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Balancing (Crank Shaft, Flywheel etc)
Balancing engine components is never a waste of money.
All manufacturers know this and all balance even their
most basic engines to a certain standard. An out of
balance engine is not only rough and harsh to drive, but
it absorbs energy like a sponge sucks up water reducing
both power and fuel economy! Different engine
configurations all need different approaches to balance
their many components and this is where our expertise
counts.
For the techies, here is a fuller
explanation. Some crankshafts need counterweights bolted to
them to simulate a percentage of the piston / rod
weights to damp down harmonic frequencies (V8 dual
plane, V6 etc) some do not, (V8 flat plane, straight 6,
4 cyl. etc). To do the job properly, everything that
revolves must be precision balanced, not just the crank
and flywheel. This means crank, flywheel, clutch driven
plate, front pulley, any gears or sprockets, oil
slingers and woodruff keys. The pistons should be
balanced, to all equal, on very accurate scales,
certainly down to 1 gram. Con rods present very special
problem all their own, the small end of the rod has a
completely linear motion exactly like the piston with no
revolving motion at all. Conversely the big end has a
totally rotary motion with no linear motion. It is
therefore perfectly possible to have a set of rods which
when placed on a very accurate set of scales are,
apparently, perfectly equal, but are in fact grossly out
of balance as none of the small ends are equal and none
of the big ends are equal despite the overall weights
being the same. And you have no way of checking it! This
is where you must be able to trust your engine shop.
They should have a special apparatus to check and
correct all the big end sections, and all the small end
sections separately.
See Also
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