Harmonic balancer falling apart @ 23K miles?
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Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Renton WA
Harmonic balancer falling apart @ 23K miles?
I've been getting a squeak from the front of my engine on and off. It got worse
yesterday and I could see the crank shaft pulley was out of alignment/wobbling
a bit. I shut off the car and could see that about half of the rubber portion between
the hub and the grooved pulley that the belt rides on was sticking out about 1/8"
to 3/16" or so.
Has anyone else had this problem? I know some Impala SS LT1's are starting to have
similar problems with their harmonic balancers starting to come apart, but they're
6-8 years old. My C5 is a '99 hard top with only 23,000 miles. I don't know much
about LS1 engines, but I'm learning.
I also noticed that the large pulley above the crank pulley that's driven by the
back of the belt is not running perfectly true and has a spot where it looks like
the belt has been missing. I think this pulley runs the water pump. Am I right/wrong?
TIA for any input.
yesterday and I could see the crank shaft pulley was out of alignment/wobbling
a bit. I shut off the car and could see that about half of the rubber portion between
the hub and the grooved pulley that the belt rides on was sticking out about 1/8"
to 3/16" or so.
Has anyone else had this problem? I know some Impala SS LT1's are starting to have
similar problems with their harmonic balancers starting to come apart, but they're
6-8 years old. My C5 is a '99 hard top with only 23,000 miles. I don't know much
about LS1 engines, but I'm learning.
I also noticed that the large pulley above the crank pulley that's driven by the
back of the belt is not running perfectly true and has a spot where it looks like
the belt has been missing. I think this pulley runs the water pump. Am I right/wrong?
TIA for any input.
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Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Renton WA
Re: Harmonic balancer falling apart @ 23K miles? ('99Vetteguy)
Well... no input. I guess no one else has this problem, at least not yet.
I dropped by the Chevy dealer in Issaquah yesterday and had one of the mechanics check it out so I could see what the GMPP warranty would cover. I compared my pulley to one in a black 'vette that was there for some work. My pulley had much more run out and the rubber portion on the other 'vette wasn't sticking out at all like mine is. Before checking the other car, the mechanic was trying to convince me that my pulley was OK and that I just needed a new belt to stop the squeaking, but after seeing the other car, he said he'd try to get me a new one via warranty.
I dropped by the Chevy dealer in Issaquah yesterday and had one of the mechanics check it out so I could see what the GMPP warranty would cover. I compared my pulley to one in a black 'vette that was there for some work. My pulley had much more run out and the rubber portion on the other 'vette wasn't sticking out at all like mine is. Before checking the other car, the mechanic was trying to convince me that my pulley was OK and that I just needed a new belt to stop the squeaking, but after seeing the other car, he said he'd try to get me a new one via warranty.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 985
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From: Palm Desert, CA , USA
Re: Harmonic balancer falling apart @ 23K miles? ('99Vetteguy)
Yes, I had the problem. The dealer needs to replace the balancer and be sure they order the new bolts to go with it. You are lucky that you figured out the problem with the squeeking belt. It took me about 2 months of trying everything else from trying 3 or 4 brands of new belts, new tensioner pulley and idler pulley, etc. :mad
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From: Renton WA
Re: Harmonic balancer falling apart @ 23K miles? (B. Stewart)
I'll be sure they use new bolts to install the balancer. Thanks for the tip!
If I hadn't heard about several Impala balancer problems lately, I might
not have thought to look more closely at the balancer. I did buy a new
belt that will hopefully get me by for a few days without squeaking until
the parts arrive. One thing about the Impala balancer failures was that
the pulley that drives the belt was actually turning on the rubber damper
portion. Mine hasn't done that (yet), the marks still liine up fine.
Out of curiousity, do you know if your balancer was still lined up with the
mark on the end of the crank shaft?
If I hadn't heard about several Impala balancer problems lately, I might
not have thought to look more closely at the balancer. I did buy a new
belt that will hopefully get me by for a few days without squeaking until
the parts arrive. One thing about the Impala balancer failures was that
the pulley that drives the belt was actually turning on the rubber damper
portion. Mine hasn't done that (yet), the marks still liine up fine.
Out of curiousity, do you know if your balancer was still lined up with the
mark on the end of the crank shaft?
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 985
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From: Palm Desert, CA , USA
Re: Harmonic balancer falling apart @ 23K miles? ('99Vetteguy)
Yes, it still lined up. It was wobbling slightly when they checked the runout. Visually it didn't look that bad, but it was enough to create the squeeking problem. It was help that I received here on the forum that I was able to fix the problem.
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Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Renton WA
Re: Harmonic balancer falling apart @ 23K miles? (B. Stewart)
New balancer is installed!
I guess they had to remove the steering rack to do the job. Good thing I bought that GMPP warranty!!!
One problem. Now the "active handling warming up" warning keeps coming on. I'm going to dig around and see if they left something unplugged and will search the archives to see if I can find a solution. If someone knows the answer, please let me know.
I guess they had to remove the steering rack to do the job. Good thing I bought that GMPP warranty!!!
One problem. Now the "active handling warming up" warning keeps coming on. I'm going to dig around and see if they left something unplugged and will search the archives to see if I can find a solution. If someone knows the answer, please let me know.
