cgroh89

iTrader: (15)

Looking at purchasing a CTSV. Found a magnacharged one faily local to me.

Went to look at it this morning and the harmonic balancer is starting to go and the car just sounds overall loud at idle. Took a video of it as I dont know how loud these units are at idle if they have a normal loudness to them or what. Searching on the site the only thread I found for it being loud ended up needing the unit rebuilt. Which isnt what I am hoping for considering I may purchase the car knowing I am looking at 500 to replace the balancer with a good aftermarket.

See the video here and lmk what you think. The car ran alright at 5 pounds of boost. No real knocking it sounds like just a loud valvetrain,

Also can you see if the crank shaft has been pinned. Does the balancer get drilled as well?
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twinturbo496

iTrader: (2)

The "pins" are 1/2 in the crankshaft snout and 1/2 in the damper. If the damper is really moving as much as it appears in the video that car should not be driven, serpent type belts are fairly easy to throw off, and the car would overheat quickly.

Regarding the noise, I would suggest removing the belt and running the engine (very briefly like less than 1 minute at idle) to confirm if the noise goes away. If it still makes the noise, it is likely something bad in the valvetrain. If it goes away, you should be able to spin one accessory at a time by hand and find out which item is dying.

If you can do the work yourself you may be able to get a great deal, but if you are going to pay someone that could be a very expensive repair job.

The crank pulley wobble really would worry me....

twinturbo496

iTrader: (2)

In case you haven't seen the setup.

This is the front of the crankshaft with the crank pulley bolt installed. The pins are hidden behind the bolt, and you won't be able to see them without taking out that bolt (it should be very very tight)

twinturbo496

iTrader: (2)

This is the view with the damper bolt removed and shows the holes that are drilled for the pins (pins not installed in this photo).

cgroh89

iTrader: (15)

Yea I can do the work myself. This will be my first ls car. Not sure if it is worth my time to make the drive back again to remove that belt (about two hours one way). I was reading about the balancer. Common problem but I geuss its not that big of a deal. It is on the way out though.

Thinking its time to pass on this car and look else where. I lowballed him as there are to many variables in the deal but he seemed interested in negotiating from the lowball as all he has had is trade offers

cgroh89

iTrader: (15)

Thanks on the pins. I didnt know if I could see them with a mirror or not that is another variable if they were put in when the kit was orginally installed