Jonion

So while away camping the RL delayed our return home by refusing to start.
After a while it then started as if nothing was wrong.
I noticed the engine note wasn't as sweet as it should be but nothing major.Then the next day we had warning lights for random stuff (ABS, TPMS, charging, PAS etc.) so I checked it out.

Now I know we have a two-piece harmonic balancer but is it really supposed to be two separate pieces? :-)



After removing the serpentine belt I just pulled the outer section off.
Ordered a new pulley.

So the mrs had to use my track-prepped Prelude for her 150mile a day commute in the summer heat with a clear plexiglass roof section and no aircon. Ooops! :-(

Pulley arrived and was fitted, then while fitting the belt the left-hand thread tensioner bolt snapped, a common problem I'm told. So why doesn't any dealer keep them stocked?

Well it should be back together tonight.

The moral is:
If you get warning lights flashing for no obvious reason... (I've seen posts about random lights for alt/pas/tpms/etc..) check your harmonic balancer/crank pulley.

thomask

What's mileage on your RL? So, are you saying it's worth replacing left-hand thread tensioner bolt when doing pulley? Could you share what part number is for it? I'll be doing timing belt and changing pulley as well in the near future.

Jonion

Mileage is about 180k I think.
It's probably worth doing the nut & bolt while you're there as they're less than $5 from the dealers. But only if you're taking the tensioner off anyway. Or like me, have it break while tensioning the belt.

Part numbers:
bolt 90001-RCAA01
nut 90201-RCA-A01

available from any Acura or Honda dealer and online.

oo7spy

We have seen the harmonic balancer pulley disentigrate a couple of time before here. Poorly designed part IMO.

Jonion

I took delivery of the same part for my 88 Prelude while fitting the RL item, the difference in quality is huge.
I'll let you guess which the better one is ;-)

odinisamu

A few years ago the harmonic balancer went out on my dads Nissan Sentra. He balked at the replacement cost and had a junk yard solid crankshaft pulley from a prior gen Sentra as its replacement (He also wore down the clutch and brake pedals to bare metal and refused to put in new pedal pads).

He then insisted that my CL had a similar type design (I laughed and said Honda would not put something so stupid on their cars). Is the NVH gain worth the cost and reduction in durability? After all, its just driving a belt - I looked under my CL and it was a solid one piece design.

Anyone know wonder which J series engine/car would be a good donor for its crankshaft pulley on my RL. Maybe an Accord V6?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^TL, RL, Accord, etc...they all use the same J-series engine.

odinisamu

That also happens to be a one piece crankshaft pulley.

thomask

In my opinion it actually increases durability of an engine because it decreases vibrations it's not just driving a belt. I think it's usage depends on engine's design. V6s aren't balanced engines by design. They need to be balanced somehow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V6_eng...and_smoothness

odinisamu

Belts are soft and flexible, they will run without little or no noise. Unlike something solid like say driving a set of gears and shafts (made worse by wear or alignment issues). I noticed that solid pulleys are available from aftermarket companies like Excellerate - when/if mine fails I will replace with a solid one. Just an engineering tradeoff - take our engine mounts for example - the comfort vs longevity equation is biased towards comfort.

Jonion

You're trying to make it too simple, it's the balancing of the engine not reducing belt noise.

Om my Lude (for example) they fit a harmonic balancer as OEM on the DOHC, and a solid pulley on the SOHC. You can fit either to either engine and both work but you can certainly tell the difference when fitting the solid pulley to the DOHC.

The advantages of the solid pulley on a daily driver RL are pointless. Cost is the only one to consider it for but at $100 or so for the OEM type I don't even think that's a benefit.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

<p></p><p>unsprung weight would be the advantage. The aftermarket XLR8 pulley is one piece and weighs 1lb, where as the stock is 2 piece and weighs about 10lbs.</p>

Jonion

Ugh? How is that 'unsprung weight'? It's not. Unsprung weight is anything that is connected to the hub, or anything that isn't 'sprung' by the suspension.
Maybe you meant 'rotational mass'.

However, I never said there were no benefits at all, just none that are worth worrying about on a daily driver type of car.

The stock item weighs approx 7lbs not 10.

oo7spy

Is this the same pulley that an "underdrive" pulley replaces?

deepdezal

Jonion-How did you remove the crank pulley bolt?

I don't know if we can use the starter method crank bolt removal trick on the RL... Just wondering...

I do have pneumatic tools, but the gun + tank I have, cant produce the torque required to loosen up the crank bolt.

I will have to replace the TB on my car soon.

Thank.

Jonion

I have used that method once or twice but really don't like to if I can help it.
It would work on the RL... in theory.

It would be easier to explain with a pic but I never took any.
Tools: crank pulley holder, 1/2" drive socket, extensions, breaker bar, floor jack handle or other bar extension(for leverage), axle stands.
Lock crank with pulley tool.
Us stands to support the socket extension at the exact height of crank.
Use extension on breaker bar and a lot of weight (or if like me you don't have any weight a lot of exertion).
It will probably bend the extensions as you push and will undo with a bang.
It's not the prettiest operation but needs must.

I have all those tools to hand as I'm a muckanik but if you don't, the crank pulley tool is a must and they aren't that expensive.

oo7spy

L's TL says he has used the starter method on the RL. After all, it is just a J35, so there is nothing special here. I've never had to change a timing belt, but that method scares the crap out of me.

Jonion

And that's enough to make you do it the right way ;-)
There is so much to go wrong using that method as well.
In addition to the stress it puts on items.
The RL's auto(?)-starting would concern me.
I think in nearly 30 yrs I've only had to resort to it 3 times.
I've been happy to work on a lot of older Hondas so that method can't be used as they spin the other way.