Harmonic Balancer UPDATED: the sh** has hit the fan!, do these really go bad??? the answer is YES! Options

[caszboy]

OK, so there was a slight ticking sound after i installed a new AC belt in attempt to get that fixed. The sound has slowly gotten louder over the last month or so. After inspecting a bit, i noticed that the crank shaft pulley "Harmonic Balancer" is wobbling and causing the sound. I took my car to a local car shop for them to trouble shoot my AC (which turned out i need a compressor, drier, and evaporator expansion valve..DOH!!) and to take a quick look at the pulley. The mechanic told me to replace my harmonic balancer.

so the question(s) is...Do these really go bad? do they bend or something? a harmonic balancer is a crankshaft pulley right?

thanks in advance.

casey

This post has been edited by caszboy: Jul 14, 2008 - 6:31 PM

[97celiman]

a guy in one of my classes had his harmonic balancer go bad (he had a pos v6 mustang) and his whole engine was shaking. he thought it was the mounts but no go so yes it is possible

[caszboy]

thanks for the reply. So after an extensive Google search. Some cars have them and some don't. Our celicas do have one and it and the crank shaft pulley are one and the same. After pricing this item, it looks like its going to be about $200.

Does this sound correct to everyone?

[presure2]

thanks for the reply. So after an extensive Google search. Some cars have them and some don't. Our celicas do have one and it and the crank shaft pulley are one and the same. After pricing this item, it looks like its going to be about $200.

Does this sound correct to everyone?

for a new one, yes.
why not get one used here, or from a junk yard?

[Crem]

Yes harmonic balancers die the one in my old lancer had everyone giving an opinion from bearings in the motor were shot to the engine mount was broken.
Then my dad found the balancer bolt just sitting in the drive way and replace it no more nasty earth shattering noise - but was advised to get rid of the lancer cos everything had been running loose for so long- so needless to say the lancer is long gone and now I'm loving my celi.

[jaxceli94]

Mine went bad a couple of months ago. Put in a new crankshaft pulley and it's now runnin great. Mine was making the same noise, started faint and got progressively louder.

[caszboy]

well, i just went to one of the local junk yards and picked one up for $50.00. Im not going to get around to installing it until Monday. i will let everyone know how it turns out. Thanks for the input everyone!

casey

[caszboy]

The Sh** has hit the fan!

I could not get the crank shaft pulley bolt out to save my life today! It just wouldn't move. So i decided to take it up to a local shop and see if they would have any better luck. Come to find out, one of the owners before me was kind enough to put the crank shaft pulley bolt in cross threaded! We could tell because the actual bolt was off center. So now i hit a major snag with this car. The shop told me that they can try and get the bolt out but if it breaks in the crankshaft I'm going to have to get a new one.

SOOOOOO....

I'm going to call the machine shop that i have used in the past for some of my projects and see what they can do. I don't see why they couldn't just pull the bolt out and repair the threads as long as there is enough material. The tricky thing is going to be to attempt to pull the bolt and repair the threads with the motor still in the car. Its easy enough to get to in my opinion.

i will keep y'all updated...anyone have any thoughts on this???????


casey

[jaxceli94]

buy a new bolt from the dealership

[mark3]

i have recently remove a crank pulley and there is plenty of space for working in, if the bolt went in cross threaded it should come out as the hard bit is putting it in crossed, thread cutting against thread, coming out the hard work is done, i think you be fine (?) get a new bolt and a tap the same size and thread to clean out the threaded hole in the crank and start again, 118nm i think its torqued too!

This post has been edited by mark3: Jul 17, 2008 - 4:58 PM

[GriffGirl]

Get a new bolt from the dealership and then take your car to a machine shop where they can drill and tap the cross-threaded bolt. It should actually be fairly easy and not too expensive.

[paul52]

so ..let me know if i understand this....
underdrive crank pulleys "make" that problem of those noises..and the shaking..and later maybe( i dont know) some bendings to the crankshaft?
but do aftermarket crank pulleys with stock sizes do the same?
thnx in advance

[95celgt]

on my first 6gc, the pulley acually split into two peices with no warning!

this was at about 180K miles, i think its still lying around but i cant really tell of any symptoms before it happened, car always ran smooth and then suddenly BAM it hit the frame and stoped the crank from spinning...........the pulley is a 2 piece, and there is a middle rubber layer, this is where it separated. new one was about $80 ebay IIRC and it worked fine after the install

[ZGear]

so ..let me know if i understand this....
underdrive crank pulleys "make" that problem of those noises..and the shaking..and later maybe( i dont know) some bendings to the crankshaft?
but do aftermarket crank pulleys with stock sizes do the same?
thnx in advance

The noise can be anything related to spinning externally or internally of the engine so it's just not the balancer itself. From chirpping, whining, ticking, etc....One of the main symptoms of a bad balancer would be a visual wobbling. If things did go horribly wrong, yes it could damage the crankshaft opting even more money than just the balancer when you ignored the symptoms of replacing it. I had the same problem too when replacing my timing belt. Check the balancer to see if it needs replacement, there's a chance that the crankshaft bolt holding the balancer may have lost some threads. After having to torque the bolt so many times on my car, even with a good balancer the bolt would show a lot of wobbling. Toyota sells the bolt for 6 bucks so may as well replace it too.

As long as the aftermarket ones can take the pounding of the rotational mass stress. A lot of vibrations is counterweighted to the harmonic balancer, hence why it's called a balancer. Do not go cheap or use another type of balancer without proper research or the option of getting another one with ease. If you have an ABBCO Car Parts company near you, they offer lifetime warranty on harmonic balancers.

This post has been edited by ZGear: Apr 7, 2009 - 12:42 AM

[6strngs]

the only problem I can see with tapping the threads on the crankshaft is that it may remove some material and upset the balance of the crank shaft. not good. of all the bolts to crossthread on a car, the previous owner sure picked the most expensive to repair...