does anybody know if an olds 403 has issues with harmoic balancer constantly going out? she a daily driver and i drive it fast and hard but i keep up with the maitenance pretty well. i'm hearing strange noise almost like churping coming fromt the general area fo the harmonic balancer. when i first bought the car i went ahead and had the engine rebuilt becuase the balancer needed to be replaced and it had upwards of 120,00miles on a it, and i had plans to add bolt ons. anyways after the rebuild about 4yrs later i had to put a crank kit in it after all my bottom end gave out on me. and now i'm concerned about the possibility of having to deal with the balancer again. anyway i'm just wondering if maybe i should start thinking of a new engine combo if i'm going to keep on running into issues with like this with my 403. it's a shame becuase i like my 403 and just being differant as far engines go, it's getting expensive not to mention down time from drving it.  

Make sure you have the correctly balanced harmonic balancer,if all else fails see if fluid damper or other brands make them and get one that is specifically for your particular engine.  

Make sure it's not the water pump bearings or pulley.  

thanks! yeah i have a slight supscion that it might actually be the water pump bearings.well thanks again.  

It's not a 100% accurate test, but you could remove the belt from the water pump pulley and see if you feel any resistance/rough spots in turning it by hand.  If you do find a rough spot you know it's the problem, but if you don't that doesn't necessarily exlude it from being a possibility.

If the noise is apparent at idle you could start it for a minute or so (when the engine is cold) without the belt on the water pump (and other accessories), if the noise is gone I'd put the belt back on and just double check to see if the noise comes back as another test.  

yeah last night at work this customer/buddy came to buy some parts and he happened to have his stithescope with him, well it did turnou to be the water pump bearings afterall. that thing was cool i'd never used one before, i love learning new things from seasoned gear heads. thanks for your info bud.  

I HAVE A QUESTION, does a 92 bonniville 3800 harmonic balancer interchange with a 92 olds 3800 toranado? the blades for the cranck shaft postion sensor on a bonniville have a wider diamater than the olds, i have the position sensor from the pontiac also which lines up on my engine,(the olds)  

In Responce To H Balancer  I Was Once Informed By An Elder Mech. That It IS Best To Use Same Type Part If Possible Just A Thought