Stick with me on this one guys I have an '05, 31k miles on it.

Question 1: Started to hear the chirp after taking the car out from winter storage, but it has gone away since last week. After reading the posts about the Harmonic Balancer, I decided to check how much wobble I had and if it looked concerning.

Here is what it looks like:
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resi...Fm5Ag2mPu4XiIk

Not sure how bad that is, but obviously don't want to spend $1k if I don't have to. Thoughts?


Question 2: When I bought this car at the end of last year, the first thing I did was take it to my local dealer to have it looked over to make sure that there were no issues. I had a 2 month warranty, so this was a preventative maintenance decision. I paid them $100 to have a corvette tech look it over. They didn't report anything with this part and gave the car a clean bill of health. I haven't driven the car more than 1000 miles since that time and I'm thinking that if this was a known issue on an '05 with a TSB, they should have spotted it while I had the 2 month warranty. that would have been one of the first items to check I would think. Does that seem like a legit statement? and with that said, should they be willing to cover the additional cost that I will pay out of pocket because they didn't diagnose this when I brought it to them at that time? or is 1000 miles or so enough time for it to get that wobbly? All the other pulleys look solid and the only one moving is the HB. Driving it, you'd never know anything was wrong.

 

I wouldn't think the dealer has any responsibility unless it is in the time period for the warranty, in which case if its covered then obviously they should take care of it.

Your car and components can break on a moments notice just like your furnace at home. I would never assume someone "should" have caught something 100% of the time. If it was making noise before you brought it in and they said it was perfectly fine then you would have a good argument. If you believe the tech should have caught it, even if it was showing no signs at the time than the next years of your business should be elsewhere.

Let us know what happens.

 

The wobble does not look too bad. Maybe the belt was a bit dry from storage

 

When you have a bad harmonic balancer and it starts chirping, the chirping never goes away, it just gets louder the longer you try to ignore it.

 

So could it be thay I'm actually ok at this point? The video looks ok?

 

My car (06 with 13,854 miles) is currently at the dealer for the Harmonic balancer to be replaced which is chirping loudly. I contacted GM customer service today because this is a known issue with these cars. At one point there was a TSB out for the 05 cars. I don't expect something for nothing, but at the same time I don't expect to be jacked for money on parts GM knows are a problem. Currently waiting for customer service to call back regarding this. If you do a search many others have had this issue with cars after 05 & 06.

 

The '05 TSB was for a loose bolt not a wobbling HB.
JDM, that wobble looks the same as mine did when the dealer replaced it. It will get worse as time goes by. I don't think you have an urgent thing yet but it will be eventually. When you do get it done I would argue with the service adviser about how common and ridiculous this is and hope they will cover some of the cost.

 

I have a 2005 Z51 and just changed my belt out from an old I believe original to a NEW Gates belt,my HB wobbles a bit but i'm not concerned,the belt I installed is suppose to have thread running in it that bullet proof vest are made of and its suppose to keep the belt from chirping and squealing,this new belt seems soo much softer than the old belt so I am betting the old belt got stiff and started the chirp!
Before I installed the new belt though I found a rock/metal piece stuck in the belt rib too...anyway...engine prrrrrrrs like a kitten and NO chirps...beeps...squeals or the such.
Bye the way..cleaned the pulleys with brake cleaner because they had rubber and gunk build up in the grooves.
Good luck!

 

I too Have had my balancer changed. After speaking to the service manager I actually got them to cover 100% of the cost even though my car was way out of warranty. My results are not as common as others but I'm sure if you fight hard enough you can get them to cover at least some of the cost of repair. While I don't think you're balancer needs to be changed right away I wouldn't wait too long it will get worse and can cause major damage if it comes apart while driving.

 

My 06 is in the dealer right now. The HB bolt spun off and the HB walked out about an inch. This upsets me greatly because take a look at how many have issues. Come on. These aren't fluke occurrences. And having to remove the rack to service this makes it a crazy expensive repair. I would like to know what people did to help get some of the cost covered. I'm looking at a huge bill that to me is rediculous. I love my C6. But it just doesn't make sense

 

I had extended warranty from carmax that covered all but $300. Good for another 4 years or 25k miles.

 

Mine has a slight wobble, 06, now 60k miles. I did not buy it new, so as far as I know it may have been replaced before. I'm in no hurry, but my research shows this:
Replace with: ATI Super Damper Part #917246.
Goodyear Gatorback belt #4060798 and #404010.
New GM balancer bolt #12557840.
Diamond embedded washer #12603843.
Maybe change idler pulley and belt transitioner. New seal. Steering rack has to be removed. Don't use old bolt to set balancer, it may strip the threads.

 

I just had mine changed last week. It was $450 at a Corvette specialist here in the St. Louis area.

My balancer was wobbling terrible and was chirping very loud. Like someone else said, it doesn't go away. I sprayed belt dressing I bought at Auto zone and it was quite till I got home but the next day was loud again. Try some belt dressing and hope that your belt is just dirty. Spray liberally while it's running and keep an eye on the pulley that it doesn't really start wobbling noticeably.

Wish I would've taken a video like you did as it certainly would give you an idea of what a bad one looks like.

 

What's the name of the place you took it to? Mine needs changing.

 

Schroeder Motors on Hwy 94 in St. Charles at Zumbehl Road just South of I-70. I called the owner, Gary, whom I've never met (only been there once but they came well recommended from a friend of mine). He told me the price over the phone. He ordered the part on Wednesday with just my saying I'd be in to have it fixed. I dropped the car off the next Tuesday and picked it up on Wednesday (he's open late Monday, Wed & Friday.

$456 out the door and he even repaired the front spoiler where it came loose on one side to the center piece.

Oh, be prepared to drool when you see the cars there.

 

Is that for a stock GM balancer? I have been reading everyone recommends buying aftermarket like ATI.

 

Sorry you'll have to ask Gary. I figure the stock one has probably been upgraded to not have the problem they had eight years ago but I'm sure the only price difference would be that of the part itself and as long as he's ordering it he would order the one you want.

 

I was aware of this C6 issue since 2008/09 -
some guys replacing HB by 30k miles

MY 007 F55 MN6 started out sutbly at around 64k Dec 2011; 2 of my buddies ragged on me as soon as they heard it at idle/low speed.
I got it replaced very soon afterwards before it got incessant or noticeable at speed, OR, HB bearings froze the motor.

total cost was $100 deduct on GM Vehicle One bumper to bumper extended warranty

 

I always read stuff like this and worry. My question is, when something like this starts to become problematic how easy is it to hear that "chirp"? We're not driving around a car that typically is quiet to begin with. Start adding headers and aftermarket exhaust and are you really going to hear something like this if it starts to go???

 

A much easier way to check it is to just look at it while ideling.