Harmonic Balancer / Crankshaft Pulley Expected Life?

[OregonLC]

Looking to do the 2nd Timing Belt job on 'The Mule' (our 2004 LX). We're at about 175,000 miles which is a bit early but there's a coolant leak from the water pump. We've had it since 2013 and intend to keep it as a future kid car (still five years out). Eventually we want this to be a ski hauler / college camper, etc. as the kids come into their independence. Eventually, we plan it to be passed on to one of them. Because of the conditions it will be used in, the life expectancy we have for it, and who we're entrusting it to haul we don't mind replacing wear items in exchange for vehicle lifespan and reliability.

That said, I also don't want to unnecessarily waste money. I also subscribe to the 'buy once/cry once' and while my wrenching ability it high, but free time is short and so I'd rather 'do it while I'm in there' rather than have to go back in for an invasive repair in-between t-belt jobs.

So the question... what is the reasonable life expectancy of the Crankshaft Pulley? At some point the rubber becomes either at risk of failure or loses its ability to absorb the accessory NVH loads, transmitting those to the crank and cabin.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

From my experience, it’s a combination of age, environment, and mileage. In Oregon, should make it to the 4th timing belt job or ~350k miles or 25-30 years. In Arizona, where the heat and aridity kill rubber, I’ve seen them fail and ruin some folks’ days at 150-200k miles or 15-20 years.

 

[sr5pickup]

A friend of mine and I did a timing belt job on his 2000 Lx with 280k, Florida truck most of its life. His was completely toast and had to order a replacement. Took us a couple rotations to figure out what was going on.

 

[abuck99]

Please post the signs/indicators of failure.

 

[awesomeissquid]

When you are looking at the pulley the rubber piece that holds the two half’s together is located here:

For inspecting it, you would want to look for cracks, missing pieces of rubber, or if the rubber was incredibly hard.

 

[savirc]

I would definitely replace this with a timing job if it has never been replaced, I can see small cracks on mine and already have all the parts along with Tbelt parts to replace all at once.

 

[OwnerCS]

When I do the TB replacement on my 02 model at 360,000 miles, I will replace mine. Another thought is if I have the radiator out and doing fan pulley replacement before then, I will replace it at that time. I can't remember which engine it is but when they start wobbling, they can chew up timing cover parts and things you really don't want to damage.

 

[Mike NXP]

What's the price tag on this bad boy? Also, can it be replaced without diving to deeply in? You wouldn't need to remove timing covers and other stuff to replace it, do you? IDK

I'm usually a don't fix it unless there are signs of wear, but price and difficulty to get back in there would be my deciding factor.