URGENT HELP NEEDED. TD5 Pulleys

[Gillie]

I came back from Melbourne the other night and stopped off at rest area to hear the motor was making a terrible racket at idle. It sounded like a Nissan patrol TD42 at Idle when cold would be the best way to describe it. The noise went away at revs and was worse with the AC on. When I got home I had a play and reckoned it was coming from the AC compressor.
On Saturday I say a Auto AC bloke who reckoned it was a bearing on the pulley or on one nearby.

I was able to get a bearing for the pulley and had a look at it today. All Pulleys seemed fine with the serpentine belt off, but I changed the bearing on the pulley in hope. I also started the engine with no Belt and there was no noise therefore eliminating a small person with a big hammer running around inside the motor.

Now after pressing the old bearing out and new bearing in, it appears that the pulley is now warped between the bearing housing and the outside of the Pulley.

This has effectively made the clutch redundant on the Ac compressor as it appears to be mechanically stuck on, so this is a new problem which cannot be sorted on a long weekend. However the noise is still there though this time it makes no difference if the AC is on or not as the clutch is stuck and the compressor is working all the time.
I know its a long shot but I have two weeks holidays coming up this Friday and I am beginning to be concerned. Any help or suggestions.
Cheers

[Gillie]

WEll the noise has been found. The Harmonic Balancer is Cactus. :( Won't be seeing much change from $2K. Big Shout out to Ivan Clarke in Wodonga for diagnosis and squeezing it in before the end of the week before holidays.

The Defender has 135,000 Km on it and alot of idling will wear the harmonic balancer out quicker. My Car used to be a fire truck so the picture fits.

I think I changed out the Harmonic Balancer out of a commodore 202 for about $50 in the 90's.

[BilboBoggles]

Will be Interesting to see what balancer you get. Land rover have now discontinued this for the td5, so now you can only get alternatives, not genuine.

[BilboBoggles]

Oh one other thing to check.. is your power steering pump leaking a little? Mine was and the oil ate the rubber in the balancer. Best to fix both at the same time.

[Gillie]

Power steering pump. no.

Power steering box, like the Exon Valdez!!

[BilboBoggles]

I dug up the receipt for mine - I paid $900 for a genuine Harmonic balancer, but it was part of another much larger service ... nearly $7000.... so I can't tell how much labour was. But I would not expect much labour for a balancer - and I'd guess at $1200 would be a reasonable price for such a job.

You might want to do a recent thread search - as there is now a local company making harmonic balancers that look very heavy duty and long lasting. I'd be worried about a cheap aftermarket one crapping itself in short time. (There can be nasty consequences of a bad harmonic balancer, from chewed out key way's to separating rings going through radiators, right up to snapped off crankshaft noses...., each involving a second mortgage)....

[Gillie]

Ivan did say there was a Mob nearby that reconditioned them but they are twice as dear as new one and offered a warranty Twice as long and in his opinion not worth it which I would agree. I would of had a crack at this myself but don't have the time at the moment.