch for when you are in the middle of nowhere. If mine is still going that means that it would at least get you out of trouble.
It only needed the fan, belt and the weight on the front of the balancer removed to fit them - so it would be an easy roadside fix.

I hope this helps somebody.

[tommo12]

Love it..

[Graeme]

My TD5's pulley had the balancer section with the rubber bolted onto the pulley with the 3 bolts so simply removing the bolt-on section was all that was needed, which appears to be the same with your pulley. What purpose do the pieces of rubber serve?

[Bohica]

The bits of rubber, soak up the non continuous roation of the crankshaft into a smoother, more continuous, less jerky circular motion to drive the water pump, power steering etc.

[Sneaky]

My TD5's pulley had the balancer section with the rubber bolted onto the pulley with the 3 bolts so simply removing the bolt-on section was all that was needed, which appears to be the same with your pulley. What purpose do the pieces of rubber serve?

When the rubber is no longer stuck to both halves of the balancer - the 2 metal halves of the balancer move and bang into each other - the rubber stops the movement and also helps with vibration. See the red arrows in the attatched picture. When it continuously bangs back and forward like that it risks breaking the pulley etc.
I also put the weight back on afterwards in case you were wondering.
Cheers

[Graeme]

Your pulley must be of different design to the ones that I had as mine were solid for the pulley with the bolt-on section containing a rubber sleeve and floating outer section.

[crash]

I will have to have a look in the shed at my spare balancer.
I had a noisy balancer, and after I put the replacement one on discovered all that was wrong was the three bolts on the balancing ring were loose.

[Sneaky]

I will have to have a look in the shed at my spare balancer.
I had a noisy balancer, and after I put the replacement one on discovered all that was wrong was the three bolts on the balancing ring were loose.

If you have a spare one - and have the time - maybe you could do some measuring to make a "proper" template for other people to use. I know that old conveyor belt material is cheap and should be able to be laser cut so would be ideal to make these rubber parts from - also laser cutting them would ensure that they are all the same weight for balance purposes.

All I know is I wish I could have had these bits pre made as cutting them out of a tyre was a real pain.

[Graeme]

It appears that your pulley is after-market, not the original LR version.

Here is a link to one that seems to be the same as your one.
LAND ROVER DEFENDER TD5 CRANKSHAFT PULLEY AND DAMPER LHG100580 BRAND NEW 2 YR GT | eBay (https://www.ebay.com.au/i/281166810535?chn=ps&dispItem=1)

[Tins]

That's actually bush mechanic ingenuity. I love it.

[crash]

I had a look at my spare harmonic balancer and there is no rubber where you have made up. I do not believe that there ever was any rubber where you made up. The most likely cause of your rattle was like on mine - the three bolts that hold the balance ring on were a bit loose. Once tightened up the noise went away.

[rapserv]

It appears that your pulley is after-market, not the original LR version.

Here is a link to one that seems to be the same as your one.
LAND ROVER DEFENDER TD5 CRANKSHAFT PULLEY AND DAMPER LHG100580 BRAND NEW 2 YR GT | eBay (https://www.ebay.com.au/i/281166810535?chn=ps&dispItem=1)

these are also available here in Oz [bigsmile1]

[Sneaky]

I had a look at my spare harmonic balancer and there is no rubber where you have made up. I do not believe that there ever was any rubber where you made up. The most likely cause of your rattle was like on mine - the three bolts that hold the balance ring on were a bit loose. Once tightened up the noise went away.

There was never any rubber in the place I put mine.
My 3 bolts were tight - the original rubber piece in the balancer is bonded between the inner metal part and the outer metal part. When my alternator seized it put so much pressure on the rubber to metal interface it sheared the bonding where the rubber was bonded to the outer metal part. Once the bonding comes loose it allows the outer metal part to rotate nearly a third of a turn - this is what causes the clacking noise. When mine went I removed the weight and it was clearly visible that the bonding had failed - I could turn the pulley almost a third of a turn - the only thing stopping it from turning any further was the 3 metal lugs with the threaded holes were banging against the metal "spokes" that go from the outer ring to the inner front ring.

139393

Since the original rubber to metal surfaces are perfectly round - I didn't bother to try to reglue them as I don't think superglue would be up to the task. That is why I used shaped rubber - the shape locks the 2 halves together and prevents any movement. When installing my rubber parts I found that the angle they are installed at allows you to minimise any wobble of the pulley as it rotates. So I patiently adjusted the angle of each part while rotating the crank with a socket to minimise the wobble -and the superglue only stops the angle from changing.