1998 outback harmonic balancer

[scoobiesforlife]

haven't been on here in a long time, but I need some help

Heres the basic run down, I have a 1998 subaru outback with over 241 thousand miles.

Today I was on my way back from lewiston (I live in gray) and coming down snowhill road, upon reaching the end of the road, I lost power steering.

I knew that didnt seem good (I thought I was just out of fluid) so I pulled over in the park and ride right off of old 26 there, turned the car off and popped the hood.

Heres where it gets interesting. I found the harmonic balancer (which I replaced barely a month ago) resting against my engine fans, with the bolt as well.

My basic question is, What can cause that crank bolt to come loose? I thought while the car was running it was supposed to stay tight?

Any help and advice is welcome

Thank you

 

[Matt]

ive seen them come loose if they werent tight enough to begin with. prob the only explanation there is.

 

[Meyagi]

tq spec for that bolt is like 150ft lbs. go back and see whoever installed it, im willing to bet the crank is now damaged from it wiggling around, seen it a bunch of times

 

[scoobiesforlife]

the crank actually is fine, I looked at it this morning in the rain, the back side of the balancer is a little knicked up around where it would sit. ive gotten a new bolt ordered, know anyone who has a chain wrench, or where I could get one cheap?

 

[Maxxguy25RS]

I don't know if this is the proper way to do this, but when I tightened my crank pully after I did my t-belt, I used two bolts and stuck them in the holes that are in the pully and locked a prybar in there and used a wicked big breaker bar to tighten it. I didn't have my torque wrench with me at the time, but I'll have to check if it has stayed tight. So far, everything has stayed tight and where it should.

I hope I'm talking about the same thing you are. And that this might be of some help.

 

[scoobiesforlife]

I don't know if this is the proper way to do this, but when I tightened my crank pully after I did my t-belt, I used two bolts and stuck them in the holes that are in the pully and locked a prybar in there and used a wicked big breaker bar to tighten it. I didn't have my torque wrench with me at the time, but I'll have to check if it has stayed tight. So far, everything has stayed tight and where it should.

I hope I'm talking about the same thing you are. And that this might be of some help.

that does sound like a good idea, I just need to get some decent bolts to put in the holes and not ruin the rubber that there (last one failed because it was wobbling and the rubber was beginning to deteriorate)

 

[Matt]

Throw it in 4th and crank it down!!!

 

[scoobiesforlife]

Throw it in 4th and crank it down!!!

I would but my car has the automatic trans

 

[Matt]

Rather unfortunate.

 

[scoobiesforlife]

tell me about it, but all I can say is 241 thousand on the original motor and drivetrain...my car is a tank

 

[Maxxguy25RS]

Maybe Matt is on to something there. I know the automatic is a different animal than a manual, but what if you were to put the trans into D or L and see of that would lock things in place? Might be worth a try if nothing else.

 

[scoobiesforlife]

^^^ ill give that a try tomorrow once I get the bolt, since by the time I get out of work and get the bolt, the shops will be closed and I have to give my dad back his vehicle

I will make sure to have the ebrake engaged and a wheel chock in place as well when I go to do this, just to make sure the car wont move

 

[scoobiesforlife]

update...the tank is back up and running smoothly...150 foot pounds on that crank bolt, she starts smoother too

 

[synthetic corners]

I was speaking with a Subaru guru a month or so ago and he told me that one problem that most people don't think about after a t belt change is the harmonic balancer "walking" off the shaft. He says most garages / people don't use loc tite on them and they should because when they come off they cause a lot of damage in the doing...

He preached the use of loc tite on the balancer.

You're lucky if yours didn't cause too much carnage! She is a tank!

WB

 

[Vecken]

i thought my clutch was out of alignment (hard to shift) when it was vibrating at high speeds. i just recently did my timing belt myself (didn't break anything this time!) so ill be going back and torqing that sucker down tomorrow! 236K all original and not a problem recently other than a worn clutch and dried out leaky rear main seal.

 

[Chris]

I don't loctite those. I just make them tight. They updated the torque spec to 170 or something. Also, oil the threads. That way you'll actually be getting the torque it reads on the wrench. Otherwise the friction will be making it seem like it's torqued more than it is. Loctite is probably lubricating the threads to some extent and this is why they don't come off when loctited.

I actually made a tool for holding the pulley. But the thing you really don't want to is use a strap or chain wrench on it (chain wrench will bugger it up anyway). You run the risk of spinning the outside part off the inside part because they're just held together by rubber.

On a manual I'll put it in 5th gear with the parking brake on. On an auto you can either put a bolt or something in the flexplate lock hole on the side of the bell housing, or stick a screwdriver in the flexplate through the inspection port hole.

 

[Matt]

I didn't use loctite either. Did my tbelt/water pump about 30 k ago and nothing came loose.

 

[jaKe]

They need to be tight. I like the lock in gear technique.