What to do....... - Page 2

dumb_ricer · 06-11-2005

Heres my input on this.

I helped with the motor up to the front cover installation. Everything on the base short block went well. Clearances were all great and right on spec and all caps were torqued properly. We used the moly lube on the rods which came with it and used standard motor oil for the main cap bolts as that is what we used when we torqued it before machining. Beyond this point I have no idea what went on with the front cover install. BUT if I remember correctly the turned down balance shaft belt for the oil pump is run off of the oil pump sprocket, is this correct? And if that is correct, it would run off the timing belt. The problem I see is that after whatever happened to the Balance shaft happened, the timing belt was still perfectly tensioned from what I could feel, and the car still started right up the 2nd time for all the 2 seconds it was running.

As far as keeping it or selling it, it is not my descision, but I say if you feel it will be reliable through UTI, then go for it.

Raptor · 06-11-2005

The balance shaft has the smaller oil pump gear on it's end bolted down while the other gear has the timing belt driven sprocket on it. They both require locktight and have different torque specs for each.
The balance shaft can come out with the timing belt gear still attatched and proper tension still being maintained. That is a good thing to hear anyway, at least there is no top end issues to worry about.

**Goat Blower** · 06-11-2005

Not the same reason I passed on putting in a turned down balance shaft for the last motor I built and the one I'm building for myself, but one less thing to worry about.

Good luck on whatever you do with it.

Raptor · 06-11-2005

They are designed to solve a problem with the stub shafts wearing the case to one side which we several examples of here. If they are assembled right, there is no more risk of it coming out that a stock one and actually less considering the rediculous amount of weight they remove that is off balance. There is a valid reason to use them and there has not been one failure when installed correctly.

plymouthPSi · 06-12-2005

Thanks guys for all your input, and I will most likely be building it again. Like kevin said, "once a DSMer, Always a DSMer!"

Alex

TkrPerformance · 06-11-2005

i have a 6bolt block 150.00

**Goat Blower** · 06-11-2005

I know what they're supposed to do, but being that it is not directly attached to the oil pump gear, it's not going to correct any axial load that might be caused by timing belt tension on the oil pump sprocket. It's attached to the idler gear which really has no axial load except for maybe thick oil at startup pushing the gears outward as it's pumped through the gears. I actually have a front cover with evidence of this type of wear, and it's from an engine with both balance shafts.

The main oil pump gear and shaft have oiling passages on the top and bottom of the gear, as well as to the shaft itself, so as long as there's clean oil in there and it's assembled properly, it should always be riding on a sheen of oil, and cause little to no wear.

I liked the concept on paper, til I actually looked at it a little closer.

Raptor · 06-11-2005

The wear on the cases we have are off of ones that had the stub shaft in them. There is no way full balance shaft can wear the housing to cause what these have, the shaft would have to be bent.

**JET** · 06-12-2005

Yeah, it sucks but it will be a good learning experience. Take a little break and regroup, then have at it again.

Wizard · 06-12-2005

Just to let you know, I had the same thing happen to a local kid who rebuilt his motor. He had the eliminator kit and we forgot to locktite the stub shaft. Lost oil pressure after 15 min. of driving. Found the stub shaft sitting in the pan. Destroyed the pump. Fortunately, after about 3 hours and a spare oil pump later, car was fine. Lesson learned. Bad thing is, he forgot to tighten the drain plug on the tranny and it ran out of fluid. I found the loose plug, tightened it and told him to buy some fluid. He never did. 3 days laters, it locked up on him. Brand new motor with about 250 miles on it, shot tranny. Sitting.......

Wiz

Raptor · 06-13-2005

That just brings about another point that should be mentioned. We all get in a rush to get something done from time to time, but it is almost always a mistake. Simple things get missed (power steering pump not bolted on) and shortcuts get tempting. It is never worth it, trust me. Always take the time to do it right, if you don't have what you need, wait till you do and if you don't know how to do something, wait till you have a definative answer. It never pays to rush things. Thats why I build most of my engines at night, no phone ringing or people to drop in and distract me. You need to be focused on the job at hand the entire time.