Grandlaker

Decided to post a second issue I am facing as I am trying to get everything on my recently-purchased 98 C5 taken care of. Knew the balancer needed replacing immediately when I bought it. I was several hours away from home so I took it to the local dealership rather than risking problems on the road. Dealer called the next day and said that I needed to replace the oil pan and timing cover chain because the balancer had moved backwards and had worn down those parts causing a leak. Cost estimate was an additional $2K over and above the balancer cost of $1200 so I thought I was being upsold. I had looked for but didn't see any oil in the seller's garage or driveway and he said he had not had a leak. Since he pointed out the balancer problem when I was looking at the car, I think he was shooting straight. Anyway I decided to wait until I got it back closer to home and told the dealer to only fix the balancer. Although there are no drips on the drive, oil is seeping and you can now smell it getting hot on the pan. Pulled the main spring last weekend and discovered lower pan bolts were loose so I retightened to spec and put everything back together thinking I had solved the problem. Unfortunately, it is still leaking. The wear on the pan and cover is not too bad and there is still gasket between them but it just seems to be seeping in that spot. Anyone ever used JB metal weld or some other type of metal putty on something like this or is replacement of the pan, gasket, and cover the only solution? Anyone have any other solutions to suggest?






Now that the spring is back in place, you can't access the leak area to apply the metal putty but I would certainly be willing to pull the spring again if I had any thought that the putty would work. I do not have a way to support the engine or the skills to replace the pan and cover, and from what everyone seems to say, that is a real job anyway. Guess I should have had it done by the dealer but just thought I was being taken to the cleaners. Thanks.

leadfoot4

A couple of years ago, as preventative maintenance, I replaced the balancer on my car, BEFORE it gave me problems. I don't know about pulling the spring, but it's generally known that you have to remove the steering rack, in order to get at the damper, which is what I did.

"While in there", I also replaced the timing chain. I installed the "upgraded" LS2 chain. To do this, removal of the front cover was required, but the oil pan can be left in place.

tbrowne

Probably should have let the dealer fix it before you drove it home. Most of the cost for the balancer replacement is for labor. There are many parts that need to be removed in order to get to balancer and the front of the engine. The dealer was in there and that was the time to do it. There is a seal on the timing cover that can leak and should be replaced whenever the cover is removed and when the balancer is replaced just as a preventive measure. If the timing cover is damaged, then a replacement is the best choice. JB Weld might work if you can get to it but it might not last. The job isn't hard if you have the tools and a place to work. It takes a couple of days to get the parts out that have to be removed, do the work and then put it back together again.

Below is a link to a YouTube video that gives a good idea of what's involved.

Paul 75 L82

A local hot rod shop would have been half the cost of the stealer ship.

trudesea

Sounds like what was going on with mine, turned out to be just a little bit more to rebuild the entire engine than the labor costs for fixing everything that was leaking. Least have a 3yr/10k warranty now.

Grandlaker

Didn't have a choice on where to fix. Bought it five hours from home on a weekend in a relatively small town. Not sure how long the balancer had been wearing but couldn't take chance driving it.