Hey everyone,I've seen some other threads about hb problems but I thought I would just post a short video to get some opinions about my situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKhthMfM2n4

the video is sort of dark and shaky. my video skills aren't so great. sorry

 

Easy one
The balancer has a rubber isolator ring that has started to shift away from the outer metal ring . Good to replace it with a 25% underdive and a two peice timing cover . That way if you ever want a cam , you not not have to re & re the steering rack again or remove the crank pulley

Thx
Manny@E.C.P

 

Wow....You're good.

 

Not really, but thanks for the compliment. Just experienced a number of these this past year

 

So you're saying it looks bad and needs to be fixed now,or can I put it off for awhile?
The reason I noticed it is because of the dreaded *chirp*. Hardly does it at idle though....

 

ttt

 

I'm on the same boat VETTEHOG. My chirp goes away during idle. Anything past 1k RPM and the chirping starts. It does quiet down after extended periods of driving. Havn't been driving the car since I did the research on the forum. I did start the car to keep the battery from draining a few days ago and the wobble looked very similar to yours.

I will have to tackle the job soon, let me know If you find a detailed write up on the repair because I have yet to come a across one that I am comfortable using. Which is suprising because this is a common isssue with the C5s.

 

If it were mine, I would fix it now.
It is starting to fail now and it is giving you warning.
The 64,000 dollar question is:
How much longer will it be before it leaves you sitting on the side of the road or eats into the timing cover?

 

Nice info.

 

I've JUST been through the same thing with mine. 42,000 miles and dreaded belt chirp. Typical R&R of idlers and pulley and new gatorback belt. Well...noticed something.. The belt jumped a groove on the harmonic balancer and nearly shreaded the belt.

Took to the stealership for them to have a look (there is a LOT of info on this subject) In my case, the HB was still ok, but the bolt had backed off and the HB moved forward about 1/8 inch. GM now uses a new bolt to help prevent this (came from problems on early C6's). The back of the bolt has some sort of diamond crystals glued to and to it wont have any tendancy to back off when tightened as the diamond grit lodges into the HB so it wont slip loose.

So far - so good. And, the Stealership fixed it nor ZERO, NADA, free Gratus. Well out of warranty too but they did it anyway!

Yours might not be doing that and may in fact need replacement. Check the bolt on the HB first and see if it is on tight - it carries like 160 lb of torque on it, so you will know if it is loose....

Good Luck ---->

 

If it was my car, I would stop driving it and fix it now. If the outer part of the pulley is separating, I would not want that to come loose and go flying around under the hood.

When I did mine, I followed the appropriate parts from the C5 cam / head swap directions over on ls1howto.com. The hardest parts for me were removing the steering rack (some say you can move it out of the way, but I removed it), and you need a way to hold the engine while you torque the daylights out of the bolt that holds the pulley on. I bought a tool that bolts up in place of the starter and holds the flywheel.

 

Does an underdrive balancer cause any issues with the alternator charging for street driven cars?

 

Almost forgot...
Don't re-use the old bolt. They are torque to yield.

Also, check out this thread for a pulley installation tool that was handy...
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...y-removal.html

Here are some good pictures of the tool in use ...
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...with-pics.html

 

According to these threads, no ...
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...-charging.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...-balancer.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...-too-much.html

 

I guess its time to bite the bullet and fix it. I've herd that its not a good idea to use a stock hb and go the aftermarket route. Does anyone make a aftermarket hb that is the same size as the stock one? Or should I go with a underdrive?

 

Lucky fricken dog! My dealership wanted over $580 just to change out the hb and 1 idler pully! lol They didn't give me a explanation,just said it was bad.

 

Fix it now dude

Sorry for the late reply , crazy day today

Manny@E.C.P

 

Had the same problem with my harmonic balancer last year. Replaced it asap. You can do some pretty spectacular and costly damage if you send your HB flying in pieces. Went with the 25% underdrive pulley. No charging issues. No problems even when sitting at a red light or drive thru with the a/c blasting in hot temps.

 

Manny, don't be so modest....
Manny's the resident vette guru north of the border...

 

(1) Replace the HB.
(2) Get a video camera with a zoom - I felt like I was waiting for Wylie Coyote to get the lens caught in the spinning belt.