after reading many articles here in the past several days on the balancer I decided to check mine out last night and sure enough I have about 1/16 to 1/8 inch wobble on the balancer. (50K miles) I have been reading up today on R/R of this and everyone points to the www.ls1howto.com for instruction. but I still have a few questions for those of you who have done the install.

So far what i know is (not much)
1. Need to get a new balancer...
2. Need to get a new balancer bolt..
3. I have a puller already so that shouldnt be a problem
4. Need to get a longer bolt with washer to allow me more threads into the crank to get the new balancer on...
5. Torque is around 190lbs

What i dont know is do I completely have to remove the steering assembly or can I just remove some bolts and move it out of the road.

The radiator and shroud must come out?

I also read somewhere that removing the steering assembly may set off some code?? Can this just be reset or does it keep coming back? I read someone used a bungee to hold it in place?? Anyone have any more info on any of this?

 

Maybe I read so much I now have no idea what I am talking about??

 

Yes, you have to remove the rack at least enough to gain access to remove bolt and balancer, and to install puller. You will all but remove it from the car (some leave it sticking out the passenger fenderwell.

Don't let the sterring wheel move after disconnecting the shaft from the rack. It will cause problems with the steering wheel position sensor. If you have a column lock, simply lock it, if not a bungee or two would be a good idea.

I don't think you have to remove the radiator, but I do think you have to remove the fans/shroud assembly.

This job is not for the faint of heart...

If you have the EBTCM mounted in front, you will at the very least curse the car many times...

Anybody who thinks this job is easy please report to my garage immediately

 

I had a Dealer replace mine several years after a cam job and it came loose. Don't think they had to remove much , though not sure. There is a special procedure for torquing the new bolt. Must use the old bolt for a certain value then use the new. Check it out. The balancer was around $300 and the installation was $400 or so.

Fred

 

New balancer from Fred Beans was ~$99

You should have service manuals handy. Torque on new bolt is something like 37ftlbs plus 140* to stretch it.

Using the old bolt to install means risking damage to crankshaft threads. Many are lucky/good, many are not. Do a search here or on LS1tech.com for more info.

I highly recommend you pin the crank so that you never have to deal with this again.

To the GM engineer responsible for this sh*t design, I hope you and your kin die slow, painful, horrible deaths

 

Your re-installation procedure is not correct. The service manual is very specific on how this is done, using both the old bolt and then the new bolt. This is after the balancer has been pressed on. There is a torque for the old bolt, removal, torque new one and then twist to an angle. You can't use torque on the new bolt, the preload will be wrong and you risk it coming off.

I would suggest not getting a longer bolt, but rather threaded rod and making a tool like I did. It will go much easier, not chance of damage to the threads either.

 

What I did after I changed cams and put a new u/d pulley on was to make a mark on the bolt and pulley. This allows me to easily monitor the bolt to see if it's backing out any.

 

There is a reason GM makes a tool to install the balancer. Plenty of people have damaged or stripped their crank using the bolt trick. Not to mention the amount of people that have had their balancer back off due to improper installation. The bolt method rely's on the crank threads to seat the pulley whereas the GM tool (or a tool you make yourself) does not.

I would highly suggest you don't attempt this yourself without the GM tool (or similar) to install the balancer, the proper tools including flywheel lock, torque wrenches, torque angle meter, new bolt(s), etc. Even on a MN6, the flywheel lock tool is a necessity from my experience.

Re-installing the balancer is the hardest part in my opinion of a head / cam install. I would be sure that your wobble is enough to justify replacement, and determine whether or not you have enough experience working on cars to attempt it.

If you decide to attempt it, you may want to look into pinning the crank. This may seem a little more difficult, but it will allow you to not have to stretch the bolt and greatly reduce / eliminate chances of the pulley coming off.

After pulley install, pop the hood every few days and inspect the belts. If a belt is starting to fray, your pulley is starting to back out.