Balance shaft elim question...

[Birdoprey]

Hi,

Is it ok to leave the front shaft in and just leave the belt off? I bought a bal shaft elim kit and during the install i decided to just leave the front shaft in rather than pull it out and go through the trouble of removing the b/s bearings and installing the new bearings. I just wanna make sure before i proceed anymore. It seems the balance shaft is kinda stuck in there anyway. It will not turn by hand.

 

[DSMvroom]

yes that is ok. I just left the belt off also. Just make sure to do the rear shaft correctly in one way shape or form. Whether you use a stubby shaft or just cut it off like i did is up to you.

 

[Birdoprey]

Ok. Thanks for the reply.
I did the rear first and used the stubby. After i got to the front and found i could'nt turn it i just figured i'd just leave it there and leave the belt off. If i had it to do over, i'd just cut the rear off. That way i'd have a full elim kit that i could sell instead of just the brgs and block off.
I'm slowly learning all these DSM tricks...

 

[12's]

could I just get by with just leaving the BS belt off instead or doing the bs elim. I was told by someone else that it won't hurt anything and I don't really want to do it with the motor in the car. Please let me know asap. I tryed searching but couldn't find a bs question like mine within the last year. Thanks

 

[Birdoprey]

There are two balance shafts. One is driven by a seperate belt. This one you can leave off. The other shaft is driven by the timming belt and the oil pump. You can't leave this one off. DO NOT LEAVE THE FRONT BELT OFF IF YOU DON'T ELIMINATE THE REAR SHAFT. It will cause bad vibrations. If you do one, you need to do both.

 

[12's]

I don't plan on doing any kind of bs elim. I just was thinking about taking the bs belt off and leaving it off in the original position it was in. I don't want to do the bs elim with the motor in the car and someone told me it wouldn't hurt anything to just leave the belt off and not mess with anything else.

 

[DSMvroom]

I don't plan on doing any kind of bs elim. I just was thinking about taking the bs belt off and leaving it off in the original position it was in. I don't want to do the bs elim with the motor in the car and someone told me it wouldn't hurt anything to just leave the belt off and not mess with anything else.

If I am understanding what you are saying correctly, then my response is likewise with Birdoprey. If you are going to mess with one, you need to mess with both. On the front shaft(the one positioned more closely to the front of the car), it is OK to leave it in and just take off the belt. Again, this is only true if you will eliminate the rear shaft (the one connected to the oil pump, and rearward of the front shaft) by either using a stubby shaft or cutting the existing shaft down. If you 'modify' only on one shaft, it will just be bad news.

Just keep in mind, like Birdoprey said, there are TWO balance shafts.

 

[turbo8765]

To the thread starter, I would really want to address why the front BS is stuck. Yeah it's technically ok to leave it in, but it should not be stuck. Are the front BS bearings bad?? Have you had oil pressure issues??

Also, removing the shafts with the engine in the car really isn't that big a deal.

 

[force-fed]

I am currently doing mine and I am leaving the front balance shaft in and simply cutting the rear shaft off and having the oil hole on the rear shaft plugged.

 

[boosted_91_tsi]

My balance shafts were supposedly removed a while ago but to my surprise it spun the rear balance shaft bearing WTF ... I don’t have balance shafts. Well I took it all apart and I found that the mechanic just took the belt off which seemed to be no problem with the front shaft but the rear shaft continues to turn. I went in to remove the balance shafts and even though I didn’t want to do it but I forced myself to pull the front one too with the engine in the car. All I have to do now is put the belts back on and bolt up the exhaust. The way I see it, I'd rather take it apart only once so I might as well do it all and save any potential problems down the road.

P.S. It takes a little bit of patience Make sure to read through it completely.