Hello, 

 

I have a 97 Legacy Wagon that they harmonic balancer has become loose on. It will no longer keep the belts on for power steering and alternator. So therefore I can not drive it to work. 

 

I think the bolt is not just loose and assume it is a bigger issue. What could be the problem? And will buying a replacing just the pulley fix this issue?

 

Thanks for the help. 

Two problems with the harmonic balancers on these. 

One is the outer section of the balancer comes loose from the rubber cushion and will wobble off of the center section. Replace the pulley and you're good to go.

 

Other problem is if the bolt in the center comes loose. Generally only happens after someone has done a timing belt job or pulley replacement, and didn't get the center bolt torqued tight enough. Usually ends up chewing up the keyway slot in the crankshaft, and can cause the timing sprocket to come loose and the timing belt skips. 

That takes some effort to fix because you generally have to get the mangled key stock out, file/grind down any rough edges on the crankshaft snout, and then get everything lined up again properly with a new key stock. Can require replacing the timing sprocket if the front face gets worn. Usually requires replacing the harmonic balancer because the center hole gets pretty chewed up. Sometimes you need a new bolt as well. 

 

Tighten the new bolt to about 140ft lbs. 

work done on it recently?

 

I'd pull it and see if the bolt is loose or an issue with the pulley itself. Check that the key is still there. Had one that was really mangled once. Had to just over tighten the bolt and has held for nearly 2 years on that car. There's also a kit that can bolt pulley to the crank sprocket if necessary.

 

In all likelyhood, tighten the bolt or replace the pulley. I have a couple good used ones if you end up needing one, message me.

I had same problem on a 91 Leggie years back. The bolt kept coming loose. Finally, got it to stay on, when shop used a good thread locker compound, and tightened up to spec.

So the pulley has a wobble just from messing with it with hands. I have tried to mess with the bolt but it seems pretty tight. I don't have a 22mm socket at the moment so can not check to see how loose the bolt is. 

 

I hope its just the rubber cushion is worn out and I just need to replace the pulley. I have not done any work on the vehicle in the 8 months I have owned the car except normal oil changes and such. 

 

So how can you tell if the bolt has become loose? When trying to mess with it with hands it seems to be on there tight and the pulley around it is just wobbly and won't hold the belts on. So I am not turning the car on at all until this is all resolved. 

 

If when I start the car the Crank Pulley is spinning but wobbly of course but I grab the ac belt portion and it just stops the whole thing from spinning is that an issue?

Is the bolt we speak of just the one holding the pulley? The one you can see in the middle of the pulley before you go to take it off?

Edited January 9, 201610 yr by Snowbum2420

Take some white paint and make a mark across both sections of the pulley. Start the engine and see if the marks separate. That will tell you if the inner and outer portions of the pulley have separated.

Ok I will try this. So white paint across the pulley and the bolt in the center. And if they are not lined up then I will need to replace more than just the pulley? Correct?

 

By the way, thank you for your help here. I was so lost and trying to figure this out by researching but its nice to have some insight from other people on this forum.

I would say go ahead and get or borrow the socket since you're going to need it anyway - either to get the pulley off if it's bad, or to tighten the bolt if it's loose. It really needs to be at least 1/2" drive with a good breaker bar and maybe a piece of pipe depending on how you go about it.