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Harmonic balancer is wobbling... + other maintenance questions (help me pick parts)

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slugg

slugg

Diamond Member
2000 Honda Accord 2.3L V-Tech, single cam

So I was driving to school today and out of nowhere, a bunch of lights came on on my dashboard and my power steering was gone. I got off at the next exit and pulled into a parking lot. Turns out the harmonic balancer was wobbling a LOT and it made one of the belts come loose, which I guess knocked the other belt out of place, too. I'm a noob, so I don't know the name of the belts, but there were two: one that connects to the power steering pump, and the other that connects to the AC and the alternator.

So I had a friend drive me to buy new belts and the crank pully tool thingy (holds the crank shaft still while you torque the bolt holding in the harmonic balancer). I torqued it to spec (130 ft-lbs) and put on the new belts.

Even after that, the harmonic balancer is still wobbling. It's not as bad as before, but my understanding is that it shouldn't wobble at all. The car *seems* to be running fine, but I'm still driving it very lightly.

Any ideas? Could my crank shaft be bent somehow? Is the car safe to drive right now? Halp 🙁
 
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$32.79 for a harmonic balancer at rockauto.com

The rubber between the metal on your balancer is probably worn out.
 
After further investigation, it *seems* like you guys are right. I'm gonna go ahead and buy a bunch of stuff from Rock Auto; the car needs some typical maintenance items.

Before I put the order in, I have a quick question... Does the brand of spark plug wires matter? I know that people religiously recommend NGK spark plugs (which are cheap on RockAuto, so I'm fine with it), but I don't think it's necessary to get NGK spark plug wires ($50). Rock Auto has these wires for like $10, which is more up my alley. These should be fine, right?

Here's my list so far. Please suggest anything I should consider:
1. Harmonic balancer
2. Spark plugs (NGK V-Power, 4)
3. Valve cover gasket + spark plug tube seals (Fel-pro)
4. Spark plug wires (???)
5. I will do fluids and hoses locally as needed (unless otherwise recommended)

Thanks 🙂
 
I don't think the brand of spark plug wires will make a huge difference, but $10 for a set seems a little low, the least I'd expect to spend is $25-30. It's not worth using the cheapest parts unless it's something like a cigarette lighter that is easy to change and doesn't really have any consequences if it fails. Spark plug wires could cause a lot of frustration if they are bad, you might spend hours troubleshooting and replacing parts because you assume the new spark plug wires are good.
 
Don't cheap out on wires. A $10 set might not have sufficient shielding which will cause headaches when there is moisture in the air. It can cause arcing.
 
Would anyone mind suggesting a set of spark plug wires that aren't outrageously expensive? I'm ordering from Rock Auto. Here are the brands that they carry (ordered from cheapest to most expensive):

- Prospark
- Federal Parts
- BWD/NIEHOFF
- United Ignition Wire
- Prestolite
- Champion
- Auto Extra
- Standard Motor Products
- Autolite
- BECK/ARNLEY
- Bosch
- ACDelco
- NGK

Thanks 🙂
 
You will need these plug wires to be dependable for a long time. So, unless you are getting rid of the car, don't cheap out on the plug wires. I would stick with the last 3 or Autolite.
 
exdeath said:
Yeah the Honda balancers are wierd... who puts rubber in a crank balancer/pulley? D:
Click to expand...

my 98 civic has metal on metal for the main pulley. and that little key thing. i didnt get it torqued down enough the first time i had it off, so it spun the bolt out over about 17 mile drive on the freeway. didnt lose the key, but it rounded the teeth inside the pulley to the point that i had to get a new one. didnt lose the key either, that sucker is like 30 bucks from the dealer.
 
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