I need to replace my Harmonic Balancer. I took the car to an auto shop, but they had done not have the people to do the job and the chevy dealer wanted too much money. Is there a step by step for idiot's on how to replace the balancer?

 

no pictures, but pretty much everything you need to know.

https://www.digitalcorvettes.com/thr...cement.104308/

It's not a hard job, but it is a big job, and it comes with a lot of "while you're in there" opportunities to change/upgrade unrelated components (timing chain, oil pump, power steering components, motor mounts.). You'll also want some special tools to remove and install the balancer, although you could macgyver cheap/free substitutes for the tools required. Last decision is whether to pin the new balancer, also easy to do but scary sounding.

 

I just had my harmonic balancer replaced by Hawthorne Chevy in my neighborhood. $875 for parts and labor with a 2-year warranty.

 

Thats a pretty good deal.

 

think about how exactly you will loosen the bolt.

 

And re-torque it, PROPERLY..............

 

I have done this recently, still putting the car back together actually. For me, it was a big job and I have the tools, QuickJack, etc. The bolt can be a nightmare, I watched videos of it being removed with the car on jack stands, got reports of people saying it was tight but not real hard to remove and others saying what I experienced: Tightest bolt I ever tried to remove. We got the bolt out eventually. There are steps that need to be done to remove the balancer and they are no fun, like pulling the steering rack out.

I am saying this to you so you are armed with the info to make the decision. If I had found a good shop with time to do the work for $875 parts & labor, I would have paid to have it done. I ended up doing a whole bunch of work "while I was in that deep". So for me it worked out since the cars systems will be practically all replaced. lol

 

Removing and reinstalling a harmonic balancer itself on these LS engines isn't really any different than the Gen1 SBC. I understand the "to each his own" mentality, but I'm totally baffled why so many struggle with this. I'd never buy the GM balancer bolt, get a torque angle gauge, then invite a King Kong type knuckle dragger to remove and replace the problem. A small, maybe 2hp air compressor, and a decent air impact, and the bolt R&R itself is maybe a 20 second job. Easy peasy. Air impacts have been used for this job for decades, for good reason; they fast, save busting your butt, and they work. I bought an ARP bolt, and have had it off and on several times for cam changes. No more worrying and screwing around with single use fasteners and torque wrenches......

 

this is a fairly complicated job. I would contact your local Facebook corvette c5 group and see if you can get a recommendation for a shop close to you that may be able to give you a discount under the dealer.

 

grinder, out of curiosity, what impact gun did you use? how big was the compressor tank? my gun didnt move the bolt (on a factory installation, no red loctite as some people do) and to this day i dont know if it was the gun or the air supply. so i bolted the stuff back together and had my garage get it loose and pin it a few years back.

 

I started with a 1/2" impact running on a small 30 gallon 6.5 hp compressor. The bolt laughed at it. I chronicled my removal https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-s-tight.html because it was amusing and because I genuinely wanted others input (but mostly it was amusing).

We did discover some type of thread locker on the last 1" of the bolt one we got it out. Also, while 5' pipe on a breaker bar eventually removed the bolt, I do believe a Snap-On 1/2" impact broke most of the thread locker loose prior to putting the bar back on it.

@grinder11 I did not use a factory bolt or HB, I went ARP bolt.

 

I thought about this for a minute, and I realized that I've removed the ARP bolt, not the OEM bolt. My impact is an old Campbell/Hausfeld, probably 350ft/lbs max. The compressor is 80 gallon tank, but I'm sure even a 60 gallon would be overkill. You just need a good powerful pneumatic, NOT an electric. My old 1/2" impact works great for R&R work on the balancer. But it probably wouldnt remove the stock bolt. Betcha my 3/4" would!! Some of the good 1/2" air impacts generate 600+ ft/lbs. Some are even higher. I know if my gun wouldn't work, I'd be shopping for one that would, even a 3/4 drive. Here's why. Years ago, I used a 1/2" Craftsman breaker bar on a badly rusted on lugnut. Craftsman tools were pretty decent back then (around 1996). It was on a 3/4 ton 4x4, so it had 8 lugs. I couldn't budge it. Put a 4ft pipe on it, gave a huge Yank, and broke the breaker bar. When this happened, I permanently injured my back, as it led to ruptured disc and pinched nerve. I was around 40 years old, and in decent shape.....Until that happened. I guarantee there are air impacts with enough power that, if the bolt didnt break loose, they'd spin the engine over backwards. You only get one back in this lifetime, and mine will never be the same. I now have a 3/4" impact, because there were a couple of times my 1/2" wouldn't do the job, on a tractor, not the C5!! Don't be like me, and screw up your back just because you don't want to spend the $$ on a powerful impact. I thought that it'd never happen to me, until it did.........

 

Toys4Life C5 has a good 3 part video series on this. He also includes some key tools you’ll need.

The thread by @Davcruz is pretty good, has a lot of good input posts, and also entertaining!

Good luck!

 

It's NOT the balancer swap, that's the problem. It's everything that you have to remove/push aside, in order to get AT the balancer, is the issue......

 

Modern electric 1/2" impacts will do a real, measured, 550+ lb-ft of nut-removing torque, depending on whose system you go for. Dewalt, Milwaukee, etc, they all sell affordable tools that will do the job. My dewalt half-inch impact spun out a crank bolt with no complaints.

As leadfoot4 said, it's not hard to replace the balancer. It's really annoying to get to the point where you can replace the balancer. This is why many people just pay the labor cost to have someone else do it.

 

When it comes to safety, it’s about having the right tools…

 

The discussion was about removing the old, and installing the new, bolt. THAT is what most people struggle with.

 

I'm going to do mine soon. Stock bolt head is 24mm, right?

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I have a Snap-on XT7100 impact. Lots of bad reviews on the net but I've had it since new (2006?). No issues, I like it a lot. You will need a proper compressor and sized air hose. Specs are 700ftlbs and 1,300 blows per minute. It's going to rip that bolt right out.

 

My Milwaukee M18 1/2" electric impact spun my stock bolt out like butta. I did it on an engine stand and plan to replace with an ARP bolt