ParisTNDude

Early last week, I discovered that I had the infamous harmonic balancer "wobble". I was surprised since mine made no noise, but when I looked, it was pretty bad. After reading every thread on the forum I decided to give GM a shot at some customer service.

My car is a 2006 C6 LS2 with bolt-ons and only 27K miles. Way past warranty of any kind.

I first printed out the TSB on the harmonic balancer and went to my Chevy dealership and asked them to confirm the malfunction which they did. I heard the guy run the air wrench on the bolt and it sounded like it was loose. He just came back got the service manager to look at it and confirmed.

I came home and called GM customer service, who called the dealership to confirm the malfunction and if so, said she would have the district GM service rep call me the next day and they did. Get this: the district Service rep is in Argentina...must have a huge district and the customer service rep had a Philippine accent...gees, that's USA 1, right.

Anyway she called me back yesterday and said GM would pay half the repair cost which is $383 of a total $787. Since they are paying for it, I am going to use the "supposedly" new and improved balancer. The parts include new bolt and two belts as well as the balancer and of course labor. They didn't pay all of it, but half's certainly a whole lot better than me paying the entire bill.

Way to go, GM.

mariofromnewyork

Glad they took care of you.

In they end they still make money but would make more with repeat business from customer service like this.

Gering

Good luck with your repairs. If it does not take then keep these two items in mind: http://store.katechengines.com/bille...sioner-p2.aspx http://store.katechengines.com/ati-s...ts-v-p230.aspx

hawkandersonjr

1. What dealer did you used it sound like a good price. I have been told it will cost over $1000. Might be worth the drive.

ParisTNDude

Trust me, when I didn't know if GM would pay for the repairs, I definitely looked at aftermarket dampners. After reading some of the forum member comments, I don't have a lot of confidence that the GM part will fix it. They would have installed aftermarket parts at the dealership, but said they couldn't guarantee the part if it didn't work. I think using GM parts if in a couple months the problem recurs, I could go back and get them to do it again fully at their expense. That would be the time to provide my aftermarket part and have them install it.

You're right. In my research, I've seen prices from $1000 to 1500 to have the HB replaced. I was relieved when I thought I might have to pay full price at under $800. The part is on backorder, so it may be a while before I get it fixed.

My dealership is Pepper's Automotive in Paris, TN. They have the Chrysler, Toyota, Chevy, GMC dealerships here and they are a decent dealership.

EVRose

I'd love to get a look at that balancer before it's put on. I know that's not realistic so if you could somehow snap a picture of it when you get it back and post it here would be great. I'm still dubious about there being a "new" improved part.

Gering

I had a performance shop install my stuff, I do not remember the price, but it was not cheap.

Otherslost

I am glad to hear that GM will be helping out with your repair.

When mine started to go on my '07 with about 27,000 miles on it I called Rydell in Northridge, CA and talked with the service manager who told me to bring it in and have them look at it then if it was failing he would talk with the GM rep and see what they could do.

GM ended up covering about 50% of the cost and I was a happy camper. I had dropped the car off on a Friday and the Corvette mechanic there was not able to get the repair completed by the end of the day and he came in on Saturday morning (His normal day off) and finished it up so I could have my car back.

This was my first ever experience with a dealership where I was completely satisfied. I will never set foot in a Ford dealer again and the Chevy dealers I have used in the past were dic*'s and never returned calls or had the vehicle ready when promised. Rydell won my future business from this experience.

ParisTNDude

I took a video of the before and it looks pretty wobbly. But, I took it after the dealership seemed to have tightened the bolt with an air impact wrench. It didn't look as wobbly after that action as before. I will ask the service manager for the removed part and will try hard to get a side by side of the parts before they put the new one on. They do have different part numbers, according to the TSB.

I have a great mechanic who could have done the work much cheaper than the Chevy dealership, but for the work, and comparing it to other estimates, I thought the price was reasonable. No question, a performance Corvette shop would have been my first choice.

Alvin@PCMofNC

That's great that they are helping!

sisoul

I went to a dealer and told me they had a new improved one as well with a different part number. I took it out of the box and its the same one with a different part number. So its not different

ParisTNDude

Wouldn't you think that, with as many problems as they have with these, that they would just contract with one of the aftermarket companies to manufacture them for Chevy? Especially since they were coming up with a new design????

victorf

^^^There you have it. Name change but still the same rubbish - joining inner and outer ring with elastomer.

Simple search on the Forum will show many member changes to the claimed "New Damper" but failed shortly thereafter - a few have better luck. But existing design will guarantee failure, just a matter of when.

So, sad to say, if not a believer, then to stick with oem, it is rubbish out and rubbish in.

It sure is sad to see the damper issue resurfaces all too frequently. Some members are in denial, saying my vette is a late model, it has the new and improved Damper - What, same design and built with elastomer but it is improved???

Or stay with oem because it is done under warranty - so what - if it has to be done again - maybe next time it will be out of warranty.

---

I personally don't rely on GM taking the initiative. Always try to be proactive, since there was and is better options, back in 09, while my '05 damper had no issue, I change it to the ATI unit and call it a day.

EVRose

I knew it! Unbelievable. Who do they think they're fooling?

redrckt97

so - OP, there are 2 problems with the HB's ... 1)bolt backing out - and 2)elastomer ring delaminating... which was yours?...if the wrench sounded like it tightened the balancer, it would seem more like the first problem. I thought the bolt problem was only on early 05's? Just wondered which problem GM was addressing for 1/2 price.??

irok

they do contract with ATI for hb that they dont want failing on crate engines including several for the LS3.Check your GM Performance Parts Catalog.no prizes for having junk hb on car

SteveC68

O'Reilly sells an OEM balancer for $99. It's made by Powerbond and is a damn site better than the POS that GM sells.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...2316&ppt=C0332

I also had the wobble on my balancer. I did the install myself in my garage (no lift) in 12 hours. It sucked, but I learned a lot and could probably cut that time down by 3 hours or so if I had to do it again. I also went back in with the ARP bolt.

EVRose

Sorry but your wrong. You got me mixed up with someone else. I had mine changed over a year ago and never said I had a new improved part. I'm the one always asking for pictures of a new one. I can show you a picture of my old one though.

EVRose

Whatever. I'm not denying I got a GM HB. I just never said I got a new part number or a new improved part. Show me where I said that and show me where I was asked to supply a picture of it. Never happened.

EVRose

When your posts start to make a little more sense then maybe you can come back and prove your accusations. You are the one rambling since you have no proof. I'm perfectly happy with my OEM damper so far. I'll say again. YOU GOT ME MIXED UP WITH SOMEONE ELSE. I know which threads your talking about. I read them too. Deleting posts...I have no idea WTF your talking about.