jior

Went to go look at a 2006 c6 coupe today. when the salesperson started it up i could hear a chirping sound. thought it just might be a belt squeaking, but upon closer inspection i saw the lower crank pulley had a slight wobble. thought i heard that these engines had bad crank pulleys. it seemed to wobble maybe an 1/8 of an inch or so maybe alittle less. Is this a concern.

tennblkc6

nope...not if you have ~$1500 to spare

HBsurfer

I bought mine knowing the balancer needed replacing. Installed an ATI text day and don't have to worry about again. Knock $1500 off the asking price and buy the car. Just don't install another GM balancer

ErikR

There are lots of threads on here about wobbly harmonic balancers and squeaking belts. New belts will eliminate the squeak, for a while, but the cause is the wobbly harmonic balancer.

I bought my '07 this summer and a few weeks later it started squeaking. I had the POS factory balancer replaced by a trusted independent mechanic with lots of Corvette experience. He has replaced several and has the labor time down to 4 hours. He went with an ATI unit of the same diameter, new belts, a new seal, and a new bolt... The total came to right around $900. The factory balancer was way out of round and the new one runs so true I can't see even the slightest hint of wobble...

There are several youtube videos of wobbling balancers.

Good luck!

ESSFO

Mine started after the blower went on (108K miles). Decided on an IWI because I'll be doing an 8 rib conversion later on.

FairfieldVette

I had exactly the same issue on my 2006 base coupe. I got a price estimate from a Corvette specialist for the work and got that amount knocked off the asking price of the car.

Budget $1100 to $1200 to get that fixed. The parts are cheap, but there's about 7 or 8 hours of labor involved.

There are 3 bits of advice I'd give...

1) Get the front crank seal replaced at the same time. It's right there when they take off the old harmonic balancer. The wobbly balancer will have worn the old seal, shortening its lifetime. Again, cheap part and cheap additional labor if done at the same time.

2) Get an aftermarket balancer to replace the faulty GM one, then you'll never have to worry about it again.

3) Make sure the seller doesn't just change the belt. That will make it quiet for a couple of weeks, but the problem will come back. A properly fitted harmonic balancer will run perfectly true, with no perceptible wobble at all.

Note that there's a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) from GM on the subject, which details the work that's required for the job.

Good luck!

Aotte1

Confirm it is about $1200, recently had it done to our sons 2006, at Chevrolet dealer. As part of the GM procedure, it will get a new alignment, once parts are put back. Some of the front suspension parts are removed.



QUOTE=FairfieldVette;1593461338]I had exactly the same issue on my 2006 base coupe. I got a price estimate from a Corvette specialist for the work and got that amount knocked off the asking price of the car.

Budget $1100 to $1200 to get that fixed. The parts are cheap, but there's about 7 or 8 hours of labor involved.

There are 3 bits of advice I'd give...

1) Get the front crank seal replaced at the same time. It's right there when they take off the old harmonic balancer. The wobbly balancer will have worn the old seal, shortening its lifetime. Again, cheap part and cheap additional labor if done at the same time.

2) Get an aftermarket balancer to replace the faulty GM one, then you'll never have to worry about it again.

3) Make sure the seller doesn't just change the belt. That will make it quiet for a couple of weeks, but the problem will come back. A properly fitted harmonic balancer will run perfectly true, with no perceptible wobble at all.

Note that there's a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) from GM on the subject, which details the work that's required for the job.

Good luck![/QUOTE]

Turbo6TA

Does the front timing chain cover have to be removed in order to replace the front crank seal ??

HK770

After damper is removed just pry seal out. This tool is the way to go for install. Saccity has Vids on how to use, on their site.

http://www.saccitycorvette.com/AlignItTools.html

EVRose

It's the outer ring on the balancer that does the wobbling. The inner part that rests against the crank seal does not wobble.

buckmeister2

[QUOTE=Aotte1;1593463882]Confirm it is about $1200, recently had it done to our sons 2006, at Chevrolet dealer. As part of the GM procedure, it will get a new alignment, once parts are put back. Some of the front suspension parts are removed.


Aotte...why did you have it done at the dealer? They simply put on the same balancer, and the same problem is likely to show up again, possibly as soon as 30K miles.

I realize you just joined the group, and a big welcome to you. Best recommendation I can make is that, before having any level of repair done to your son's car, get advice from the experts here.

Enjoy the forum!

Jim

windyC6

Correct....theres no need to replace the seal as many suggest esp. if the car has lower mileage. A perfect case of if it ain't broke don't fix it......

FairfieldVette

I'm a Brit, so I've been brought up on doing as much "preventive maintenance" as possible when working on a vehicle... Those parts on Brit cars are gonna fail pretty soon anyway! Ha ha ha

windyC6

Well I see your point for sure. But i'm an American so I was brought up to live somewhat by Murphy's law. And Murphy's law specifically states....."if you take apart any perfectly good mechanism to try and improve such mechanism by replacing it with a new one thinking that it will work better, then you run the risk of said mechanism never performing as it should again".....LOL.......

FairfieldVette

That's a very good point too!

Turbo6TA

Thanks everyone for the info about the crankshaft front seal ...

jior

do the 2012 balancers have the same wobble problem or was the design changed by then?

Aotte1

Jim,

Thanks for the welcome, it was done under warranty. Hard to believe, the new GM balancer recently installed has gone bad in about 3 to 4,000 miles., Chevrolet is replacing it again on their dime, as it has a one year parts warranty. The new GM balancer recently installed, did not look good running, however, service manager said they all look that way. Makes no since to me how new ones, out of round can last? The recently replaced one seems to have failed really quickly, once it started going bad. Have not seen it, car is at Chevrolet shop waiting to be fixed. Will update after,seeing it, up close.

Do agree the ATI balancer is the solution, have used then on stock eliminator car with - no problems, at almost 7000 RPMs.

From my experience, the 2016 balances - still have the problem. Where are they made?

After this time, if happens again, it will get an ATI balancer!!

Thanks,
Les

cclive

The conventional wisdom is that the oem part has not been improved...if you are paying for it yourself, do not replace with an oem part. There are a number of aftermarket replacements that will be a one-time fix...never to be thought of again...like 99.999% of balancers on other cars.

pierrel

Are they really such a PITA to remove as i have been led to believe? You really do have to drop the subframe and use excessive force to remove that TTY bolt? Im guessing the balancer itself should come right off quite easily?

Have to replace mine and I'm going to do it myself. Ill go with a ATI one, if there is no other recommendation on a cheaper and just as reliable balancer out there? Is there any modifications that has to be done to fit the ATI balancer?

Thanks!