[mutungi]

What do I need to do to completely DISABLE this almost redundant mechanism? Leave all the gear as is except remove the chain and plug the balance chain tensioner location to maintain the oil pressure? Any other way?

 

[billj]

I think that's the way. Looks like that's how KevinY did it on his. I'm looking at doing a similar operation in the near future and that is how I was going to tackle it. I'll be interested to hear more about it, though.

 

[Mark B]

At the risk of sounding even more daft than normal, why do you want to do this?

 

[mutungi]

MB,
Firmly believed that it improves performance, removes unnecssary maintenance expense in replacement.....anyway, who wants a SAAB that sounds like a [expletive deleted].......should growl like a TIGER! Can you imagine a TVR with a balance shaft engine! NO! Theoratical smoothness factor is minimal with the Balance shafts....80% of owners would not be able to tell the diff between car with and without this stuff. Also, this is a weak point in SAAB engines!
KY's done a super mod job with his SAAB! Thanks for the tip, BJ

 

[kommando]

more HP and faster response due to lower frictional losses and lower weight of moving engine components.

 

[sj]

I thought about doing this on my B234L, because even when tweaked, it didn't pick up with the aggression of the B202 I had before. I pondered that this could be partly due to having to accelerate two heavy steel balance shafts etc. at double engine revs - a considerable amount of inertia.
The other logic was that, if these shafts damp vibrations and make it run smoother, then are they really doing much? I couldn't fault the non-balance shaft engine for smoothness anyway!

 

[1989agoodvintage]

Originally posted by SJ:
[qb]I thought about doing this on my B234L, because even when tweaked, it didn't pick up with the aggression of the B202 I had before. I pondered that this could be partly due to having to accelerate two heavy steel balance shafts etc. at double engine revs - a considerable amount of inertia.
The other logic was that, if these shafts damp vibrations and make it run smoother, then are they really doing much? I couldn't fault the non-balance shaft engine for smoothness anyway! [/qb][/b]

Me too, but I've already booked my car in to have the chains and gears replaced now. I'm really not sure how removal of the balance shaft mechanisms would effect my car, since this change is seemingly a "difficult" one to reverse, I'd rather err on the side of caution and keep my current engine (which I am extremely happy with) purring along nicely. I think I'd like to see a 2.3T running WELL without it's balancer shafts before I took a gamble myself.

 

[billj]

I believe someone in the US (might have been KevinY?) has measured an increase of around 10hp through removing the chain. Not really an increase in power, but a reduction in loss.

 

[FoeCom]

I'm going to be doing my timing chain in a few weeks when I get some time off, and was about to ask about the importance of the balance shafts! Because that pretty much doubles the cost of the work I'm going to do. Is there any risk of damage at all when the chain is removed and the tensioner hole plugged?