the engine actually has 2 balance shafts... and no matter which one is failing, it will destroy the engine in no time at all.
i find it odd, though, that they say one has failed. although i have seen this happen, when they fail you usually KNOW IT! it makes so much noise that you think the engine is gonna blow up.
however, if its the "independant" balance shaft which is failing (which it probably is, as its almost always the one that does fail), you may be in luck.. that shaft itself neither drives nor is driven off anything important, so it could be unhooked and left idle. youre gonna get a lot more vibration out of the engine, but it should be safe. However, if its badly worn you WILL lose a lot of oil pressure, limiting the lifespan of the rest of the engine.
if its the "captive" balance shaft theyre talking about, youre basically screwed, as its driven off the oil pump.
find out as much info as you can.
there are also balance shaft eliminator kits, but i HEARTILY recommend against those, as they are all pretty awful.
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