Moohamp

I had the local repair shop tell me that the harmonic balancer on my 93 es 300 was going. The part is made of rubber and metal and they said the rubber fatigues after time. Has anyone replaced on of these themselves. And if so how hard of a job was it. By looking at it you can reach it pretty well through the passenger side wheel well.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

charlottes

Take the passanger tire off and you will see it. Helps to have a long extension or impact gun to get the bolt off. You can get to it fairly easy. I have been fighting with my girls for half a day and can't get the damn thing off. about ready to shoot the thing.

Stub333

I did my balancer last week. Originally the bolt needed to be heated up with acetylene, then hit with a lube while hot, then it zipped right off with an impact gun. You will to thread a puller onto the balancer to finally remove it. Besides all this, the upper mount needs to be removed, and both the alt./p.steering belts needs to be removed. If you are not mechanically inclined you could create more problems than the one you are fixing.
From the dealer the balancer is close to $280. I opted to go with a OEM replacement fot $160. One of the only OEM aftermarket companies that make this balancer is Dorman, and the part # is 594-140 (this is for a 96 1MZ, your year could possibly be a diff. part #). The pulley is a new piece(not a reman) is the closest to OEM quality you will find. I recommend it. Smooth as silk and the squeeks and humms will be gone!

Pheonix

19mm socket + extension + 1/2 wratchet, or breaker bar. Pull the EFI fuse & hit the starter for a split second. The bolt is now loose with no work done. Don't worry about how you get it off, just make sure you get it back on A-OK.

All Toyota v6's are internally balanced. It's not a harmonic dampening. They do not dampened the crankshaft. You can throw the pulley off, the engine will still be in balance.
What your mechanic is referring to is the crankshaft pulley. The rubber installed in the crankshaft pulley is in fact just an inertia ring to prevent damage to the accessories when they are turned on under a load. You should never have a problem with it.

Secondly, in my years of reading everything Toyota v6 related, from Camrys through trucks, I have never actually found a case where one was just broken out of the blue. You always find a few cases of some people not tightening the bolt enough when re-installing destroying the bolt, crankshaft & pulley. Other than that. I've never seen, nor heard of a failed crankshaft pulley on a v6.

Be weary of some major bull from your mechanic check it yourself.Take the tire & fender shield out. With the car securely on jack stands crank it & watch it.

Stub333

He is right, they never really go bad...mine did because I heated it and ruined the rubber inside. There is a chance that maybe you just need new acc. belts, and this shop is 'taking you for a ride'