02 Accord SE 2.3L AT
Newbie here
I am doing a timing belt change and in the process I have removed the rear balance shaft pulley to change its gasket. And, no, I didn't have a lock on the shaft position when I removed the pulley.
Problem now is how to reinstall the balance shaft pulley to be correctly aligned with the rest of the engine and to also be aligned with a timing mark on the oil pan.
My understanding is that there is one hole in the balance shaft to lock it into place, but because of a gear reduction or step up, the pulley will not be in the same orientation as the last time the shaft is locked. So you really use 2 methods; the rear hole and the arrow/dot on the gear itself.
Now, because I have removed the balance shaft pulley, I can't use the timing marks on the oil pump housing.
I have tried looking at some of the old posts here but a lot of the sites referenced are no longer active.
Questions:
1. How does one go about getting the Balance shaft aligned with the rest of the engine? If the locking hole goes all the way through, how do I know which 1/2 revolution is correct? And if there is a gear reduction/step up, that could compound the issue.
How do you then get the balance pulley back on to align with the appropriate marks on the oil pump? I see a mark on one tooth of the pulley but not sure what it's supposed to line up with. If the shaft is held correctly in place (the BIG if) then I can align the mark on the pulley and whatever on the oil pump housing.

Thanks
Ed

 

If you use 1/4" diameter locking bolt to lock the rear balance shaft, it will only go in fully in one position because the hole is slighlty off center.

Once you have the balance shaft aligned, the balancer belt sprocket/gear is installed w/ the pointer towards a tab on the oil pump housing at about the 4o'clock position. This is from memory. If I'm wrong, others will correct.

good luck

good luck

 

Thanks for the reply, TexasHonda. Now that I already have the pulley installed after replacing the gasket, I guess I can ignore where the pointer on the pulley i pointing. Is there any reason why I would want to take off the pulley and reinstall it so that the marks line up, one I haved the locking pin in place?

I found some old posts of an older Accord that now give me a pretty good idea of what everything looks like inside. One key point mentioned was to make sure that the locking pin was inserted a full 72 mm so as to know which was the correct locking point, and not having the pin holding off to the side.
Ed

Old Post info
This is the hole the pin/bolt goes trough. That's why you need to make sure it's the correct diameter and the good depth because it could sit on the edge.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ril2010311.jpg

Tadaa!

And this one with the pin installed:
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ril2010312.jpg

Ahh the joy of having a non working engine for tests and spare parts![/QUOTE]

 

The only reason to reposition the rear balance shaft sprocket to correct alignment is so someone in the future, other than yourself, doesn't unknowningly mis-align.

good luck