How do i tell if I have a bad Harmonic Balancer

[shanea1]

I have a '98 Honda Prelude.
I recently took my car to a mechanic and when looked at from the side my harmonic balancer was wobbling. The mechanic immediately said it needs to be replaced. Is this true? Is it that easy to tell just by looking at it?
Thanks for the help,
Shane

[MagicRat]

Was it the balancer itself, or a pully?

A wobbly balancer does need to be replaced. You can also try gripping the outside of the balancer and try to move it around or back-and -forth (when the engine is turned off!!)
There should be no appreciable movement between the balancer and the crankshaft.

Also, bad balancers often (but not always) make a clunking/clicking noise when the engine is running.

[Mavrick14]

Depends how severe the movement is. Most balancers i see on regular daily driven cars do look like they wobble a little bit, this is normal.

Balancers/dampers have a rubber lining between the outter pulley and the inner hub. Inspect the lining for damage, cracking, etc. Also physically check the balancer for movement with your hands. You may need to loosen or remove the belt to do this. If all of this checks out and the wobble is not severe then your OK.