New Harmonic Balancer Install Oil Slinger

I have searched both Oil Slinger threads and Harmonic Balancer (HB) threads, but I can't nail down an answer for my situation.

I have an '89 XJ with a reman Renix engine of the same vintage, but the new/reman engine year is not known to me. It wears the old engine's original HB that has about 185,000 miles on it. The HB is starting to lose it's rubber, and I have an engine vibe at about 1500-1900 rpm. OK.

Today I ordered a new HB from the local dealer ($83). Threads seem to advise going with OEM dealer part here. The AutoZone is only about $50, not a significant difference in $$ to entice me to use it.

The factory/ OEM part comes with an instruction to not reinstall the oil slinger behind the timing cover, due to a redesign. This instruction and part # is the same for either an '89 or a '96 engine.

Am I getting myself into trouble by not installing the oil slinger as directed, and should I be worried about it being essential?

Thanks guys, I am a bit of a newbie.

Is it bad I've replaced two timing chain/gears and HBs in the last year and don't have a clue of what you're talking about?

Good luck. :thumbup:

~Scott

Never heard anything about an oil slinger just when replacing a harmonic balancer either.

I'm probably wrong, but the oil slinger was eliminated early on and can be disposed of on the early models due to a change in the HB manufacture.

Maybe Old_Man/Lawson/5-90 will chime in on this.

After reading your post's I realize that, since the engine is a Renix reman.... I don't really know if the oil slinger even exists in this engine?

Maybe it's already gone.

Thanks for the support guys! :cheers: