Harmonic Balencer/Crankpulley is now 2 pieces...

[cotsi95]

Ok so here?s the quick version of the story...I bought my 95 tsi awd from Jeremy Helling (some of you might know him) about 3 months ago. Not running, it was his mom?s car. One day she started it and it died and then it sat for almost a year because Jeremy didn?t have time to look at it because he thought it snapped the timing belt. So I figured it needed a head and timing belt. Still a good buy (3k and it only has 103k on it). I towed it home (less then a mile away) and started tearing it apart. I pulled then head off and to my surprise/ joy it was PERFECT and the pistons barely had any carbon on it. You could still see the factory hones in the cylinders!!! This car was totally babied! (Two old ladies owned it before me!) Lol so it I looked underneath and found that the harmonic balancer/crank pulley was now two pieces and all the belts except the timing belt were off. So it sat because I had/have no money right now to fix it with school and all. So I got bored today and decided to take off the pulley and see what it looked like. (pics below). Now for the questions! 1. If all of the belts were off except for the timing belt could a balance shaft be seized or something in the block? Because I want to just put the head back on and just to a new timing belt /tensioner and water pump and head gasket and call it a day until my other motor is built. But I don?t really want to take the motor out...any advice will be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks! :D

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/9184/crank7sk.jpg

[DSMxTSi]

I'm confused. All of the belts should have been off including the timing belt to pull the head. Unless you cut the timing belt, but you said all the belts were off except the timing belt.
Also, you can't look at a head and tell if it's perfect. The valves could be bent, seals be bad, etc. Since there's no carbon buildup then I'd say the seals are good, plus it has low miles. Sounds as if the cylinders are in good shape.
I'd say that the separated crank pulley was the only problem and you meant that the accessory belts were thrown due to the bad crank pulley, and the timing belt was in fact ok before you pulled the head. If that's the case, then I'd go ahead and get a new crank pulley, acc belts, water pump, timing belt, tensioner and throw the head back on. You can reuse the idler and timing belt pulleys by packing new grease in them, or just get new ones if you prefer. The car most likely wouldn't start for Jeremy's mom because the alternator wasn't charging the battery due to no alt belt or the slippage from the separated crank pulley.

[cotsi95]

I just slipped the timing belt off the cam gears...i know i wasnt going to reuse it but i didnt want to cut it just incase so i just slipped it off. Now i have to decide if I want to get a oem from slowboy or a underdrive pulley.

[DSMxTSi]

My opinion on the crank pulley for the 7 bolt motor is that it must the harmonic dampener. That means only the oem ($100) or the Buschur underdrive pulley ($350), or the Fluidampr sold at Slowboy ($309). I don't see Buschur's underdrive on their website anymore, but the Fluidampr is a better deal.

[cotsi95]

yeah i really want the fluidampr pulley but ill probly get the oem from slowboy for 100 for no other reason then lack of funds

[gsxeclipse92]

this happen to my '93 eclipse gs, repalced the damper and everything was fine!

[Paul]

My opinion on the crank pulley for the 7 bolt motor is that it must the harmonic dampener.


My experience has been you can use an Unorthodox underpulley for 100,000 miles or so with no problem. Of course my car hardly ever sees redline. I do recall seeing 8500 rpm's on the tach once. Also, I suppose my HP is somewhere around 250 - 300 is all.

Of course YMMV especially if you don't change the oil.

I have a good used stock pulley in garage if you are interested in it.

Paul

[iamtall77]

I'm a little confused too. Why doesn't the motor run? The car should run even if no accessory belts are attached. I can see how the pulley may have fallen apart. But why did it not run? Can you turn the engine over by hand? Are there any other visible signs as to what happened? I would check out these things before you go and buy a dampener. Also, someone on here probably has a used unit for you if you're trying to stay on the cheap.

[ocondi]

My pulley on the 90 GSX evenually separated as well. It was caused by over-tightning the alternator belt. The outer piece ended up pulling in-ward and eating up the timming belt housing. I replaced it with an OEM from the dealership. It's been great so far. I would not suggest replacing the harmonic bal with a billet one.