Anyone break a kevlar balance shaft belt?

TSIfreek · Jun 29, 2004

Hey guys I dont have the funds to pull the motor to get both balance shafts out and I dont want to leave the front BS in because it causes a loss in oil pressure from what I have heard. I am in the middle of having head work done so its just the short block sitting there and have thought about just running one of those expensive kevlar balance shaft belts :cry:

Anyone ever break one? What do you guys think?
Only reason I am having the head work done is that the stock head has 103k on it and was leaking oil thew the valve stems and seals like half a qt 10 30 mobil 1 a week. Never broke a timing or BS belt before but I hate to do it with $1000 worth of work done to the head.
WTF do I do

theycallmebruce · Jun 29, 2004

from what i understand, you don't lose oil pressure if you leave the front bs in. you lose oil pressure if you take it out and don't turn or replace the bearings to block the holes.

if you leave it in, the front bs itself will block the holes.

dsmayhem · Jun 29, 2004

TSIfreek said:
its just the short block sitting there

Is the shortblock out of the car? If it is I would just say spend the extra little $ and time and remove the balance shafts. Do it once...do it right. :thumb:

L2RTSiAWD · Jun 29, 2004

dsmayhem said:
Is the shortblock out of the car? If it is I would just say spend the extra little $ and time and remove the balance shafts. Do it once...do it right.

I think he means the head is off so the shortblock is just sitting in the car with no head on it.

L2RTSiAWD · Jun 29, 2004

Deleted a bunch of off-topic posts.(most made by me)

No hard feelings on any side... LOL

:laugh:

dsmayhem · Jun 29, 2004

My bad! All the same I would go OEM being that if you keep up on maintenance most people don't have problems with OEM belts lasting 50-60k miles.

L2RTSiAWD · Jun 29, 2004

I also think an OEM belt is fine.

Suparata · Jun 29, 2004

The main reason behind the BS elimination is to prevent an eventual failure of the already worn BS bearings not necessarily the BS belt failure (although that too). Even though you can prevent the failure of a belt by replacing it together with the tensioner, there is nothing you can do about the bearings except eliminate them. Everything else is just extra bonuses.
If you are ever going to eliminate them, now is the time to do it it since it is a lot easier now that you have the head off.

crankbender · Jun 29, 2004

I have heard you can get the rear one out with the engine still in the car...can anybody confirm?

I also note that if you take out the front you really really should do the rear one as it can cause some funky harmonics. Some people have had serious problems with leaving the rear bs in and taking the front out (or cutting the belt).

anybody have the link for the turned rear balance shafts???

Hey suparata what about the rear balance shaft bearings. Have you seen one fail? I havn't.

boostedinaz · Jun 30, 2004

Here is a thread that talked about the "reshapeed" BS. The link in the thread is down but perhaps a gooel search would get better results.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126699

Michael
:talon:

sonicnofadz · Jun 30, 2004

I've been running for a couple of thousand miles with the front balance shaft belt cut. I have not noticed ANY excessive vibrations from this, and nothing leaks. I've heard that many DSMers do this without any types of problems. I know it may seem a little ghetto but it works for me =) Eventually I'll have the shafts removed, but I'll need to pull the block, so I am going to wait until I do a rebuild with forged internals.

TSIfreek · Jun 30, 2004

Hey guys thanks for all the replys. I decided on pulling the motor after all. I have been at it since 2 today and just about out. I decided this because of the BS bearing failures that have happened to others. I just needed to get motavated pulling the rest of the motor its a PITA but well worth the work when you are putting more money into it and dont want to do things twice and pay twice as well. I now have to come up will all the money for the parts I want to replace :cry:

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Anyone break a kevlar balance shaft belt?

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