Stripped harmonic balancer bolt

[64 Cheyenne]

As the title says, on a 91 4.0. Entrusted someone to replace the balancer, clearly schooled them how to do it with a longer "starter" bolt...

Well the job didnt get done, when I went to finish it myself, I found they stripped the bolt in the end of the CS.....
any suggestions?

[FrankTheDog]

Is the whole hole stripped or just the beginning?

Get a tap and chase it before you do anything else.

[DirtyComanche]

If the threads are hoopajuped I would buy the correct helicoil kit and not look back.  You will need some access to do this properly, not sure how far apart the truck is now but be prepared to strip the header panel off and the rad out.

[Green Mesa XJ]

If it's just a very shallow striping and the majority of the thread is there it will still bolt the balancer up.

First timing job I messed up the first few threads not understanding how the tool worked so messed the first few threads up. In my defense I was young, the tool was missing the proper stopper to press against the crank and it was on a GM 2.8 so nobody cared ;).

 

If it's badly screwed you can try to tap it, worst case if it's truly boned its replacing the crank.

Not sure, how demanding fixing the threads will be sorry.

 

 

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[Minuit]

Say it with me kids... this is why we don't use the crank bolt to pull on a harmonic balancer! I keep saying this and I feel like I'm just talking to myself! There's not enough thread engagement to do it safely! I know you know this Cheyenne, but this should be an example to anyone who still suggests doing this.

 

If the threads are hoopajuped I would buy the correct helicoil kit and not look back.  You will need some access to do this properly, not sure how far apart the truck is now but be prepared to strip the header panel off and the rad out.

I think this is the right way to go. I believe the crank bolt is 1/2-20. On a critical bolt like that I'd use red loctite when putting the helicoil in as an extra safety measure.