504 diesel balance shaft assembly

binder560 · Apr 25, 2013

i have a customer who has a 504 with a 188 diesel this engine had a balancer gear failure... someone told him this engine can be run without the balancer. has anyone tried this? any input would be helpful... thanks

teddy52food · Apr 25, 2013

It may run but it is there for a reason.

Janicholson · Apr 25, 2013

I agree with Teddy, Vibration can destroy internal components even if the external vibration is put up with. Jim

Forge Farmer · Apr 26, 2013

You do not need the balance assembly if you take the crankshaft out and get it balanced by a machinist. My dad had the same thing happen to his. A replacement balancer assemble was over $300, but getting it machined was less than $100. A four cylinder engine is inherently rough running. When they manufactured them they could have machined them to not need a balanacer, but that would have taken too much time, so they got them close and stuck a balancer on. There are guys that will still get the crank balanced on a high performance engine, even if they don"t "need" it like this engine does

pete 23 · Apr 26, 2013

The 504 runs a bit faster than older 4 bangers. Balancing the crankshaft will help but it will not eleminate the inherent out of balance that a 4 cyl engine has. Because that engine is relatively long stroked for size of bore and rpm you may reach the critical vibration point and cause severe damage, like broken crankshaft. If you can get your hands on a original IH service manual for that engine, it gives a very good explanation of the balance needs. Too much to explain here but quick reason is piston travels different distance over a given degree of crankshaft travel at top than it does at bottom of stroke.

Indiana Ken · Apr 26, 2013

Typically the balance shafts used on 4 cylinders are driven at twice crankshaft speed. On a 4 cylinder there is always one piston going up to balance one piston going down. This is called primary balance and is used to reduce the loads on the main bearings. In addition it makes for less vibration and shaking externally. The balance shaft is to balance/reduce what are called secondary forces. These forces are the result of the pistons (the one going up versus the one going down) reaching their maximum velocity at different rotational positions. The balance shaft reduces external vibration but does not reduce bearing loads and can generally be removed. I have removed them on motorcycle engines before for less drag and a small increase in HP. If you remove the shaft take note of any oil passages which may need to be plugged.

504 diesel balance shaft assembly

binder560

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teddy52food

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Janicholson

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Forge Farmer

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pete 23

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Indiana Ken

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