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

[micus]

yeah my talon has a dayco alt belt on it and it squeals like its goin outa style. i bought some belt stop squeak from a lordco by my house and that didnt really work. so i finally just messed around with the tensioner thing on the alternator and it hasnt squealed for like 2 days now. so cross your fingers i guess.

 

[MCDGexx]

Can I get to those from under the car?

 

[talonracn49]

#1 Does it do it if you have the a/c turned off? This would eliminate the a/c belt as being the culprit.

#2 It sounds like the alternator belt to me. Just keep cranking down on the tensioner bolt -- I dont know what the tension spec is, but I just crank the car, if there is belt sqeal, turn off the car, add tension, retest. Keep adding in small increments -- two turns of the tensioner bolt at a time.

I think that it might be the harmonic balancer if the problem is intermittent -- like it will do it even after you have been driving the car for a while. If it only happens when you first crank the car, then I think you are safe to assume it is just the alt. belt not having enough tension.

Note: It takes a LOT of tension to get it to not squeal on start up -- much more than the power steering belt requires.

I hope this helps.

 

[wret]

I would recommend never to use the belts with diagonal grooves (//////////) across the back. I was told at the parts store they were better. I installed it. It squealed, I tightened. Squealed/tightened, squealed/tightened, and... it broke.

...While my wife was driving...
...And it overheated...
...And blew the head gasket.

Use OEM type belts.

 

[TurboB5]

i too had a bad belt squeal. went from napa belts to OEM and wouldnt you know it...squeal was gone

 

[92fasttalon]

My tensioner was missing. New one for 2.50 from junk yard and it was fixed. My belt squealed all the time. New tensioner and it was fixed. Hope this helps, and yes re-tighten as many times as needed.

 

[Vallary99]

Chances are it's your alternator belt. It needs to be tightened. New belts stretch. MAKE SURE YOU DISCONNECT YOU BATTERY before doing any work on your car. Otherwise, you might weld the wrench to the alternator and start a fire like I did. Just be careful.

 

[MCDGexx]

It ONLY squeels on start up, and only when its been sitting for awhile and is cold outside. Like overnight or after school it squeels. It squeels more the longer it sat and the colder it was. Maybe 5 seconds afters school and like 15 after I woke up this morning. And explain two turns, like spin the nut full 360 twice? I don't really understand this that much. I'm still a newb.

 

[j30-tsi-awd]

alright im gonna put some oem belts on in a few days and see how that goes.
i know my tensionor is still there ive used it 1 million times to try to make it quit b/c it starts squealin every couple of days. Dont worry i wont forget to unhook the battery. thanx for the help
any more advice?

-scott

 

[Jheard21]

I would get rid of the cap, and just add a second battery. All the cap is doing is putting more of a strain on the battey.

 

[j30-tsi-awd]

Hey

So i finnaly got the oem belts on and no squeal yet...cross your fingers!
thanks guys.

-Scott

 

[jessesgsx]

get the ones that are cross threaded also, i had this problem and that cured it in no time..

 

[Boost95]

All ive been doing is adjusting the bolt on the alternator every week or so and no squeek. Thanks alot!

 

[Doug99RS]

All ive been doing is adjusting the bolt on the alternator every week or so and no squeek. Thanks alot!

Severed artery, apply gauze. Gauze soaked, apply more gauze. Gauze soaked, even more gauze. Gauze soaked, hell, try some more gauze.

There's a problem that will require something better than a weekly repair. Cars weren't meant to be worked on at a weekly basis.

 

[Boost95]

We are talking about a bolt. Not a wound or an artery

 

[TooFarPast]

I come back from college for spring break (YEAH GIRLS GONE WILD 2006!! WOO no j/k) and had the timing belt/water pump job ahead of me. So I start working on it, expecting it just to take a long time but with little difficulty.

I was wrong.

The harmonic balancer is so difficult to get off, I've three pronged it to the max and its just NOT coming off, bombed the sucker with WD-40 and still it's just not budging. I keep hitting the bolt on the prongs with a hammer to help blow off the pressure and make it pop off.

Any advice? this is driving me insane (has been for 2 days) - my dad suggested some rusty destroyer stuff that's like an acid to destroy all the rust and then after let that sit - heat up the crankshaft with a torch to help the pulley expand so it pops off. Going to try that later - any other suggestions from the lovely DSM community?

138,000 miles - 420A motor - remember it has just one bolt holding it on (that's off by the way). SERIOUS CORROSION PROBLEMS? who knows..

Thanks in advance.




Mad love..

 

[luv2rallye]

Are you attaching the pulley on the arms?
See post #2: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195542&highlight=harmonic+balancer

 

[bloody_angel111]

You have to lower the motor to get the pulley out, same thing happened to me, spent like 2 hours trying to get it off without lowering it. You should be able to get it off by taking off the timing side motor mount, and use a jack to lower it until it stops, that should be low enough to clear the frame.

Also the way i do it is, i loosen the bolt that holds the crank in, but still threaded in a little bit, and put the arms around the pulley, and turn the bolt on the puller til it hits the bolt in the crank, and start tightening it. and make sure there is gap between the crank bolt and the pulley itself so it has room to move outwards, and just keept turning, trust me, it will come off.

 

[wolf20043]

As odd as it sounds, I had to use a tire iron on it to get it to come off. My puller had the same size head as the iron, and it gave me enough length to use more pressure. When it does finally come loose, you will think you broke something from the sound it is going to make. And use PB blaster, that $hit rocks.
Mike

 

[TooFarPast]

Still no luck - put 2 coats of PB Blaster on it, let it sit, then I dried off the area around the pulley and heated it for about 5 minutes with a benzomatic torch, still hammering at the bolt and no avail. (stopped the torch short due to seeing a little bit of smoke coming up from the top of the motor (no fire.. just smoke) so wasn't sure how to approach the situation (good/bad?))

I lowered it a little bit, will try to lower it some more to completely clear the frame if its safe - appreaciate the help, the things just not coming off.

OH and I did try the bolt idea, not sure if I should of put it in more into the crankshaft but when I did it, bent the crank shaft bolt (just a small bit, not even a lot, just started to) figure I should put it in farther but no to where it wont come off.

Further suggestions - this all really helps.

 

[bloody_angel111]

What kit did you get, is it autozones harmonic dampener puller? If so, it should have 2 long rods, what you do is take the bolt out of the crank, put the rods in the bolt hole until it stops and there is some of the rod sticking out, then you use that, tighten the bolt on the puller against the rod so it has something to pull backwards on.

I was able to get my stock off and aftermarket pulley on without lowering the motor, realized afterwards i was supposed to lower it, and probably bent both pulleys in doing so, trying to force them out and back on. If taking that motor mount off doesnt help, try the lower mount by the oil pan, that will drop it as low as it will get, and you will definately have enough clearence to get it off, but if you have those rods, use those to tighten the puller bolt against, that is what they are there for, anyways.

 

[TooFarPast]

I have the small three prong set - going to try the bolt in the crank shaft idea, with it bombed with PB Blaster, if that doesn't work, going to have a barbeque with the benzomatic flame thrower till it expands and pops off. If that doesn't work, going to stick an 7mm up to the bolt that's attached to the prong and fire a few rounds.

 

[bloody_angel111]

ok let us know how things turned out, i hope i was of some help to you

 

[TooFarPast]

It came off, I contacted my best friend (works on the farm less than 100ft from my house- good with mechanical stuff) we took a crack at it with another 3 set prong with the bolt almost completely in, it came off, flying through my timing belt/pump job, being careful about timing etc now, about to replace a camshaft seal, little leaky.

Thanks for all your help =) it came off like 10 seconds into us doing it
Pissed me off after taking me about.. hmm 3 hours and I was just about to kick my butane garage heater right into my car.

 

[travislaw]

I basically would like to know if there is any kind of aftermarket Harmonic Balancer Pulley that is better quality than the OEM and won't have the risk of coming apart? If not, does anyone have any recomendation on where to buy one other than the dealership? Thanks for all your help. I know there are lots of threads about Harmonic Balancers, but there doesn't seem to be much as far as where to buy an aftermarket HB.