[RESOLVED] What Crank Pulley is this??

[EagleTSIawd]

so i was browsing around and came across some threads about the Harmonic Balancer. I found many stories on how they come apart and cause all sorts of damage, and how the harmonic balancer is essential for keeping the crankshaft balanced, is this correct?

now, when i bought my car it came with a 6 bolt swap (except nothing was installed, it was just dropped in there) and i decided to rebuild the head and do all the maintenance work to the engine. I noticed, at the time, that it had an aluminum crank pulley. I thought, ok i guess the previous owner upgraded this, so i didn't think much of it. Well now im reading all this threads on how the harmonic balancer is important and i am getting worried.

here is a pic (a bit blurry but hey, this was 5 years ago)

... as you can see, its one whole piece. Do you guys think this pulley could bring me problems in the future??

 

[housegsx]

I don't know who makes that but just put an OEM one back on there. The harmonic dampener doesn't do anything to keep the crank balanced, it is there to cancel out and absorb harmonic frequency that can fatigue a crankshaft over time.

 

[93_tsi_fwd]

Looks like the one's from ebay. are there any marking's on them?

 

[99gst_racer]

so i was browsing around and came across some threads about the Harmonic Balancer. I found many stories on how they come apart and cause all sorts of damage, and how the harmonic balancer is essential for keeping the crankshaft balanced, is this correct?

housegsx nailed it on the head. Our cars don't have 'balancers'. Our rotating assemblies are internally balanced, so we do not need to rely on any sort of external balancing system. Therefore, our crank pulleys are know as harmonic dampeners.

I'm not familiar enough with engine harmonics to know if running one of those is safe or not, but personally, I wouldn't trust anything other than a true dampener.

 

[2FoX2]

I'm not familiar enough with engine harmonics to know if running one of those is safe or not, but personally, I wouldn't trust anything other than a true dampener.

I concur, the OEM was properly designed for our vehicles, I would NOT go with anything other than OEM on a part that can be crucial. If you wanna dress it up then by all means get the original powder coated.

 

[daren_p]

I concur, the OEM was properly designed for our vehicles

If by properly designed you mean, comes apart, sometimes with very miniml use, then I concur too

I would NOT go with anything other than OEM on a part that can be crucial. If you wanna dress it up then by all means get the original powder coated.

Actually, while I normally always stick to OEM parts, I would have to recommend the Fluidampr over the stocker (if you plan on keeping the car for awhile). This way you won't have to be replaceing the balancer anytime soon

 

[EagleTSIawd]

aaah i see...

well the pulley has no marks on it, so it is probably an ebay one. I do agree with you guys about sticking with oem parts for best assurance, but then, why are the harmonic balancers coming apart.

Either way, i guess replacing the harmonic balancer would be a lot cheaper then replacing the engine.

how much does an oem run for? 80 bucks right?

and where could i find a Fluidampr? is that just like the stock one but stronger?

 

[99gst_racer]

but then, why are the harmonic balancers coming apart.

and where could i find a Fluidampr? is that just like the stock one but stronger?

The OEM one fails when the rubber separates from the steel.

The Fluidampr unit is a sealed unit with fluid in it. It shouldn't ever fail. Most of this site's vendors sell them (SBR, ExtremePSI, etc..)

 

[EagleTSIawd]

awesome, i will probably go with the Fluidampr then.

thanks everyone, i learned something new about a pulley

 

[talonalex92]

I will attest to having an ebay crank pulley on my old 1g gsx, I had no ill effects from it. Its going to be argued all day and night long, but our short stroked 4 cyl. cars dont need to worry about that dampening nonsense, let v8 guys. But thats just me.

 

[Defiant]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/1513989-post386.html
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/cylinder-head-short-block/268533-broken-crankshaft.html

 

[DSM1G90]

dont need to worry about that dampening nonsense

..and if your's does bust, don't let us know ...