Harmonic Balancer problems again!

BROKENCAR

MEMBER
HONDA ACCORD

2000 Honda Accord EX 96,000 miles. Ihave now gone through 2 harmonic balancers this year! My car keeps running out of oil at about 2500 miles after oil change. The mechanic tells me it is all leaking out because the Harmonic Balancer is broke. Why would this break again? Would this cause me to lose a whole engine worth of oil? My warranty is up in 1100 miles!

Thursday, July 13th, 2006 AT 2:39 PM

4 Replies

BRUCE HUNT

MECHANIC
3,754 POSTS

First of all unless something new has occurred with engines that I am unaware of, the harmonic balancer will never come in contact with the engine oil. Behind it is the seal, bearing, and pulley on the crank but if the oil is coming out of the front seal it is not the balancer at fault. The balancer is not your problem. Do you get the impression that they do not want to acknowledge problems with the engine drivetrain and cover it under the fleeting warranty period? You should find out for yourself where the oil is leaking from. Put fresh cardboard under the engine and note the leak to the engine above it. Or take it to another non-Honda dealership mechanic and get their opinion.

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Thursday, July 13th, 2006 AT 3:39 PM

BROKENCAR

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4 POSTS

They lifted the car up and showed me that there was an oil leak. They said it was coming from the seal. There was oil covering the base underneath the harmonic balancer. They also showed me on the harmonic balancer where the belt holds, it was wobbly. I don't know enough to argue. The warranty company will not pay to get it diagnosed again somewhere else. I also have a deductable everytime they work on it. I have had oil problems for over a year. On April 2005 they replaced: Harmonic Balancer, timing belt, reserviced the heads, and replaced 5 exhaust valves. On Jan 25, 2006, I said I was out of oil. They replaced the camshaft seal. On Feb 6, I was out of oil again. They replaced the head gasket and a fuel pressure regulator. Anyone want to buy a honda? :Roll:

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Thursday, July 13th, 2006 AT 3:57 PM

BRUCE HUNT

MECHANIC
3,754 POSTS

The car might be worth the repairs only since you have the extended warranty. However, if you are stating that the harmonic balancer is loose and wobbles, that is one thing. If you are indicating that the crankshaft which comes through the seal and connects to the harmonic balancer is loose and has play, then you are looking at bearing replacement as well. If what I said is correct, it is time to think about that next car. With worn bearings, other problems such as rings, etc are ready to occur as well.

Good luck and a better mechanic should have prevented it getting to this point.

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Monday, July 17th, 2006 AT 7:27 AM

BROKENCAR