Is there a easy way to prevent the Harmonic Balancer from turning during bolt removal and installation

Remove a spark plug and fill the cylinder with dirt! OR, . . . if you don't really care to destroy the engine, there should be three holes in the center of the balancer. Find a pair of metal pins to stick in two of them, then use a pry bar between them to keep it from turning. Rebar used for concrete works well and is just the right diameter. If you have the room, you can use a pair of punches too but I find that cumbersome because I need three hands to hold everything in place.

This video shows how to remove the balancer on a similar model.

https://youtu.be/NZIMNkLxCMA

Please run down these guides and report back.

If you gain access to harmonic balancer by taking off tire and small panel on firewall you'll obtain an almost straight shot to bolt and with proper wobble extension use an impact wrench.

Thanks for adding your suggestion.

The problem is tightening the bolt to specs. GM engineers like to use the low torque spec with an additional angle for a lot of their specs. This is particularly important for "torque-to-yield" bolts. Those will never reach a high torque value as they are designed to stretch as they're tightened. That's why they use the torque angle gauge to achieve the proper clamping force. Be aware too that torque-to-yield bolts are usually a one-time-use bolt and must be replaced, not reused.

What is the pin that goes in the crank behind harmonic balancer?

Good afternoon,

There is a woodruff key on the crankshaft for indexing the pulley for timing and balance.

Roy