Harmonic balancer issue?

[cauliflower]

Hello,

Just yesterday my car vn v8 started making a loudish bang at startup and you can feel vibrations all the way up the car to the gearbox, then drives fine though a bit rough and then on shutdown the same loudish bangs, I noticed that the harmonic balancer is wobbling around like crazy so i suspect that would be it.

Anybody got much experience with these things? costs involved? how long they last etc

Thanks again

[lepht93]

i paid about 120 for one (trade price), the main bolt is a bitch to remove, but i didnt have to pay for labour. I wouldnt have any idea how much theyd charge for the labour

[08sky_way]

In June 2006 I paid $121 for the HB and $130 for labour (incl GST). Included in the labour cost was the fitting of a new CAS ($159), a serpentine drive belt ($18) and a front seal ($15). Today the same business told me the purchase cost of a new HB is $180. The guy said it was a 'performance' type - whatever that meant!

[VK_3800]

If the balancer is wobbling at all, replace it ASAP!

The V8 one is a lot simpler than the V6 one described above, a decent second hand balancer may cost you next to nothing, or a refurbished one should be less than $100 and you could easily fit it yourself with a few tools.

Performance/sports/race balancers can be a lot more expensive due to their construction but not necessary in most applications.