Relative newbie here. Recently acquired a 1999 coupe that I believe needs a harmonic balancer (engine wobble at idle).

Looking for advice from those who have tackled this job themselves. I am decently handy, but not a mechanic. A do it yourself job? Or do I pony up money and go to the Chevy dealership?

 

I have a 99 and just got that done. Been learning basic/intermediate work on the car on my own but I decided to pay for this type of job. I took it to a corvette specialist, honestly wouldnt consider the dealer. Oh and make sure its not the stock HB because itll probably fail again soon. The specialist says that he upgrades all of them automatically to the Powerbond balancer in replace of stock.

 

Not a very hard job at all. The steering rack has to be removed. Search should yield a how to article. If memory serves me right, you need a piece of metric threaded rod and two nuts to draw the new one up.

 

Not something i would recommend as a first project, with a lift, the proper puller, install tool, align tool, its a job..and not done properly can cause expensive damage.

 

I've done this job, and

 

Depending on you, and your level of mechanics, either do it yourself or a Corvette specialist but not a dealership.

 

I just did this about a month or so ago. My HB had slid back into the timing cover so I took it down to there. You're basically going to have to pull everything from the front of the block to the back of the radiator out to make the job easy. You could probably get away with not removing some things like the water pump (not 100% on that). But I did it since I thought I would have to remove the timing cover and replace it.

All in all, it really wasn't that difficult if you know what you are doing (Ideally have done a fair bit of car work) and you take the time to label everything and take a bunch of pictures so you know how you took everything apart so you can put it back together. If you decide to do it yourself, make sure you plan on it taking a while. It probably won't if you are a good mechanic but otherwise you might need to plan on asking questions here or googling how-to videos. I HIGHLY recommend having some jack stands (for removing the steering rack), a HB puller (I think I got a 3 prong 4"), a HB installer tool (got mine from summit for 40 bucks. I installed the HB in about 3 minutes with that sucker) and some flare nut wrenches (DEFINITELY need these for some areas. Don't want to strip the power steering lines)

Here's a picture of most of the removal. It doesn't show the HB off or the timing cover off, but it's pretty much 100% torn down at this part.




This is a great article on how to remove the components to get down to the HB. It goes beyond the HB removal since they are showing how to change the cams, but you can just stop where you need to and rebuild from there.
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=1

Feel free to ask me any questions.

 

Don't let the steering wheel turn, don't want to break that clock spring!

 

I took some cord, tied it to one side of the seat frame, ran it up and wrapped it through the lower rim of the steering wheel, and then back down to the other side of the seat frame.

 

I just completed this job last month. I had rebuilt my LS1 in May of 2015 and installed a brand new AC Delco balancer at that time.

About 1000 miles I noticed the infamous belt chirp. Looking at the balancer I saw it was wobbling. I could not believe that the new OEM balancer was already doing this.

I went with the Power Bond OEM Replacement unit. After installation it was running as true as it possibly could. No more wobble or belt chirping.

The Power Bond was about the same price as the original AC Delco.

I would also change the front crankshaft seal while you are that far.

Good luck with your repair.

 

Follow ls1howto.com at your own risk. A lot of damaged crankshaft threads have resulted from people following the methods shown there. Do a search and read up on what not to do (that site should really be taken down). Make sure you have the correct tools for the job, especially installing the new HB. Depending on the bolt you use for final installation, if the GM bolt is used make sure to follow the service manual to the letter or it will spin on the crank and you will have a bigger mess than you started with.

 

All the GM balancers have some wobble due to their low cost design. Is the wobble excessive?

 

I'm not sure I'd say ALL... but a LOT sure do have wobble... I marked mine across the face to see if and when it ever slips... and I measured from the steering rack to the face and from the timing cover to the back of the HB so I can tell if and when there is ANY movement... just keeping an eye on it...

 

He makes a great point, that's why I recommended using the HB install kit from Summit. Only posted that site so he knew what he'd be looking at for the tear down.

Good insight man