MM98

iTrader: (11)

I was on my way home tonight when my belt started to squeak a bit & then noticed my volt gauge would fluctuate between 9-14.. Got off the Hwy to a stop light & the truck started to get hot, not pegged, but hotter than normal.. The belt also was starting to squeal more at this point.. Pulled into a parking lot, popped the hood & there was coolant all over the engine. Got it towed home & pulled the serp belt thinking possibly a locked up alt.. Pulled belt & every pulley spins freely including waterpump & alt.. Called it a night, but got to thinking maybe a bad balancer slowing everything down, but the powertsteering felt fine.. This is on my 05 silverado with a 4.8 & has electric cooling fans. Any ideas where to look first before throwing money at it. Thanks!!!

2000chevysilverado

iTrader: (11)

Finding the leak would be the first thing to start with put ur belt back on and start it up if coolant was all over egine then its hittn ur efans and throwing it on the engine. Ur voltage drop would be from the belt slipping.

MM98

iTrader: (11)

Well, I went out to look over all the hoses & radiator for any leaks tonight.. While doing so I just happened to see if the balancer had any play.. To my surprise, I was able to turn it with one hand leaning into the engine bay.. It did take some force, but was able to turn it almost on full rotation.. I'm guessing it's spinning on the crank causing my belt slip problems.. Anyone ever seen this before in a non boosted application?

Suburbazine

Yeah, the crank bolt is loose or backed out. The pulley is press-fit onto the snout.

Since it has been spinning you may have damaged it. A new one runs about $220, I would avoid using the cheapo $60 balancers as they machining for the snout does not fit correctly all the time.

Find your coolant leak after you fix the balancer. You may have several issues at once.

MM98

iTrader: (11)

Is this a common problem with the stock balancers on these trucks?

Suburbazine

I wouldn't say "common" but it can happen if someone took the balancer off to do maintenance then either reused the crank bolt or didn't torque the new one down enough.

TXSZ66AVLANCHE

iTrader: (7)

I forgot to put my crank bolt it, and drove for months without it. Lucky it didn't do any damage.

MM98

iTrader: (11)

Thanks for the responses, it wound up being the waterpump puking everywhere. Swaped it Saturday & all is well.