Mazzda Harmonic Balancer

Vibrations: It’s the least thing that you want to have inside the cabin of your Mazda,

right? But since vibrations would unavoidably emanate from the body panels of your vehicle,

you would just try to resolve the noise problem by applying sound deadening materials.

Vibrations, however, is not only a problem inside your vehicle’s cabin. It is also a

problem for the engine’s crankshaft. And to resolve this vibration problem, Mazda engineers

have equipped each and every Mazda vehicle with high quality Mazda harmonic balancers.

The vibration created on the crankshaft of your Mazda’s engine is called torsional

vibration. It is a type of vibration emanating from the twisting of objects. As the engine

fires, the front end of the crankshaft takes the largest part of the power created by the

engine. This causes the front end of the shaft to move before the end does, resulting to a

twisting motion. As power is removed from the shaft, it would then unwind and snap back.

This twisting and snapping motion is the cause of torsional vibration and excessive amount

of this vibration can be detrimental not only to the crankshaft but to other parts of the

engine as well.

Mazda Harmonic Balancer
To avoid too much engine damage from torsional vibration, auto manufacturers have come up

with the harmonic balancer (also called crank pulley damper or vibration damper). In your

Mazda, the Mazda harmonic balancer can be found on the front end of the crankshaft. It is a

special type of pulley that is made up of three parts: a steel inner part which is

connected to the crankshaft; a steel outer part which has grooves for a belt; and a rubber

disk or spring loaded friction discs, or both, in between. As the engine tries to twist the

crankshaft, it ends up twisting the rubber part of the harmonic balancer instead. Thus,

torsional vibration is avoided and the crankshaft turns smoothly.

With a properly working Mazda harmonic balancer, your Mazda’s engine and crankshaft is

guaranteed to run smoothly. However, if the balancer gets damaged, you can expect the

opposite. So if you want to keep the engine running smoothly and to prevent a lot of damage

in it, better give the harmonic balancer a regular check and replace it when needed.