well guys after a botched weekend of mechanical mishaps on my part that ended with me messing up two heads, I decided it was time for the installation of a replacement ecotec engine (a nice young 2005 with 13k miles on it no less)
but I decided before i installed the replacement engine to pull the balance shafts and finally install my LZM balance shaft delete kit to see how it was.
***firstly, there is absolutely NO WAY you can pull the shafts out while the engine is in the car, not to mention the kit itself. so keep that in mind if you're looking to do this.
its pretty straight forward but in order to get the balance shafts out you have to loosen the primary timing chain. so please, set your engine to TDC on cylinder #1 before taking it apart.
1) remove engine
2) remove belt, tensioner pulley and crank pulley.
3) remove timing cover.
4) remove timing chain tensioner. re-prime and set aside.
5) after loosening the primary chain you have to remove the guides. on the right side is the black stationary guide, and on the left is the hinged swept guide that is pushed by the tensioner. remove them and place aside.
6) next, remove the secondary chain tensioner. its on the lower left hand side and its associated guide, as well as the other two guides for the secondary chain.
7) slip the chain over the water pump gear to give you the slack needed for clearing the balance shaft gears.
8) remove the single 10mm bolt holding the shaft in place. give it a little tug and it should pop right out. repeat for the second shaft.
9) once you get the shafts out, you have to seperate the gears from them and mount on the dummies in the LZM kit. a vice helps a lot.
10) carefully install the gears onto the LZM dummies and lock them up as best you can. you can do a final tighten once the gears are reinstalled. make sure they spin free with little resistance.
11) next, you take the machined aluminum plugs in the kit and put them in the balance shafts chambers to block the rear bearing oil hole. if you don't do this, you'll have a loss in oil pressure since there will be no resistance there. having a peice of round solid stock in almost the same diameter as the hole helps a lot. carefully line it up with a screw driver or extension, then use the round stock to tap it in place. when the lips on the plugs are seated solid against the hole you're good.
12) reinstall the dummies and realign the secondary chain.
13) reinstall the secondary timing chain guides.
14) realign the primary timing chain and reinstall the guides.
15) re-time the engine (camshafts to crank shaft).
16) reinstall the timing chain tensioner and activate it with a push from a long screwdriver.
17) holding back one of the cams with a 15/16 wrench, tighten up the screws on the dummies. The secondary chain will hold them in place so you can properly tighten them.
18) re-assemble and reinstall the engine.
please note; sand paper or emory cloth is a good idea in order to make sure the dummies fit inside the balance shaft chambers. mine were a tad bit too large. DO NOT FORCE ANYTHING. if you need a hammer to install the dummies into the block, clearly something is wrong. The plugs are a different story, those do need to be tapped in.
initial impression:
i notice a little more vibes than normal and some more rattles than normal, but it seems to have a little bit more to give than before since the rotational mass is about 12-15lbs lighter than before.
I'll have a longer term review soon. difficulty is def a 5 out of 5. Engine removal is absolutely necessary to install this. its physically impossible otherwise.
wow that seems alot easier than i pictured
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
i forgot to add in order to get the primary chain out of the way enough to get the center guide for the secondary chain out you have to remove the exhaust cam gear. add that inbetween steps 4 and 5
So basicly it's easier to do it when you're building the engine. Once it's all appart it should be alot easier?
Gilles
2.3 Ho
^^absolutely
I want to reinforce the fact that this mod is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to do with the engine in the car. you don't have the access you need to the timing cover and components, the wheel well is in the way.
if you had a RWD ecotec like the solstice or sky, it would be possible but you'd have to remove the radiator and everything forward of the timing cover in order to get the shafts out. almost like a cam install on a v8.
but in a fwd ecotec car, its impossible. engine removal is absolutely necessary.
As an addendum, make sure you have something (we used a piece of round steel stock) that is about the same OD as the dummy plugs to GENTLY tap them in. You need to apply a little bit of force obviously as the press-fit is what holds them in place, but there's no need to go psycho whacking at the things.
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
Scarab (Jersey Jay 1.8T) wrote:there's no need to go psycho whacking at the things.
Well that takes all the fun out of it
Good job PeeeeeeeJ
Hahaha agreed, but in this case, sadly, gentle-ness was a necessary evil
Trust me, we work at a factory where the reigning motto is "Bigger hammer, more grease" lol...
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
Photos for us illiterate people?
why do you not want the balance shafts? they were kinda put their for a reason. you don't like a balanced engine?
You remove the balanced shafts to help with high rpms. the balance shafts add a lot of weight in the mix and do not allow you rev as high with out issues.
so you sacrifice engine roughness for high rpm's?
the 2.3 lgo is like a chainsaw
^^ and the W41 I rode in and my 2.4 with balance shaft delete idle and run better than a stock 2.4. For performance the balance shafts dont do anything. They take power to spin. Id take the way a properly running 2.3 runs over a stock 2.4 any day.
nice write up.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Monday, February 18, 2008 3:57 PM
take a read at the gm build book for the ecotec
it explains that for higher revving applications balance shaft removal is a good idea
not to mention, thats rotational mass removed from the mix.. which boils down to a bit of reclaimed power.
I agree with mitdr.. the car seems to idle a bit more stable now and i can't really tell if it has more oomph just yet.
we'll find out soon enough.
So could I do this in my driveway wit hand tools?
Well if pj doesnt have pics ill do a how to when i install my gm neutral shafts..
bmxludwig wrote:So could I do this in my driveway wit hand tools?
Well, there's no special machining or grinding or anything necessary. But I think I remember PJ needing some kind of special tool or puller to get the shafts out. But other than that, as long as you can pull the motor, you can do this mod. Frankly, for the types of people (which i know you're not one of) that only want to do things like I/H/E, this is definitely not a mod that should be considered, but for those who can easily pull the motor, or have pulled their head and successfully retimed their engine, this won't be that hard.
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
you have to pull the motor, so long as you can do that just basic hand tools will do it.
10mm allen wrench
10mm socket
13mm socket
extension
ratchet
flathead screwdriver
1-1/4" socket
breaker bar
thats pretty much all you need... AFTER you pull the engine of course.
Maken Waves wrote:the 2.3 lgo is like a chainsaw
I Guess you have a @!#$ty LG0. my W41 runs like my LD9 does.
but not as smoth as a LSJ.
there so small and cute! (
)
Chris
'02 Z-24 Supercharged
13.7 @102.45 MPH Third Place, 2007 GMSC Bash SOLD AS OF 01MAR08
Maken Waves wrote:why do you not want the balance shafts? they were kinda put their for a reason. you don't like a balanced engine?
You know, not to be a jerk or anything, but if you're going to apply that logic to the balance shafts, why mod the car at all? After all, the stock airbox was designed that way for a reason... As was the stock head, cams, valvetrain, manifolds, etc... You'd do well to remember that the OEM does things based on a compromise of cost, reliability, noise/vibration/harshness, and performance coming in at last place most times. Balance shafts were added to satisfy the annoying whiny consumers who bitched left and right that their 4 cylinder wasn't as smooth as a 6 or 8 cylinder. They're only their for reducing NVH complaints. I'm not sure if anyone's ever dynoed it back to back on an eco or a 2.4, but there are 2.2/2.5 turbo dodge owners who have gained as much as 15 whp from deleting the balance shafts alone.
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
Quote:
take a read at the gm build book for the ecotec
it explains that for higher revving applications balance shaft removal is a good idea
not to mention, thats rotational mass removed from the mix.. which boils down to a bit of reclaimed power.
Hey thats cool man, we all have are preferences, do other high reving 4 bangers have balance shafts?
I would rather keep the balance shafts and make more power way before redline. with a blower or something
Quote:
I Guess you have a @!#$ty LG0. my W41 runs like my LD9 does.
your w41 runs like your ld9?
I don't have a bad lgo everybody knows that engine was rough.
