Anyone running a Fluidampr Pulley?

[4g63telantra]

Just wanted to see if anyone on here is runing a Fluidampr Harmonic Damper?

Any inprovement on the motor or feel of the car?

pro's/con's?

How easy was it for you to install?


etc

 

[gob4sho89]

my crank pully just seperated and was wondering if anyone had one of these on their car. if you do let me know what you think about it and weather or not you recomend it.

first link is to the damper and the second is my car on cardomain(pictures). more info on my car is there. thanks

1 http://www.fluidampr.com/MITSUBISHI.htm
2 http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2443021

 

[flinguist]

I guess if you had a really high dollar engine, and the money, it would be reasonable to get one as some insurance for crank problems. Otherwise not. They cost around 300 bucks.

 

[Raph]

i saw em on ebay going for over 300 bucks,too much money for a glorified crank pulley. you could get 2 new stock ones for that money.

and it aint giving you 25 whp and 40 mpg..so...

 

[gob4sho89]

And it wont make his car fly eather . are you guys speaking from experence or are you just saying they are expensive. i think he(and myself) are looking for personal experence, what the pros and cons are besides price, and then he, (me also) can decide if this is the best thing for us depending on what are budgets are. What will it do, not what it wont do.

"Just wanted to see if anyone on here is runing a Fluidampr Harmonic Damper?

Any inprovement on the motor or feel of the car?

pro's/con's?

How easy was it for you to install?


etc"

Dont think, how much does it cost, was a question...

 

[sonicnofadz]

There was a HUGE debate on this topic over on the evolutionm.net forums. The debate pitted the lightweight undampened pulley verses the stock harmonic balancer vs. the fluid dampener. Turns out that the stock 4G63 harmonic balancer is tuned to cancel out harmonic vibrations that appear at certain frequencies (RPM's). When you change your engine configuration (stroker crank, forged crank, forged rods, forged pistons, etc.) you need a different harmonic balancer because the undampened vibrations will likely occur at different frequencies, causing major damage to your engine bearings. The fluid damper cancels vibrations at all frequency ranges, and is recommended on engines that don't use the stock crank rods or pistons. In reality, lots of people use the stock harmonic balancer and do fine. There however are many documented cases where people use just a lightened pulley and engine failure (main bearing failure) results.

 

[flinguist]

You don't need a fluid damper. Get another OEM one, it will last longer than you'll own the car.

 

[gob4sho89]

i then how come the stock one failed after 120k, are you assuming that i wont have the car for another 120k, or do the oem ones now have a different rubber compound? thanks for the input

 

[Defiant]

i then how come the stock one failed after 120k

They almost all do. Mine went at 100K.

are you assuming that i wont have the car for another 120k

No, you won't.

or do the oem ones now have a different rubber compound?

Still the same junk. Mitsubishi has to turn a profit someplace, since no one's buying their new cars.

 

[gob4sho89]

I just bought the car and plan on replacing the motor, down the line, and re-doing the whole int. i have already started ordering parts for the int. I am only 17 years old and have saved up since i was 8 years old for this car and dont see my love for it dieing. i have another car i can drive if funding runs out for any reason for my talon. Don't think its for you to say that I wont have MY car for another 120k. WTF i think the last person who posted just told me to buy junk.WTF Assuming i do keep this car indefinitely, is it worth it then? are they know to fail? don't they provide much better protection throughout the rpm range? thanks for the input but my talon isn't going anywhere any time soon.

 

[MILITISINVICTUS]

I have a fluidampr ready to install once I get the oil filter housing nonsense sorted out. Installation will be easy for you, it's only a matter of loosening the belts on your harmonic balancer, taking out the four screws while holding the crankshaft from rotating counter-clockwise, and giving it a pull. Both of the pulleys I've removed were that easy.

I don't see how you'd notice a difference, per se. Maybe a little less vibration at a certain rpm if it was mainly caused by the part you replaced. Otherwise you'll just wonder if the engine is lasting so long because of the nice fluidampr you installed a while ago.



For the edification of a certain meddling, pettily-sarcastic moderator, this is not a "bump."

 

[illeffekt vr-4]

I installed a one in my car when I did the timing belt, which was about 6 months ago. Since then I put about 4k miles on the car. I can not tell if there is a difference or not. The only thing I know is that this one wont separate like the stock ones do. I had two different ones come apart on my 91gsx. So this one is sure worth the piece of mind, especially since I got it from a group buy on the galant vr4 board for less than $300.

 

[thekidadrock]

I sheared apart my brand new, OEM crank pully, less than 200 miles after it was installed on a freshly built and stroked motor. The OEM crank pully didn't even make it through the first step of the motor brake in period. The motor was never brought past 4,000 RPM, never saw more than 35% load, and never saw more than 10 psi. You draw your own conclusions, this is just what happened to me.
P.S. there is a 4-8 week wait on the Fluidampr. I called them directly today and they said there is some kind of manufacturing problem, something about welding the aluminum in the pulley.

 

[underradar92]

The stock one is also not SFI approved, and therefore not NHRA legal. Fluidamper is.

 

[99gst_racer]

P.S. there is a 4-8 week wait on the Fluidampr. I called them directly today and they said there is some kind of manufacturing problem, something about welding the aluminum in the pulley.

I also called them today, and was told the exact same thing. What sucks is that they've been out since January, because I've had my order of 20 of them placed since then. They've been saying "4-6 weeks" since the first of the year.....

Dan (project_tsi) has one on his 2.3L stroker. He hasn't had much runtime on the engine since installation, but it seems to be a really well built piece.

 

[gob4sho89]

I have driven about 900 miles on mine. No problems, and it looks just like it did the day I bought it.

 

[AL92]

I had a few factory pulleys fall apart on me. Luckily didn't cause much damage. Grindage on the plastic front case cover and timing was all out of whack when trying to set it.
Lots of weird nasty noises also. The stock ones fail at random mileage. Usually higher up but still they fail randomly.

Piece of crap the stock ones. I bought the fluidampr as it looks like high quailty and can't slip and fall apart. I put it on my unbalanced 2.4. I am not sure if it does a good job or not as never ran engine with stock pulley. My mirrors dont' shake at idle but I do feel some buzz from my engine at higher rpm. I also have poly front and rear rollstop inserts so they can be adding some vibrations as well. And I removed my balance shafts. Seen engines destroyed from those tools of the devil also.

 

[knighteclipse1]

There was a HUGE debate on this topic over on the evolutionm.net forums. The debate pitted the lightweight undampened pulley verses the stock harmonic balancer vs. the fluid dampener. Turns out that the stock 4G63 harmonic balancer is tuned to cancel out harmonic vibrations that appear at certain frequencies (RPM's). When you change your engine configuration (stroker crank, forged crank, forged rods, forged pistons, etc.) you need a different harmonic balancer because the undampened vibrations will likely occur at different frequencies, causing major damage to your engine bearings. The fluid damper cancels vibrations at all frequency ranges, and is recommended on engines that don't use the stock crank rods or pistons. In reality, lots of people use the stock harmonic balancer and do fine. There however are many documented cases where people use just a lightened pulley and engine failure (main bearing failure) results.

This sounds alot like what I've just gone through, My car was in the shop last year getting the timing belt,oil pump and water pump changed out and new cams and lifters. When I got it back it lasted 9 days before the factory turbo went out, so in February I put it back in the shop to get the FMIC and new turbo installed, once done, they started the engine and the harmonic balancer broke into 2 pieces, they fixed that and then noticed a noise from the engine which was masked earilier by the bad turbo noise. The main bearing was going out, thus to make a long story short....built 6-bolt baby When I finally get the money I am sure going to look into a fluid dampener. Ah, the joys of owning a DSM!!

 

[2gAWDTalon]

I have a Fluidampr.
My 1997 Eagle Talon TSi AWD has 58,XXX miles on it, keep in mind even though it has low mileage it is still ten years old.
I have a mild 6 bolt bottom end, I rev it to 8500, sometimes 9K. When I only turned it to 7500 I never had a problem but as soon as the 280 cams went in and I started revving it higher it started throwing accessory belts. It would only through the belts when I spun it to 8.5K+. I pulled the stock dampener off and took a good look at it, it had not split yet but I could see where the rubber in the middle was deteriorating. I replaced it with a Fluidampnr and I haven't thrown another belt since.
If you want to play, you have to pay. If you have a motor with after market pistons and rods and/or you rev the thing higher than the stock rev limit, it is a great idea to get one.

In regards to installing it, it is about as easy as it gets. The hardest part is removing the water pump belt and the ac belt (if you still have ac), and that is not hard at all. After that it is 4 small 10 mm bolt and you just R&R. If you have not removed the timing belt and you are just replacing the pulley you don't even have to worry about it moving while you are working on it or anything like that because the timing belt is still riding on the sprocket behind it.

I know this is a older thread so hopefully the 2 people in question got it figured out but I figured I would add my experience for future searchers.

 

[turbo90gsx]

Are you guys that use them timing your base ignition with the nick in the pulley or did you have to put another mark on the pulley to get the right position for your #1 TDC on compression stroke?

 

[MILITISINVICTUS]

When you lay the pulleys on each other, the nick lines up with the oem piece's timing mark. So you're all set.

 

[Vanish70]

Anyone try ATI's pulley?

 

[SOADweskey]

Are you guys that use them timming your base ignition with the nick in the pulley or did you have to put another mark on the pulley to get the right position for your #1 TDC on compression stroke?

Bringing back an old thread but I think this is the right place to add this information.
I just got a Fluidampr last week and on my 99 GSX the timing marks on the Fluidamp were 180 deg. off from the marks on my stock dampener. I pulled out the locating pin and mounted mine 180 deg. out so that the timing marks would still line up. The only problem I can see with this is if I don't remember I did that the next time the thing comes off.

 

[2gAWDTalon]

Bringing back an old thread but I think this is the right place to add this information.
I just got a Fluidampr last week and on my 99 GSX the timing marks on the Fluidamp were 180 deg. off from the marks on my stock dampener. I pulled out the locating pin and mounted mine 180 deg. out so that the timing marks would still line up. The only problem I can see with this is if I don't remember I did that the next time the thing comes off.

Your solution worked, but it is not right. What if you are not the next one to work on the car. You are likely to forget about that...
Call Fluidampr... I did when the same thing happened to mine. They replaced it for me. They seem to be a very good company. I did not have a receipt, I bought it online... they never asked about any of that. I just told them the problem and they gave me a RGA#.

 

[90laserRSfwd]

the ATI piece replaces the damper and the timing gear. It's heavy and it's more expensive then the Fluidamper. I don't have shep's $$$ so I went with the Fluidamper