I know this subject has been beat to death, but I have a belt chirp question. I bought my 98 purple pearl corvette 3 years ago and it had a belt squeal. The car also needed an a/c compressor, so while I had it apart changing out the a/c components I changed out both belt tensioners, idlers, and put a goodyear belt on. All was well for 8 monnths or so then it returned. I put another Goodyear belt on and squeal went away for a short while, so i end up putting on a refurbished AC delco altenator. Needless to say that did not fix it either, so I took it to the dealership and they changed out the main tensioner to no avail. Now they said it was the harmonic balancer, which i kind of was thinking the whole time, but it always looked fine to me. When I went to pick up the car I took it for a spin before I paid, and around 1500 RPM it started chirping, but at idle it was fine. So I left it there because when I opened up the hood to look at the balancer it was wobbling. The gentleman that was working the desk said that there should not be shaking and said I should just leave the car again. I went back today to ask how my car was and the lead mechanic said that it should wobble a little bit because it balances out the movement of the engine. All of the things I read on here it seems as though they should really be pretty straight and true. If not, it could do damage to the engine if they wobble too much. I am hoping to be armed with a little more information so when i go over Wednesday, so I can tell them to try harder or just deal with what i have. I appreciate any suggestions as i am really frustrated!!

 

What brand of balancer did you have installed? The GM balancers all wobble some even when new.

 

I had them install a GM one. I am kicking myself for not getting an aftermarket one now.

 

 

That's priceless!

No, the balancer "should" never wobble!

The stock balancers have an outer metal ring attached to the inner metal portion with a rubber ring pressed in between. That manufacturing process by nature will many times not produce a perfectly "true" outer ring attachment, so you may see some very minor wobbling. Most of the aftermarket balancers are solid one-piece metal and they do not wobble - so how could "they" work if what the mechanic said is true?

 

Get the car away from the dealer!! Post what area of the states you live in and hopefully some one on here will know an honest corvette shop that will fix the car correctly. Most "mechanics" at Chevy dealers know squat about Vetts. They just replace parts at your expense till they get lucky and the problem gets solved. Good luck!! Rod

 

I thought the same thing when i read it !

 

I live in lynchburg, VA. I would think nothing with a pulley and a belt going across it should wobble much, But who am I. You get intimated when supposed lead mechanics are telling you something like that,especially when i'm not the strongest mechanically. I really appreciate all of the information from everybody!! Thanks again!

 

As already stated - there should be no wobble in the harmonic balancer.

 

2017 Stingray….flawless

 

ummmmm...

 

I'll bet it ain't the balancer that's causing the squeal. I don't know what it was but I had a squeal for years. Just a little. Just at the beginning of the day. Never got worse or better. Balancer lasted almost 150K miles. Still has original alternator.

Look elsewhere for your squeal.

Also look elsewhere for a Corvette mechanic.

 

I'm hoping he got it fixed about 7 years ago...given the age of the thread...

 

 

Yeah But.... Nice to know what the final outcome was!... Turkey

 

Moved to C5 Tech.