350 Damper Problems

[stolian]

I have an '81 K-10 with a 350. A few days ago the Damper loosened up on the motor and can now be turned by hand (it has pulled out to where it is no longer indexed). The truck will still crank and run and there seems to be no problems with the motor other than the fact that I am losing fluid due to it being loose. Does anyone have any ideas on why it came loose? It has been offroaded heavily for five years with 35's and quite a bit of right foot so I am guessing it could be from heavy use, or the damper might not be true and causing a wobble that loosened it up. Could it coming loose point to any major problems even though the truck still runs fine? Simply tightening it back up is not a problem, I just want to make sure it coming loose doesn't suggest any major problems and lose the motor on the trail after tightening it up. Any input would be appreciated.

-Lance

 

[beater74]

chances are that it's just not loose. it probably has torn up the chanell that keeps it from spinnig. i would remove the bolt first if it's still there then pull it off and take a look. on my truck the bolt backed out of the balancer then it distroyed the crank where it attaches. so i had to pull the motor and replace the crank.