# Tensioner, drive belt, & crakshaft seal 2014 2LT 47,000 mi



## susan james (Jun 22, 2016)

Went in for my first synthetic oil change today. Wanted them to check the chirping which forums indicate is the tensioner. Dealer wanted to charge $99 to assess. I told them I wouldn't pay that as the noise was loud enough for anyone to diagnose.

They tell me it is the tensioner, drive belt & crankshaft seal that need to be replaced. Only thing covered under powertrain warranty is the crankshaft seal. Cost for the rest is $91 for parts & $146 labor for total of $237. Is this reasonable? 

If I get my private mechanic to do the work I guess I will have to pay for the crankshaft seal out of pocket. Would a private mechanic replacing it invalidate the powertrain warranty?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Have the dealer do the crankshaft seal under warranty (this would be costly). Take the belt tensioner to your independent mechanic.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

susan james said:


> Went in for my first synthetic oil change today. Wanted them to check the chirping which forums indicate is the tensioner. Dealer wanted to charge $99 to assess. I told them I wouldn't pay that as the noise was loud enough for anyone to diagnose.
> 
> They tell me it is the tensioner, drive belt & crankshaft seal that need to be replaced. Only thing covered under powertrain warranty is the crankshaft seal. Cost for the rest is $91 for parts & $146 labor for total of $237. Is this reasonable?
> 
> If I get my private mechanic to do the work I guess I will have to pay for the crankshaft seal out of pocket. Would a private mechanic replacing it invalidate the powertrain warranty?



Talk about a dealer showing its stripes.

To perform the seal replacement, the drive belt must be removed......so, the only additional labor that you are responsible for is the time it takes to exchange the tensioner.....ten minutes on a bad day.
The dealer is taking advantage of the situation since he has chosen to charge the tensioner replacement as a stand alone repair. The time books don't show tensioner replacement in conjunction with other repairs.

The correct method would show parts that are cutomer pay (belt-tensioner). Then, parts that are warranty (seal).
The labor would be the time given for seal replacement (warranty) and a small additional labor charge, called OLH, for the tensioner exchange.
The belt R&R is, naturally, required to exchange the seal.

On another note: While running with hood open (and making the sound) remove the dipstick and see what happens. If the sound changes or disappears the seal is the only failed part......tensioner and belt are serviceable and replacement is at your option.

Rob


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## susan james (Jun 22, 2016)

I will run the check you recommend. Also, would this mean anything--I only hear the sound inside the cabin when the ac is on.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

susan james said:


> I will run the check you recommend. Also, would this mean anything--I only hear the sound inside the cabin when the ac is on.


My car did the same when the A/C was on. It was definitely the tensioner in my case.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Noise, with A/C operating only, removes the crank seal from the discussion. A dry seal sings the same tune regardless of what accessories are operating.
If I was a betting sort, I see the dealer charging for a warranty repair (that likely won't be performed, but charged for just the same) and charging you for the tensioner and belt.
Maximum income, minimum time.

As above, just the tensioner is likely all it needs.....the belt is fine.

Rob


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

I've been reading this forum for over 5 years, and I think you would be the first person with a crankshaft seal replacement. Ohh, I take that back, I think CruzeEcoBlueTopaz had one replaced at over 200,000 miles. 

I would think there would be oil leaking on the passenger side of the car, at the big pulley at the bottom of the belt if it was really leaking. 

Try starting the car with the AC off, and allow the engine to get to full speed before engaging the AC. I've had mine make a little chirp on really hot days, where I have shut the car off with the AC on. It can be a large load on the belt. With the alternator trying to start the car and the AC both trying to run at the same time. 

Also shutting the AC off 5 minutes before you get to your destination also allows the compressor to de clutch, and any water in the vents to drain through so you don't get smells. 

I'm thinking someone is trying to get you to believe you have a lemon, when really things aren't that bad.


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## 14BlkLT (Jun 27, 2014)

For what it's worth, I had my crankshaft seal replaced under warranty due to a squeak when the a/c compressor was being used. No sign of oil leaking, or any other issues present just the squeak. Dealer replaced and have not had any recurrence of the squeak, this is almost a year ago.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

*Tensioner, drive belt, &amp; crakshaft seal 2014 2LT 47,000 mi*

I've seen a few replaced. It's usually an aftermath of the intake check valve going out and forcing excess crankcase pressure out through seals (squeak from crankshaft seal or oil seepage around the cam phasers).

As you can imagine, there's more crankcase pressure when the engine is under more load at idle to run the AC compressor. The drive belt, too, is under more tension.


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## JRB'sOilburningCruze (Feb 25, 2015)

Robby said:


> Talk about a dealer showing its stripes.
> 
> To perform the seal replacement, the drive belt must be removed......so, the only additional labor that you are responsible for is the time it takes to exchange the tensioner.....ten minutes on a bad day.
> The dealer is taking advantage of the situation since he has chosen to charge the tensioner replacement as a stand alone repair. The time books don't show tensioner replacement in conjunction with other repairs.
> ...


A good friend of mine has a Honda Odyssey that is subject to the piston replacement recall, excessive oil consumption. Honda pulled his engine & replaced the pistons as part of the recall. When it was in for the pistons it was time to replace the timing belt & water pump. Dealer charged him the full labor amount to replace timing belt & water pump. He told me this, and I said timing belt has to come off to disassemble engine. Honda would have had to eat the timing belt labor as part of engine reassembly. He was not pleased with his dealer. Nothing like a dealer taking advantage of Honda and the customer. And, my friend is a loyal Honda customer. 2 Odysseys and a Honda Accord, and he's getting ready to replace his Accord.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Robby said:


> To perform the seal replacement, the drive belt must be removed......so, the only additional labor that you are responsible for is the time it takes to exchange the tensioner.....ten minutes on a bad day.


Does it have to be completely removed, or does it only have to be set aside? The reason I ask is that to *change* the belt you have to "open" the engine mount. If it only has to be removed from the engine and moved aside, you probably don't.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

ChevyGuy said:


> Does it have to be completely removed, or does it only have to be set aside? The reason I ask is that to *change* the belt you have to "open" the engine mount. If it only has to be removed from the engine and moved aside, you probably don't.


Uggg.....you are correct.....the bloomin upper mount has ro be unbolted.
However, I still doubt if a belt is needed at the Just past warranty mileage.

Rob


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## susan james (Jun 22, 2016)

I am wondering if the bad crankcase installation for the bad PCV valve hasn't caused this problem with the crankcase seal. If you go back to my malfunction lamp posts you can read how the first replacement crankcase cover had a bad gasket & the engine lost 3 quarts of oil flooding the engine compartment. Any comments?


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

JRB'sOilburningCruze said:


> A good friend of mine has a Honda Odyssey that is subject to the piston replacement recall, excessive oil consumption. Honda pulled his engine & replaced the pistons as part of the recall. When it was in for the pistons it was time to replace the timing belt & water pump. Dealer charged him the full labor amount to replace timing belt & water pump. He told me this, and I said timing belt has to come off to disassemble engine. Honda would have had to eat the timing belt labor as part of engine reassembly. He was not pleased with his dealer. Nothing like a dealer taking advantage of Honda and the customer. And, my friend is a loyal Honda customer. 2 Odysseys and a Honda Accord, and he's getting ready to replace his Accord.


dealers must get away with it more than often for them to do it at all.


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## susan james (Jun 22, 2016)

Well, I am getting ready to go in for this repair. Thanks for all the input but I am still a little confused what I should ask for. So the dealer is going to replace the crankshaft seal under warranty. Also says I need a belt & tensioner. Should I say that the belt should be covered under the crankshaft seal warranty repair & just agree to pay for the tensioner & labor to install the tensioner? I think that is what I have been able to get from all the posts.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

If the belt requires replacement as a result of the failure (oil soaked) it should be covered as consequential damage in conjunction with the seal repair.

The tensioner is likely being replaced as insurance...ie, insuring the repair. Evidently, the dealer has seen enough tensioner failures after belt replacement that they are uncomfortable re using the old one.

So, I agree with your thoughts.

Rob


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## Scott205 (Aug 11, 2016)

From the posts, I assume it is my belt tensioner I hear squawking at idle, my seal was replaced under warranty, but not the tensioner about 25k ago. Now I have 82.5k and it is making noise, goes away pretty much above 1200 rpm


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Scott205 said:


> From the posts, I assume it is my belt tensioner I hear squawking at idle, my seal was replaced under warranty, but not the tensioner about 25k ago. Now I have 82.5k and it is making noise, goes away pretty much above 1200 rpm


Inspect your intake manifold for the PCV check valve.


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## Scott205 (Aug 11, 2016)

I can't get the hose off, but the squeak goes away when the dipstick is pulled. How do you remove the hose without breaking it? If it isn't the PCV it is the crankcase seal on the belt side?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Scott205 said:


> I can't get the hose off, but the squeak goes away when the dipstick is pulled. How do you remove the hose without breaking it? If it isn't the PCV it is the crankcase seal on the belt side?


It is likely the missing check valve below the hose causing the crankshaft seal to chirp. It's the weakest point for crankcase pressure to escape.

The hose should pull off with a firm grasp once you've removed the clamp. A pair of channel locks might help.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

I've already bought the crank seal, tensioner and belt to do mine as it makes the funky noise when the AC is turned on and with or without it on I get a chirp. I have also bought a used intake and XtremeRevolution's kit for the PCV fix. Now I just need to do it all and hopefully my two intermittent codes go away with the noises.

My question is what is the gasket that came with the crank seal for? The timing cover?


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## Scott205 (Aug 11, 2016)

jblackburn said:


> It is likely the missing check valve below the hose causing the crankshaft seal to chirp. It's the weakest point for crankcase pressure to escape.
> 
> The hose should pull off with a firm grasp once you've removed the clamp. A pair of channel locks might help.


So if I decide to end that mess GM created and install one of the PCV Fix kits, and replace the front Crankshaft seal; do I need to still need to inspect that? Is there really anything there that would be accomplished? Also does the valve cover need to be replaced? I did notice some oil around and on the spark plugs. New Valve cover also? 

It has been a good car, I do hope doing all three things will solve this for a long time.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Scott205 said:


> So if I decide to end that mess GM created and install one of the PCV Fix kits, and replace the front Crankshaft seal; do I need to still need to inspect that? Is there really anything there that would be accomplished? Also does the valve cover need to be replaced? I did notice some oil around and on the spark plugs. New Valve cover also?
> 
> It has been a good car, I do hope doing all three things will solve this for a long time.


Youll need to get it off to remove the intake to install the kit.

Does sound like the VC might be leaking.


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