Balancer slides in on install

AndyF said
It is an interesting question and I don't know the answer. Some OEM engineers didn't think a press fit was a requirement, others did. A lot of Ford engines used a slip fit damper. It all worked okay for passenger car use. For a low budget rebuild on a passenger car engine I wouldn't be afraid of a slip fit. I'd rather not have a slip fit, but if it was my only option I'd take it.
For racing the recommendation is always use a slight press fit. Somewhere in the 0.0005 to 0.001 range depending on the size of the crank snout.

This is the thing- nothing I can find says that it NEEDS to be a press fit as a requirement...Not saying that it isn't, but I can't seem to find any proof other then what we all generally would believe as a requirement. Even in the factory service manual, I can't find anything that would say that the damper needs to be a press fit or shouldn't be used if not, but then it also says to use an installer to get it on which would obviously suggest the balancer should be a press fit.

gzig5 said
Take these numbers given as examples with a grain of salt. The come from different measuring devices with probably questionable calibration (no offense intended). You need a proper size micrometer (not caliper) that discerns down to 0.0001" to accurately determine if your crank is in spec. A bore mic or bore gage would be used on the damper. Might be able to get away with snap gages, if you know how to use them.
The tools and methods used matter. A lot of folks that don't regularly work to thousandth or tenth of thousandth tolerances, don't understand that. Even leaving the mic out in a sunny spot on the workbench can cause enough thermal expansion to boof the reading and screw something up. You don't need a climate controlled clean room, but you do need consistency.
As to your damper, it was designed to be a press fit on this engine. The clamping area provided by the bolt against the small shoulder on the crank is tiny in comparison to the area covered by a proper press fit. It's an expensive risk to take doing it the wrong way.

Yes, this I understand. I don't even have a set of mics, and I forgot that my digital calipers went to s#$% the other week. I did get home and zip the balancer bolt off, and the balancer came out by hand with little effort. Needless to say I think my best option at this point is to check with another balancer and go from there.

I imagine if the crank was bad I would have noticed it somewhere possibly when checking bearing clearances. Even though I did not mic this crank, I did check the clearances with plastigauge on all the journals, and in different positions, and the readings were spot on almost across every main journal (and rod). So hopefully its a balancer replacement and done...I feel a little nervous to run it as is, especially since it just slid off by hand last night upon checking.