Are you putting off changing your wobbly balancer?

[Longman]

Hi all. Just thought I would give you all the final tally, just in case you were umming and ahing about fixing that wobbly balancer. I held off for a while and it cost me. In the end, I had to replace the following:

- balancer
- balancer bolt
- main belt
- main belt tensioner pulley and mount
- main belt idler pulley
- A/C belt
- A/C belt tensioner pulley and mount
- power steering pump.

the idler pulley is noisy after an hour which suggests the mount also needs replacing. I noted uneven wear on all pulley mounts. Fingers crossed the A/C compressor, water pump and alternator seem ok. Moral of this story is fix your balancer immediately upon noticing the wobble.

 

[pittyonyx]

wobbly balancer l98

I held off for 2+ years drove like a nanna though, got replaced last week 2nd hand balancer bought belts and balancer bolt off ebay, guy down the road changed it for $60 take it over 3 grand now and wow i had missed out on that grunt tooo long, no wobble belts still on no leaks! A must do as i heard it can play havoc if not done!

 

[MiKExAUS]

did holden fix this harmonic balancer fault with the vf's?

 

[Longman]

Yeah, she drives like she used to!

 

[Rajesh Koothrappali]

Checked mine and it's got a wobble in it. 60,000+km on the clock and just went out of warranty.

No belt squeal so I wouldn't even have bothered checking it without the posts about it here.

A guy I know works for Holden service tells me he hasn't seen one that doesn't have a wobble. And that at 60,000km if it was going to throw a belt it would have by now and since it's a $500 job to replace not to bother. It makes me a little bit nervous to be honest.

 

[Longman]

Hey. One way I noticed that it was an issue was that the main tensioner was actually bobbing, as in riding its spring motion up and down. I knew that wasnt normal, especially when the bearing went. It aint bobbing now.

 

[Grennan]

Checked mine and it's got a wobble in it. 60,000+km on the clock and just went out of warranty.

No belt squeal so I wouldn't even have bothered checking it without the posts about it here.

A guy I know works for Holden service tells me he hasn't seen one that doesn't have a wobble. And that at 60,000km if it was going to throw a belt it would have by now and since it's a $500 job to replace not to bother. It makes me a little bit nervous to be honest.

I can get the balancer for sub 200 bucks IIRC. Thats for a Powerbond aftermarket.

Find a mechanic who has the puller already. Find a mechanic who has the LS2 puller and your golden.

I checked your video, it doesnt look abnormal. Its never going to be dead straight its a moving component but theres very little back and forth movement.

 

[Rajesh Koothrappali]

Thanks Grennan. I think I was just over-paranoid after reading about it here. Then I checked it and it looked like it was wobbling. The cold start check tonight put my mind at ease. I'll just keep an eye on it for now and check it again when it's hot too.

 

[Grennan]

I checked mine before I took mine for Tune + OTR cause I wouldve done it same time as OTR. Saves removing it to do it again.

But mine was similar to yours.

 

[gunsmoke]

Checked mine and it's got a wobble in it. 60,000+km on the clock and just went out of warranty.

No belt squeal so I wouldn't even have bothered checking it without the posts about it here.

A guy I know works for Holden service tells me he hasn't seen one that doesn't have a wobble. And that at 60,000km if it was going to throw a belt it would have by now and since it's a $500 job to replace not to bother. It makes me a little bit nervous to be honest.

Ok Raj, my 06 VE ss had 87 000 km when i bought it...2 female owners from new, immaculate. Within 2 weeks i noticed the wobble and within 1 week from then the belt sqeal at start up and cold running was pissing me off, so i changed it.
I have posted much info on this , so may pay to do a topic search. My opinion, change asap or at least keep revs down till you can afford the new bits. Just imagine the damage to engine components and possible bonnet if it comes off, not to mention possibility of damage to crank surface and timing cover....be afraid...very afraid...