Balance Shafts (Advice Needed)

GOONIESnvrSAYdie · Post by **GOONIESnvrSAYdie** » Wed May 28, 2014 1:05 pm

Somebody commented on a thread I found stating: "I had more vibrations, and my oil pressure was lower with just the belt off. I'm sure I would gain some oil pressure with the journals plugged, but the vibrations will still be there. So I was speaking from my experience."

I'm guessing it was minimal and you'd have to have a pressure gauge. Which I currently don't haha.

GOONIESnvrSAYdie · Post by **GOONIESnvrSAYdie** » Wed May 28, 2014 1:07 pm

How long have you been running yours off for? Rough mileage? I'm open to the idea of taking it off. Just the worry of people saying it does damage but unable to actually find anyone with damage caused by removing the belt etc. Maybe it's all just a myth.

bb1boy · Post by **bb1boy** » Wed May 28, 2014 1:13 pm

My current car has the balance shaft belts installed. It was on an old one that it broke on and to be honest, I couldn't tell you exactly how long I ran it like that for as I don't really know when it broke.. it could have been up to 2 years, but I never had an issue, in the end the car was broken to put my green one back on the road, the engine was still sweet.

EDIT: sorry if unclear, I ran it without a belt and without any problems for at least a year as a daily driver, but it could possibly have been up to two years..

Post by **Thebusofwoe** » Wed May 28, 2014 2:03 pm

I will say that my front shaft recently started causing a problem. End float was crazy. So i have removed the belt and ran it for a few weeks now without it. I personally think it runs smoother without it tbh. I have seen no negative affects of not running the belt. And ive even given it death on a few occasions with no problems. Just take the belt out and also the tensioner spring and be done with it

Post by **si import** » Wed May 28, 2014 6:22 pm

Ive had my belt removed for a 2-3 years now. car use to be used as a daily but is now a track car but still used on the road occasionally . never had any problems and and haven't noticed anymore vibration .
cheers Jon

GOONIESnvrSAYdie · Post by **GOONIESnvrSAYdie** » Wed May 28, 2014 9:35 pm

Cheers guys, it was put back together today without belt. Could feel a little more vibration through accelerator pedal on idle and acceleration. Although, not having the car for long, especially running correctly. That could just be how it feels haha. I'm just glad the whine is no more. Was driving me mad.

Thanks for all the help and advice people. It's really helped reassure me leaving the belt off was an ok thing to do

I plan on taking the engine out next year to do a rebuild so I'll replace the current broken parts then.

Post by **SPYDOR** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 1:11 am

I had the balance-shaft delete mod in mind for the future until I read this article which highly recommends you keep them fully operational in your engine:

http://www.jackstransmissions.com/pages ... nce-shafts

Basically they are experienced engine builders who used to recommend balance shaft deletes until they started noticing people experiencing a few issues. They say the main problem it can cause is clutch drag in high-rpm gearshifts due to excessive harmonic vibrations in the clutch. It's an interesting article and while it relates to different engines and transmissions from the Honda H22 the principles are the same for any car.

The other interesting point he makes is how a lot of people assume having their rotational engine mass balanced will stop harmonics, which is incorrect. That will remove vibration from unbalanced components but all engines produce harmonics due to the very nature of their reciprocating and rotating components.

farlow · Post by **farlow** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 8:22 am

CrunchyAdams82 wrote:If you do decide to delete them, I've got a brand new never used 'balance shaft eliminator kit', which I'll be advertising over the next few days anyway.

It is an engine-out job though..

Details on this please