5SFE engine tear down for '3SGZE' build. Do I need these bits?

[TERRA Operative]

I have just pulled the 5SFE engine down that I will be using for the stroker build and I have a question about something I found in the bottom end.



I assume that rectangle block is some sort of harmonic balancer thingo.
Do I need it and if not, can I get rid of the ring gear on the crank?

[shadowR]

I assume that is the oil pump.

Either way I probably wouldnt look to be removing the setup.. Whatever it is Toyota put it there for a reason.. Machining the gear off the crank may not be all so advisable either.

[jonathan yee]

yes you can remove the balance gear and that hideous thing. not all the 5sfe block/cranks had these things and the 3s never had them.

just get the crank well balanced obviously, it's just there to make it a smooth engine for camry's but not needed at all.

[TERRA Operative]

It's not the oil pump, that's driven off the front of the crank. This looks like balance shafts of some sort.
I don't really want to put them in if I don't need them as they will be another point of failure at 350+ Kw.
I do plan to install crank braces using the mounting holes for this thing if I can ditch it.

The gen 4 3SGTE I pulled down for the head for this build didn't have this stuff, so I'm hoping it's more for a smooth engine than a thing to keep the engine running?

[jonathan yee]

also your building a 5sgze not a 3sgze......hah.

[TERRA Operative]

Ah, question answered while I was posting.

Crank will be balanced, with custom pistons and forged rods etc.


also, semantics. People know what a 3sgze is, but you are correct.

[banana_socks]

Definitely seems like its some sort of balance shaft, but if in doubt you could pull it apart. I had a bit of experience with them in the old Mitsubishi 2.6L 4s (First engine to use them incidentally) and they're really only there for NVH reasons.

Though it doesn't matter how well you balance your rotating assembly, as an inline 4 is an inherently unbalanced design, and you'll always have 2nd and 3rd order harmonics. However since your changing the internals anyway, the balance shafts will probably no longer work as intended and just use up your horsepower.

[beerhead]

The rumour that I heard about why the 5S was fitted with balance shafts was customers where complaining about a harmonic noises in the early 90's camry's. So they added it to keep the motor a little more quiet. I haven't ever heard of any serious 5S builds that kept the balance shafts, just a power drain on a high revving engine.

[DrNick]

yep its just called balance shaft assy and you can chuck it out. heck people even remove them on 5sfe's even when they arent doing a rebuild, so in your case with all nice new balanced parts you definitely gotta get rid of it

[Grega]

not exactly horses for courses but have to point out
i removed the balance shaft from a vn v6 years ago
albeit a flawed design (v6) - the removal was a big mistake
i had the crank balanced - the lot - i spent a motsa on the engine (waste of money)
i ended up with vibrations at around 1500rpm and around 2500rpm which were bloody awful.
in a daily driver it really became a PITA
yes the engine revved out smoothely but this vibration used to shit me to death.

if you are building the engine to race and might work around these harmonics, cool, just trying to share my experiences there, hope it helps

[TERRA Operative]

Ok, they're out.

The engine will be fully balanced and if the engine was released without them in the past, then it should be fine.

Thanks all. I'm sure I'll have more questions soon.....

[briney]

removing them is pretty common. isn't there an oil feed to it which needs blocking off ?

[rolleraction]

I removed them on a race motor - no probs. The gear on the crank is a press on fit and you can remove it by gently cutting through it and away she goes.

[TERRA Operative]

Yea, I was planning on cutting the ring gear almost through with a thin disc on the grinder then giving it a gentle tap with a cold chisel, like is done with bearing races.

I'll double check the oil feed thing. What did you guys do about the oil pickup? One of the mounting points for the bracket is on the balancer assembly.

[StuC]

All camry 5s's had the balance shaft gear. All of the celica 5s's didnt have them at all. Bugger it all off!