I was doing TB job today and looks like my harmonic balancer sh!t the bed....

[jakecro]

This is what it looks like:







It has been digging into the shroud that mounts behind it for some time and I'm lucky that nothing came off and went into the teeth of the timing belt.

I've been looking around for a replacement and the best OEM price so far is ~$270. I'm considering the ECS lightweight pulley at $140 but the earliest I can get it will be Wed. since they (along with everyone else) are closed tomorrow.


ECS Pulley link

I'm just wondering if anyone has ran into this problem as well?

[2001S4NY]

yup i did a timing belt last week, same issues, but it cut into the front plastic cover, so that had to be replaced also.

[jakecro]

my shroud will still be usable thankfully.

Did you replace it with an OEM balancer or opt for a lightweight 'performance' version?

[2001S4NY]

replaced with a OEM Piece i had

[RolledMySTi]

I didn't have any problems with my oem balancer, but I have the ECS pulley kit and it has worked out great so far. You should get the 3 piece kit while you are in there.

[jakecro]

Thanks for the input. I decided to only go with the crank pulley since the weight savings on the power steering and alternator are only marginal. That and I needed to overnight the bitch (since the Audi is my only car at the moment) which was not cheap and would have been much more than I was willing to spend at the time.

There was a discussion on AW where someone weighed the stock pulleys along with the LW versions, posting the weights of each respective part. Only a few ounces were saved between the stock and LW alt. and P/S pulley, whereas a few pounds separated the stock and LW crank pulley.

[Wizard-of-OD]

skip the lightweight crankshaft pulley.Get a replacement for it.

[jakecro]

Too late. If the price difference between the two wasn't so steep I would have gone for a replacement. There are a few different opinions on this upgrade; some thinking that changing to a lighter weight pulley will interrupt the balance of the engine. Others agree that since the motor is internally balanced there are no adverse affects to the 'upgrade'.

Someone did make a good point that if changing to lightweight pulleys is not recommended why does no one takes a second thought to installing a lightweight flywheel? One could assume that with more rotating mass that a flywheel weight change would have more of an effect on the balance than a crank pulley.

I think everyone just has their opinions. I couldn't find anyone, through searching forums, that had any negative first hand experience with the pulleys so that is how I ended up with my decision.

[nateS4]

Someone did make a good point that if changing to lightweight pulleys is not recommended why does no one takes a second thought to installing a lightweight flywheel? One could assume that with more rotating mass that a flywheel weight change would have more of an effect on the balance than a crank pulley.

I am going to be in the need of a clutch soon and I am just going to go with the Vast resurfaced flywheel. The lightweight flywheel in my personal opinion would just lead to problems. I have considered the lightweight crank pulley and being that it is external I don't see it as having as much effect on the engines balance as say the flywheel. I would like to know how the lightweight pulley works out after a lot of miles.

[onemoremile]

Someone did make a good point that if changing to lightweight pulleys is not recommended why does no one takes a second thought to installing a lightweight flywheel? One could assume that with more rotating mass that a flywheel weight change would have more of an effect on the balance than a crank pulley.

I think everyone just has their opinions. I couldn't find anyone, through searching forums, that had any negative first hand experience with the pulleys so that is how I ended up with my decision.

The load stabilizes the flywheel end of the crank. The harmonics increase towards the front of the engine. The harmonic balancer works to offset or absorb these harmonics. This is an issue even with naturally balanced engines like boxers.

I installed a similar pulley and found no difference. Then did a lot of research and regretted buying it in the first place.

http://www.atiperformanceproducts.co...mper_dinan.htm

This is a simplified explanation meant to be comprehensible by those who are not automotive engineers. In trying to simplify an extremely complex topic some precision was sacrificed although we believe this explanation to be as accurate as possible. We encourage our customers to educate themselves and understand the automotive after-market because we believe that our products are the best researched, engineered, and fabricated products available.

For those interested in a more in depth and technical explanation of this topic, the reference book is Advanced Engine Technology, written by Heinz Heisler MSc,BSc,FIMI,MIRTE,MCIT. Heinz Heisler is the Head of Transportation Studies at The College of North West London. His book is distributed in this country by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers)