Trying to lower enigne enough to remove balance shafts

[sparticus13]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum so I'm stuck in he newbie section for now. I am doing a balance shaft elimination on my 91 Talon TSi AWD Turbo. All the timing stuff is off, xfer case and oil pan off, and front case is off. I got the rear shaft out ok. I'm stuck on the front shaft. It is not clearing the frame wall. I can only get it about 3/4 the way out.

I'm trying to figure out how to lower the engine a bit more. The Driver side mount is off. The center cross member bar in the front going from side to side is unbolted from the frame with a jack on it to lower it. I can lower it until the jack is loose and it won't go down any further. I removed the passenger side long motor mount bolt that goes thru the round rubber mount and have a jack on the tranny. The driver side bar that runs from the center cross member to the rear/firewall side of the frame is off and the passenger one is unbolted from the rear side so it is only attached to the center cross member bar.

I can lower the jack on the tranny side until it is loose no longer supporting it. Only the firewall side mount is still in place but something else must be stopping/holding the engine and tranny in place. It did lower quite a bit but its still just needs to be a bit lower to clear the shaft.

Any idea what I can do?

Thanks
Chris

 

[black91awdturbo]

did you look at the vfaq write up on this? Balance Shaft Eliminator Kit Install

 

[sparticus13]

did you look at the vfaq write up on this? Balance Shaft Eliminator Kit Install

yup that's the one I have been using as a reference. It shows the center cross bar unbolted like mine is with a jack to lower it more. It never said anything about the passenger side tranny mount but after reaching the lowest point with the center bar I did that next to help lower it some more. It's still about 1/2 inch too high. I think I can clear the frame bar ok but the sheet metal lip that hangs a little lower then the bar is the issue. I might be able to just bent it or something to make it clear.

Ok I tried to bend the sheet metal lip but still no good. The shaft is still coming out at an angle so it gets stuck at that last part trying to come out the front bearing.

I'm kind nervous about removing anything more under the car that might be holding the engine, since only 1 mount remains engaged.

Soooo, from what I have read it seems that it is ok to just leave the front B/S in the engine with the B/S belt off. Only the rear B/S driven by the oil pump needs to be replaced with the short stubby one and none of it's bearings need to be moved 180 or anything.

I would just like to confirm that it is ok to do this and that it means I just leave the front shaft in place and do not have to do anything with the front and rear bearings of the front B/S.

Also any concerns about oil pressure if the front shaft is just in there and not moving?

Thanks
Chris

 

[bmoha7321]

Took off the belt. But I did replace the seal for it before abandoning it in place. I have big hands and I'll be damned if I could figure out how to get bearing out on the flywheel side of the motor. It doesn't leak. It makes me feel lazy but shouldn't cause any problems.

 

[XLR8]

At least it is no longer rotational mass, not going to hurt anything sitting in there.

 

[Vancho]

if you dont need the balance shaft you could try taking it out as much as you can and cutting it, then taking it our more and see if you need another cut, thats what i would do.

 

[bmoha7321]

Unless you could close up every open exposed hole to your motor. But as you slide the balance shaft out you're opening up a big hole there. I am very leery of creating metal shavings with a motor open. Better to leave it in. Other than some extra weight it's harmless.

 

[Vancho]

ya thats true, but it there was no way of anything getting in the motor cutting it would be my next idea

 

[jimbob_843]

I would leave it in there. Not just cutting the shaft but removing old shaft bearings usually will leave some metal shavings behind.

 

[sparticus13]

Thanks for the re assurance. I decided to leave it in place. I thought about cutting it as well but wasn't sure what to use to do that. Don't think I currently have anything to cut it.

I ordered all new OEM seals and gaskets so everything will be done right. When I bought this car the previous owner had a blown head gasket and had just had the head hot tanked, resealed and milled with a new gasket. So I that's what got me on the idea to do the front case stuff so I could redo all the seals and gaskets there and have a newly re sealed engine.

 

[bmoha7321]

I hate leaky cars!
Plus as you start modifying the car more and more the balance shafts just become a liability. More to fail. And I hardly notice any added vibration