Over the weekend, when I was told that my rear struts where bad, the mechanic also said that my harmonic balancer is either going bad or is bad. He showed me that the crank pulley appears to be shaking a little. I decided to immediately have the belts changed since they where missing their middle teeth. My question is how difficult would it be for me to change the harmonic balancer in the driveway? I know I need an impact wrench to get the pulley off, but do I need anything else? I am also planning on getting the light weight crank pulley from Road///Race and installing that while I'm down there. I see alot of threads about the pulley install, but can't find anything about anyone changing their harmonic balancer. I don't think you have to drop the motor for the install of the pulley, would I have to for the balancer? Just to keep everything in harmony, I am also considering either a solid front motor mount or both solid mounts. I might just get both with the pulley and install the front and see how it feels, since I've heard that changing both vibrates the car alot. I just want to know what I'm getting myself into before I start taking things apart. Thanks.

 

I was once told on here that the Lancer doesn't have a harmonic balancer, but that was just what I was told. If that's true, then just replace the pulley with aftermarket and BAM! The impact wrench would probably your only means of getting that thing off. Wish I had one...

 

No, I think it has one because the dealer was able to give me the price of it, and it was a reputable mechanic. Does anyone know whether the balancer is part of the pulley? Are they the same thing? Maybe that's what they meant by it having no harmonic balancer. Does anyone know if it's all contained in the pulley? I saw a picture of what looked like a comparison between an underdrive and a stock crank pulley for an Evo on here, not that this is an Evo, but it looked like it might have something like a balancer built in (on what appeared to be the stock one, but not on the underdrive. Someone else was saying something about underdrive (and probably aftermarket pulleys in general) not being good for the engine, but it was he-said she-said. I think someone replied to that post by saying that aftermarket pulleys are balanced so they wouldn't carry the strain of the belts down to the bearings in the engine. Again, this was also about another car, a RalliArt I believe. I'm not sure if the "balancing" they are refering to is the same thing as harmonic balancing. I thought balancing was simlpy that, balancing like with wheels and brake rotors and I thought harmonic balancing was more like a balanced rotational mass (maybe with a pulley) that absorbed shock. I'm open for more info. Thanks so far,SLVROZ.

 

the stock pulley has a thin piece of rubber molded into it but its nothing like others which have a rather large rubber ring almost the size of the pulley attatched to it.

heres something from unorthodox site
4) "Is my crank pulley a harmonic/torsional/vibration damper or a harmonic balancer?"
People are getting their crank pulleys confused with the harmonic dampers found on some V6 / V8 engines. "Harmonic Balancer" is a term used loosely in the automotive industry. Technically, this type of device does not exist. The "balancer" part comes from engines that are externally balanced and have a counterweight cast into the damper, hence the merging of the two terms. None of the applications we offer use a counterweight as part of the pulley, as these engines are all internally balanced.

The pulleys on most of the new import and smaller domestic engines have an elastomer (rubber ring) incorporated into the pulley that makes them look similar to a harmonic damper. The elastomer in the OEM pulley serves as an isolator, which is there to suppress natural vibration and noise from the engine itself, the A/C compressor, P/S pump, and alternator. This is what the manufacturers call NVH (Noise Vibration & Harshness) when referring to noticeable noise and vibration in the passenger compartment. It is important to note in these applications, the elastomer is inadequate in size and durability to act as an effective torsional damper. If you look at the pulleys on some imports there is no rubber to be found at all. We have samples of these, mostly from Acura/Honda, the Nissan Altima, 1.8L Eclipse, 2.3L Fords, Chrysler 2.2L's, and 1.8L VW's, to mention a few. This is not to say with our pulleys you will hear a ton of noise or feel more vibration from your engine compartment. Most owners who have installed our pulleys notice the engine actually feels smoother. This is result of replacing the heavy crank pulley with our crank pulley. NVH is variable and unique to every car. NVH will increase with the installation of an aftermarket intake and/or exhaust, for example. Think of OEM intake systems in newer cars, they use baffles and resonators in the intake to quiet all the intake noise. Aftermarket intakes eliminate these resonators and create dramatic increases in engine noise from the throttle opening and closing. So to most tuners, certain types of NVH can make the driving experience more enjoyable.

The purpose of a traditional harmonic damper is to protect against crank failure from torsional movement. This is not necessary in most modern engines because of the many advances in engine design and materials. Factors such as stroke length, displacement, inline, V configurations, piston dwell time, piston pin off-set, power output, etc., do determine when and how these harmonics and torsional movements occur.

Again, there is a lot of internet hearsay about crank pulleys. When engine problems occur, too often people are quick to blame the pulley first, rather than taking the time to look logically into why there was a problem. We hope that after reading this you will understand the crank pulleys better.

from what ive seen most sites that sell lightened/underdrive pulleys say that it will not cause premature engine wear/damage.
But those that sell underdrive/lightened w/ harmonic dampers say that without one damage to the engine ingternals may occur.

I remember someone has been running the RRM pulley for a while now, they bought it when it first came out. dunno who tho.

 

Apparently, you're both right. I finally called the dealer back today and asked about the difference between the two. According to the parts guy, the terms "harmonic balancer" and "crank puller" are two names for the same thing. So, thank you to both of you, off to Road///Race I will soon go. If anyone else has the worn out stock pulley problem in the future, it's time to upgrade. Road///Race's lightweight pulley is half the price of stock and wakes up the engine some more! It seems to be a win/win situation.

 

I had mine go bad. The "walk" in it got so bad it sheared the bolts off. Had to have damaged the crank IMHO, but dealer said otherwise. (figures) No matter to me anymore as I traded her in. Oh how I miss it, but I needed something more cost effective to allow the purchase of a home.

 

I wish I could afford to fix everything at once, but I can't. I am really wanting to get the handling back to where it was, but if the engine stops running from sheared bolts or, again bad belts, there won't be any handling, good or bad, to speak of. At least the pulley and the mounts are on their way from Road///Race.

 

The 2.4 has a balance shaft the 2.0 does not.

 

Right you are. Post deleted.

 

Well, the parts came quicker than expected and I installed/got everything installed this weekend. What a job! I intended on installing it all myself on Saturday, but it didn't turn out that way.
I wrestled with getting the front on. The only really tough part about the front motor mount was getting the holes on the new one to line up for the bolt that went through it. I did as instructed first though, and didn't tighten anything without doing the rear mount. The rear mount is the biggest pain to get to. I didn't realize until then that an adjustable wrench wasn't going to do it (slides open too much) for the bolts, and my ratchet obviously wouldn't fit down in there. I was missing one of the combination wrenches (14mm) and had borrowed the 17. I then decided to have the shop that I work for put it in the next day because I was working then anyways.
I moved onto the pulley. For both the mounts and the pulley, I had to remove a lot of plastic fasteners. I wish there where a more gentle way than screwdriver to remove them. I ended up breaking about one out of every four, just because they cracked apart probably from having been through so much temperature change over the years and the heat from the engine. I had also borrowed an electric impact wrench that was supposed to be good for 200ft/lbs to get the pulley off. The disassembly was a bit nerve wracking because I had never done my own belts before, but it went smoothly until I got to the pulley. I put the biggest socket from my set onto the impact and neither one would fit on the pulley! It was then ten at night and I was sadly about to bike my way to a discount auto about four miles from my house when I spotted an old O2 sensor socket that I had from my last car. It actually fit! Good thing too, because that borrowed electric impact wouldn't move it, to the left or to the right, it wouldn't budge. So, I was worn out, but glad to not have to make that trip for a socket that wouldn't have solved anything anyhow. I put everything back together and started it, forgetting to plug the MAF back in. You think it shakes with solid mounts, try it with a solid mount (only had the front in at the time) and no MAF. It was scary to say the least until I discovered the MAF unplugged.
The next day, I had the shop install the mount and pulley, so much simpler than DIY. I was a little less satisfied that I couldn't do it myself and had to pay some more, but at least I didn't break anything and I got it running well again after the little MAF fiasco.
To sum things up, yeah these mounts are not just hard, they're hard core. I was a little concerned about all the vibration at first, but I'm getting used to it. Not just that, but it's growing on me. The engine now sounds pissed off from the interior. The throttle response is very improved and I no longer have half busted mounts and a busted pulley and that's the important part. Thumbs up to Road///Race for more well made products.

 

Glad to hear it's all on and running... Those pulley bolts are no joke huh !

 

PM me your last name and I will confirm that they went out. I looked through pending orders and I looks to have shipped. But I would like to make sure since you are in a pinch.


ROAD/RACE

 

So is the vibration there after you installed the new motor mounts. I installed new ones with the timing belt and now when I go to take off I have a vibration that rolls through the car when I take off. It only does it under load so I am not sure what is causing it.

 

Yeah, the vibration with solid mounts is normal. That rolling vibration that you are getting seems to be normal with them. (I would assume since mine has done it since the install a couple of months ago and no problems so far) It's just the feeling of the motor moving, going through the car that would normally be dampered by the more flexible stock mounts. It's enough of a vibration that I forgot to mention the mounts being solid to a local shop that was working on the car and they where afraid that I had bad stock mounts. Until they asked and I told them about them being solid. It seems to be worse with the A/C on, with the car in drive and not moving. If you search around about solid mounts, you'll see that increased vibration is normal. It's a mod to keep the engine from moving, not for comfort. The shop owner offered to maybe raise the idle speed a little, but I'm not sure it bothers me that much.