Resolved Pulley/Harmonic Balancer Noise?

[NW96GST]

Hi guys, I recently bought a 100% stock (minus the wheels) '96 GST.

It made the 4.5 hour drive home fine, although I did notice some excessive road noise (I'll get the tires checked out after this is solved) and then this type of clicking? I'll try to post a youtube video shortly after this. I showed the video to a friend and he couldn't hear what I was talking about so I'm not sure how helpful it will be.

I read up on it and from the reading I think it's one of the pulleys, or the harmonic dampener

I got under the car today and noticed a small gash in the splash guard that protects all the belts, I'll include a picture. Noticed one of the belts to be slightly frayed, and an oily mess by the oil filter. Any ideas on what all that oil is from?

I was looking to get others opinions on the harmonic dampener. There was a little piece of plastic inside of it, I'll throw pictures up so there is a visual. I've read about them separating so my question was is this a sign of it starting to go?

In the first link the whirring noise cuts out at the last 2-3 seconds. In the next video I rev it to make it a little louder.

Thanks for the input!

Youtube Video links are:

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[o0GuitarKid0o]

easy way to test if the harmonic dampener is bad is take the belts off if the pully moves AT all then the rubber seperated ( do it by hand )
ill post a picture of my old one in a sec it's suppose to be attached btw in the photo,

I'd recommend the doorman one it's got life time warranty I went on a road trip to gimli 1hr away with my bad harmonic balancer, crank pulley what ever you wanna call it,
she was close to eating my timing cover tho so watch out for that if it is bad

here's another pic of my new one to I'd recommend rock auto! Great prices I bought mine for 140 and on rock auto it was like 60$ I think for the same pulley

Or you got crank walk haha jkjk you would no about that pretty fast

 

[NW96GST]

easy way to test if the harmonic dampener is bad is take the belts off if the pully moves AT all then the rubber seperated ( do it by hand )
ill post a picture of my old one in a sec it's suppose to be attached btw in the photo,

I'd recommend the doorman one it's got life time warranty I went on a road trip to gimli 1hr away with my bad harmonic balancer, crank pulley what ever you wanna call it,
she was close to eating my timing cover tho so watch out for that if it is bad

here's another pic of my new one to I'd recommend rock auto! Great prices I bought mine for 140 and on rock auto it was like 60$ I think for the same pulley

Or you got crank walk haha jkjk you would no about that pretty fast

Alright thanks for the help! I'm planning on doing the timing belt too and I was going to check all the pulleys to see if they needed replaced. Next time I get a chance I'll take all the belts off and test that.

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

Alright thanks for the help! I'm planning on doing the timing belt too and I was going to check all the pulleys to see if they needed replaced. Next time I get a chance I'll take all the belts off and test that.

Awesome man you'll know right away if it's good or bad it should be solid!be careful tho if the pully is bad it eats the timeing cover and then eats your timing belt ( not fun) your valves won't like to meet the Pistons (they haven't met yet but once they do all they do is fight and all hell brakes loose ) hahah

 

[NW96GST]

Awesome man you'll know right away if it's good or bad it should be solid!be careful tho if the pully is bad it eats the timeing cover and then eats your timing belt ( not fun) your valves won't like to meet the Pistons (they haven't met yet but once they do all they do is fight and all hell brakes loose ) hahah

i'm going to try and avoid them meeting .

If the pulley is solid do you have any guesses what that noise might be?

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

sadly my suggestion might not be encourageing it could possibly be a pulley in the timing belt part of the engine , tbh tho it sounds like when my harmonic balancer went but you have to remove the belts to check it unless it gets really bad but usually it falls off and causes some havoc,

does the balancer wiggle when its spinnig? hard to see ,
its deff rpm dependeant best case senerio is its a bearing in the ac,power steering or even the idler pully that the powersteering connects to ,

and yes its never a good idea to let those lil Bastards meet They just can NEVER get along because the 4 valves think there tough and think they can take on the pistons becuase theres only one pistion and 4 valves haha the valves sometimes win but not always WHY CANT THEY JUST GET ALONG hah

 

[NW96GST]

sadly my suggestion might not be encourageing it could possibly be a pulley in the timing belt part of the engine , tbh tho it sounds like when my harmonic balancer went but you have to remove the belts to check it unless it gets really bad but usually it falls off and causes some havoc,

does the balancer wiggle when its spinnig? hard to see ,
its deff rpm dependeant best case senerio is its a bearing in the ac,power steering or even the idler pully that the powersteering connects to ,

and yes its never a good idea to let those lil Bastards meet They just can NEVER get along because the 4 valves think there tough and think they can take on the pistons becuase theres only one pistion and 4 valves haha the valves sometimes win but not always WHY CANT THEY JUST GET ALONG hah

I haven't started it up with the splash guard off so I'm not sure if it wiggles or not. I have about 2 hours after school and before work today so I'll try to get those belts off and wiggle that balancer around. If it's not that I think I'll just get a full timing belt kit. Do you suggest Rock Auto for that as well?

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

Cool man, and yes funny you ask I just ordered there 180$ kit just gotta get a better tensioner than what comes with the kit ,gates is good

 

[NW96GST]

Cool man, and yes funny you ask I just ordered there 180$ kit just gotta get a better tensioner than what comes with the kit ,gates is good

Hmm I can't seem to find the $180 kit. Is it a full kit or did you piece stuff together? I'm a straight noob man, I'm just learning how to do all this . I just want to make sure I get everything I need so I can do the job in one fell swoop.

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

I'll try to get a link one sec

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

Hmm I can't seem to find the $180 kit. Is it a full kit or did you piece stuff together? I'm a straight noob man, I'm just learning how to do all this . I just want to make sure I get everything I need so I can do the job in one fell swoop.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/timing-belt-components-selection-help.491767/ here ya go it's a thread I made when I was finding a good place to buy parts don't use the tensioner tho even no I'm sure it's fine I'm just gonna keep it as a back up the oems are better

 

[NW96GST]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/timing-belt-components-selection-help.491767/ here ya go it's a thread I made when I was finding a good place to buy parts don't use the tensioner tho even no I'm sure it's fine I'm just gonna keep it as a back up the oems are better

Awesome thanks man you've been a ton of help.

So for my 2g it looks like the Gates kit is "https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=4374108&cc=1205806&jnid=509&jpid=8".
This is what I found for seals, is it alright to use Dayco? I can't find any other options. "https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=5224806&cc=1205806&jnid=817&jpid=0"
Water Pump: "https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=948782&cc=1205806&jnid=944&jpid=4"
So from what I'm gathering, I just need an OEM Timing Belt Tensioner and I'm good to go? I really want to do this job once and get it perfect the first time. I don't want to skimp on parts and have something break on me.
-Thanks

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

Awesome thanks man you've been a ton of help.

So for my 2g it looks like the Gates kit is "https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=4374108&cc=1205806&jnid=509&jpid=8".
This is what I found for seals, is it alright to use Dayco? I can't find any other options. "https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=5224806&cc=1205806&jnid=817&jpid=0"
Water Pump: "https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=948782&cc=1205806&jnid=944&jpid=4"
So from what I'm gathering, I just need an OEM Timing Belt Tensioner and I'm good to go? I really want to do this job once and get it perfect the first time. I don't want to skimp on parts and have something break on me.
-Thanks

Lol forgot you have a 2g ,
and I'm pretty sure it would be fine to use those seals it's always a good idea to do all those while your in there and if they have never been done B4 than those seals are prob drying out, and the new ones should be better ,

I was assured that the gates belts are acually great but if your wanting to make over 300 horses than you should not use the oem or gates one and should go with the Kevlar belt (best option), gates does sell the blue 'racing belts ' not sure if there any good tho

When your doing the timing belt job you MUST do it correctly the first time it's good idea to check that link out that's on the vfaq
the previous owner of my car did a belt change and they didn't do it properly and caused the belt to jump at the crank causeing damage to my valve train and pistons (reason I'm non turbo now ) but my 4g63 is rebuilt 5years ago new head, starter ,short block , trans , alt so just be careful and make sure its all in spec

I would deff just buy the mitsuibushi tensioner for sure !

http://www.vfaq.com/mods/timingbelt-2G.html
I'm assuming you have the 4g63 7 bOlt ? That link will help alot everything that you could ever need while doing the belt ,

how's that harmonic balancer? The rubber fails and you don't need to have it brake so if it's looking dry see if ya can order it hope everything goes well! later Man

 

[NW96GST]

Lol forgot you have a 2g ,
and I'm pretty sure it would be fine to use those seals it's always a good idea to do all those while your in there and if they have never been done B4 than those seals are prob drying out, and the new ones should be better ,

I was assured that the gates belts are acually great but if your wanting to make over 300 horses than you should not use the oem or gates one and should go with the Kevlar belt (best option), gates does sell the blue 'racing belts ' not sure if there any good tho

When your doing the timing belt job you MUST do it correctly the first time it's good idea to check that link out that's on the vfaq
the previous owner of my car did a belt change and they didn't do it properly and caused the belt to jump at the crank causeing damage to my valve train and pistons (reason I'm non turbo now ) but my 4g63 is rebuilt 5years ago new head, starter ,short block , trans , alt so just be careful and make sure its all in spec

I would deff just buy the mitsuibushi tensioner for sure !

http://www.vfaq.com/mods/timingbelt-2G.html
I'm assuming you have the 4g63 7 bOlt ? That link will help alot everything that you could ever need while doing the belt ,

how's that harmonic balancer? The rubber fails and you don't need to have it brake so if it's looking dry see if ya can order it hope everything goes well! later Man

Instead of checking it last night I changed the spark plugs and spent hours organizing my garage .
I'm going to take the belts off right now. Hmmm. It sucks all this stuff isn't it one kit! I guess I could get it off ExtremePSI but that's 300-400 bucks.

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

Haha good ol procrastinating
And yeah I ordered alot off parts from rock auto everything but the oem tensioner and it's already in winnipeg so very fast shipping into Canada at least

Once you do all this you don't have to really worrie to much about stuff braking on ya and the car will run smoother I keep track of everything I do from plugs to oil changes to tires with dates an km helps alot

 

[NW96GST]

Haha good ol procrastinating
And yeah I ordered alot off parts from rock auto everything but the oem tensioner and it's already in winnipeg so very fast shipping into Canada at least

Once you do all this you don't have to really worrie to much about stuff braking on ya and the car will run smoother I keep track of everything I do from plugs to oil changes to tires with dates an km helps alot

I know right that's the route I'm going to take. I was looking for OEM Belts because of everything I've been reading but it sounds like as long as I replace them at 60k Gates will work great. Any tips for getting those belts off? I'm about to go do them here soon. Oh and also, for the T-Belt job, do any special tools make the job much easier? Or are any needed?

 

[NW96GST]

And the VFAQ says support engine with jack. I have next to no experience with this stuff, I'm learning and I don't want to break anything. Where do I support the engine in order to remove that motor mount?

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

And yes gates is an awesome brand !

Your best bet is make that link for the 2g timing belt procedure your holy bible and read that thing till you can't think heres something that will help

" vfaq
Support engine with engine support fixture, tool #C-4852 or #7137, and remove the left engine mount and bracket (Figure 1). (The engine may be supported with a jack on the oilpan but make SURE to place it so that the force is distributed as widely as possible, and PAD the jack with several layers of cardboard or heavy cloth to avoid bending the oil pan.)" Don't crush your oil pan an just take your time and load that force evenly as possible

Tips I would give ya is replace all them obv unless there brand spanking new and use a crow bar on the alt housing to tighten the alt belt (pushing down) on the little holes but he careful they can break so pick somewhere where the crow bar forces the belt tight with out braking the alt,
then have someone tighten the bastards the belts have to be decently tight and they do stretch , you only need to loosen the bolts the bottom bolt is a pivot point on the alt
the top is the adjustable bolt to hold the tension from the belt

only thing i haven't done is loosen the ac tensioner I just cut it cause it was messed

And for the special tools they aren't nessesary there just help full I know the cam stoppers help you can acually buy all the tools needed from jnz tuning for pretty cheap just take your time

To romove the harmonic balancer you need a torque gun there's 5 bolts we Removed the center first than the last 4

Just take your time and don't brake stuff make sure you have parts ect... have someone help ya to makes stuff wayyy easier haha hope I helped

Oh and a pulley puller is needed for the harmonic balancer unless yours is easy to remove my wasn't

And the VFAQ says support engine with jack. I have next to no experience with this stuff, I'm learning and I don't want to break anything. Where do I support the engine in order to remove that motor mount?

 

[NW96GST]

Alright I'm just going to take the belts off atm. Those are pretty easy to remove right? Just loosen the tensioner bolts?

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

Alright I'm just going to take the belts off atm. Those are pretty easy to remove right? Just loosen the tensioner bolts?

Very you'll see what to do easy with 2 people tho

 

[NW96GST]

Very you'll see what to do easy with 2 people tho

alright I'll try to find them, I have this Chilton manual but it has no pictures of the 2.0 boosted motor and its pretty f*ckin irritating.
I gotta go get ready to slave away at work so looks like this will probably get put off til monday.
I tried to download the factory service manuals from the links here on dsmtuners, but you have to pay to download them so that bummed me out..

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

All good man don't rush stuff if you take pics I could explain a bit better good luck

 

[NW96GST]

Alright, I feel like I need to remove some more stuff because there seems to be no way to reach a majority of what I need to get to.
Thanks for the help, I'll throw you a DM Monday probably with some pictures and go from there.
Thanks again man!

 

[pauleyman]

I just skimmed this but id like tommake a few points. 1g and 2g gates kits are different. Balancer does not require center bolt removal. It also shiuld not require a puller, a mallet maybe. Be careful with tutorials. I havent read them in years but I know this, tensioners dont all go the same direction. The eccentric pulley that is. And you MUST MUST MUST get the tension right. It right or or wrong and quite objective. Easy easy easy to verify so there is no excuse to guess or hope. You should know for sure.

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

I just skimmed this but id like tommake a few points. 1g and 2g gates kits are different. Balancer does not require center bolt removal. It also shiuld not require a puller, a mallet maybe. Be careful with tutorials. I havent read them in years but I know this, tensioners dont all go the same direction. The eccentric pulley that is. And you MUST MUST MUST get the tension right. It right or or wrong and quite objective. Easy easy easy to verify so there is no excuse to guess or hope. You should know for sure.

And yeah he posted links to the 2g kits for the belts ect..

An now that I think about it I think we had a pulley puller ready but maybe I was in lala land haha when we Removed it

And your totally right I remeber now useing a braker bar while we torqued the bolts down haha duuuhh thanks for jogging my memorie haha this is why your a Wiseman

Been kinda stressing about my timing belt so I'm not all there haha