I am the owner of a 2012 Challenger 392 with about 82k miles. It just recently slung a harmonic balancer off the crank shaft I was told by the tech that bolt had been removed before because it didn’t have a drop of lock tight on it. The only dealership that would have removed that bolt would have been the dealer that replaced the cam shaft under warranty. Here we are 2.5 years later and 26k miles the bolt backed out. When I contact the dealer they claimed FCA said to reuse the bolt at that time. Does that sound right?
I would never want to assume a dealer has done a job correctly. Depends on the tech’s abilities that does the job. I see no issue with respect to re-using the bolt as long as there’s no visible damage. Of course they need to apply thread lock and torque to proper specs
Years ago, I used to be an ASE and GM Master Tech. Back then, and I'll assume now, dealerships had a very robust technician training program. This combined with their unique access to special tools, testing equipment and factory engineering input makes the dealership your best shot at getting the highest degree of technical care for your car. I realize that it's common practice to disparage factory dealerships but it's been my experience that while they can be more expensive, they are generally your best bet at getting your car fixed right. Personally, I've never had a problem reusing a balancer retaining bolt but I also realize that there could be applications where reusing it might not be a good idea. I would go by whatever the dealer suggests. Regarding the use of thread locker on the bolt, again I'd say that although I have rarely used it on a balancer retaining bolt, there certainly could be applications that require it. If in doubt, consult the factory service manual, and verify that there are no updates (service bulletins) to it that apply to this issue. Wouldn't be the first time I saw a manual say one thing only to have an update years later that changes (supersedes) the info in the manual.
I just realized you stated that the bolt is a TTY bolt. If this is true, I would say that it should've been replaced.
