[avusilvia]

So the stary goes like this.....
I finally got up the courage to take my 200sx se to my mechanic to check out an oil leak that I've been having. He told me that there was something like $500 worth of repairs that were neeed
harmonic balancer, oil pressure sending unit,belts,front main seal and valve cover gasket

He told me that in order to change the valve cover gasket he needed to replace the enitre valve cover(per nissan's instructions). I think that this is bogus. so how easy is this work to do for the do-it-yourselfer/weekend wannabe mechanic?
just curious :newbie:
thanks guys
-mike

 

[IanH]

What yr ?
How many miles?
Good chance just the front crank seal is leaking, They leak first on the GA16's
Oil sender possible leak
valve cover only needs replacing if you have Oil in the spark plug tubes.
Yes belts prob need replacing anyway.
Why are you replacing the harmonic balancer ?

 

[IanH]

yes you can do this yourself, there are lots of threads and discussion here on the forum.
Yes you may need to buy some tools but they are yours for good, and less than $500 !!
Download the factory service manual (FSM) for free !!

 

[avusilvia]

the car is a 1996 se with 151945 miles. I'm kinda inclined to agree with my mechanic on the harmonic balancer. after letting off the throttle the revs go back up about 2-500 rpm then drop back down to idle. Sometimes depending on how much oil is in the pan it may do this 2-3 times after I let off the throttle. to me harmonic balancer makes sense since it calmed down a little after oil was put in and the belts were tightened a little.
let me know what you guys hink. is it easy to come by a harmonic balancer and how do I tell if a used one is any good if I need to go that route?
thanks
-mike

 

[IanH]

What you are describing is an IAVC problem not a harmonic balancer.
The harmonic balancer is there to balance the crankshaft vibrations and resonances.
On some cars the crank is not in static balance as well, ie externally balanced, and the harmonic balancer provides this balancing
( sometimes the flywheel is used as well ie Chevy SB 400 Cu in.)
If the rubber is bad or it falls apart then replace it otherwise its pretty inert !!

 

[IanH]

Its worth noting the crankshaft pulley is listed only as a pulley, not a harmonic balancer. Also its $151 discount price at Courtesy Nissan, are you sure this guy isnt just pulling your chain ???

 

[avusilvia]

I have my thoughts about it. the rubber might be detoioated on it as well from the front main leak(right?). I guess I can check it out when I do the front main and by inert do you mean irrelevant and not necesarily needed. also while I"m thinking of it, where is the oil pressure sending unit located. i can't seem to find it listed in my Haynes manual.

 

[metro273]

also while I"m thinking of it, where is the oil pressure sending unit located. i can't seem to find it listed in my Haynes manual.

It's near the oil filter. It's a gold-colored item with a rubber-covered connector attached to it. Squeeze the connector and it should come right off...good luck.

 

[IanH]

Since they replace the pulley with an under drive one I dont think this is a harmonic balancer...just remembered this....
Look and I will be suprised if there is any rubber.

 

[avusilvia]

so what your saying is th GA's might not have a balancer? I know that Grassroots motorsport (mag) there was an article about turbo'd NA miatas that have had their balancers off. some don't have problems and others bend a valve or start having crank beaing failure. I'm sure this depends on milage, but if the GA's have a balancer.....then these would be possible problems with a bad one right? BTW I cleaned my IACV and my idiot light went off and the idle is a little less sporradic now. thanks for that tip.
-mike

 

[avusilvia]

the underdrive theory does amke more sense the more I think of it. Unorthodox Racing(UR) sells and underdrive pulley that doesn't have a balancer which would go with the underdrive pulley with no balancer theory.
just another thought
-mike