Ok, so I went to a friend's house to a small get-together. He wanted to go for a ride in my car; I just pulled up and it's already warm, so ok, off we go. (I'll do my best to recreate what happened).
*smacks the gas in 1st gear*
*grins and giggles like a girl when it goes a little sideways*
*grin widens and giggles get louder when it shifts to 2nd, still smoking the tires*
*car shifts to third after it hooks up*
*BANG!*
*lets off the gas immediately*
*WHAABAAMMMALLLLAMMM*
"WHAT THE **** WAS THAT?"
*sees a small amount of sparks in the driver side mirror*
"HOLY **** THAT CAN'T BE GOOD"
*turns the car around and limp it the 1/2 mile back to my friend's house where it's going to sit until I get it fixed*
Everything seemed fine, other than it only making 1-2 pounds of boost. Oil pressure was good; coolant temp was good; good charge; etc.
When we got back, we looked for 10 minutes for what had happened. Everything seemed fine, but we could not see anything. I turned on the AC and the belt made a horrendous squeal. Then I saw it. (and immediately cut the car off).
The harmonic balancer had flown apart. Can you believe that?!? You know how there is a rubber piece in the middle of it? Well, the entire outer piece that the belt rides on was GONE. That hitting the ground must have been the sparks I saw. Only the smaller, inner, smooth piece of metal was left. That's what was squealing and why the blower wasn't making boost (no grip from the crankshaft).
My question is: did I screw anything up internally via the the whole event and driving it for a minute without the balancer? I certainly hope not, but I've heard of oil pump failure due to faulty balancers.
Also, is an OEM replacement balancer from a store like O'Reilly like this one work fine? Or do I need to spend part of an arm and most of a leg on one from a dealership?
Thanks guys. Hope you have had a great New Years. I certainly have, regardless of this little mishap.
Oh, and I'll post pics of the carnage tomorrow when we find the part that flew off.
*smacks the gas in 1st gear*
*grins and giggles like a girl when it goes a little sideways*
*grin widens and giggles get louder when it shifts to 2nd, still smoking the tires*
*car shifts to third after it hooks up*
*BANG!*
*lets off the gas immediately*
*WHAABAAMMMALLLLAMMM*
"WHAT THE **** WAS THAT?"
*sees a small amount of sparks in the driver side mirror*
"HOLY **** THAT CAN'T BE GOOD"
*turns the car around and limp it the 1/2 mile back to my friend's house where it's going to sit until I get it fixed*
Everything seemed fine, other than it only making 1-2 pounds of boost. Oil pressure was good; coolant temp was good; good charge; etc.
When we got back, we looked for 10 minutes for what had happened. Everything seemed fine, but we could not see anything. I turned on the AC and the belt made a horrendous squeal. Then I saw it. (and immediately cut the car off).
The harmonic balancer had flown apart. Can you believe that?!? You know how there is a rubber piece in the middle of it? Well, the entire outer piece that the belt rides on was GONE. That hitting the ground must have been the sparks I saw. Only the smaller, inner, smooth piece of metal was left. That's what was squealing and why the blower wasn't making boost (no grip from the crankshaft).
My question is: did I screw anything up internally via the the whole event and driving it for a minute without the balancer? I certainly hope not, but I've heard of oil pump failure due to faulty balancers.
Also, is an OEM replacement balancer from a store like O'Reilly like this one work fine? Or do I need to spend part of an arm and most of a leg on one from a dealership?
Thanks guys. Hope you have had a great New Years. I certainly have, regardless of this little mishap.
Oh, and I'll post pics of the carnage tomorrow when we find the part that flew off.