| Author | Topic |
|---|
Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
At last I have some power!
|
Wed, 14 August 2002 12:28
|
 |
Well, the cause of my low power output at dyno day & since my car's been on the road was a spinnig harmonic ballancer/crank pulley. 
During winter it still had no trouble spinning the water pump and not letting my motor warm up, and the alternator always charged alright. But I recently noticed it wobbling and thought I'd better investigate it, and found the bolt holding it on was stripped, and both the keyway in the pulley and the little key that fits in this keyway was mangled. I later found the small chunk of key imbedded in the slightly shredded timing cover.
So I pulled it all off (it took over a day & lots of skinned knuckles just to get the timing pulley off), and ended up replacing the timing pulley, the timing belt, the tensioner pulley, and most importantly the harmonic balancer/crank pulley (and a HUGE thanks goes to mick/irally for helping me out with one of these, I owe you one mate) & the little key that stops it from spinning, and the bolt that holds it on. Fortunately, the crank was built toyota tough, and both the keyway and the thread in the end of the crank were in ok condition.
Lo and behold, I get it all back together and of course it starts making a wierd rattling noise, which ended up being just the t-vis induction butterflies rattling, and once this was disconnected & I felt comfortable giving it everything, it went like a rocket!
It must have picked up at least 10Kw at the wheels, prolly even 15, which sounds shit but on top of 47 is a fair hit.
So onto the war story......
My first victim was my mate in his 100Kw 4A-GE powered AE82, which made 10Kw more than me on dyno day, but we were still neck & neck on the road. Well, that was then, this is now.
We went for a drive & ended up & one of our favourite private drag strips.
First attempt, a bit too heavy on the clutch, alot of wheelspin through first but powered away in 2nd & 3rd, was ahead by several lengths.
Second attempt, I slipped the clutch out with minimal wheelspin & was 1 1/2 lengths ahead in 1st, & pulled away into 2nd when I think he just gave up, but claims he furked the gearchange. 
Victim number two was another mate the very next night, this on in a suzuki swift GTi. Now I had only ever really raced him once, and he walked straight past me, so I decided to make my revenge sweet, & didn't tell him about how much better my car was going. 
Coincedently, he just got his car back from having a smash repaired & having the g'box rebuilt as well, so he was pretty confident & keen to give it a bit.
We met up, and started driving along with me infront, 1 lane so I was taking it easy, trying not to give the game away. Eventually we get to a T intersection onto a 3 lane rd, & I decide I'll let him have the inside lane.
Lights go red, and we're off round the corner, me dropping back a bit due to being on the outside, & because 1st gear, RWD, launching & corners arn't happy bedfellows, but I was up beside him by the end of second, & then backed off a bit because I was still keen for a proper run, although I did get him a bit suspicious, & wondering if there was something wrong with his car. 
So not far down the road, we line up at a red light, and we're both ready to go. I repeat my previous nights performance & launch with minimal revs & wheelspin, pull big 2nds, and end up ahead by about 2 1/2 lengths in 3rd! Hahaha, revenge was definitly tastier served cold! 
So there you go, now that you've read this, go & check your harmonic ballancer, make sure it's not wobbling or spinning on the crank.
And Joe & ribbo, either of you guys keen to go for a bit of a drive soon?
|
|
|
I supported Toymods
Toymods Club Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Wed, 14 August 2002 14:08
|
|
That's AWESOME to hear dude! 
Now bring on the turbo!!  
|
|
|
Location:
Western Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Wed, 14 August 2002 14:31
|
|
Haha!
Good work Joel.
Its good when you play around with the car and then afterwards you can feel the difference. Maybe you'll put me to shame in a run!
Btw, how did you get your timing pulley off?
I remember when I had the engine out I was going to replace the oil seal, so I took the crank pulley off, put I couldn't get the bloody timing pulley off!! In the end I decided not to risk damaging the pulley and left it on as no oil was leaking anyway.
|
|
|
Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 10:03
|
|
Yeah Paul, I'm not really in that much of a rush to get the turbo happening now, I guess I'll still do it, but damn I've been having so much fun the last week, it'll take a while to get tired of it. 
Hehe, hey matt, I totally rooted it getting it off. But I was at Toyota the day before & the guy told me a new one was only $30, and I had to get it off to replace the key so I didn't worry about it.
It was still a total prick to get off. I went & bought a 3-jaw puller (just an el-cheapo), and had to grind down the hooks to get them around the top of the wheel, and ended up breaking the little skirt of the oil pump that goes around the bottom of the pulley and does a fantastic job of stopping you from getting puller jaws under the pulley 2/3s of the way round it.
Eventually I pulled off the bumper & grill & apron, as I already had the radiator out, and after breaking another piece of the skirt on the oil pump, and a couple of bits off the pulley, managed to finally get all 3 hooks of the puller properly seated around the pulley, and got it off.
I'd love to know how you're supposed to do it. There's 1/8th of fuck all to get pulley jaws in under the pulley around the bottom 2/3rds.
The guy at toyota said that not many people change that oil seal 'cos they couldn't be bothered getting the pulley off, but that was just another thing I was gonna do 'cos it was leaking a bit anyway.
I tell you what, I've done things like get the extractors & exhaust, & upgraded the computer, but nothing has made a big a difference as this. I'm just trying to figure out when it started. I imagine it would have been gradual, so the power sorta tapered away without me noticing. And after getting it back on the road after 1 1/2 years of 'renovating', it was even harder to notice.
|
|
|
Location:
c'town, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 10:14
|
|
joel when u are talking about trying to get the pulley off are u talking about the big arse one on the bottom of the engine? (harmonic balancer?)
cause theres a tool u can buy that isnt like a jawed puller, its more like a piece of steel (looks like a open hand) that u bolt to the harm balancer and then a big bolt in the center that u tighten, it slides it off the more u tighten the middle bolt (making sure u have taken out the big bolt that holds the pulley on)
also now that your car has some power, just a curious question, will u now be on par with 4AGE sprinters?
id be interested to know if my heavy N/A RA40 is quicker and your light N/A TA23..
|
|
|
Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 11:00
|
|
Nah, I'm talking about the little timing pulley/sprocket. The harmonic balancer was easy to get off, it was almost ready to fall off!
And now I think I'll be at least on par with the ol' sprinters, hopefuly I'll have a chance to even the score with a certain sprinter soon......
How heavy's an RA40? I reckon it would be close, but you'd prolly have the edge.
|
|
|
Location:
c'town, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 11:04
|
|
dunno how heavy it is, ill weigh it soon, im guessing 1250kg maybe more.
anyways good to hear the cars running better.
|
|
|
I supported Toymods
Location:
Berowra-Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 11:06
|
|
|
how did that actually increase power? i think i'm missing something here, is it to do with the belts wern't running right so therefor you had added resistence in the belts? or something like that?
|
|
|
Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 11:37
|
|
No, it comes down to the big heavy crank pulley that runs the fan & auxilery belts, also known as a harmonic balancer. I don't understand exactly how it does it's part in the scheme of things, but is has something to do with balancing out resonation felt by the crank.
Hopefully someone with alot more knowledge can explain it, as I'm still very interested to find out more about it.
Basically, without it being fixed onto the end of the crank, and instead spinning just from it the frictional force, it lost alot of power. Once it was replaced and attached properly the power gain was incredible. It's actually quite amazing that the only side afeect of a loose balancer is a lack of power, as it ran and idled pretty much ok.
|
|
|
I supported Toymods
Location:
Berowra-Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 11:45
|
|
|
hahaha hmmmm its making the little harmonic balancers in my head turn. making me think i gotta get me one of those to get more power out of my car!!! lol i'm always interested to know of ways to get more power out but without doing major engine work and mods, like chaning my oil filter every 3 months its like i got nitros for the first 10min of driving after the new one is installed
|
|
|
Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 11:55
|
|
Hehe, you're car should have one already, & if it's not working, then you're car should be lacking power like mine was. Then fixing it will be great, cos you should get a power increase similar to mine, but if it's working ok, there's not much you can do.....
BTW, mine was running at least 10Kw under the average 4A-GE power output at the dyno day, so it's more of a power re-gain. 
|
|
|
I supported Toymods
Location:
Berowra-Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 11:57
|
|
and how do you check that all that stuff is ok?
how do i know mine is fine or needs replacing?
|
|
|
Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 12:04
|
|
Mine had got to the point where it was wobbling at idle, but you should be able to check it by pulling the belts off & giving it a hard wobble, see if it's at all loose. If you want, unbolt it & try to pul it off, it'll be easy if it's loose.
I doubt it would be a common thing though, mine was pretty bad.
|
|
|
I supported Toymods
Location:
Berowra-Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 12:12
|
|
well i may as well check it just for the sake of it, i'll add it to the to-do list for next time i got my bonnet up.
also considering you are currently loving drivng your car does that mean you will be attending the cruise on the 25th? as i'd love to get a close look at it as it will give me something to inspire to for when i get another celica in a years time to do up.
|
|
|
Location:
Western Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 14:26
|
|
Yeah, I'd like to know how the pro's do it as well. Toyota probably have some sort of SST that gets it off. I remember trying a number of pullers, but most were too big and the others wouldn't properly get onto it. It's good to know the timing pulley is only $30.
Az did the same job not long ago. I think he got two screwdrivers behind it to lever it off, but damaged it in the process.
|
|
|
Location:
Cabramatta, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Thu, 15 August 2002 23:35
|
|
| rob_RA40 wrote on Thu, 15 August 2002 9:04 PM |
dunno how heavy it is, ill weigh it soon, im guessing 1250kg maybe more.
|
Rob, mine weighed 1220kg with half a tank of petrol, so your car should be considerably lighter than that.
|
|
|
Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Fri, 16 August 2002 11:05
|
|
Regarding the cruise on the 25th, I'll have to see how I go in regard to work, but I think I might be able to make it.
As for my car, it seems other parts of it aren't up to the increase in power , and the clutch thrust bearing, which has been protesting out loud for a while now, today decided to shit itself. A "faint" whir at idle got louder & louder & became a loud grating almost crunching noise, so I managed to nurse it home from Padstow to my place using only 2nd & 4th, something I definitely wouldn't have been able to do a week ago.
So tomorrow, out comes the gearbox. I'm really looking forward to this..... 
Matt, the corolla manual I have says to just lever it a bit, & it's supposed to come of fairly easily apparently. But that's not a Toyota book.
Mine was wedged on with the key as it had been torn & mashed, so it wasn't quite square anymore. Was a fun job.
Oh well, it'll sound magic without the constant whir at idle when the clutch is out, but now I'm wondering if I should get the flywheel & pressure plate machined while the box is out, I figure I'd better replace the pilot/spigot bearing.
|
|
|
I supported Toymods
Location:
Berowra-Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Fri, 16 August 2002 11:09
|
|
ok well i hope u can make it as i'd like a good look at your car, seen it in passing once and i must say that was a sad day of my life, went home and sooked about how much better it was then mine hahahaha, but oh well i admit mine is a shitter but its good for what it is and thats a car to drive and thrash the sh!t out of
if it wasn't for people with cars like mine then yours wouldn't look so good
|
|
|
Location:
Newcastle
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Fri, 16 August 2002 13:10
|
|
|
your lucky you could ge tthe bolt undone that holds the harmonic ballancer on. when i did my engine rebuild i had to get it off. i had the block out fo the car and tried to get it off with a socket and a biig extension bar and proceded to cracka 19 MM socket in 3 diferent places then i to it to the place where i work and tried to get it off with a rattle gun and we didnt have enough pressure so then i had to take it down to bridgestone cos they use big friggen rattle guns and they got it off wihtout to much trouble.
|
|
|
Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Fri, 16 August 2002 13:16
|
|
|
Mine was close to falling out, as the thread on the bolt was totally stripped. Luckily the crand thread held strong.
|
|
|
Club Member
Location:
sydney
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
|
I supported Toymods
Location:
Berowra-Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Sat, 21 September 2002 11:03
|
|
ok Bigworm i've read through this thread again but can't seem to find it but did you once mention that you are meant to change the harmonic balancer anytime you take it off?
as i'll be taking mine off soon and want to know if i should change it while i'm at it,
|
|
|
Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Sat, 21 September 2002 14:43
|
|
No way, I never said that!
They cost a shitload from toyota, there's no need to replace it unless it is damaged.
|
|
|
I supported Toymods
Location:
Berowra-Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Sun, 22 September 2002 00:48
|
|
hmmm ok thanks anyway, just something stuck in my head that i heard you should change it whenever you take it off and this is the only thread i remember reading about harmonic balancers, maybe i'm just loosing my mind 
|
|
|
I supported Toymods
Location:
Berowra-Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
|
|
Re: At last I have some power!
|
Sun, 22 September 2002 00:59
|
|
|
ok well in that case i have one on the old engine out he back i could use if i stuff it
|
|
|
