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

[1QUICK4]

I see at least one crankpulley walking a week at our dealership. Even mine started seperating at 112k. I would just replace it instead of pinning it (you should get at least another 100k out of a new O.E. pulley). The Buschur U.D. pulley is the only U.D. crankpulley I would go with unless you have a Internally ballanced engine as it is a dampner.


just my .02

 

[Lurker]

What is the proper procedure to check if your crank pulley is separating ?

I was trying to check for this the other day. I jacked up the driver side front wheel. Removed the wheel, then removed the panel on my wheel well to expose the crank pulley.

Then, I loosened my alternator tensioner to get some slack on the accessory belt. I tried wiggling the outer part of the crank pulley _by hand_. It did not wiggle at all. Am I safe ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[1QUICK4]

If your pulley was bad you would see it wobbling with the engine running. You can take a prybar and get it betweem the motor and pulley and try and move it (you should have no play). Just be careful not to damage your Tbelt cover while prying.

 

[greathuskie]

when i start my car up it squeals really loud for awhile, then i rev it to try and get it to go away and sometimes it does and sometimes it doesnt, it will just get louder if it doesnt go away


it DOES go away sooner or later, almost always under a minute, but i want to fix it before it goes bad

any help?

 

[SANiTaRiUM16]

check the belts

 

[CraigB]

If your belts turn out to be ok the other thing it could be is your crank pulley is starting to come apart. This is a common problem after 100k or around there.

 

[greathuskie]

im on 100,680

 

[91silvergsx]

HOW CAN YOU CHECK THE CRANK PULLEY
I HAVE THE SAME PRUBLEM

 

[mattn]

as posted earlier, its either the belts or the crank pulley... both went on my car at about 100k. the crank pulley is the bottom pulley..the big one

the pulley (from mitsu) will run ya about $120, but its not that difficult of a fix..

 

[CraigB]

To check the pulley remove the cover right by the pulley so you can see it. Then get a pry bar or large flat head screw driver. The pulley is made of 2 parts you will see this just pry on it a little. If you do this a the 2 parts move away from each other change it.

 

[koreanpersuasio]

its your belts. i just had all new belts put on...but the dealership needed to tighten one of the belts...thats it

 

[clipise]

the pully everyone is talking about is called a hermonic balancer.
i have 95,000 miles on my 1991 talon and it made the same sound and everything. if i was u, i would get it fixed before it comes off when ur driving like me.

 

[LTQuick]

are there any good lightend and dampened pullys for sale. That was the problems won't occur but a power gain may been seen. In a sense the best of both worlds.

 

[SPEEDY]

Originally posted by LTQuick
are there any good lightend and dampened pullys for sale. That was the problems won't occur but a power gain may been seen. In a sense the best of both worlds.

Check out Buschur racing! I believe they have a dampened, lightened pulley that they sell, but I think it will cost you an arm and a leg for it. It's around $300 bucks if I'm not mistaken. Good luck!!

 

[tanner261]

It is interesting to note that the new Porsche 911 GT3 does not use a harmonic damper. This is a totally different application as it is a flat 6 cylinder, but someone seems to think engine internals can withstand the vibrations if designed correctly.

 

[NosLaser]

...As much as I dislike those things, I can not say that if you use them you will destroy your engine. But why risk it? Turbo DSMs can make a LOT of power. What is 5hp going to do?...

This statement pretty much hit the nail on the head. I too have never seen an inline 4 suffer adverse affects by having a solid pulley. GRNDSM also mentioned that things are different on a V8 which they are drastically. You remove their balancer pulley and that motor will literally tear itself apart. Basically you put the owness on yourself with things like this. You have to weigh the advantages/disadvantages. In my personal opinion, I can't see that pulley having that large of an effect on the engine harmonics, but then again I am not an engineer, that is simply personal gut feel.

...1) Stock 7-bolt with a failed crank pulley. No signs of crankwalk. I throw on an underdrive pulley. Literally 5 miles later, bye bye crank sensor.

2) Replacement Magnus Motorsports built balanced 6-bolt block assembly. Underdrive pulley still on. after 6k miles, it wears through the thrust bearing again.

3) Replaced my crank with a new balanced crank. Removed the underdrive pulley and add a stock factory pulley. No other changes. Same install thrust bearing precautions as the last install. Measured play last weekend at .005 from the original .003. This is after 2500 miles....

Interesting findings, but that could be chalked up to coincidence. Too many variables between each application.

Regards,

 

[turboslug]

The argument is between 5hp and a destryed engine. hy r people so nieve. 5hp is nothing. If you want 5 hp (and plus some) get water injection.

 

[turboslug]

Also a Porsche is a little different. Those engines are very well balanced, look at thier new Carrera GT 350ci v10, redline: 8400. My little 4 banger only goes to 7

 

[doug]

The argument, to me, is NOT between 5 extra HP vs. a possibly destroyed engine. I got a one-piece pulley mostly because I don't want the two-piece stocker to separate and cause damage. Yeah, someone earlier in the thread said that a separating pulley wouldn't cause damage, but I've read and spoken with several others who told me that they DID suffer some engine damage from a stock pulley that flew apart. Like Aslan, I don't know for sure if a non-dampened pulley will cause damage or not, but I'm willing to chance it. Again, don't do it for the performance gain (which is barely perceptible), but if you do decide to go one-piece, do it because it eliminates the possibility of the stock two-piece pulley flying apart on you.

 

[hoycoconut]

I run the UR pulley and have for 25k miles or so. So far no issues. Now if only Fluidamper would come out for a pulley for my car


Mine broke apart and scared me to death.

 

[RamenPride]

Originally posted by GVR-4
If somebody has a story about such an occurrence, please share it. For that matter, share an incident that resulted from a bottom end not being balanced. I have by no means learned all there is about the 4g63 and what works and what doesn't.

i've heard two stories and seen pics of broken crankshafts on cars using an Unorthodox underdrive pulley. both attributed the failure to the undampened pulley, but whether it's true or not i don't know.

 

[GRNDSM]

>I run the UR pulley and have for 25k miles or so. So far no issues. Now if only Fluidamper
>would come out for a pulley for my car

Buschur has been making a “Fluidamper type” pulley for over 4 years now!!!

>Mine broke apart and scared me to death.

That is a very good reason to be scared! As, separating stock pulley can destroy your motor! But what do you do about it? Using a solid pulley is just one solution, I prefer using new factory damper/pulley (my solution for last 5 years) or using Buschur’s damper pulley.

Leon
RR

 

[evans1991]

I just had my harmonic balancer to fell and i was thinking if it was possibly safe to use an used harmonic balancer for a little while intill i buy a new one.

 

[Mike 99GSX]

The underdrive pulley that Buschur distributes is from Fisher Concepts. I just got one and put it on my car and wish I did not get it. It is machined way too tight and I now can not get it off the crank even though I put some antiseize on it beforehand. I tried a wheel puller and the 2 grade 8 bolts I was using were starting to twist before it would start budging off. I had to cut the timing belt cover in half and pull it off the pulley because the pulley rubs the cover significantly so I had to grind away a ton of the plastic off of it so it wouldn't hit. I didn't come close to overtorquing it either. It comes with 4 allen bolts for the inner portion of the pulley. I maybe had it torqued to 20 ft/lbs before I noticed the outer part was going to rub after I put it on. Now it won't come off. I'm not too happy with it.

 

[Mistaspakles]

Is there a website that has detailed instructions on replacing the harmonic balancer? I tried looking it up on dsm.org but that sites seems to be down. Anyone know of any?