n1kki6

Hey All,

Having spent a ton of time on this form, I thought it would be a good place to ask for some advice on my current car. Last year I picked up a 1998 Viper GTS. Had some light mods, cam, port and polish, etc... I always noticed it ran kind of rough, but thought it was maybe due to the cam, possibly engine mounts. Well I changed then engine and transmission mounts, and it got a lot better, but was still noticable.

Anyway, this weekend I was heading out for a drive and noticed the battery voltage drop so I turned around. I pulled into the driveway the power streering went.

Long story short, the balancer bolt backed out of the crank shaft, but not completely, so the balancer was just bouncing around. It honestly took quite a bit to get the bolt completely out so I am wondering if this had been a gradual issue.

Anyway, the snout looks pretty beat up, I am sure sourcing a crankshaft and pulling the motor to put it in is probably the best and maybe my only reliable option, but I also received some tips on the viper forum of just filing any high spots, possibly using locktite 609, adding pins (keying it), and then bolting it back on. Just wanted to get your thoughts, how bad does this look? I know, pretty bad. There are some pretty significant gouges, but it also looks like some of the balancer matters started to matte to it? Not sure. I also included a pict of the bolt so you could see where it was knocking around. Oddly enough, the threads in the snout look pretty good, just need to be chased, but I was able to get in there with a camera and confirmed nothing major.

I have a new balancer, oil seal, bolt, and pinning kit on the way. But I am kind of skeptical at this point.

TLS_Addict

As you are aware the Viper engine, no matter the year, is not cheap to source or rebuild if catastrophic failure presents itself.

Get a new bolt, clean the threads, pin the crank and put on the new balancer and try it. Worst you are out is a large bill for a new motor. Or take it out now and rebuild it anyway.