so, when i first picked the car up, the shop told me one of the tensioners was bad, so i put on 2 new tensioners and belts,

of course the noise was still there, they told me today the harmonic balancer is wobbling,

can i simply have a new one put on, or should i just leave it be

at idle and coasting it doesn't make noise, only under acceleration

how involved would the job be

 

change it. a wobbling balancer will begin to chip away at the front cover. DO a search for balancer change and you will get a lot of info on the topic

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...light=balancer



its pretty involved to change, but not that hard, just did a cam swap and its easier than that, haha. but you can get it done in a weekend

this is the article to get to the balancer
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=1

here were some helpful hints that i got from some one else who did a cam swap, but will help you too trying to get access to the balancer.

"Just follow the Cam stuff EXCEPT the parts about removing and reinstalling the balancer / pulley assy. Metric "gear" wrenches are VERY help[ful, and you will need an 18mm flair nut wrench. The rack itself is pretty easy to get out, and slide over. A big screw driver or a pry bar is needed to get the passenger side out of the bracket; and a hammer is needed to get it back in. I used a piece of wire to hold the ABS controller out of the way after I removed the mounting bracket."

"When you remove the 2 flair nut fittings from the rack, cover the neds of the hoses with the baggies and zip tie them so that no fluid leaks onto teverything else. you will still lose some but you won't have a huge mess. Clean the surface on the rack around where the fittings came out with brake cleaner. Take a piece of duct tape and tape over the holes. You are going to be spending a fair amount of time laying under the front of the car and this will keep power steering fluid from dripping in your eyes, hair etc. " --- now the 2 lines talked about here are the ones that are where the steering shaft connects to the rack and not the fittings that you see on top of the rack in front of the balancer. There are the ones closest to the power steering pump. right under it basically

 

It's not a fun job for sure. The steering rack has to come out to make room to get the balancer off. BUT, if it's wobbling it should be replaced immediately. If that thing comes loose it can do all kinds of damage and the bill will make the balancer RR bill look like pocket change.

 

what is a good place to order a new one or possibly a aftermarket? mine is bad and needs changing as well.

 

good luck and it may help to find some one local who has done this before to help out. it will make it go so much faster. If not there is always some one the forum to help out if you run into a snag.

 

as long as you are there might as well go with an aftermarket under drive one. You'll add a couple hp from it too. I went with the slp one because it has taller side walls for the belts.

 

It sounds to me like your shop is just throwing ideas at you, most every LS-XX engine I ever saw with a stock harmonic balancer had some amount of wobble to them.

You need to look at it yourself to make a determination of whether or not your going to spend the money to replace it, if while the engine is idling the balancer appears to wobble slightly I say forget it, keep an eye on it, but it's not worth the hassle and expense.

Now on the other hand if it's really wobbling around excessivley and is causing problems with the belt or maybe even throwing the belt off, then it's time to replace it.

BTW - I've never heard of a wobbling damper cause a squeeling problem, Alternator, yes and the water pump, yes, but never a damper.

 

good info. look and make sure its a dampner. or go to another shop for a 2nd opinion


also, did you replace the main drive and the a/c tensioners? or some other pulleys. they are a couple more pulleys in the belt paths and one of those may be the culprit as well.

 

just the tensioners were replaced along with the belts

 

take it off these cars dont need them anyways

 

"take it off these cars dont need them anyways"
...now there's a scary opinion...and helpful, too!


I don't see any wobble in my balancer. Second opinion sounds like a good idea in this case to make sure the cost is justified.

 

My balancer has wobbled since I bought the car with 30k on it. It still wobbles today with 75k on it, no noise but I keep an eye on it.

 

Do a search on wobbling harmonic dampener and you will see why it is recommended to change it out. As stated, if it goes belly up, you are looking at quite a bit of change. Yeah, you may not throw a belt now or in two months, but what about when it does or even better is when the thing comes apart on you. Think of the damage/repairs that you will have to replace/repair. I bought mine from Texas Speed and Performance (TSP). They were extremely quick and it came with the new belt. Jason will get it out to you pretty quick. The plus is that you will pick up some extra HP. If you are going to get a cam installed anytime soon just have them do this install at the same time. It will be free labor.

Here is the link to their pulleys.

http://www.texas-speed.com/shop/cate...MID=3&catid=16

 

i know asp usually has good stuff, does this pulley have the extra lip?

 

I'm not sure about the ASP but I went with the Powerbond. No problems at all since I had it installed. I still have the old one and can't believe it was in such bad shape.

 

Gatorback belts are your answer.

 

If in fact it is wobbling, please change it.

Lots of bad info and advice in here.

As stated it can harm your front cover.

It may also come apart and harm other parts.

The stock ls1 balancer is pure garbage.

Replace it with a quality piece, and as long as you're in there pin it.

I spent extra and got an ATI balancer.

 

went ahead and ordered the powerbond, it's already set up for being keyed if i decide to do that

got a new bolt and some belts

 

better safe than sorry.

 

700 dollars or so from GM

I think i have heard guys talk about pinning it?