Yesterday It happened!!! The car was towed home by Triple A. It turns out that the Harmonic balancer fell apart!!! My wife was driving it and then it started making some weird noises. So she had it towed home. Good thing she did. When I inspected it the outer balancing ring was completly seperated from the inner ring and it was bouncing around.
So here is the replacement I thought that a few of you guys may be able to use this info in the future.
1st step; remove the upper radiator shroud. 10mm Bolts, Hint: Use a long extension 12-16" it makes the job quicker on the lower bolts.
2nd step: Remove the fan blade 4 nuts 13mm open end wrench. Hint; Leave the serpintene belt on and it will hold the fan for you, then just loosen the belt tensioner and turn the fan 160 degrees to reach the lower two nuts)
3rd step: Remove the serpintene belt, 1/2" drive, turned toward the passenger fender will loosen the tensioner and therby releases the belt
4th step: Remove lower crankshaft pulley, and harmonic balancer bolt: using 15mm socket, and 15/16 socket: Note since I had removed the serpentine belt the pulley wanted to rotate, A easy way to fix this is on the backside of the pulley there is plenty of space for a large cresent wrench to hold onto 1 of 4 large metal metal forgings in the pulley assembly. I used a air impact wrench on the 15/16 socket that holds the harmonic balancer to the crank. You can also use a braker bar on the 15/16 socket, and disconnecting the fuel run solenoid turn the car over with the starter and that should loosen the belt (This way is kind of dangerous and can damage things like the radiator... be careful)
5th: using harmonic balancer puller, steering wheel puller, use two of the 15 mm bolts that hold the pulley on attach the puller and remove the harmonic balancer
6th: I would highly recomend replacing the Front crankshaft seal at this time. I removed mine by bending the seal down towards the crank with a hammer and screw driver then prying it out. Instalation is fairly simple just make sure that the O/D is fully greased with assembly lube and the ID is greased as that is what seals against the harmonic balancer.I used a little patience and a flat faced hammer and tapped the new seal back into place.
7th Step: Reinstall the harmonic balancer, Make sure that the woodruf key is still in place.
8th Step reinstall the belt and shroud and enjoy.
This is a fairly easy project and WITH THE RIGHT TOOLS will only take 1.5 hours at a easy pace. The parts around $160. The GM part Number is 10154688. the dealer cost for this replacemt would have been un the 500n dollar range...ouch!!
So here is the replacement I thought that a few of you guys may be able to use this info in the future.
1st step; remove the upper radiator shroud. 10mm Bolts, Hint: Use a long extension 12-16" it makes the job quicker on the lower bolts.
2nd step: Remove the fan blade 4 nuts 13mm open end wrench. Hint; Leave the serpintene belt on and it will hold the fan for you, then just loosen the belt tensioner and turn the fan 160 degrees to reach the lower two nuts)
3rd step: Remove the serpintene belt, 1/2" drive, turned toward the passenger fender will loosen the tensioner and therby releases the belt
4th step: Remove lower crankshaft pulley, and harmonic balancer bolt: using 15mm socket, and 15/16 socket: Note since I had removed the serpentine belt the pulley wanted to rotate, A easy way to fix this is on the backside of the pulley there is plenty of space for a large cresent wrench to hold onto 1 of 4 large metal metal forgings in the pulley assembly. I used a air impact wrench on the 15/16 socket that holds the harmonic balancer to the crank. You can also use a braker bar on the 15/16 socket, and disconnecting the fuel run solenoid turn the car over with the starter and that should loosen the belt (This way is kind of dangerous and can damage things like the radiator... be careful)
5th: using harmonic balancer puller, steering wheel puller, use two of the 15 mm bolts that hold the pulley on attach the puller and remove the harmonic balancer
6th: I would highly recomend replacing the Front crankshaft seal at this time. I removed mine by bending the seal down towards the crank with a hammer and screw driver then prying it out. Instalation is fairly simple just make sure that the O/D is fully greased with assembly lube and the ID is greased as that is what seals against the harmonic balancer.I used a little patience and a flat faced hammer and tapped the new seal back into place.
7th Step: Reinstall the harmonic balancer, Make sure that the woodruf key is still in place.
8th Step reinstall the belt and shroud and enjoy.
This is a fairly easy project and WITH THE RIGHT TOOLS will only take 1.5 hours at a easy pace. The parts around $160. The GM part Number is 10154688. the dealer cost for this replacemt would have been un the 500n dollar range...ouch!!