Crank shaft and balancer

[Tom Willy Mike]

Hello i have a 2007 gmc sierra 1500 classic with the 5.3 vortec. Flex fuel. Engine code, L59. Previous owner of the truck replace front main seal. And while he was installing the balancer he stripped some of the threads in the crankshaft. But not completely. The bolt still screws in. But not easily and the bolt looks like it is not centered on the balancer. He did not use an install tool. He hammered it on  and then tried to use the bolt to suck it in  but the boat was just stripping threads in the balancer was not moving. I thought that I had a rod knock going on. But I believe it is something to do with the balancer. I get a ticking noise that goes with my RPMs once the motor is fully warmed up but it only happens every few days. It's more of a ticking noise than a knocking noise. I am not sure if the crankshaft is messed up or if it is just the threads for the bolt in the crankshaft. I have a video and a picture I will upload. I'm not sure if the balancer is on completely straight either. There is a slight wobble. But I do not get bad vibrations while driving. Do I need a new crankshaft? Do I need to read new threads in the crankshaft? What is the best thing I could do? If I could get some comments in help that would be great thanks.

[Tom Willy Mike]

I was going to replace the balancer and the bolt. But I feel like I should wait until I figure out if I need to fix the shaft or replace. Also the motor has 220000 miles on it.

[davester]

I don't think you'll really be able to know without taking the HB off.  If the HB itself hasn't damaged the end of the crank, maybe you can drill out the end of hte crank and put in a helicoil or timesert.

 

If the crank is damaged by the HB, then I'd just put it back together (fixing the threads), and if/when it eventually fails, just throw in another used engine, as you basically need to rebuild the bottom end to put in another crankshaft.