balancer shaft question?

[usd2sing]

hi all,
first off, yes i read all of the tech stuff, but didnt get quite enough info on my question.
so here it is:

can the balancer shaft be disabled, left in place without any ill affects? just removing the gear.
is there any chance of it moving or shifting causing some sort of adverse problems?
not able to pull the motor here in the rental house so removing it is pretty much out of the question.

doing a h/c package next weekend so im digging around for any possible issues.
installing single rollmaster with the setup.

thanks in advance,

[Marty85]

Honestly I dont see anything really bad about disabling the balancer shaft. Ive never personally heard or anyone doing it either so I cant offer much information. The only real problem I see is with the shaft disabled, the engine will create lots, and I mean LOTS of vibration more than likely. You might run a search of the forums for some more information.

[AZ3.8Camaro]

You don't need to disable it with the rollmaster single roller chain, only the double.
The engine will shake more if you disable it.
It is safe.

[South Tampa V6]

I've heard that the only vibration effects were at idle and low rpm. Was also told it could be removed without pulling the engine, just have to tap and plug the rear oil galley. Anyone confirm this?

Any yes, only need to remove it (or at least the gear) for double roller which you should probably install anyway since the single retains the idler arm but is rougher on the contact side of the chain and eats it away which is the source of all the problems.

My double just shipped today got the email from zoomer.

[rhouse21]

Why would you do this? If you're trying to pick up HP I couldn't see this ading more than a few fractions of a horsepower and you'd run the risk of shaking the living hell out of your engine and motor mounts. Is this really worth the effort?

I'm just asking because I've never heard of anyone doing this before and honestly really unclear about what kinds of gains it would acheive.

[98Camaro3.8]

I'm considering it because of the problems with the timing chain tensioner with high strength valve springs. Not to pick up a few extra HP, but to avoid allowing the valves to say hello to a piston. I've also read that it only creates a slightly rougher idle....big deal.

[South Tampa V6]

Originally posted by 98Camaro3.8:
I've also read that it only creates a slightly rougher idle....big deal.

Yeah, like the cam isnt going to do that anyway, who cares.

[rhouse21]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. That makes sense. :D

[Tru2Chevy]

Originally posted by rhouse21:
Why would you do this? If you're trying to pick up HP I couldn't see this ading more than a few fractions of a horsepower and you'd run the risk of shaking the living hell out of your engine and motor mounts. Is this really worth the effort?

I'm just asking because I've never heard of anyone doing this before and honestly really unclear about what kinds of gains it would acheive.

Removing the balance shaft not only takes more weight off of the nose of the car, but it also takes lots of rotating weight out of the engine. Same concept as swapping to an aluminum driveshaft, only better.

- Justin

[South Tampa V6]

Ok, I ended up just pulling the gear to run the double roller chain and leaving the shaft in. I only notice a little vibration from 2500-2700. Again with the cam its hardly noticable at all.

[Marty85]

Have you noticed that your engine can now rev quicker without having to turn the weight of the balancer shaft.

[Antiricer4u]

could this possibly be related to my RPM sensitive vibration that i get around 2400?

hmm

*thinks*

[usd2sing]

very possible. is yours disconnected??? removed. rpm range sounds about right.

[AZ3.8Camaro]

Originally posted by usd2sing:
very possible. is yours disconnected??? removed. rpm range sounds about right.

Yours up and running yet?

[usd2sing]

Originally posted by AZ3.8Camaro:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by usd2sing:
very possible. is yours disconnected??? removed. rpm range sounds about right.

Yours up and running yet? </font>[/QUOTE]yeah, we found another used motor, locally, sent the heads back to XXX for thier review. Hopefully he'll do the right thing. ended up costing us $1,200.00 and 4 of my vacation days to get the kids car going again.
we loved the package...great power and stuff. just hard to understand why the valve head broke off. 1100 miles on the package/kit, this happened at 30mph.
did get some pretty serious input from 2 local shops that reviewed/looked at the head. but i wont post thier comments. or at least until i see how X responds.
i tell ya what. i have gained so much repect for these v6's....amazing engine. dependable, strong running, easy to work on. nice setup.
i wish we could have afforded to buy the motor that lance had for sale. would have been sweet!
so for now we're running stock. still have the cam, intakes, headers, lifters, timing chain, etc. ready for reinstallation, we'll see. thinking positive at the moment.
check it out: hit the slideshow,
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/usd2si...&.dnm=1e04.jpg

peace, take care,
dan