3RZ Balance Shaft Delete

I have a 2000 tacoma i bought with a knock, thought was just a rod upon removing oil pan filled with lots and lots of metal and a flattened bearing, which turned out to be one of the bearing off one of the ends of the balanace shaft. it wallowed out where the bearing went, so block was more or less ruined, decided after what i learned the purpose of the shafts where, i took a die grinder and cut a pin off the chain that runs the shafts would come apart and grabbed a end and slide right out. that was 5000 miles ago and so far (knock on wood) i ahven't had no troubles, not sure what the truck felt like prior, but there isn't no more vibration in it then any other vehicle i have. as for more hp or mpg couldn't answer that don't know how it did before but it has plenty of power and gets good gas mileage.

 

hmmm...an unplanned balance shaft delete...interesting.

Well you're lucky for buying a broken truck with a ruined block and fixing it so easily.

So you didn't really need to do anything too complicated, like buy that balance shaft delete kit or mess with oil pressure, did you?

 

I used to have Nissan Sentra with 2.5L 4banger. The 2.5L nissan (same as in the frontier) has 100mm stroke. I deleted the balance shafts in that engine.

The balance shafts are driven by a chain from the crankshaft, so removing them has two benefits;

1, The engine doesn't spin the balance shafts anymore, therefore it frees up hp. On the 2.5L its about 5whp and the engine revs faster.

2, It increases oil capacity

The downside is that it adds a LOT of NVH! At idle with A/C on as well as between 3-4k rpm the whole car resonates.

Honestly I don't think its worth it for the 5whp. If you want to make decent power on a 4banger you have to go F/I...

 

lol at first I thought you meant Fuel Injected when you wrote F/I...

When it comes to Forced Induction, a lot of money, work and effort has to be put into the engine...and for some people it's worth it, but for most people if power is a priority you should have gotten a v6.

I just wanted to see if there was any small changes to bring out more power at the cost of some drivability.

At this point, it's definitely not worth it for me.

 

no the hardest thing was getting the back oil pan bolts out and back in. figured we had nothing to lose. if it didn't work.

 

so are you not doing this anymore or what? id like to see the results if you do but im not pushing you to

 

It has taken me some time to get around to it, but I am finally doing the 3RZ-FE balance shaft delete. Right now I have the front cover removed, and both timing and balance chains removed. After talking with a few people on other forums and doing some research, I have found that you do not have to buy anything special for this job depending on your reason for doing the delete. On of the common reasons has been reducing not only rotational mass to increase HP (About a 2 hp gain) but to also remove weight from the engine. (not really a lot, but each shaft weighs about 5 pounds maybe)

What I have found is that if all you are concerned about is actual ROTATIONAL mass, then all you have to do is simply remove the chain itself, but leave the tensioner for the balance shafts in place. Removing the chain prevents the shafts from rotating (obviously) but by leaving the shafts installed in place, you don't have to do anything to the bearings because there is no change in the oiling system since the parts are still there, just not rotating. Also by leaving the balance shaft chain tensioner in place, it is still able to lubricate the timing chain. No need for a special "squirter" from the aftermarket. It may be a few more days before I get everything put together, but once it is I will be coming back here to update how things are progressing.

 

Interesting to see someone is doing it. Looking back on it now I personally feel like it's a bad idea unless you're building a dedicated offroad toy or race engine and need every spare hp. Nowadays my priorities are improving ride anyways, as this truck is my daily driver. I'd much sooner replace the fan with an electric one if I were to look for reducing drag.

Good luck, and I'll be waiting for an update!

 

Can't wait for your feedback.

 

Bama, any updates?

 

Too late. I'll be finding out here next time I start up the truck haha

 

Sorry for not coming back. I honestly had forgotten all about having done the delete. So I am here with 3000 miles or more after removing the chain, and just leaving the rest of the balance shafts and gears in.

I can't speak to horsepower gains at all because at the same time I went with some oversized tires and a lift. I do know that it still has plenty of power for what it is: a 4 cyl. As for vibration, I have so little at highway speeds (Which is the only time there IS a vibration) that I really don't even notice it while I am driving. And to be honest, I am not even sure it is from the engine as I know that the driveshafts and carrier bearings on the 1st gen have a small amount of vibration that comes over time. This drivetrain has almost 200k miles on it, and as far as I know has never had a carrier bearing or u-joint replaced. On top of that I have a 2.5 inch lift, and no carrier drop, so THAT could even be the tiny vibration I feel.

So far I have had no issues with oil pressure (I never expected any in the first place) and am quite satisfied with the delete.

 

Thanks for the update! Good to hear nothing significantly detrimental happened. I already resigned myself to not doing it while it's my daily driver, but maybe when it's a dedicated toy...

 

that cat is so dang annoying while trying to read this post.......argh .lol

 

i have 2k on my chain removal. i wouldnt consider this added vibration if youre still using rubber mounts. I had my sr20 on solid mounts in my 240 and that thing vibrated. Imagine driving around in a electric shaver or a dildo... yea pretty much sums it up.

 

taco47, do you think there would be a problem with removing the chain even tho the rear driver side bearing on the balancer shaft was gone and wallowed the hole out. trying to save from having to buy a block

 

taco47 please see my post

 

I am trying to remember who actually did the balance shaft delete but for some reason I remember both of them did it when rebuilding the engine because it wasn't worth tearing down just for that.

 

You should be fine just removing the chain. The balance shafts will only sit there. No real benefit from physically removing them, other than weight savings. Drop the oil pan, cut the chain and it'll just fall out. Done.

I'm deleting my balance shafts but I don't have the damn thing back together yet.