vt engine pully knocking

[weazzellboi]

Hi All
can anyone shed some light on this please, i have started to hear a knocking sound in the front main engine pully and when its running it looks a little wobbly as it goes round, was wondering how i fix it , whats happening and is it common? is it easy to do or do i need to get some flash machanic to charge me big $$$$.$$ to do what i could?

cheers

[accentstencil]

That pulley is called the harmonic balancer. Check the condition of the rubber in the centre to see if there are cracks or pieces missing. With the right tools it is not too difficult to replace although the bolt in the centre can be a pain to get undone without a ratchet gun and good sized compressor. You will also need a decent gear puller. If you don't have these tools you would be better off getting it done by a mechanic. It's been many years since I've replaced one so I have no idea of the cost of a new harmonic balancer.

[weazzellboi]

That pulley is called the harmonic balancer. Check the condition of the rubber in the centre to see if there are cracks or pieces missing. With the right tools it is not too difficult to replace although the bolt in the centre can be a pain to get undone without a ratchet gun and good sized compressor. You will also need a decent gear puller. If you don't have these tools you would be better off getting it done by a mechanic. It's been many years since I've replaced one so I have no idea of the cost of a new harmonic balancer.

hbi, cheers for that.. id hate to see that let go...

[])R@G()N]

I had one go on my old HQ luckily there a lot smaller then a VT one

[FKNSMOOV]

hey guys new to JC forums, i bought myself a VS comm wagon and it had the engine replaced with a VT engine, it has an overheating problem but i let it calm down and then its all good again, mechanic said its a plate at the back of the engine, anyway back to my point, what has happenend is it overheated so i let it calm down and put coolant back in it and since then a loud knocking noise has occoured it doesnt go away even when you accelerate it just gets a little faster and today i was running it and the fan belt came off, it didnt break it just came clean off the engine and then my battery light came on, now just wondering what it could be because i need this car badly and could the fan belt coming off be the reason why the knocking noise happened in the first place. the knocking noise started before the belt came off.

appreciate your feedback guys thanks.

[accentstencil]

Check the harmonic balancer especially the centre rubber bit.

[codeunknown]

well what you need to be looking at is the belt rotation while at idle....
then under slow and steady increased speed...

old belts will shift and move.....
belts not running true will be showing a wabble
checking the tension is a good idea !
knocking noise sounds like it it could be bearing...be that pulley bearing or harmonic loosing its centrailised spinning means replacement before it flys off
also check belt tensionsors...they have been known to split...sperate...cease...launch off...go noisey....
and you can say the same for alternator / clutch on air con compressor

it could be the water pump...making the noise...
start isolating...and tracking it down..

check that bolt holding in and on the harmonic...if it gets too wild and wooly before it comes off its going to take out that crank case sensor as well as the radiator or fans....

start looking now...

if the main bolt in the crank holding the harmoinic on etc..is a bitch...and i had a vn that no mechanic could get off ..and i did.....
remove the fan belt
remove all spark plugs
make sure the battery fully charged
place a socket on the bolt...and put a long arm straight bar on it...
you may have to plug and remove the auto transmission lines goin to the rad...
or loosen then and tie then to cross member..with zip ties..and use good ones..
now for tieing the straight bar...use some chain and some trailer clamps...
tie the chain to each end of the engine assemble main beam and using the clamps clamp 3or 4 on the straight bar..

the idea here is using the engine to throw the pully while holding the straigh bar aka crankcase bolt...

they will come off this way when a 4-6 ft extended bar would not work with 2-3 guys on it..trust me...
and if some past owner morron used the wrong locktight...

it will come off...

hope that all helps ya...