Good Afternoon All,

I know this question has been asked before, but I was wondering - how many of you have had to replace your harmonic balancer on your LS2 or LS3 engine? How many of you had had it fail when driving the car under (mostly) normal driving conditions - in other words, not a track-driven car. I have a 2013 C6 Corvette with about 24,000 miles on it and I am concerned that I am going to have an issue (based on what I've read on the internet.) I don't drive my car particularly aggressively (yes, I open it up occasionally but I don't race it or get super-aggressive with it.)

Also, I live in the Nashville area - is there anyone else on here that has replaced their harmonic balancer? If so, where did you take it and what did it cost? Lastly, what aftermarket HB should I consider if/when it comes time to replace it?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

Have an '05 LS2. HB slight wobble / belt chirp at higher RPM started just prior to hitting 40K miles. The wobble wasn't pronounced when discovered, had been keeping an eye on it since purchasing the car having known about the issue like yourself. Car has never been tracked, most driving is at cruising / low rpm speeds. Do enjoy occasional spirited mountain drives living in E. TN.

Once discovered, had dealership appointment to get replaced with non-OEM part they agreed to install. After much thought, cancelled that appointment for cam swap. Decided too much to spend on labor for no power gain. Cam swap was done at a performance shop and netted me an additional 62 whp. The HB replacement was at no additional charge since had to remove it to get to cam anyway. The shop is Lethal Performance & Dyno in Jefferson City. They do excellent work and usually run complete cam swap including all parts / labor for around $2K (TSP parts - can choose cam or have custom grind done). Check out their facebook page. LS specialty shop, and man do they stay busy. There's a reason why.

Anyway, you know about the HB issue. Wouldn't fret until see it start to wobble. When that happens you'll want to replace with non-OEM part. Several options available.

Hope this helps.

 

It definitely helps...thanks for the input. It's very frustrating that GM would build such a significant fail-point into their "bulletproof" LS engines.

Do you have an idea what the replacement of the HB along was going to cost? Not that I am against upgrading power - that could be fun - but I am trying to get ahead of the eventual failure of the HB.

Thanks.

 

I went to an independent auto shop that specializes in performance cars to have my balancer replaced and pinned.

Labor charge was $550

I brought to the shop the new parts .... balancer, a front crank seal and an ARP crank bolt along with the pinning kit.

 

Sure, it was going to be $700 - $800 dollars at dealership in my area (West Chevrolet). Thought that was reasonable compared to what's been shared in the forum. The part I went with is sold by Summit Racing = SUM-C2501 @ $200. Around $1K total.

 

I can vouch for Lethal Performance & Dyno in Jefferson City also. They do great work and definitely know what they are doing tuning wise also.

 

Don't stress over it. The LS3 is much better about it than the LS2. You shouldn't have any problems for quite some time, Especially with a 2013. The HB isn't going to just break off unexpectedly. There are usually much earlier warning signs before that's even a possibility. Typically starting with reoccurring belt chirp and visible wobble that gets progressively worse. There are a few posts about complete failure, and you'll find those cars are far from stock and not exactly driven lightly. I looked into it for quite a while when I had a noisy/chirpy belt issue, but determined it wasn't my cause. My C6 is an LS2 and I got +100,000 miles out of my OEM balancer even with mods and track racing. Obviously other cars have failed well before that, but just inspect yours and go from there. The wobble has to be much more considerable than you'd think.

Long story short, unless you're getting the belt chirping and wobble, you're fine

If you're still thinking of replacing it. I replaced mine myself before buying an A&A kit and went with a Powerbond PB1117-SS. Cost me $180 for the balancer and ~$20 for the crank bolt. This is a very popular balancer that you'll never have to worry about again. The SS is the supercharger-rated version, which you could still use if you wanted to. Otherwise, I think there's a non-SS version for a bit cheaper. If you're handy you can do it yourself, it's nowhere near as bad of a job as people say it is. I had it done in less than an afternoon from start to finish.

 

VetteofSD - THANK YOU. This is definitely encouraging and much appreciated!!

How difficult was it to replace yourself? I've looked into a little bit and it seems like its a significant amount of work. Don't get me wrong, I'm always up for a challenge, but for the money/peace of mind, if I did have to replace it, I might just pay someone who has done it before. :-)

 

It wasn't bad. On a difficulty scale, I'd say maybe a 5.5/10. Mostly because there's a lot of little steps to keep track of. Even so, I did it on jack stands without trouble. The most difficult part is removing & reinstalling the steering rack. Having an extra set of hands will help here, but isn't necessary. When I did this on my Vette, I did it myself. I later helped a friend replace his balancer and the extra help made pulling it out much quicker. You CAN just push it up and out of the way, but it's much easier and quicker to just pull it out. It's a good time to check out your power steering lines. There's one high-pressure line that likes to leak, but they may have fixed it on your later year Vette.

You'll need a few essential tools such as a large torque wrench, a breaker bar to fit it, and "crank flywheel lock" tool. It's ~$20 on amazon and installs where the starter goes. It holds the flywheel in place so the pulley doesn't rotate while you're removing the balancer. I re-sold mine on here afterward. I got my balancer off and on without any air tools. It makes things easier sure, but a lot of people said it was "required". I just used a large breaker bar and rachet and it broke free on the first try.

If you've ever installed headers, changed the water pump, or replaced the radiator, this isn't much more to this in my opinion.

Some members have found shops that only charged them ~500 to do it. It's worth it if you can find a deal. I couldn't find a place here in San Diego that wanted less than 900. At that price, I'd rather do it myself and buy more car parts