bterwilliger

2005 6spd coupe, 30k miles, GMPP extended warranty

First - I haven't really investigated this. I hear it frequently, but it is fairly quiet. When I was under the hood a couple of weeks ago I did examine the belts and pulleys - none were frayed or loose respectively.

I took the car to the dealer today for the active handling light coming on, and mentioned this noise to them. They called me a couple hours later and told me they needed to replace two belts (one the drive belt, the other he didn't say and I forgot to ask), and that it would cost $300 and was not covered under warranty.

Questions:
Is it possible this is a TSB issue with a pulley/bolt and should be covered?
How hard are these to do myself (I know we are guessing at the 2nd belt)?

SgtRod

With my experiences with dealers I would bet anything that they will charge you the 300 and then still have you sign a ticket charging "something" to the GMPP.

I had my harmonic balancer replaced because it was wobbling. Not even to the point of chirping but I suspect that when they changed it that they put a new belt on. No charge to me. Im also with GMPP.

The breakdown is probably 50 (or less) for the belts and 250 for labor.

GMPP has been great though.

Let me know what happens with the active handling issue, I have that issue killing me over here.

Crow Hunter

Chirping sounds are almost always coming from one of the belts. 30K miles isn't a lot, but I'll bet it's a belt, or both. Both shouldn't cost much more than $50, and you can do it yourself. The bottom one runs only the AC compressor, and is shorter. It must be removed/replaced after the longer one is removed. It is easily done from underneath, so a lift or ramps are needed. One of the tensioners also might have a weak spring. Before starting the car, be absolutely sure both belts are properly seated in the grooves on all pulleys. Bad water pumps can also make odd sounds, but they generally squeak or squeal, rather than chirp.

knkali

Here is a trick--try dripping a little water on the belts. if they quiet then it is a belt if not then it is something else.

Walt White Coupe

Here is what I experienced with my 05 when the main belt started chirping at 20,000 miles. Mine was still under the original warranty and the dealer replaced both belts. 100 miles later the chirping returned. Dealer ended up over the next three months keeping the car in the shop for a month. At different times they replaced the:

1. Tensioner Pulley
2. Idler Pulley
3. Power Steering Unit
4 Water Pump Pulley
5. Alternator

They finally determined that the flex coupling in the crank pulley (i.e. Harmonic Balancer) had failed causing the outer pulley to wobble enough to misalign the main belt and cause the chirping.

I'd recommend that you look at the crank pulley with the engine running on the passenger side with a strong flashlight and see if the pulley is wobbling. The pulley has grooves/ribs in it and the pulley, in the ideal case, should look stationary with the engine running. Unfortunately, if it looks like it's wobbling, there is no out of limit GM specification for acceptable wobble. Basically, if the wobble causes the belts to chirp, then it's out of limit and the crank pulley has to be replaced.

I would not be surprised that after they change the belts that that will temporarily make the chirping go away for say 100 or so miles. And then if the chirping returns you will have to take it back to them and when they determine that the only fix is to replace the crank pulley they should refund your money for the new belts and have the warranty cover the final repair.

Good luck.

nwc6

Quite a few 05's out of the "vin breakpoint" have experienced crank pulley issues. Here is the link to the TSB:http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...lt-recall.html

Korvette225

I have a huge serpentine belt on my '92 454 Chevy SS truck which has a Paxton SC. When the squeeling finally gets so bad that the enamel starts to wear off my teeth, I replace it..about once a year.My mechanic removes and cleans all the pulleys and then it is completely quiet for a week or two, then the squeeling starts, first very low, then after about 4 months were back to the enamel. I've tried everything..,changing tensioners, belt dressings, screaming at it, but nothing really works or lasts. When you figure it out, whoever you are please let us all know. Thanks

bterwilliger

Replaced the belts, chirping gone. They checked out the HB and saw no issues. We will see if the noise returns over time.

Two007

Watch this one closely. Look at your harmonic balancer with the engine running. It should not look like it is vibrating or moving at all, except for goin' round and round. My 07 started the chirping thing, which would go away after I drove it a few miles. Turned out to be the harmonic balancer. LOTS of problems with these. Do yourself a favor, and keep and eye on it. You dont want that one coming loose and causing damage to the engine compartment.

CandyVette

I am having the chirping problem with my 05 with about 35,000 miles on it. Except the problem didn't start until we had had about 3 nights of pounding rain. In my Vette owning experience I have owned several Vettes that after being in a wet/moist environment for an extended length of time, strange noises would start happening, and then after the car dried out, the noises would disappear. The chirping noise (probably a belt?) gets faster and faster the faster I go, and disappears entirely when I am at a stop or just coasting. What could this be? Is the car safe to drive with this noise? Never had any belt noise problems with any of my other Vettes so that's why I'm asking.

SweetBlueZ51

They didn't tell you, "All Corvettes have a wobble at the crank pulley/harmonic balancer?", and this is "Normal". That's what I keep getting.

SweetBlueZ51

I had a leak from the water pump that glazed my belts and caused severe chirping sounds. Replaced water pump, stopped leak, replaced belts... chirping sounds returned. Had belts replaced a second time and also cleaned the pulley, that seemed to do the trick. Make sure you don't have any leaks dripping on to the belts.

Richor

I am going through this issue now as well, glad I found the thread

So far the dealer has replaced the alternator and a pulley ( I told them it was not the alternator the whole time ) oh well.

Anyways, the sound is still there and sounds horrible. I am going to contact the dealer again and see what can be done

SUB VETTE

Buy a can of belt dressing and spray the belts; if your squeeling stops, you know the problem.

bterwilliger

A little over one year later and the noise returned. Dealer is replacing the harmonic balancer under warranty (thank you GMPP - paid off 2x over).

c6 batmobile

I had a chirping and it was my belt tensioner. Went through three of them before it stopped.