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Hello everyone. Quick question. My HB has the wobble now and my mechanic suggested that l should change the water pump as well. Also suggested for an alignment right after. Is all this needed or just overkill? Thank you.
Nope, not at all. As long as you have access to everything, the waterpump is good maintenance.
And since the steering rack has to come off, It's a good idea to have it aligned once it has been re-installed.
My two cents, I found that the water pump on the LS1 is an easy DIY from the top in my driveway (I have little to no skills and I performed that job for the cost of the parts and I saved $450 in labor). My water pump with 118,000 miles on it, gave me lots of notice it was failing, leaving coolant spots on the driveway.
If your car is high miles and assuming your water pump original to the car, if the garage would charge you only for the parts...by all means go for it. But if your car is lower miles and on the original factory water pump...you might not wish to replace it. There's a good chance the replacement part will be aftermarket and not as good.
What you might wish to ask them to do is inspect/replace power steering hydraulic hoses and replace the AC pulleys and belt. Maybe also check front suspension for any wear issues (e.g., sway bar end links & etc.).
If it's an original Water pump and it's not leaking I would keep the OEM GM unit until it fails.
As mentioned. Water pumps are not hard to change on these cars and I'd rather have a factory unit than a chinese replacement until the time comes.
If you are not mechanically inclined than by all means go ahead and do the preventative maintenance items at the same time. It can be tough to draw a line though.
Since the fans will be out, they might be good guys and carefully blow some compressed air through the radiator/condenser to clean road debris out. This is an oft-overlooked maintenance item.
You may wish to avoid installing another GM balancer in favor of an aftermarket brand, such as Dayco/PowerBond. They sell two models, and the less expensive of the two seems to be popular. However, you may have to wait a few weeks. Their SS model costs more, but is an upgrade and more readily available.
Last edited by vette4fl; Apr 29, 2022 at 11:22 PM.
That's a tough question to answer because l am the fourth owner and l am not sure if the HB is original. The car has 155000 km (Canadian) which l think is a little over 96000 miles.
Another good option for a balancer is the Summit Racing brand. SFI rated and under $200. Stock or 25%underdrive options. I have the underdrive one and its a nice unit for the price.
Another good option for a balancer is the Summit Racing brand. SFI rated and under $200. Stock or 25%underdrive options. I have the underdrive one and its a nice unit for the price.
This could be a private branded version of the PowerBond pb1117ss, also the same SFI safety rating. $50 less that the PB model, but doesn’t appear to have the timing marks. A great price…
This could be a private branded version of the PowerBond pb1117ss, also the same SFI safety rating. $50 less that the PB model, but doesn’t appear to have the timing marks. A great price…
I have owned both of these balancers. Definitely not the same piece.
I am getting my harmonic balancer replaced in a few weeks. Going with the GM Genuine part. It lasted 92k miles.
Do you ever plan to modify the car and add power down the road? Maybe consider a procharger? If so it's worth an upgrade now as to not have to do it twice. Also it's never a bad idea to have it pinned.
You'll get "with stock power it's overkill to pin it blah blah blah" but for $40 it's a no brainer.
Lyle from C&S works on literally thousands of vettes. He "pins all of them he replaces on C5s and C6s as additional insurance".
joining the harmonic balancer club
