NCOMNC5

I have a 99 that just turned 80,000 miles and have had issuses with a chirpping fan belt. I replaced the belt about 4 months ago and no more chirpping. Now its back and I notice fraying on the outter edge and also my crankshaft pulley, it appears out of alignment (wobbles a little).
Has anyone every replaced there pulley/harmonic balancer, is it one piece or is the pulley removable. Also how big of a job is it (is it a do it yourself job), do you have to drop the rack to get to it ?

If you read this and have wetness on the passenger side carpet get your drain plugs (air condition) clean NOW. I had this problem and it shorted out my steering column relay. Just a little heads up I know this problem has surface in many post.




TTT

vettenuts

Yes, rack must be moved out of the way. Check LS1howto.com on the cam change for a C5, that will show you what is involved.

Jharms

Yes, I just got through replacing my harmonic balancer tonight! Big job, but it can be done. I used the instruction referenced above and I used the instructions for adding a super charger from magnacharger.com. I'm pretty sure that was the website. I downloaded a .pdf file and followed the first steps to remove the harmonic balancer. Great pics and the instructions were right on the money! You don't need to take off the hood, however.

Some tips I learned.

• Have a big torque wrench (torque to 240 ft lbs) you need leverage
• replace both the harmonic balancer and the bolt
• You need something to hold the harmonic balancer so that you can turn the bolt. I shoved a screw driver in the pulley but that's probably not the best thing to do. The forums said somthing about a tool to hold this, but I was working on this at night and could run to the dealer to pick on up.
• Reserve at least 8 hours. It took me at least that long. I could probably do it half that time now...but I don't want to try.

I was left with one problem. The rack and pinion seemed to go back on fine. I added power steering fluid, but it still steers hard. I've got a big spueal too.

Any body have any ideas? It may help both the originator and me!!

Jharms

Okay, I learned a little more. I got the power steering working. I took the top line off, started it up, and ran some fluid through it. Turns fine now.

Still have the squeal. I sprayed wd40 on the harmonic balancer and the noise stopped...for a short while.

My screwdriver trick to keep the harmonic balancer still may have done more harm than good. We'll see. The noise seems to have softened somewhat with my drive to the store.

I really hope that I don't have to do this again!!!

vettenuts

I bought some vaccum caps from Autozone when I did my cam, and capped each of the two PS lines when I removed them. This minimized the fluid loss. If you hold the harmonic damper with a screwdriver, you are restraining the tightening torque with the rubber material used for dampening. Damage might occur from this method. If you have a stick, put on the brake and put the car in 4th or 5th gear. With an automatic, you need the tool to hold the flywheel. Since you are holding the flywheel at a larger diameter, the force required is reduced quite a bit.

Make sure you follow the GM installation instructions, which is based on a pre-torque of 37 lb-ft followed by a specific bolt rotation.

jacobsjp

Is the bolt just a Sears hardware variety, or does someone make the correct bolt? If so, where do I get one?

It looks and sounds like I'll be joining the fun in a few days.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
John

frodo84

If anyone posting here is going to replace their damper with a stock one and hasn't bought it yet, I have one for sale. I bought it from Fichtner and didn't use it as I went with an underdrive (a lot more bucks). PM me if you need one, I'll make you a deal.

mfrejek

Is anything on a C5 Sears Hardware variety?

jacobsjp

I didn't figure so. So is this a dealer only item then?

wyndzer

Buy yourself an ARP bolt for $25.00 and be done.

gonbad

My balancer failed back in 2004. The heavy steel outer inertial ring seperated from the rubber material and slid back into the front engine cover. Prior to this I had the belt squeal problem. Anyways it did quite a number to the front of the motor. Killed the front engine cover and damaged the front of the oil pan as well. So get this fixed soon.

If you are going to do this and have some extra money you might as well do a cam swap as well. It is just a few more bolts to remove the front engine cover and unbolt the cam sprocket. Secure the lifters and pull the cam and stick in a new bump stick. Then just change the valve springs ( do the valve seals as well with 80K miles). I did mine at around 108K miles and I have 122K miles now.

mfrejek

Typically, you can buy the new bolt from the shop that sells the balancer. Often, they sell the bolt and balancer as a kit. It has been my experience, that the old bolt is used to install the new balancer, then discarded. The new bolt is then installed. Torque is paramont! If you don't have the correct torque wrench, don't even try doing it yourself.

frodo84

I wouldn't use the old bolt to install the new balancer...I would either get a piece of threaded rod and make my own install tool or you can buy one for cheap on ls1tech...a guy over there makes them and sells them. Search over there for balancer install problems and you will find many many threads where someone tried to install with the old bolt. Many times the threads in the crank are damaged, which by the way, is a big deal. Anyway, I would use either a new GM bolt (about $5, one time use), or buy an ARP bolt (which is reusable, about $25) if you plan on doing something else later that requires removing the balancer. You can also heat the new balancer in an oven before installing it to make it go on easier.

keliente

I wholeheartedly agree. I bought the tool from the guy on 'tech just because no shops around here sold threaded rod in that size. It comes in so handy. Much better than risking breaking an old bolt, stripping threads, or trying to beat the balancer on. The threaded rod makes the install painless.

mfrejek

True....when they use the reuse the old bolt, not just for the install.

muncie21

Amen to that one. The only thing worse than horking up the crank threads is breaking an ARP bolt off inside there

Seems like about once every couple of months someone ends up with jacked up crank threads due to using the crank bolt (either old or new) as an install tool. You can read about the latest guy here:
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums//showthread.php?t=569322

I really feel bad for the guys that this happens to. Putting the balancer on is most often one of the last things that needs to be done after a H/C install and then that sh*t happens....it's gotta hella suck.

jacobsjp

Thanks for all of the input. You all have probably just saved me a lot of work and a bunch of headache.

NCOMNC5

Thanks again guys for the replies and info.

I decided its not a job I wanted to tackle. I did take it into a shop (Pro Trans in Evergreen Park for you local guys) I trust and its being replaced as I speak along with tensioners and a few other pieces.

I'm still confused why it was bent to start with, sure 80,000 miles but no autocross or drags just normal driving..

Bunk930

$575.00 labor charge at chevy dealer. Well worth the money. This is a big job. I have fixed a lot of things on my '99 but I would leave this one to someone who knows exactly what there doing.

jjcslynn

Did mine using the old bolt. I must be one of the lucky ones.
How did you all balance you harmonic balancer? Or, didn't you worry about it. They are balanced at the factory when assembled. Once the HB spins, you can't put weights back in the HB.