Balance Shaft Removal

[deez]

So I am thinking of taking on this project. What all is involved with this? Do I have to pull the motor, or can I do it with it in? Any tips, links, whatever is appreciated.

 

click

You don't have to remove the motor

 

[Kenny_Kline]

You are basically doing a timing belt job. There are a few ways to remove the balance shafts. I would leave the front balance shaft alone.. leave it right where it is, just remove the belt. The rear balance shaft, I would bring to your local machine shop and have them cut all the weights off it. This process is done in a lathe. Reinstall with all new timing components and your done. The rear balance shaft can be removed without pulling the motor. I believe the front one can be removed too but I have never attempted it to be %100 sure. Another way is people use a stub shaft instead of putting there old balance shaft in a lathe. There is plenty of info about both setups to not ask about it.

 

[deez]

Holy crap, thats one hell of a procedure. Anyone near me wanna help? Conrad, I know you want to /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[CarRacer]

The front balance shaft has to come out. At the minimum, you have to rotate the bearings to block the oil passages as mention in the VFAQ write up.

 

[turbowop]

The front balance shaft does not have to come out. The front shaft has been in 1051 without a belt since 2003 without issue. I pulled the rear shaft and replaced it with the stub shaft from the 1.6l motor.

 

[Kenny_Kline]

The front balance shaft does not have to come out. There are 2 ways to block the oil passage. Take out front shaft and replace with a turned bearing or just leave the balance shaft in there and it does the same thing as a turned bearing.

 

[fivestardsm]

Dont you get an increase of oil pressure if you actually remove the balance shaft and spin the bearings to block off the journals? If you leave the balance shaft in, the oil still flows through the journal across the bearing and around the relief of the b-shaft. I was told that you could gain around 10 psi on the oil press.

If you are going to use the stub shaft, get the OEM shaft. I have torn apart 2 different motors that had the cheaper shaft's and they destroyed the pumps. They are made out of sh^t metal!!

 

[Kenny_Kline]

or just do it the right way and cut the weights off the rear balance shaft in a lathe.

 

[turbowop]

That still hasn't really been proven to be the "right" way. Many people have had zero issues with the 1.6l stub shaft.

 

[Barnes]

Quote:
or just do it the right way and cut the weights off the rear balance shaft in a lathe.



We've had this discussion before. Unless you wanna run at eleveenteen billion RPMs all the time, the OEM stub shaft is fine.

Leaving the front b-shaft in isn't a bad idea just for the fact that it will keep your oil pressure from getting crazy high. Which a few folks have had trouble with. Removing the rear shaft will increase the pressure, but not quite as high if you took both out.

EDIT: Wop beat me too it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

Port the hole in the oil relief valve to keep the pressure under control. Very easy to do.

 

[Barnes]

This is true, but this is additional work that can be avoided.

Also, in besides porting the hole, the spring supposedly needs to be cut down to make a real impact on the high pressure condition.

 

If you're removing the balance shafts you already have the oil filter housing off, can be ported in 2 minutes, no extra work needed. If you open up the hole closer to the relief valve piston the spring will not have to compress as far in order for oil to bypass and lower the pressure, so cutting the spring shouldn't be necessary.

 

[Barnes]

Durrr. I fail. Yeah, forgot you already have that off. As far as the spring goes, I'm just going with what was posted at another time. Worth looking into.

 

[turbowop]

Regardless, pulling the front shaft out of a motor that's still in the car is a huge pain in the ass and not worth it, IMO. Knocking out and flipping the bearings around isn't exactly fun from under the car either.

 

[deez]

So you can just leave the front shaft and let it just sit there?

 

[boostedinaz]

^^^
Yes.