lectroglide

Been looking ata 99 that needs HD replaced or should I say appears to be in need of a replacement and has the "wobbles. Q is whats the going price for replacement ?

radar502

I would say anywhere $800.00-$1200.00 ,lots of labor . The balancer from Gm. they prop. get 3 time what its worth . 6-8 Hrs. labor @ $100.-$125 Hr . That's just ball park anything over that I would not pay it .. I did mine 04 Z ,one big bolt holds it on 3 hrs. to get to it ,then there the 240 Ft. Lbs. of Tq. to get it off. That's just me I'm cheap and handy ..

Slo Yelo C5

Cheap Route
GM OEM balancer --$90 or so I believe
Bolt--Maybe $20
Labor--$500-$700 or so
So about...$650-$850

High Quality Route
ATI brand balancer--$400 or so
ARP Bolt--$30 or so
Labor--$500-$700 or so
So about...$950-$1,150

Don't forget...The crank seal I think its called, or you'll have to do it again (can another member chime in--it is a crank seal, right?).

Why not go the "cheap" route above? From what I understand, sometimes the replacement unit will break again down the line and you'll have to do it again! Go with an ATI and spend $950-$1,150 total and you'll never have to do it again. Those ATI balancers are bulletproof (or so I hear).

Mistrezz 06

I just got my Z back last week, my problem was the oil pump. Had the mechanic change the balancer, time chain, oil pump, belt, fresh oil n filter that I already had and was about to do, plus both oil pan gaskets.

Long story short, $ 1,416.18 out the door, $ 700.00 labor the rest parts, all after market performance parts. I could had done this myself but don't have the time.

Car is purring like a ***** cat and running great. My suggestion, if you going the mechanics ways, changed all the expose parts. My car has 45k miles and didn't need the other parts change but the mechanic was going to open the front anyway so what the heck, just go for it.

Good luck man !!!

cqd24

Going rate seems to be about 1k from what I've seen. With that said, it's a relatively straightforward job if you have the tools and the space.

Fcar 98

I would love to know what and were these cars were put through that theyhad to have these HDs replaced. Of three 98 coupes that I know of personally with 90000,46000&40000 miles. Not one needed replaced

Slo Yelo C5

I've heard there was some kind of design flaw with the GM OEM harmonic balancer on the LS1 and LS2 (this issue also effects many early C6 owners). Not all of them need to be replaced, but many of them do.

It could be worse, though. Let's say you use a ATI balancer (obviously the most expensive but highest quality fix)...you're talking a $1,000-$1,150 fix one time for the life of the car. While not cheap, it's far from a really expensive fix for a high performance sports car. I've been seeing all the posts in the "Off Topic" section with people spending $2,000 or $4,000 or $7,500+ for some crazy fix on an Audi, M-B, or Porsche because of a design flaw. One of them is some plastic piece in Porsche 911s from 2000-2009 or so which is like a $2,500-$3,000 fix and if you don't do it, you may destroy the engine for a total cost of $15,000-$20,000.

In the grand scheme of things, the LS1 is a really durable motor and the 4L60E seems like a durable transmission (I know nothing about the C5 manual transmission) and the Getrag differential is supposed to be excellent, so if this is one of the only "big" design flaws on the C5...I guess it could be way worse.

cqd24

You probably just got lucky. It went on my z06 at 16k miles and on my z51 at 45k miles. There's a design flaw where the rubber degrades.

MAC5

I'm getting ready to have the 2nd replacement installed on my 19 year old 98 coupe with 41,300 miles. I'm leaning toward aftermarket this time.

leadfoot4

I'm not trying to be a "wise-***", here, but your experience with OE parts, at least with respect to these HBs, is the perfect example why people should upgrade the part, if they do this job. A $400 ATI balancer may have sounded expensive, the first time you replaced the HB, but on the other time, you would have had to only do it once, and on this job, the labor is the real $$$ of the equation.

SuperTom

yes why put back in an OEM part known to fail this is the time to go aftermarket.

Smoken1

Or the Dayco/Power bond as a cheaper replacement

MAC5

It probably would have helped if I had mentioned the first replacement was under extended warranty. Replacement choice was not an option then.

leadfoot4

That does make a difference!

QCVette

Even the cheaper route needs an upgrade from the OEM balancer. At least go with a Powerbond replacement that is under $100.

If you are wanting cheaper, then the $100 balancer, a $25 ARP bolt and your own labor. The ARP bolt is optional, but I prefer it to the $7 one time use OEM bolt. The ARP is a normal torque bolt while the OEM is a torque plus additional degrees of rotation.

I did the replacement in my garage. It is not the easiest job, but one step at a time nothing is really tough that can't be done at home. There are a few cautions and tricks to it though. Do some searches on the forum to get a good feel for them.

For example, use an install tool (I made mine) to draw on the balancer so you don't damage threads in the crank, pulling the steering rack is not hard, but it is a puzzle on how to rotate and position it so it comes out, how to lock the motor from turning to loosen or tighten the bolt (on a 6 speed put it in 6th with the ebrake on), etc.

Good luck.

foggy

Mine Started to Wobble at about 105,000 Miles
At the time, I didnt really know much about the aftermarket balancers
I used a new GM Balancer and GM Bolt
I did not have any front cover wear or leakage
It's all been good for a few years for me...
But if i had to do it again, I would definitely upgrade from the OEM parts

lectroglide

so when does the wobble start causing problems or how long should you let it go??

leadfoot4

There doesn't seem to be any one point at which they fail. This site is pretty much populated by "enthusiasts" that pay more attention to their cars than the average guy. I'm sure that there are LS powered trucks out there, with a skillion miles on them, that may or may not have damaged balancers. I enjoy wrenching on my cars, to a degree, so I swapped mine out before I had issues.

feeder82

when it starts cuttting into the front cover or moves forward into the rack. Or when it flies apart and leaves you stranded on the side of the road.

SuperTom

Mine caused a noticeable squeal with the belts.

I did mine in my driveway with hand tools. Large Iron hollow pole used as a breaker bar from home depot to get the need leverage for torque needed.