Harmonic Balance

This blog entry is for all those sadistic shady tree mechanics out there looking to learn something from someone else's bruised knuckles and swear words.

Recently I had the fortune of changing a harmonic balancer. You heard me right, a harmonic balancer. I thought I was pretty much a Jedi Master when it came to cars but there is obviously more to be learned. Apparently all cars have them and you'll know yours is bad if the serpentine belt falls off and you car sounds like it's going to explode. I've included a picture of this dark side minion so you can see what it looks like, or rather, what it's not supposed to look like. The two peices you see are actually supposed to be one peice held together by a serious chunk of rubber. The purpose of the rubber is two fold; hold the two pulleys together and absorb crank shaft vibrations. Mine was broken.

I did some investigation and found out the new part was going to cost $350 plus $800 to install it. Why so much? Well, according to the experts (the dealership) you need to have all kinds of fancy tools, know how, and the motor needs to come out. LIES!!! How do these people sleep at night? I found the part on the internet (car-part.com) for $60 shipped and I finished the job using a 21mm socket and a huge pipe wrench. That's it. Oh, and though I was prepared, the motor never left it's mounts. Glory Day!!