Recently changed engine and this one the balancer is bad car nocks when balancer installed but car runs great with the balancer out I was wondering if I could drive the car without damaging the engine with the balancer out

Get a balancer.. eventually you are going to break something serious... like the crank or the block... that balancer is there for a reason... there are vibrations that will ring through the engine that will cause catastropic component failure in time. ANd how long that would be is anyone's guess... its just a lot sooner than you would think.

Was this the balancer from the installed engine or did you use the old one? Same engine? Sometimes engines are changed form external to internal balance. You need to be sure exactly what you have.

The engine needs the proper harmonic balancer, otherwise the torsional vibrations set-up in the crankshaft will shortly result in crankshaft failure.

Hey! I'd like to know what kind of vehicle we're talking about but I often get that need...
To my knowledge, there aren't that many vehicles where you can install a different engine when one has a balancer, internally or externally mounted, and the other doesn't.
I do believe that's a short list.

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-t...le-303903.html