Chasing some unusual noise at startup that goes away within a minute, and eventually narrowed it to a suspected crankshaft damper de-lamination. After searching the archives, saw several helpful mentions about painting white lines on the damper and crankshaft pulley, then starting the car and let it run a bit, shut it down and check if the lines still align. Good news, I identified the noise, bad news I need to replace the damper. Or rather I need to remove the damper and send it out for refurbishment. Ugh.

There are several aftermarket dampers for sale, but they all seem to be MTC or Vollig with neither manufacturers having great reputations for quality. My assumption is that I would be better off sending my original damper to Damper Dudes or Dale Mtg (if they are still in business) than buying a aftermarket replacement. Do you gurus agree with that assumption?

It looks like it will require removing the air bleed piping, the radiator top cover, the fan and fan shroud, and the various belts to gain proper access to remove the pulley and damper -- is that correct?

I saw the Wizard of Oz's great tip of bump starting the engine to loosen the damper bolt, which is not only clever, but should guarantee the engine isn't turned the wrong direction. Any other tips I should know before I get stuck in?

Thanks

 

Fill the beer fridge.

 

I would take the rad out too Mac. It is not a great deal more work and makes anything on the front of the engine far easier. You can also see if there are any other small things that can be done easily as well.

 

Yes,

And

That rubber bung in the A Bank top corner of the timing cover. So easy to replace now.
The breather elbow bolts on the front of the B Bank head, they leak, remove, one at a time, dip in sealant, copper washer under the head, jobs done.
The timing cover/pulley oil seal, I would, but its your call.

 

Something that I do when working up front- remove the grill for access, then remove the 4 bolts that secure the hood/bonnet to the hinges (after marking position to aid alignment when reinstalled). Done with hood released from latches but not open; then put a few rags at each rear corner and prop the front of the hood open. Takes about as long as it took me to type this and allows much better access.
Also definitely remove the radiator and clean out the debris that has accumulated between it and the condenser and oil cooler.
Doing it in this manner is a one man operation.

 

Looks like I'm gonna need a bigger beer fridge...

 

If I was closer I would come over and drink your beer while I supervise. I am fairly good at both.

Doug

 

[sigh] I haven't put that many miles on the beast since the last time I took out the rad and got it recored, cleaned out the infamous grey cat's worth of hair between it and the condenser, belts/hoses and replaced all of the insulating foam. Plus it's only about 6 weeks since I did a full coolant replacement.

You're probably right, but I was looking forward to just driving the thing this summer rather than finding the time for another major project after the full IRS rebuild.

 

I rebuilt the damper on my XJRS about 10 years ago, still going strong.
l used 60A polyurethane and bonding primer. Components located with simple plastic jig, took best part of an afternoon.

 

Baxtor
I may have asked you this before, but how did you centre the inner part to the outer pulley accurately?
Thanks

 

I have the MTC damper from Amazon on one car and it’s fine. I can’t imagine rebuilding is cheaper. Yes, radiator out is easier, lifting the radiator can be difficult without two people but removing the hood is unnecessary. If going in solo, I find it less frustrating to disconnect the fan clutch, remove top panel over radiator, Tilt radiator back, and pull fan from between shroud and radiator. The unscrew the left third of the fan shroud from right (using right angle ratchet screw driver kit from harbor freight item 58074) and then the shroud comes out. Finally the radiator.

 

I'm not sure how soon I can tackle this, and I hate for the beast to just sit. Plus I need to do some garage space dancing because I have a more pressing job of replacing the engine mounts on my daughter's Land Rover.

So that raises the question, is OK to start the car with the bad damper to move the car? Is OK to take an occasional warm up drive with the bad damper, until I can get the time to tackle the larger than anticipated project?

Thanks

 

I have no practical experience of this, but as a judgement I would say Yes to BOTH; if careful and not too many revs. Others may know for sure.
As an thought experiment I would surmise that the danger is that you do not want the outer, which drives the alternator and is thus the real cause of the delamination, to become completely free of the inner and cause havoc.
If you trust your battery and have a battery minder to top it up with, you could just remove the alternator belt and have no worries at all! As loosening that belt is a pain, if it has not been recently renewed, then just cut it and renew it when you do the rad! And the other ones if they are old...

 

With Greg partially.

Warm up in the shed/driveway is fine. If the Brown Stuff Hits The Fan, as we say, its in a controlled situatuion, as apposed to out on the road, where a f;at bed may be needed.

As Greg also aid, if that ring does really let go, oh dear, that alloy timing cover is SOOOO inviting.

I would let it sit, NOT ideal of course, but sometimes is the safer way. They are OK with sitting, and mine have done from time to time. Fuel going stale and messing things up in your market is obviously a major concern, we are so lucky down here.

 

Don't have pic handy, but l turned up a simple delrin disc, steps to locate diameter within diameter and to align position in the second plane. This also sealed off one side of the assembly to contain poured polyurethane. Hope that explanation can be followed.

 

IF it is a marelli car the pulley will be safely contained between the crank trigger disc and the bolt on pulleys.

 

I used the damper dr and the job was great.

I have a 6.0, so the damper fits the shaft differently than the 5.0. Had trouble getting the bold to grab (too short0 so I bought a longer one and used to to start the damper. When the damper was in sufficiently, I removed the new bolt and installed the original.

 

Correct, the design is slightly different, they will however readily interchange.

 

Am i right in thinking that this only applies if your 5.3 has the micro V flat-type belt and not if it has a V belt?

 

I mean in relation to the actual attachment to crankshaft. Earlier damper is essentially 2 piece, useing the cone and matching damper while the 6 litre uses a parallel bore ie. 1 piece damper. As a unit they will interchange but l don't think any 6 litre units (1 piece) used V belts on the damper itself, only the micro on XJS and serpentine on the saloons l believe. The bolt on pulley in multi V belt configuration will still bolt on though.