Around two weeks ago my (94 Engine)h22 civic just shut off and would refuse to start. After finally getting to looking into it my balance shaft belt came apart. What apears to have happend is that the front and rear balance shaft seized up, there for just grinding the teeth off the belt, in turn jaming themselves inbetween the teeth of the timing belt, therefore it jumped time and would not start. My question is what would cause the front and rear balance shafts to sieze like that. After working on it I can get the front balancer to turn semi freely but not like it is suppose to, and the rear balance shaft you need two hands to turn it. So how do I fix this? I know that you can run with out the balance shaft but It is strongly discouraged due to wear and tear. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Just remove the balance shaft belt and put everything else back together. You do not need the balance shafts or the belt, it is <U>strictly</U> a comfort thing. No engine damage will result from removing the belt.

 

Thanks for the info. So a friend of mine was saying that the becuase the harmonic balancer is not working, the engine vibrates alot more than usual and it could destroy motor mounts, or snap a bolt of the flywheel. I dont know if that is right or wrong. I also am trying to figure out why they stoped working? I take it that I would not be able to replace/fix the balance shafts with the engine in the car, let alone without dissasembling the whole block? Do you or anyone you know run with out them? I am just trying to make sure I am doing things right because I have had this engine in for about 2/3 months and it has only ran for 2 days total due to problems in the timing belt area. Thank you again.

 

I've had them out for a few months now with no problems, but that is nothing compared to many members of this board that have run without them for long periods of time...even some with high hp turbo motors have not had a problem at all.

More importantly, tell you friend to STFU, because the harmonic balancer is the stock crank pulley, not the balance shafts. Some say that without the harmonic balancer, greater stress on the bearings can cause them to fail, but this has not been proven to my knowledge...

A member on this board "Hondaaddict" (I'm not sure how that's spelled, do a search for balance shaft plugs), even makes a kit to plug the holes from the balance shafts, and yes, you definately want to have the engine out.

 

Hey thank you for the information, and I am going to tell my friend to STFU. I cant plug it without taking the engine out. I take it your car is a daily driver still and not a strictly race engine. I am assuming after reading through the honda manual that my bearing for the balance shaft failed, havent figured out how yet though. Thanks again.