Hello, im new to this forum although I have owned my 92 RS with a 3.1 in it for about 5 years now. Never had any major problems until now. On the crankshaft pully, there was a harmonic balancer type thingy behind the pully. Anyways it came loose and was spinning freely behind the main pulley. not to mention making a horendous sound. Well it finally flew off. What is this thing? Im sure thats its not a harmonic balancer.....or is it? and how important is this piece? Any input is much appreciated.

Thanks
Rocky

 

Yea it is, behind the crank pully is the harmonic balancer.

 

yeah, over time the rubber will deteriorate and can eventually do what you describe, although its not too often (you should feel special, you might be a statistic, lol). you can get a new balancer for $50 new or a J/Y for like $5 or 10.