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I'm about to change out my harmonic balancer on my 2002 dodge neon and I have been reading some sites that say I need to have the engine at TDC and other sites say "no" unless your going to mess with the timing belt, water pump, etc. I really need some insite on this so I don't mess up my sweet thang.

No need to be at tdc if thats all you are changing you won't do any damage.Just a question though how come you are changing it?

if you're only changing the harmonic balancer, it should make no difference at all. It has nothing to do with timing so it can go on whatever way you desire. Why are you changing it anyway?...

AWESOME

Thanks for the info. I'm changing it for two reasons. One the vibration coming from it is horrible and two there is an extreme amount of noise coming from it. When I went to change the bottom torque mount about 2 months ago I started up the car and put my ear right up to the balancer and it was extremely loud. I could be wrong about the balancer but it's not costing much to replace and it's about time to fine tune my baby back to her original self.

Remove the belts and check to outer ring, if it is solidly attached, start it up. See if the noise is till there. If it is, then remove the dampner. Start it again, and see if the noise changes. If is still making noises, possibly it is the oil pump, or debris trapped in the cover.

Like said, TDC is not important, as there are no timing marks, nor is it keyed to the crank. As long as you install it with the face out, it will work.

Make sure to check the idler pulley when you go to change the balancer mine went a couple weeks ago I thought it was the power steering pump making all the noise but I checked that pulley and it was the real reason the belt had snapped and the noise was so loud.

The power steering pump was noisy too I did them both.