needed to have my harmonic balancer and serpentine belt replaced?

1992 BUICK PARK AVENUE
113,000 MILES • 6 CYL • FWD • AUTOMATIC
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CHARLENEL2103
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About 3 months ago needed to have my harmonic balancer and serpentine belt replaced due to a loud clunking noise that was happening at idle or very slow speeds. I got the balancer used from a scrap yard to save a few bucks.

About one month later the noise started again. I don't want to buy a new part and have the repair done again just for it to fail again. Did I get a bad part or could something else be causing the balancer to fail? Also, what will eventually happen if I just don't replace it? The car runs great, but the noise is a nuisance and embarrassing.
Nov 12, 2008 at 9:27 PM
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DOCHAGERTY
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I am curious as to what the failure is, was there slippage or some visually obvious failure that was the cause of the noise? I am trying to understand the root cause of this failure. Check out the images (Below). Please let us know what happens.
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Nov 14, 2008 at 11:52 AM
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CHARLENEL2103
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[quote:cb070b4ee5="Dr. Hagerty"]I am curious as to what the failure is, was there slippage or some visually obvious failure that was the cause of the noise? I am trying to understand the root cause of this failure.[/quote:cb070b4ee5]

I did not notice any slippage or visually obvious failure. A repair shop told me it was the harmonic balancer, and I had them replace it with a used one. Little over a month later it started again. No other symptoms...I know the problem is the balancer, just trying to find out if something could be causing the balancer to fail.
Nov 19, 2008 at 8:50 PM
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