
The rubber damping layer within a TVD can become worn as the belt itself becomes faulty. But this failing can work in reverse, in that a failing belt can indeed damage a crankshaft pulley. Often a waterpump or alternator bearing is worn enough to allow the belt to slip.There are many reasons that a belt may start to wear and fail, and the most obvious is a failing crankshaft pulley. Pull or pry a little on each pulley and look for movement to make sure none of the bearings are going bad. If it turns out to be the belt: Check the tension. Spray the belt at a different location to test the theory. Its purpose is to absorb and reduce harmonic vibrations from the engine as the crankshaft rotates, as harmonic vibrations at high engine speeds can cause accelerated wear and damage to the components. The crankshaft harmonic balancer is a device connected to the front of an engine’s crankshaft, usually built into the crankshaft pulley.

All of the components that are driven by the timing chain would stay in. At that point the crank would continue to spin but the timing gear wont spin. If the crank bolt loosens up, then the torque would be "removed" from the timing gear. The crank pulley holds the timing gear in place with the torque that is applied to the crank pulley bolt. Once in a while, there will be separation of the plates in the balancer, but it's. However, its presence is not a likely source of noise.

The crank in a Subaru is very short so you could probably dispense with the balancer altogether.

Once the 4 bolts are removed, the pulley will now pull right off.
