Well my balancer finally came apart on my 92 ssei. It started with a small rattle at idle, I didn't think much of it. After 10 miles of driving, I came to a stoplight and it sounded like there were ball bearings in the engine.

At first I thought maybe it was the supercharger, then my attention turned to the power steering pump because the sound changed when I steered the car.

The sound was only there at idle, it went away after about 1500 rpm.

The way I figured it out was that I found it made the noise (although it was different) no matter which belt I had on the car.

The rubber was completely torn away. The balancer has a hard stop in it, so that when this happens you are metal to metal. This makes a resounding "clunk" when you start the car. It'* scary until you know what it is.

I have read about a new balancer design, I am not sure if I got a new design or not, it looked slightly different, but not vastly different. But then again who cares, this one lasted 12 years !!

I decided to change the oil seal while I was in there. It'* not that easy to do, so I wouldn't advise changing it unless you really need to. Without the special tool, getting that seal started in the bore is tough.

A word to the wise: Check the three threaded holes in the new balancer before you install it. This is your only way to get the balancer back off, and you want them to be usable. It turns out that the metal webs on my new one were ever so slightly in the way, and I couldn't get bolts threaded all the way in. A tap run through from the backside cleared up that problem. So now if I ever have to pull it, I know I can. Also, this one pressed on a lot harder than the old one ever did, but It should come back off ok.

Steve

Coincidentally, the balancer on my '92 SSE */c failed a few months ago, and the symptoms sound similar to what you reported. I first noticed the noise when I started the engine, and then only at idle. The engine had roughly 155,000 miles on it at the time.

I found that the part number for the '92 was different from the '93/'94. The part for the '92 is the one I ordered from the dealer and had installed by a local shop (cost $70 labor and took them less than an hour). The old part and the new part look the same to me...the new dealer part was made in India according to a sticker on it, as I recall.

What part number did you install? According to the local Pontiac dealer, the p/n for the '92 supercharged engine is 88960259 and the one for the '93/94 supercharged engine is 88960265.

I will have to check on the part number.

The only difference I noticed between the old and the new was that the new one had the rubber all the way up to the front of the pulley, and on the old one it was set back maybe 1/8 inch. Oh, and also the new pulley has a raised separation between where the two belts go, the old one did not. Another change is that the crank sensor windows were held by 4 screws on the old, and only 2 screws on the new one. I bet someone got a reward for that big cost savings !!!!!

Steve