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New fella with a noisy newb problem

S

spini

New member
Hi everyone, I'm an owner of a '99 Grand Prix GTP (L67), my first car with fairly low mileage (113k km/70k mi). When it comes to maintenance I didn't know anything but I've taught myself a bit from the internet as well as this forum here.

I also come asking a question, and I hope someone could help me out here. tl;dr at the bottom :)
A few months ago an idle pulley seized and melted both the supercharger belt as well as the pulley. I thought I was out of a car but was pretty relieved I could still get around without the SC (lets not mention the fuel economy). There was no noise before this happened and the car drove fine. After losing the belt, I was able to hear this rattling noise <1000rpm, if the weather was above -10c/14f and the AC was off.
Fast forward to yesterday, I was able to install a new tensioner and 2 new pulleys as well as the SC belt. A more car-savvy friend suggested that the sound might go away after the new belt is added but it only got worse. On my brief 1 minute test drive the sound was very loud so I just turned around and went home.
I guess it comes down to 2 possible issues (I think), either the harmonic balancer, or the a/c? I mentioned before the sound went away under very cold weather, or if the AC was on it would become very quiet.


tl;dr see video, do I need a new harmonic balancer, or could it be something else?
 


the balancer, take a good look at it from the wheel well, take the wheel off. look around the metal to rubber outer edge. if its bad you'll see a good crack around the whole balancer.

take both belts off, fire it up, see if the noise stops. while the belts are off spin all the pulleys by hand, the balancer, grab it with two hand and see if it wiggles side to side or if you can turn it with out the middle part turning too. or turn it back and fourth a bit.

while the belts are off grab the sc pulley, turn it one way, then snap it back the other way, if you feel a click or hear it, the coupler is bad in the snout of the blower.
 
Thank you for the replies!

The sc pulley is fine, no wiggle and no clicks or sounds while spinning either.

I don't have anything to take my wheels off (let alone a jack) but it was an overcast day so I could see well enough from the top down. I took both belts off, and I was able to turn the balancer right and left with one hand without the middle part turning (turning it left hits metal, and I didn't try turning it as far right as possible). It doesn't wiggle side to side but I think it's pretty certain that its separated. So I guess that diagnoses the issue entirely? :eek:
 


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