Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Crank shaft damper

[SAndreasen]

What am I looking for when I check my crankshaft damper? On the one on my tractor there are two marks that line up
Thanks Shaun

 

[Woodenhead]

There are two marks on these ones also, they can be hard to see though. You're looking to see if they still line up. Also, a rule of thumb I was given is bulging rubber of more than 1/8".
Mike

 

[klcammie]

When I checked mine it didn't look to bad until I removed it. The back side had pieces of the rubber missing and the rubber bulged more then the front side.

 

[JR]

Mine is getting replaced this year regardless. I figure 16 years is enough to ask out of it, considering the importance of it.
Still trying to decide if I replace with another OEM or spend the money on the Fluid Damper.

 

[SAndreasen]

I just put a new one on my tractor do to a dumb mistake and yes it was expensive almost 500 bucks after next day air freight but boy did it make difference in engine noise level under full load the fact that it was almost 40 year old and they way the engine sounds now with the new one I don't feel so bad about breaking it . So the next question are the fluid dampers worth it .

 

[klcammie]

Mine is getting replaced this year regardless. I figure 16 years is enough to ask out of it, considering the importance of it.
Still trying to decide if I replace with another OEM or spend the money on the Fluid Damper.

My opinion if you keeping truck get the Fluidamper it is well worth the money. The oem is limited as to what range it can dampen the vibs. The Fluidamper can work over a wider range. Just seat of pants I could fell the difference first time drive after install.

 

[SAndreasen]

Any more votes for the fluid damper

 

[seafish]

While I run an oem 6.7 viscous damper on my 3rd gen but I am pretty sure that they will not fit a pre CR truck.

That being said, from all I have read, a FluidDamper on a 2nd gen has been a very worthwhile upgrade for everyone who has done it.

 

[Braydon.l6]

The stock design isn't that great in the first place and when you start towing or add more power it doesn't do its job properly. I believebut in 2008 or 2009 they went to a fluid dampener design but I could be wrong. There are things that should be done right even if its more money and in my opinion this is defiantly one of them. I installed a Fluidampr a couple months ago and the feel it gives you at idle or when your towing is a lot smoother (depending how well you know your truck). Its something that will benefit your engine and drive train for a long time.

 

[SAndreasen]

Well I guess I better just save my pennies and do one truck at a time with a fluid damper

 

[Regcabguy]

Mine is getting replaced this year regardless. I figure 16 years is enough to ask out of it, considering the importance of it.
Still trying to decide if I replace with another OEM or spend the money on the Fluid Damper.

Initially I felt a smoother idle with the Fluidamper. XDP offers a good price on them especially if you buy it during one of their 10% off sales.

 

[SAndreasen]

Well I definitely get a couple of when I get some cash saved up. I'll go through genos when I finally do

 

[MrWill12]

SAndreasen,

I wrote a post awhile back "What a wonderful mod", it was in reference to the Fluidampr that I had installed about a year ago. I have tried to research it from both sides of the isle to get a rounded viewpoint. Here is some info I have come across. I am not stating my opinion with the following, but passing on found info.

Yes, the fluidampr address the vibs/harmonics throughout a wider range, but does not address the vibrations/harmonics as well, in depth, at the normal operating ranges as the OE rubber balancer.

I found the following info after I installed my balancer:
Here is an informational link from an aeronautical webpage that is not an advertisement one way or the other, but its a good read, heavy at times, but good.
http://www.epi-eng.com/piston_engine_technology/crankshaft_torsional_absorbers.htm
http://www.epi-eng.com/piston_engine_technology/crankshaft_torsional_absorbers.htm

I have read on here that you will need to hold onto your original balancer if you get your engine rebuilt or have any major work done involving the crankshaft to get your engine back into original spec.

I can say that I could definitely tell a difference across the board when I put the fluidampr on my 12 Valve, but my balancer was bulging and I couldn't tell it by just looking at it or feeling around. Mine was 17 years old and who knows maybe I would have felt a difference with a new balancer of any kind.

I didn't understand correctly how it was put together and how the rubber fit in the balancer until I got it off and looked at it. The balancer looked like a cross section of a small thick metal pipe inside a larger rubber pipe inside an even larger metal pipe. Maybe I could have felt it if I already knew what a good one felt like?

Best of luck.

 

[MrWill12]

SAndreasen,

Checkout David Magnoli's article in Issue 73, pages 44-51 on 'Harmonic Dampers' as well.

When mine bulged it was bulging from the inside, where it sets right-up beside the timing gear case, so no way of telling until you remove it. I think KLcammie mentioned the same location.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I put a Fluidampr on my '98.5 and it made it noticeably smoother especially at higher RPM. I'm a guy who isn't afraid to wind it out and see the upper side of 3000 RPM regularly.

Yes the 6.7 fluid dampers will not fit 24 valve engines, tried it myself. The oil pan contour is completely different and it interferes.