the3rsss

just want to wrap this thread up. I used a junkyard 2.2 balancer and it works fine. the original balancer had come apart and was throwing belts. This all might have turned out to be a good thing. I had originally torqued that crank pulley bolt to 100ft lb as per haynes. After reading a few threads, i cleaned the bolt threads, lite coating of antisieze, and torqued it to 140. thanks to everyone who answered.

If you top off constantly, you probably did soak the charcoal canister. It can't purge thru liquid. Disconnect all the hoses to it and run it for a week. Might get a strong gas odor as it dries out. You won't ruin anything else with that code.

Found a 2.2 balancer at the junkyard. This is exactly the same size. Miced the crank hole, anyway, overall width, and thickness. Has two groves for serpentine belts just like the old one. Only diff. Seems to be less rubber . Any reason I can't use this?

as a post script.....Im not using the chain wrench anymore!!

wow....this came as a surprise!! I wanted to get a look at the crank to see what kind of damage i had. Took off the drive belts, but a chain wrench on the pulley, and started to loosen the bolt. The bolt turned very very easily!! Oh god, i somehow stripped the bolt or crank! Then, the entire top metal grooved piece of the balancer came right off!! I was turning the metal piece!! The rubber had totally disconnected from the metal pulley! How this thing didnt come flying off and plow thru my radiator I just dont know. Im thinking when i took the motor apart last summer, i used the chain wrench to break the crank bolt. It worked great but if you think about it, that would put tremendous strain on the rubber bonded to the pully. I think this loosened or tore some of the rubber away, and miles did the rest My own theory. who knows. Anyway, the crank, key, and bolt are not involved. I need a new balancer. Good news!

ok ordered a balancer. should be here this weekend.car is parked in driveway and im not moving it. Ill replace the key and see whats going on with the crank. hopefully i caught it early enough. I have been thinking about how a failing balancer might throw off the timing and honestly i just dont get it. Correct me if im wrong ( i often am), but the balancer sits on the end of the crank ,flush against it. I understand the wobble will eventually mar the crank but how does the timing get thrown off? John, read your post and honestly just dont get it. maybe you could dumb it down a lil for me:confused:

Torqued it correctly this past summer when i had the engine out. Think a new balancer would take care of this? See them fairly cheap, less then 100. and isnt the crank hardened? Wouldnt the balancer take all of the wear?

99 obw 2.5. tightened up a noisy ac belt two weeks ago. last night, both the ac belt and alt belt jumped off the pully (of course this happened at 1am). I bought two new belts thinking that maybe the original belt was off a grove and that caused it to jump. Im noticeing that the balancer has a distinct wobble at idle. this goes away at higher speeds. I checked the bolt and it seemed tight but did turn. any ideas? I know a small amount of wobble is considered normal but this is alot. bad balancer maybe?

Godspeed!

Well. You can take out the thermostat and take the gaskets off the rad. Cap. Check coolant every day. Run it till it dies. Goodspeed!

I still don't understand know how a closed system under high pressure can suck in air, someone please explain to me how this is possible.

If a bad water pump sucks in air, then where is the air coming from? It's a closed system.

I had a clink going over bumps. Turned out it was the sway bar end links. Replaced them and the frame bushings. Noise over bumps is gone and the ride fine. Obw 150k original strut.

99 obw. The exhaust was replaced from the y pipe to the tailpipe. Old tailpipe and muffler. Exhaust is getting louder and louder thru the exhaust pipe. No leaks, sounds like I'm running glasspacks. Do these oem muffler tend to fail like this? Most exhaust systems just rot away. Could the muffler be rotten from the inside out? No leaks, no holes, just louder and louder.

I have never had any luck with the autozone house brand wires. Bosch makes a real nice widest, wouldn't touch their plugs though. I have ngk plugs , platinum, and wires on my 2.5.. is go junkyard if I needed a coil.

This one is kinda easy. Either s bad radiator cap or head gaskets.

When it makes the noise, put the car in neutral and turn off the ignition. Coast, see if it still makes noise. Does the noise lessen or increase with wheel rotation?I've never had wheel bearings make any noise other then a roar. Squeeks cornering are usually a bushing. Sway bar, control ARM or the strut cushion. Spray everything in sight with w40 and see if the noise goes away. If it goes away, it will be back in no time and you can spray individual bushings to narrow it down. Also, make sure the tires not rubbing.

I would only use ngk plugs. This ain't a Ford v6. Just my opinion.

Check for spark at all 4 cyl. Do it cold. Check the plug wire resistance. Get a squirt bottle and moisten the coil and wires. See if it reacts at all. The Iac is controlled by the ecm which gets its info from the coolant temp sensor. If the sensor goes (rare) the ecm might think the car is warm. Have you changed the fuel filter? Air filter? Still think its a vac leak. If one of those small vac hoses are hard I'd replace them all.

Any noise before the belt broke? From what you describe, the pass side cam seems normal. The drivers side should have the same , what you call "4in free play" that would be the cam lobes moving off the valves. Sounds like the heads need to come off.

I removed all the heat shields on my 99obw. Got some header wrap and wrapped the y pipe. Any problem with wrapping the cat shield? I just replaced the pass side axel.

I think your going down the wrong road with the iac. They either stick or they dont. Easy check, does it turn easily or bind? And again, they produce either a very high or very low idle. I posted on this thread last week.Are your plugs ngk? You replied your plugs were "ok" and the wires were "ok". These engines have to have ngk plugs and a quality set of wires. Basics!! Vac leak, dirty throttle body, vac leak! Oh did i mention vac leak?

When anybody starts talking about an "easy" fix that involves welding my eyes kinda glass over.Anyway, dont want to hijack the thread but here is my question....I did the non-fouler trick about 5k ago. The 420 code went and didnt come back. Im in nj and due for inspection soon, I noticed they use a mirror at the state insp station. Are they just looking for cats under there? Any chance they will see the spacer? I would take it out before insp but wont that throw a pending code?

Well the vapor system is closed and monitored by the ecm so even a pinhole leak would cause the cel to come on. Is it on? Prob a fuel line. They are under pressure. Also, the fillerneck. Very common problem.

I replaced an axle but that was months ago. And by chance I got an autozone axle. They are made by, according to nipper, the same Mexican co. That makes the oem axles. I got this vibration after the engine was pulled for hg. The mounts are very soft. Like I said, I can flex these mounts with my hands. Do I have to disconnect the dogbone? What about the trans mount? Should I loosen that too? Thanks guys, don't think I would have figured out attacking this from the top on my own, well maybe ,after a lot of frustration and busted knuckles