Ok... I am not a sucker for cheap parts... but I've had this generic light weight crank pulley sitting around for ages... the car is n/a and I need all the power I can get without killing the motor.

Bored... I decided to yank the stock pulley and bolt up the aftermarket one (no timing marks... jeez). long story short... it works fine... nothing seems off but I don't like not having timing notches for spot checks.

It's not like it's a bling name brand... tried and tested, etc... should I scrape some knuckles and put back the stocker ? Anyone had bad experiences with generic pulleys, because I have only used one before in my sohc and nothing went wrong for about 40k miles.... but that's neither here nor there.

I must be bored again...opinions ?

 

My personal experience with aftermarket pulleys (any brand) is don't lighten it. The balancer is just that, a balancer. It and the flywheel are balanced together at the factory. when you change that, you are changing the vibration IPS in the bottom end of the motor and that's where you hear a lot of guys complaining of oil pump failure with a CTR pulley.

There are quite a few running around locally that were balanced at the machine shop prior to assembly with a CTR pulley and no issues. But if you look on the net, there are quite a few "thrown on" pulleys with some issues down the road.

The little gain in power isn't worth the risk.

 

If the pulley is balanced how could it become an issue ? Because hondas dont have a harmonic dampener. This is what a guy who has experience in honda challenge and F1 racing told me.

 

been runnin a no name underdrive pulley w/ lighter flywheel for two years with no trouble

 

Once you change your clutch, flywheel or crank pulley, you affect the "balance" of your powertrain.

As long as the crank pulley has been balanced axially, you shouldn't have any problems.

Harmonic vibrations don't cause harm, they are just annoying when you start gettin gear vibrations.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lude98SH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If the pulley is balanced how could it become an issue ? Because hondas dont have a harmonic dampener. This is what a guy who has experience in honda challenge and F1 racing told me. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Stock crank pulleys don't have a rubber section built into them for the hell of it...

 

Honda crank pulleys were designed for a certain rotational inertia to work along with the oil pump and crank bearings...when this harmony is disturbed, it quickly wears down the other parts resulting in broken cranks etc... It might not happen tomorrow... but the chances of failure are bigger.

Most engine builders I know, are 100% against unbalanced and lightened aftermarket crank pulleys.. There are no gains, just pains

 

Yep, that is what I was taught by the guy who assembled my short block. If you balance them all together, have at it. Don't just change it once it's all assembled though.

 

ok... u guys are swaying me quick.... I think I will take a few mins to swap back on my stock pulley... but here is my follow up question:

When I re-built this engine, I took my entire bottom end to be high speed balanced and weight matched (rods, crank, pistons, flywheel, PP and pulley). Now that I pulled the stocker and am putting it back... should that affect the balancing in any way ?

**My experience tells me 'no'... but I have lied to myself before**

 

bump for the question ^^

 

endyne will only use OEM ITR pulleys. nuf for me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by X2BOARD &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok... u guys are swaying me quick.... I think I will take a few mins to swap back on my stock pulley... but here is my follow up question:

When I re-built this engine, I took my entire bottom end to be high speed balanced and weight matched (rods, crank, pistons, flywheel, PP and pulley). Now that I pulled the stocker and am putting it back... should that affect the balancing in any way ?

**My experience tells me 'no'... but I have lied to myself before**</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's not what the OEM pulley is designed to combat. It smooths out the power pulses as the crank rotates to keep it from twisting or sending shock to other components, such as the oil pump.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alphajesse &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

That's not what the OEM pulley is designed to combat. It smooths out the power pulses as the crank rotates to keep it from twisting or sending shock to other components, such as the oil pump.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I know what the damper in the stock pulley does...That's not the question I'm asking above.

Wondering if the switch from a balanced pulley to an unbalanced pulley and back would affect the balancing job done prior or is it that balancing once cannot be affected by swapping out a part.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by X2BOARD &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Wondering if the switch from a balanced pulley to an unbalanced pulley and back would affect the balancing job done prior or is it that balancing once cannot be affected by swapping out a part.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i say there will be no affect, as long it is (was) not revved very high with the unbalanced one. balancing is done by removing material, matching weights, etc.

 

Being that stick is indexed/keyed to the crank, removal and reinstallation should have no effect on it.

My engine was completely balanced at a machine shop but I did the assembly myself which in one way or another is similar to what you are doing by reinstalling a previously balanced part.

 

That makes sense...

 

im gona get the fluidampur hamonric balancer