Harmonic Balancer gone bad...happen to anyone else? [MERGE]

[awdtsis]

when your buddy said oem he probabbly meant from the dealer it seems as if their belts are made of a softer rubber and they don't squeal like the harder- cheaper auto parts store ones unless you buy an expensive one and they aren't always quiet either.

 

[Boost95]

With the engine running check the belt alignment as well. All of the belts should be running in a straight line right to the next pulley on the system. It almost sounds like there's a belt that just isn't quite tight enough. Normally you'll want about 1/2 of an inch deflection in the belt. If you pluck it like a guitar string it shouldn't sound like one.

Turn on your air conditioning and see if the noise comes back.

Finally, just start removing the belts one by one. You'll have to find it that way. I wouldn't rule out the crank pulley either. This has bitten people too frequently so I'd double check that one again.

Pictures would also be good. We can see what you're seeing.
Doug

Thanks for the fast replys. All the pullys are inline when the car is running. I have adjusted tensions on the belts and they made no difference. I no longer have my A/C so I cant try that tip. As far as the crank pully, what should I be looking for when I inspect it?

AWDTSI's- Yes he did mean from the dealer.

Im sure there are alot of people who are running parts store belts with no squeeks.


Thanks,
Mike

 

[Doug99RS]

Cracks or splits in the rubber insert section. If you're good with the belts, go ahead and pull them off right fast and try and move the outer section. If people catch the pulley it's normally because of a squeel or belts getting thrown off. If it's not caught then it could be as expensive and a cylinder head rebuild with new valves.

What's the history on the car? How many miles? Crank pulley ever been replaced? Any oil or antifreeze leaking on to the belt? Is all of the hardware present at the altenator? It's kind of a bi*** on some of the cars if the altenator is missing parts.
Doug

 

[brodiedehass]

Lets check your crankshaft pulley. Get some white out and make a line from the outer to the inner ring of the pulley. Drive it for a day and then check to see if the marks still line up. On my 1992 Eclipse I had the same problem, I just changed all the belts and while doing so found the crank pulley was bad. Once I replaced the belts and the pulley it went away.

 

[Boost95]

"If people catch the pulley it's normally because of a squeel or belts getting thrown off. If it's not caught then it could be as expensive and a cylinder head rebuild with new valves."

I dont understand what your trying to say?


The body of the car has 176k. As far as I know the crank pully has never been replaced. I checked the belts for fluids and came up with nothing. Which hardware are you talking about? Its a newer alternator on there.

Ill give the white out thing a shot next time I take it for a drive.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[gthompson97]

"If people catch the pulley it's normally because of a squeel or belts getting thrown off. If it's not caught then it could be as expensive and a cylinder head rebuild with new valves."

I dont understand what your trying to say?

he means that if its not fixed properly, a small, annoying problem can eventually turn into a big, expensive problem.

i had a problem with belt squeal awhile back. i couldn't see anything wrong or find anything wrong with the belts/pulleys and it turned out i had a very very tiny antifreeze leak that was landing on the belt causing a horrible squeal.

 

[vaboys2ndgen]

With the engine running check the belt alignment as well. All of the belts should be running in a straight line right to the next pulley on the system. It almost sounds like there's a belt that just isn't quite tight enough. Normally you'll want about 1/2 of an inch deflection in the belt. If you pluck it like a guitar string it shouldn't sound like one.

Turn on your air conditioning and see if the noise comes back.

Finally, just start removing the belts one by one. You'll have to find it that way. I wouldn't rule out the crank pulley either. This has bitten people too frequently so I'd double check that one again.

Pictures would also be good. We can see what you're seeing.
Doug

doug bro buddy pal (gsxtuner team trinity)


havening the same problem. my crank pulley on my 2g auto gsx was replaced the last time cause the harmonic balancer had split itself off the pulley. w/e yea. alternator belt has been replaced three times in the past few weeks. im going to check it again tomorrow it'll stop squelling for like 2-3days then start back up again bad. wtf! its like a lil kid that wont go away. could the pulleys themselves be outta line thats what jerry F had suggested how would i check that


jeremy

 

[gthompson97]

if it goes away and comes back, i don't think that has anything to do with the pulleys lining up or not. have you tried adjusting the tension on them lately? (vaboys2ndgen)

 

[Doug99RS]

Belts can be wierd honestly. There's no certainty with them as to when they will make a noise or when they will get thrown off. A belt squeel can be caused by slippage or mis-alignment. Belts will stretch and warm up ever so slightly and that's why they don't exhibit a problem at all times. Once they're out of their noisy operating range then it's hard to find it.

The quick and easy check would be to eye-ball the belt edges and make sure they are going in a straght line to the next pulley. Make sure the pulleys themselves aren't cocked at an angle. I really like brodiedehass' suggestion about marking the crank pulley on both sides. I'm suprised I haven't heard of this idea before because it's a great one.

As for the new damper with belt noise... you're screwed, just give the car to me.

I'll see if I can't get some pictures of what I'm talking about today at work on a few customer cars. It's not the easiest of ideas to understand but once you SEE for yourself you'll be like "duh..."
Doug

 

[Boost95]

What do you want me to take pictures of to show you?

-Mike

 

[vaboys2ndgen]

i tightened the belt today and the squelling has stop'd for now. i'll stop taking over your thread .



but i can't figure out why it keeps coming loose. the bolt is tightened as far as i can push it without forcing it to break off, u kno what i mean.

 

[Doug99RS]

The adjuster bolt is just that. It's only there for adjusting it. You SHOULD be able to set the tension with that bolt, lock the two hinge bolts/nuts in place and then remove the tensioner bolt. It sounds more like the other two fasteners for the altenator are either loose or keep backing off. Try lock washers or different nuts to make sure that's not the case.
Doug
p.s. I'll post pics up tonight and see if I can explain things better.

 

[Boost95]

I did the white out mark on the crank pully and everything is still lined up after 2 days of driving. Should I change out the alternator belt for an oem piece?

-Mike

 

[mkspriggs]

it can also be the bearing for the altenator or the water pump try getting some wd 40 and spray just the pulley if it stops that tell you it is the bearing if not spray the inside of the belt if it stops then there you go.also on 4g63s with the v belts the water pump pully will eventually wear if you take a straight edge you can tell if the pulley is ok or out of spec,i have seen this several times on our cars and nissans wear i work.good luck

 

[JCMDSM]

Are the sides of the belts shredding at all? After my first engine rebuild I mistakenly put the water pump pulley on backwards. This caused a terrible squeek and caused my belts to shred in about a week. Hope this helps-Jon

 

[Boost95]

I have tried belt dressing on the belts and the pullys when it was squeeking and that did not do anything for me. What should I try?

 

[Boost95]

No, I just took the belts off yesterday and they still look like new.

 

[Doug99RS]

Did the vehicle make the noise with the belts removed?

 

[Boost95]

Well, the car is very unpredictable. I took the alternator belt off and started it up and there was no squeel. Put it back on and started it up and no squeel! Started it this morning and the squeel was there. When I had the belts off there was no fluid or evident wear.

Thanks

 

[gthompson97]

belt dressing is like the devil...interesting but evil none-the-less

 

[andytalon]

If you got that many miles on your crank pully I would advise you to get a new one, there only a 100 bucks and I had a similar sound because of it but it was only at start up, I replaced the pully and it was gone. Im just worried yours may split and cause more problems, so just replace it before it causes a problem!

 

[Talon_For_Life]

I had a really bad belt squeal awhile back. Turns out it was a pulley that had deteriorated over time and was squealing whenever the car ran. When we went to replace the belt (that was my first thought), the whole pulley fell off and broke into pieces. I think the new belt and pulley cost about $50. No more squeek.

-Xan

 

[halligoo]

I got a cheap underdrive pulley from EBAY and put on my Eclipse. I knew better, but cheap was the operative word. The pulley caused the inside of the NEW belts to glaze over and squeek to high heaven. Look between the ribs of the belts for shiny spots = glazing = squeek.

 

[Galaxy]

WD-40.If its real damp overnight my belts chirp when I start the car in the morning,one half second spray on the inside of the PS belt and it stops.

My belts chirp but do not squeel like you describe so WD-40 may not fix your problem but should at least rule out something else.My friends ''99 Tacoma does the same thing you describe and has for over a year with no other problems...just really annoying.

 

[Boost95]

I checked out my white out marks on the crank pully 2day an they still line up fine. I dont want to have to spray my belts to get them to stop squeeling. I want to start it up and not hear a squeek from it It only squeeks anywhere from 5-30 seconds. Its extremely loud tho And embarassing