This is what RockAuto sent for an 86 GT. I don't see counterweights cast into it unless those two little extra holes somehow make up for it, which I doubt...

Those holes mean that it is externally balanced.

It should be correct for an 86.

Steve.

That saves me a big headache. Thanks! +1

Every flywheel I've seen for pre-88's had big weights welded onto the back side and holes drilled around the outer edges on the front. I just checked one I took off an 85 and it's as I described. It's for an externally balanced engine.

The 88 flywheels I've bought for 3.4's were similar as shown in your pictures. The 88 and 3.4 is internally balanced.

[This message has been edited by fierofool (edited 02-26-2013).]

So it looks like the wrong one for me after all?

I am not sure... I got one for an 86 from rockauto as well, and mine has no counterweight, but in one location like on your flywheel I have a lot of holes drilled. Like 10. I don't think not having a counterweight it wrong (like us) But I do not know if that is externally balanced enough.... I had an 88 flywheel and it has zero extra holes drilled... so I do not know because you have some balancing going on, I am just not sure if it is enough.

Yeah, I think those two holes are probably just to fine tune the balancing of a neutral flywheel due to variance in casting. I'm waiting on RockAuto's response.

Finding an externally balanced flywheel can be difficult as only one that is listed in most stores is for an 88. I sort of lucked out that after the shop installed the wrong one in my 87, wwe were able to have a amchine shop resurface the original. The downside was the shop had to do the install twice, once for the 88, then remove it and install the resurfaced one.

This is a photo of the flywheel from my 87. Lots of holes are there. I have no photos of the other side.




The two flywheels. 88 on left 87 on right

That flywheel is definitely not external balance. I have a couple external balance flywheels if you need one. Would need resurfaced.

Marty

Front and back of the 85 2.8 flywheel I mentioned above. Holes on the front and a big weight on the back. It's for an externally balanced engine----85-87.

This is the flywheel I have from a 1986 Fiero 2.8. If you can not find one closer you can have this one for the cost of the shipping as I do not need it. Dan

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Over 30 years wiring experience between cars and trade as an avionics tech.
Over 25 years experience building and modifying cars.
Over 10 years of full Fiero engine swaps and harnesses building and still going.

Hmm mine looks a lot like the front side of those flywheels you guys posted for the externally balanced engines, but has no counterweight on the backside... So there's no way it is neutrally balanced.... I'm just not gunna worry about it and hope they knew what they were doing....

They did not know what they are doing and if you put that flywheel on an exteranlly ballanced engine it will shake your teeth out. What did the flywheel that came off the engine look like? ALL externally ballanced flywheels (for Fiero's) have the weight on the back side. Larry

FieroGT42's flywheel looks like it's for an internally balanced engine, 88 only for Fieros. What is the part number on the box?

I've gotten the wrong part from Rock Auto before too, their return policies are abysmal. 99 parts out of 100 so far have been correct, though.

Is that the close-out flywheel that cost about $25 at RockAuto?

Mine was the closeout one from rock auto, but as stated the front side looks the 85-87 flywheels shown while the backside has no counter weight.... is there any way to have the flywheel have the weight added to the back from a machine shop? I wish I kept my old crank....

It is just frustrating because I was careful when I ordered it and on the information it said for 85-87 fieros, and it was not listed under the 88 fiero when I checked to make sure it was not being sold as an 88 fiero flywheel as well... And my old flywheel was neutrally balanced and that shook my teeth out (PO fault...) The new flywheel has a lot of weight drilled out of one side, I wonder if it is possible to compensate for a lack of a counterweight with extra weight drilled... Hopefully I have no vibration, and if I do then it is tolerable until I can acquire the correct flywheel from a forum member... I hate this, I just put everything back together. It never ends!


here's what my new flywheel looks like... Backside has no counter weight... definitely not neutrally balanced though...

As can be seen it has 7 large holes drilled into it and none besides bolt holes drilled into the rest. The most I counted on the other flywheels posted was 4 holes, and those all had extra weight drilled from other parts of the flywheel, so maybe there is a possibility mine will work out. Wish me luck

[This message has been edited by zkhennings (edited 02-28-2013).]

You have installed the wrong flywheel, no doubt at all. Just suck it up and fix the problem, if you don't then it will only cost you more money time and stress with no gain. Amazing, ask a question and then when the answer isn't what you want to hear you just forge ahead. Larry

If you are talking to me.... I am not the OP, I installed it in August.... And yes I will get a new flywheel if it is wrong, but as I said, I do have some evidence to suggest that it may work.... I go home from school for break this weekend. Car will be ready to fire for the first time. If the engine is vibrating like it was with the old flywheel on my other engine, then I will immediately look for a new one... it will be very apparent if it is the wrong flywheel. It is clearly NOT neutrally balanced, but I am going to be certain first because like I said, it said it was advertised for an 85 to 87. Very specific. If you go on rockauto now, one of the flywheels is listed as 85 - 88, and the other no information is given. Just the fact that the vendor made the distinction between the different years shows that they may know what they are doing even if the flywheel is different from what is customary. It doesn't look customary if you take the time to compare it to the other pictures posted. So please don't treat me like I am ignorant or stupid.

If anyone is wondering, an 88 flywheel on an 85-87 engine will vibrate somewhat at idle, but when you hit 2000 rpms the car shakes so much (with non-worn mounts) that you have to readjust your mirrors.

Edit to add:

Upon further inspection, it appears my flywheel was originally a neutrally balanced flywheel then balanced further for an 85 - 87. If you look at it, it has only holes for the clutch bolts drilled through it, and all the 85 - 87 flywheel pictures posted each have two holes drilled on each side of the clutch bolt holes. Also there is one lone balancing hole in mine. It looks to me as though that one hole was drilled to neutrally balance the flywheel, as though this started its life as an 88 flywheel, and then the company who sold it to me further modified it to be balanced to an 85 - 87 crank by drilling out all those other holes. It really is unique compared to all others posted and I have no idea if it is going to work, but I will let you all know when I fire my car up.

Zach

To the OP, if mine does happen to work out, then maybe you can take your flywheel to a machine shop and have it drilled out instead of getting a new flywheel. I'll let you know.

[This message has been edited by zkhennings (edited 02-28-2013).]

Zach, if you will compare your flywheel to the picture I posted you can see the large holes drilled in the flywheel. There are also other holes drilled in various points around the perimeter that have metal plugs inserted into them. I don't think every flywheel for a particular engine would have the exact same drillings and weights. I seem to remember seeing one externally balanced flywheel that had 2 smaller weights welded to the back instead of the single large one as mine has.

Hopefully you are correct and your flywheel casting was so close to balanced that a few drillings brought it in balance but it doesn't fit the norm for an externally balanced flywheel. If you have a nearby automotive machine shop, they can probably tell you very quickly.

I'm glad I saw this, since I purchased the same flywheel.
I'll look forward to reading the correct resolution.
Thanks!
bb

Not sure who Larry is addressing, but I didn't forge ahead after getting an answer I didn't like. I'm just double checking to avoid that kind of thing...

Anyway, since there were so many of us that RockAuto sent the wrong part, is there any chance of us getting together so they're forced to fix their BS?

What did Rock Auto say?

Unfortunately since I bought mine this summer I don't think I will have any kind of valid claim anymore if it is wrong.

The told me the parts were fine, then they said I'm SOL regardless because they are not responsible for compatibility even though the part was listed as 85-86 2.8L V6 and they TOLD me it was compatible.

I don't know about every else, and it probably won't do any good and certainly won't get my money back, but I'm going to file a complaint with the BBB at least.

This same subject has come up number of times regarding Rock Auto flywheels awhile back and something stinks me thinks (sorry). There are two listed for an 86, a Sachs and the Beck Arnley. Notice the price of the Beck, >$150. the Sachs is about $42. Several months ago, the same Beck flywheels were on clearence for $28! Now the price of the Becks are 5x what they were; why? If you look at the listing in Rock for an 88, the same Sachs flywheel comes up, pn NFW1006 but the Beck is not listed. What does NFW mean to a guy that has an externally balanced engine?? Well 8> ) No F**king Way. To Rocks defence, the problem is with Sachs application not Rock but tha'ts no excuse if you know the deal and the Beck might be limited due to 4 or 5 speed transmission. Seems increasing the price of the Beck flywheel 5x shows some knowledge of the problem. The Beck flywheel has no weights on it either but more holes on the perimeter. One way to settle this might be to find a speed shop to check the balance of both flywheels against an OEM flywheel.

BR's,

Mark

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86 SE V6 4 speed
86 SE V6 Auto
2008 G6 GT "Street" Coupe
2005 Buick 3.6 Rendezvous
2001 Olds Silhouette (AKA The Band Van)

Is the technical solution to take the flywheel to a machinist to have it balanced?

quote Originally posted by Bruce: Is the technical solution to take the flywheel to a machinist to have it balanced?

The problem in this case is the flywheel is an 88 flywheel, which is already neutrally balanced.

I bought the beck arnley flywheel for 28 dollars several months ago. I checked my receipt from rock auto. Well this is good news.

[This message has been edited by zkhennings (edited 02-28-2013).]

quote The problem in this case is the flywheel is an 88 flywheel, which is already neutrally balanced.

The solution is to take it to a shop and see if it is balanced, if it is then it is wrong for that engine. (It is clear that it is wrong, but FieroGT42 won't believe it, so I guess what is needed are some hard numbers to back it up) If you have a friendly tire shop just have they put it on their spin balance machine and tell you how far off it is. Larry

quote Originally posted by trotterlg: (It is clear that it is wrong, but FieroGT42 won't believe it, so I guess what is needed are some hard numbers to back it up)

Dude he get's it... he is saying he won't be getting his money back from Rockauto even though they told him it was compatible and he knows it is the wrong flywheel. Please read what people write?

Send an email / letter to the Rock Auto President and tell them that they sent you the wrong part. Send him a picture of the correct part and the part they sent you. Explain that the '88 engine is internally balanced, while the '86 is not. I have had better luck getting responses back when contacting the president's office. The answer isn't always what I want, but I do get a chance to talk to a person who is more concerned.

Is it possible to adapt this flywheel for the 86 V6 engine by adding counterweights, or are we outta luck?

You could do this, if you had the crank out, I think (balance the assembly). It is too late to do that though.

quote Originally posted by Bruce: Is it possible to adapt this flywheel for the 86 V6 engine by adding counterweights, or are we outta luck?

You can have it match balanced to an OEM flywheel or auto flex plate, if you have either, that is correct for an externally balanced 2.8. Seems if you had an OEM flywheel, you might not need a new flywheel. To do this, you need to have access to a machine shop that offers the match balance service. It cost me $75 for my custom 3.8 Buick flywheel. The shop accomplished the match balance by drilling holes in the perimeter much like the Beck flywheel.

BR's,

Mark

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86 SE V6 4 speed
86 SE V6 Auto
2008 G6 GT "Street" Coupe
2005 Buick 3.6 Rendezvous
2001 Olds Silhouette (AKA The Band Van)

I'll just wait and see about the original flywheel, although it was deglazed in 1999 when I had the clutch changed. Apart from a little bit of chatter in first gear, the present clutch seems to be fine.
I bought the RA flywheel because the price seemed great, and I would have it ready when the eventual time came. Little did I know...

Called Beck-Arnley directly. They say, and I quote, "That is not a Beck-Arnley part".

Edit: Now Beck/Arnley says it's for "85-86 Fiero 2.8 V6 173cid externally balanced". I'm having a little trouble believing anything.

Has anyone had tried this part or had it checked out yet? I don't have a shop nearby that can do this...

[This message has been edited by FieroGT42 (edited 03-14-2013).]

quote Originally posted by FieroGT42: Called Beck-Arnley directly. They say, and I quote, "That is not a Beck-Arnley part". Edit: Now Beck/Arnley says it's for "85-86 Fiero 2.8 V6 173cid externally balanced". I'm having a little trouble believing anything. Has anyone had tried this part or had it checked out yet? I don't have a shop nearby that can do this...

Have to say I am really disappointed in Rock Auto for not bellying up to the bar to straighten this out. This is a common theme on Pennocks regarding the Rock flywheels. Do you have the receipt from Rock or the box? If so do you see p/n NFW1006 on anything? That pn is for the Sachs flywheel and it is wrong for an 86. Try googling auto speed shops near your zip code, you might find one that has balancing capability. Hope this helps..

BR's,

Mark

I have the box and it's Beck/Arnley, but I'm not so sure the part is correct. It doesn't have any counter weights cast into it, and i's drilled like the neutral Sachs NFW1006 (the letters standing for Neutral Fly Wheel, I'm sure). I'm wondering if someone didn't swap what was in the box.

Can't find any speed hops near me. That'd be a road trip type deal. That's why i was wondering if anyone else could find out. Sucks to be me.

[This message has been edited by FieroGT42 (edited 03-14-2013).]

Since Rock Auto won't man up, can you get Beck-Arnley to replace it with the assumption that it was incorrectly packaged? Worth a try.