balancer belt & oil pump question. - Honda Prelude Forum

toofastprelude · 01-27-2006, 04:56 PM

i took my h23 prelude to the honda dealer today to have them diagnose a minor electrical problem and they noticed my balancer shaft belf was off. it has been this way for over a year (my car is NOT daily driven) the tech tried to tell me that the balancer belt also runs the oil pump. well wouldnt my oil light be on in that case due to no oil pressure? also my car smokes like a ***** when i first start it and idles like ass but once it warms up it drives fine. anyone have any ideas?

Keith · 01-27-2006, 05:12 PM

the balancer belt DOES NOT run your oil pump.

Keith

Lucke · 01-27-2006, 07:26 PM

what color is the smoke?
if its black/blue then you're burning oil... and most likely you're in need of new piston rings (although it could be something else, this is the most common thing on 4th gens).
if its white smoke, then you're burning coolant, and you should be checking your head gasket.

sweetlovekk · 01-31-2006, 09:22 PM

So is it safe to run without the balance shaft belt?

Xander · 02-01-2006, 02:02 AM

yep. lots of people do.

ds2000 · 02-01-2006, 06:15 AM

I run without the shafts, so you'll be fine!

preludestud11 · 02-01-2006, 09:50 AM

does running without the balancer shafts lower your oil pressure? I heard when you completely remove the balancer shafts it lowers the oil pressure to unsafe levels.

ds2000 · 02-01-2006, 02:34 PM

Nope, you block off the feeds to the balance shafts

I'll know my pressure once I've got a gauge in there

preludestud11 · 02-01-2006, 03:16 PM

where are the feeds to the balancer shafts? and how did you block them off? Did you need to pull the crank to do it?

railsldr · 02-01-2006, 04:08 PM

From what I can tell the Balance belt on the H series engine DOES run the oil pump. The belt wraps around the front balancer and rear balance shaft pulleys then also goes around the crankshaft pulley. I wouldnt run without the belt or the shaft for that matter, just doesnt seem smart to me, without the belt it should run like crap.

preludestud11 · 02-01-2006, 05:08 PM

the oil pump DOES NOT run off the balancer shaft belt. The oil pump is driven by the crank. I have been running one of my h23 motors for over 20,000 miles with no balancer shaft belt and runs fine, and compression test is avarges 215 accross the board. I just get a little vibration under 1500 rpm.

ds2000 · 02-02-2006, 04:25 AM

preludestud11 (sorry I don't know your name)

You are correct about the oil pump, the balance shafts have nothing to do with it!

If you buy the Kaizenspeed kit you block off the actuall shaft holes

You also block off the oil feeds on the bearing cap bridge, this is an engine out job though

http://images.fotopic.net/?iid=y9gth...600&quality=70

preludestud11 · 02-02-2006, 01:12 PM

haha lucky for me i have the engine out. Well i actually havea couple of them. LOL. Why do you block the feeds on the main bearing caps? Dosnt that get oil to your bearings?

railsldr · 02-02-2006, 02:48 PM

hmm I guess I was wrong. I was on Honda's ISIS program which is what tech's use for info (I'm an apprentice at Honda) and it showed the front balncer pulley needing to be lined up with a mark on the oil pump housing so it seemed to run the oil pump from what I could tell

jsmooney · 02-02-2006, 03:08 PM

maybe its just to line it up right with the rest of the stuff inside?

sweetlovekk · 02-12-2006, 11:26 AM

Sorry for the late reply, my internets been down. What is the gear set behind the rear balance shaft do? Is it not needed? Safe to run with out it? Thanks for the help.

Josh

ds2000 · 02-12-2006, 11:47 AM

I'm not 100% sure which part you mean, but if its the gear that is on the left hand side of the lower engine then that turns the shaft.

I think it also forms an oil seal, as I'm sure the KS kit provides a plug, so its probably best to leave the gears in place.

sweetlovekk · 02-12-2006, 01:36 PM

Here is my dilemma, I keep throwing my balance shaft belt. The only thing I can come up with is one of the balance shafts is locking up. Does this seem logical, or am I miising something else? I just want to make sure it is safe to run with out the balance shaft belt. Thanks for the help.

Josh

ds2000 · 02-12-2006, 02:59 PM

Yep, you should be fine

sweetlovekk · 02-12-2006, 04:17 PM

Cool