I had some work done to my car today (93 SC300) and I had on a new timing belt put on. In the process of getting to the timing belt the Harmonic Balancer was ruined. My engine shakes at idle. Lexus wants $350 for a one!! So I hope there’s at least someone on here that can help and point me somewhere that I might find one cheaper. I won’t be able to drive my car until I can locate one of these, so your help is GREATLY appreciated!

 

Sorry to hear your problem, but how exactly did your harmonic balancer got ruined?

 

It was very hard to get off so I would suspect my mechanic heated the rubber. The rubber part itself is now causing the problem. My engine shakes a lot at idle. At least I caught it immediately and it didn't cause more problems! The cheapest I’ve found is from a Toyota dealer. They want $285 but surely I can get it for less than that somewhere!! Oh yeah, my car has around 70K miles on it and this is really the first problem I've had with it.

 

Did the mechanic admit he caused the problem?

I would make him pay and fix it since he caused the problem. He should either do a job and do it right or tell you that he might have a problem and he won't be liable if this or that happens. Sounds like you need to find a new mechanic.

Sorry to hear about your problem

 

My mechanic said the balancer was looking pretty bad before he touched it and it must have finished it off when he pulled it out. It ran perfectly fine until I turned on my AC, then my car started to shake. I found a place on the net www.taprecycling.com which can get the piece for $135 which is a lot better than $350! After I check it out a little more to make sure it’s ok, that’s probably the way I’ll go. Thanks again for the replies!