mtdempsey2

sorry about posting in the wrong forum before i hope this is the right one, im new to honda tech. i have a 1992 civic lx. there is some vibration coming from the crank shaft and or around my belts. a friend told me he thinks its the harmonic balancer. how do i know if this is correct?

CRX T-Si

First off Welcome,

As per your question since your not very familiar with your car I strongly suggest you take it to a mechanic to have them take a look at it.

If you can feel vibrations from your crank then your engine is toast.

But then again for a quick visual you can see it, make sure the engine is not running, look at the crank to see if there are any chips or any contact points with the chassis.

Your symptons does not sound like a crank problem instead it's telling me your engine is just shaking in the engine bay which can be the result of a broken motor mount, or the engine is not running smoothly.

Check your motor mount to see if it's broken and by broken I mean if the rubber is intack not torn or anything like that. If that is fine then I suggest you go to the auto parts store ask them for this product called "Seafoam" in a white metal can. Dump 1/2 can in your oil and 1/2 can in your gas.

Drive that around for at least a week and change your oil. That should clean your motor very well and make it run smoother.

hope that helps ya.

honda.lioness

The possible causes are many. You need to get in there and observe, adjust and observe again etc.

"Harmonic balancer" is another name for the crankshaft pulley. One thing you could do is pick up another at a junkyard and just change it out. This requires knowing how to change a timing belt, though. Plenty of free online manuals are available for guidance on the latter, along with honda-tech people. OTOH, unless your Civic has been seriously abused, I would not suspect the pulley. Do you know this Civic's history well?