quote:

Is there any type of warning before this fails & what happens when it does fail?

"If you see the harmonic balancer come up through the dash and bounce around the cab...it has failed...."

Just messin' with ya!

I had mine changed out because I was underneath the coach and could see part of the rubber sticking out of it...sometimes it does that and rubs a groove in the timing chain cover. I found a local mechanic to replace mine. He did it from the front. While he had it out, I had the radiator cleaned out. He charged me $600 in labor and I spent another $200 having the radiator cleaned..

Another way to tell about a harmonic balancer. I remember one time on a friend's 3.8 V-6 Buick, he had an odd knock start. It would knock slightly on acceleration and deceleration but no other time. With the engine off, I found I could move the belts and pulleys by hand about 1/8 of a turn. Come to find out, the rubber was gone and the harmonic balancer was turning back and forth between the stops. New balancer and the knocking stopped.

I tried to locate the HB but I didn't know what I was looking for. Do I have to remove anything to see if there is one there? I looked at the pics, wiki & previous posts. I know where it is but can't see any rubber, really I can't see anything.
Thanks
Tere

BTW - The noise we heard was not a squeal it was a higher pitched whirr. I would say about 3 octaves up from the sound of the engine.

Your HB has the timing mark on it. Your lower pulley is bolted to the center hub and the timing mark is on the outside ring.

The crankshaft belt pulley has to come off to examine the damper.

Talked to my son-in-law, aka jet pilot, professional mechanic. He is currently restoring his '69 Camaro drag racer. He replaced the harmonic balancer on his 454 while he had it out of the car and on an engine stand. Said it was very difficult. Needed pullers etc but it was just hard to get it off the crank and the new one back on. My question is, "Can this be done with the rad still in the car?". Otherwise it is a very big job, very expensive if you have to have it done by a shop, and unfortunately probably very necessary on a 27 year old 454 with 85000 miles on it.

I think you should be able to do it in the vehicle. After the belts are removed the crank pulley can be unbolted from the HB. (3 bolts) The pulley is about 4 inches deep. This plus fan blade clearance should allow clearance for the puller behind the radiator. (see my 454 rear main seal/crankshaft thread for pics)

The installer is about 4 inches tall. Takes a fair amount of torque on the center bolt to pull on or off but not too bad.

Thankfully I have a great airplane guy!)
I do too! Unfortunately, he's my son-in-law and has this long list of stuff to do when he's home,(50% of time flying corporate jets) including hanging out with his triplets. What we now do is get him to tell us, Tere and I, what to do in small steps. Then he inspects our work and tells up the next thing. Takes a little while but it's a lot cheaper than the alternate. The real question is whether to worry about it or not. I can see the Cummins deal is pretty important. Wonder if the 454 set up is just as important. My gut says 'yes it is'. Is your harmonic balancer puller special for the 454 or is it something the local Advance Auto would have?

quote:

I think you should be able to do it in the vehicle.

Initially, I'd say yes, because mine was replaced with the engine in the vehicle by taking out the radiator out through the front access door....

BUT!!!

One difference in our Regals is the floor height. The tag axle units (like mine and Steve's) sit 8 inches higher than the single axle REgals. They have an 8 inch beam on top of the P30 chassis. You see the difference on the outside by looking at where our wheel arches are. Yours cuts through the floor height and ours set below the floor height. I think mine has an extra step into the coach to get in and likewise, there is only about a 2 inch step-up to the drivers area....it almost has a flat floor front to back.... I don't know for sure, but this might make a difference on accessibility...

I have mine checked every spring. Well worth the money?

I'll be putting a Fluidampr on mine this spring.