I recently started hearing a squeaking noise coming from under the hood from my 2005 Corvette. I've owned the car for about 3 weeks now and about a week ago it started squeaking. It rained that day so I didn't think much of it (thought one of the belts got wet). 2-3 days passed and the squeak got even louder and more annoying so I went to Autozone and got some "belt dressing" thinking it would solve the problem. When I popped the hood to apply it I then noticed my Crankshaft Pulley was wobbling all over the place.

I got on the forums right away to see if anybody else has had this problem and come to find out there was a TSB on it (05-06-01-001A) which affected early 05 vettes Built Prior to VIN Breakpoint 55111039 (but mine is 55137328 so it doesn't fall in that TSB?)

Anyways long story short I see I have a problem and I just thought i'd stop by for some advice. I'm new to the GM family (this is actually my first American car i've ever owned so I'm def no vette expert) but I have been up for the past 24 hours stressing about this issue (I didnt expect this to happen after owning the car for 3 weeks) but then again it is a USED car...

I don't understand why there's not a Recall for this when it seems to be clearly GM's fault (I'm not happy throwing away $1,000 for a repair that is a common problem among the early C6's) I don't know if I should still go to the dealership and see if they would be willing to fix it since it is a common problem or are they just gonna tell me screw you its out of warranty.

It currently has 30,400 miles. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Same thing happened to me a couple of months after buying my 2005. I took it to the dealer. No warranty coverage. The replacement cost at the dealer is about $1200.

Andy

 

Same thing happened here on my '05...Was a mustang owner and bought my first vette and didnt know about the problem until I heard squeking a couple weeks after I purchased my car. Had to go to the dealership and damn near cuss everyone out to get them to fix it with the 60 warranty. Otherwise it was going to be $1200. It is ridiculous that GM doesnt fix this problem that they created.

 

great...

 

It never hurts to ask the question but I'd say it's a long shot it's going be covered by GM. You're not even the original owner which also hurts your case with them... Bottom line I would NOT be driving it until it was fixed because if it fails you can do a lot more damage then 1200 bucks in a few seconds... don't make an annoying situation into a disaster is my advice...

 

^ I completely agree. I stopped driving the car after I discovered the problem and plan on having it towed to wherever I decide to have the car fixed. I will still contact Chevy just to hear what they'll say but I'm 99.9 sure they'll give me the "the vehicle is out of warranty bs" as i've seen them deny people's cleaims for this that HAVE WARRANTY! Its quite sad that GM doesnt fix the problem that they created like SuperSox said and sadly to say this is probably my first and last GM car.

 

Now I just gotta figure out weather I should pay the stealership $1,200 to fix it or should I take it somewhere else....

 

There are two potential problems with the crank pulley for early 05 cars.

1. The TSB you mentioned was for a "possible" loosening of the center crank pulley bolt. Your car is out of range for that problem so that's not an issue for your car.

2. The rubber flex coupling integral with with crank pulley (harmonic balancer) fails causing the outer ring, that is attached to the pulley you see, causing the outer ring (pulley) to wobble. This part is obviously under designed and I suspect it can't handle the twisting forces caused by the rapid acceleration of our engines under full power.

No one has ever mentioned that GM has accepted responsibility for this under design and I suspect your only solution is either get it replaced with a stock balancer or an aftermarket balancer.

As far as having to tow the car to get it fixed, that's not necessary. It will squeak (usually a chirping) and the worst that will happen is that it will throw the belt. Just keep the rpms down on the way to getting it fixed and you should be ok.

 

It's a six-year-old used car with a worn out part and it's been out of warranty for three years. You're not getting a free repair.

 

well put, im thinking about just driving it to the stealership (there's a Chevy dealer not even a mile down from where I live) but what do I tell them? I'm out of warranty and don't wanna pay them 200-300 to tell me what the problem is and tell try and rip me off for even more and at the same time I don't wanna take it to just anybody who probably has never worked on a vette before...

 

that pretty much sum's up what they'll say too...oh well there goes my exhaust money

 

If you go in and tell them that your research on the "chirping" belt is that the "harmonic balancer" needs replacement to fix the problem and you want to know their opinion, I doubt they would charge you for confirming what you already know.

 

Walt, First I want to thank you for all of the research and posting you have done on this subject. I discovered the wobbling harmonic balancer a few days ago after investigating a faint chirp at idle.

I found similar posts from Cadillac CTS and Pontiac G8 owners who have had the rubber separate from the balancer as well, so we are not alone with our problems. It is quite obvious that you are dead-on with your statement of "under-engineering". I call it "the design, manufacture and sale of a faulty product or component" something along the lines most lawyers would call, clears grounds for a product liability action if personal injuries were occurring !

What I don't get, are the posts that state some dealership responses have been "the wobble is normal". Well, if the wobble is normal, what are the measured tolerances of what is "normal wobble" and what is "failure wobble". And also, why aren't those measurements referenced in the Factory Service Manuals. And why isn't the wobble mentioned at all in any of the Factory Service Manuals ? One would think that if it was normal it would be mentioned in the engine diagnostics section and it would be given some reference data as to acceptable vs. unacceptable.

 

One thing to point out as well is this can be caused from a faulty water pump. Once a bearing goes in the pump and it begins leaking through the weep hole (GM's are notorious for this), the corrosive dexcool drips directly onto the belt and harmonic balancer which begins wearing on the balancer in that rubber flex coupler which will cause the demise of the harmonic balancer. Leaking coolant will also cause wearing of the belt and cause a squeak/squeel.

This problem can present itself on any LS engine based vehicle due to the above cause.

 

Every time I've referred to the service manual for a job I've noticed at one major error, not to mention all the information that simply isn't there.

 

go and get an underdrive pulley and pick up a few horses at the same time.

that's what i did.

 

HDDP,
Thanks for the kind words. I leaned about the crank pulley problem first hand because I had one of the first failures on my 05 after 19,000 miles. It took the dealer 6 weeks of trial and error before they replaced the pulley and fixed the problem. What I learned was that there is no acceptable tolerance for pulley wobble. I suspect that because the engine has to be running with the tension of the two belts on the pulley for it to wobble that there is no way to actually measure the wobble. A lot of pulleys wobble and will not be replaced simply because they are not running true. It's only when they cause the belt to chirp that the dealer will replace the pulley because that is the only way to eliminate the chirp.

 

same problem here, but I went to the dealer 4 mths before waranty expired! fixed for free....well, the second time, becuase the first time they just changed the belts, etc to see if that helps, but after not even 3 weeks, the noise came back, so they fixed it for good for the second time...
I agree with you, it should havbe been a recall, but u know think about reputation, etc

 

I feel your pain. It was a long & hard fight for me to get my HB replaced, but I finally did and it runs perfectly now.

Here's what it sounded like at idle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HmMAyPdyDs

Here's what it looked like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRboo9a0RnY

 

don't think is only your 05, had the same issue with my 07, dealer replaced under 100K warranty. My frined with a 08 has the same issue, other friend with a G8 also same issue. If no warranty, take it to a good mechanic for arround 500$ you should get an aftermarket pulley and labor.