The stabilizer in the engine (192K kms) of my 92 Accord seized after an unexplained oil pressure failure. It was rather costly to get the engine apart to find out the cause of the problem thus my mechanic removed the gear that engages the stabilizer and put a new belt. The old one was stripped badly. The engine is louder and feels a bit rough. Is it OK to drive like this?
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I think you're taking about the balance shaft, right? It's not absolutely necessary, as far as I can tell.
'Curly'
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I was referring to the balance shaft. I forgot what it was called but knew that it helped the engine not to vibrate thus I called it stabilizer !!!
If I remember correctly, the '92 Accord has two balance shafts. Did both seize or just one? Did your mechanic completely remove the belt or did he find a shorter one to drive the other balance shaft? Did your mechanic discover why it seized? I would be worried about possible oil starvation problems popping up elsewhere in the engine at some point in the future. One thing to check would be to pull the oil pan and make sure that the oil pump pick-up screen was not clogged up. On another note, driving with the engine shaking around more than normal will accelerate the wear on the engine mounts and perhaps some of the hoses since they'll be flexing more than normal.
Eric
You are right it has two balance shafts. I did not go to the route of diagnosing further whether both seized or only one and why. He did not remove the belt but removed a gear that engages the shaft(s). I am not sure whether he disabled both. He quoted me up to $1200 if he removed the oil pan and other stuff to access the shaft. He said if it were the bearings it is cheap to fix but if the shaft(s) were bent than he suggested to put a new engine for $1400 plus labor. I like this car but there is some rust on it and I do not feel like to revive it . If I can drive it like this for another 2 years hopefully I will be able to buy a new one by then. You have a good point about any debris in the oil pump pick-up screen. If it got clogged for some reason it explains my unexplained oil pressure light failure a month ago that started these problems. My mechanic did not mention this as a possible cause at the time.
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