Does This Crank HB need To be replaced?

GeoTalon91 · Mar 25, 2012

So I finally got down to tearing apart the side of the 1G 6 bolt motor to further investigate why my timing belt had snapped and came upon this.

There is a lot of rust on this car and most of it is under the engine.... :ohdamn:

The question is does this harmonic balancer/crank pulley have to be replaced?

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It was a PITA to take off but after taking the rubber mallet and and a screwdriver to it it finally gave way and came off. :thumb:

It does not look damaged but it does have a lot of outside rust. The car came from in Illinois which explains the rust.

1badpurple · Mar 25, 2012

Yes it needs replaced. The rubber appears cracked and very worn.

GeoTalon91 · Mar 25, 2012

....The list of replacement parts just seems to get bigger and bigger on this car the more I dig in to it.

Does anyone know a link to where I can buy a good/dependable HB?

I searched and All I found were the Doorman from autozone and from I found they have several bad reviews and are prone to failure within days or miles.

Thanks

1badpurple · Mar 25, 2012

STM: OEM MITSUBISHI CRANK PULLEY | 4G63 90-99 DSM | MD377604

GeoTalon91 · Mar 25, 2012

Nice! Thanks!

At $162 it's a bit pricey, but that's better than forking over another 600 for bent valves, headgaskets and all the other good stuff a bad harmonic balancer can ruin..

I may try to find a used one that is in better conditions than this one, but then again that would be another risk.

bryanwheat · Mar 25, 2012

GeoTalon91 said:
Nice! Thanks!

At $162 it's a bit pricey, but that's better than forking over another 600 for bent valves, headgaskets and all the other good stuff a bad harmonic balancer can ruin..

I may try to find a used one that is in better conditions than this one, but then again that would be another risk.

That balancer didn't cause your timing belt failure. It likely won't effect the timing belt at all if the outer ring separates. You can get a dorman balancer from oreilly for like 50 bucks.

GeoTalon91 · Mar 25, 2012

Right, I don't think the HB caused the timing belt to tear. I just thought that perhaps if the HB failed that it may take out the timing belt.

I'm still looking for the culprit and am thinking that perhaps the timing belt lower case had something to do with it.

The previous owner had messed with it and when I took it apart, the lower timing belt cover only had the 2 lower bolts holding it to the the block, the rest of the bolts were missing.

And I found the lower timing belt case somewhat pinched to the oil pump gear/pulley before I took it out. As a matter of fact I had to use a wrench to take off the bolt because it was pinched up against the the timing case.

Perhaps the timing belt got pinched between the case and the oil pump outer sprocket and that may be the reason why it tore. However, I think it would have worn down the plastic timing belt case before it would tear.

I had read up on the dorman pulleys and I've read on this forum that they fail very easily and within a matter of miles..

bryanwheat · Mar 25, 2012

GeoTalon91 said:
Right, I don't think the HB caused the timing belt to tear. I just thought that perhaps if the HB failed that it may take out the timing belt.

I'm still looking for the culprit and am thinking that perhaps the timing belt lower case had something to do with it.

The previous owner had messed with it and when I took it apart, the lower timing belt cover only had the 2 lower bolts holding it to the the block, the rest of the bolts were missing.

And I found the lower timing belt case somewhat pinched to the oil pump gear/pulley before I took it out. As a matter of fact I had to use a wrench to take off the bolt because it was pinched up against the the timing case.

Perhaps the timing belt got pinched between the case and the oil pump outer sprocket and that may be the reason why it tore. However, I think it would have worn down the plastic timing belt case before it would tear.

I had read up on the dorman pulleys and I've read on this forum that they fail very easily and within a matter of miles..

I've had pretty good luck with the dorman balancers. I've got one with a few thousand miles on the 96 that i have. I've installed them on other vehicles in the past with no complaints.

GeoTalon91 · Mar 25, 2012

Well that definitely has me thinking now. I had already labeled the Dorman HB as a bad brand because of all the negative posts I had read on them.

Is there anyone else who has had good luck with the Dorman HB for 1g's?

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