Occasional no start

So I BIT the bullet and yanked the HB!(Balancer) and what do you know! I found part of my serpentine belt in there and the CKP busted! The belt I noticed missing a couple grooves I dont know how long ago. And it was new TOP LINE belt about a yr ago or so! Funny thing is when I bought the van it had the remains of a belt like 2 grooves and the owner said been like that for months also said he replaced HB before.

An getting that thing OFF was NO easy job like the youtube vids! Who's freakin idea was it to use 1/4 FINE THREAD bolts? Anything to save a pennys worth of METAL I suppose in the CUTTHROAT world of auto PRODUCTION? So when I put it back together I cranked it and NOTHING! So I went and looked down the side of motor and it LOOKED like the BALANCER was CROOKED? How could that be? So anyway I decide to pop it off again and used the jam the ratchet trick like before and when I went to crank it its started but I only flipped the key quick so it quit immediately! Pulled balancer and could find no fault? Well I quit at that point and thats where i'm at now try again tomorrow. Cant figure why HB did not look parallel with other pulleys? Cant recall that ever before!

The balancers come apart sometimes also there is a balancer installer you can rent to make sure it's all the way in. If it's not installed correctly it could effect things.

Oh yeah when removing I pulled it to far with main bolt still grabbing is it possible I bent it somehow? I suspect its cheap aftermarket copy cuz I noticed crappy alignment of inner vane plates and removal holes.

Guess i'll do some measuring on flat surface to see if belt pulley is true befor I put it back on.

I thought just tightening bolt was good enough for install?

Not always sometimes you need the balancer installer to make sure it goes on straight and all the way in. Also did you make sure the key is still in and lined up?

So I looked things over and it all looked good put it back on same way with bolt since it has large flange and washer which guide install. It started I watched the pulley running true but compare to others looks out of line but belt runs fine so done with that. Bad news it still runs bad at at start with any pedal and during acceleration. Multiple misfire. After warm up is slightly better but I still have some work to do! Took a plug out it looked light reddish tan.

If the pulley groove is out of line compared to the other pulleys it might not be 9n far enough. Thats why I suggested to use a balancer installer they rent them at auto zone.

So I know I felt it bottom out when installing confident it's on all the way. Back on the road maybe ty auto store again for code read 1 place looked like it had fancy reader.

Sounds keep me posted

So popped off the air cleaner tube to look in the TB and what the heck it has a mesh over the front? What is THAT? Tried cleaning it didnt make any difference in the way it runs.