So...I was driving along minding my own business, I went to make a right turn and BAM, the steering wheel "locks up" on me! What was supposed to be a right turn almost steered me into oncoming traffic. AAA towed me to their facility...DIAGNOSIS: Harmonic balancer needs to be replaced!

What the heck is this? I know a few car parts but I have never heard of this in my life! Lexus charges $329 for the part alone...they havent even contacted me with the labor costs yet! Aye yi yi! When it rains it pours!!!!! First the AC compressor; now this! WHAT NEXT?!!!!!!!!!

I may end up taking this car off my hands if this keeps up! I never had any problems with it until I took baby into Lexus for some work...

Yea unfortunately those go bad eventually. Mine was starting to go when I had my 2jzgte motor in. You can usually find them used for around $150 but I would just get the new one from the dealer.

I've just been told by the mechanic that I also need a crankshaft pulley...it also looks like LEXUS will be the only place to get the harmonic balancer; which is OK with me if that's one of my better options...I'm just worried about all of the other things that may systematically go wrong...this all started after the AC compressor went bad...by the time I finish, I may as well try to get a new car! I certainly dont mind investing in repairs and maintenance; I just dont want to shell out doe every week on it!

The crankshaft pulley and the harmonic balancer are one piece. The pulley has a layer of rubber in the middle of it to absorb vibrations. Over time the rubber dries out and they seperate. Such as yours.

Shoot for under 370.00 you can get an ATI.
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

For a few more bucks you can get the boostlogic that is 20% lighter but the same size.

Mine went out not too long ago, I think around the 200K mark.

Just don't make them like they used to.

ths JUST happened to me 2 days ago and I fixed it the same day I was able to get a crank pulley/harmonic dapener...its a pretty easy swap out.

There are people ALL OVER the forums selling these...I posted a WTB ad on the SC forum section and got 6 PM's in one day....all giving me very fair prices ranging from 75 shipped to 150 shipped.

if you want to get a used one, save some green and get one from tehse guys. If not..then spend a couple extra bucks and get a Boost Logic one..they are the best in the market.

here is pretty much how I did it...(note, some of you may not agree with my methods, but it worked for me and im fairly experienced with motors..so yeah)

anyways..

1st. Took off serpatine belt..did this by getting a breaker bar 1/2"drive and a 14mm socket...cranked on the bolt to move tensioner pulley down to remove belt...came off..job=5min

2nd. get a 10 or 12mm wrench and take out the nuts for the fan...take out fan. job=5-10 min

3rd. Get Long breaker bar and a..3/4" socket (its all I had, or else i would have stuck to metrics). Place socket on Crank Pulley bolt and wedge breaker bar on the ground facing towards driver side. take out EFI fuse to prevent starting car. get in car, do a quick crank of the motor by turning it on for a millisecond..it will break the bolt free from the crank pulley cause the pulley bolt is torqued down 195ftlbs i believe. (note, its easier to do this with two people instead of yourself)

4th..take out pulley...now, it MAY be stuck to your crankshaft and will be extremely difficult to take out because its been on the car for such a LONG time..if it doesnt come out easily, I recommend u go to Napa or Auto zone or some**** and borrow a crank pulley puller and use it to take out crank pulley.

5th. Replace with new pulley...be sure to check keyway before entering new pulley..if its loose or worn, replace it asap.

6th. insert bolt...but a strong piece of metal (like a 1/2"drive rachet) in one of the holes of the powersteering pulley and wedge it in there. Put serpatine belt on...reason why im saying this is because youll need something to hold that pulley in place while u torque the bolt down.

7th. grab torque wrench, put it at 190-195ftlbs...torque her down till it clicks.

8th. put fan back on

good to go ...now note that the job would have been lightyears better had i had the right air tool equipment...my method is not considered 100% safe...but it is what worked for me and ill do it again if it comes to it.

DAMMIT Somebody mentioned this to me before...and I didnt take heed right away since I stopped using the air conditioner altogether because it wouldnt stop squealing! I just replaced my AC compressor a few weeks ago when that may not have been the problem!

My mechanic already thinks I'm nutz! Now I know I was right! He just couldnt figure out what it was!

Johnee78 from Florida wrote:

"I had a similar problem where I thought my ac compressor was going out because it was making a squeling noise..It turned out to be the cranshaft pulley that was going bad because of the extra drag the ac compressor would put on the motor when it was turned on..You may want to have it checked asap..."

THANX JOHNEE78!


__________________

Thanks man I'll pass this info along to the mechanic in case he doesnt know!!!!

I've been searching the net...where can I find the boostlogic?

It would actually be better for me to pick it up in store...are there any suggestions?

Ebay underdrive pulley 25.00 plus shipping and new belt 22.00.

dude that unorthodox BS is not worth the cheap price. get the right one or prepare for higher potential engine failure.