I'm looking at a 1983 Turbodiesel that had it's harmonic balancer come loose and break. That's how the owner explained it to me.

My question is when that happens will the crankshaft or anything else be damaged that should make me steer clear of the car?

A new balancer was installed and I was told it was sent out to a machince shop to be balanced, like the old one, before it was installed.

The crank may be scarred, grooved and scored, unknown without tear down.
Will it effect engine life, only if it is serious damage.

What is price and body condition??
Pictures would help...

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The car runs fine, or so the owner says.

So the only way to tell for sure would be to take the engine apart?

Final price is unknown, it's on ebay. Just trying to figure what to bid.

It has some other issues, A/C not working, a few door locks don't work, speedo not working, odo not working, radio not working and not sure about cruise control. These alone don't scare me away.

This is not an uncommon situation. It is not due to a bad design it is usually due to the HB being put on by a mechanic ignorant of MB's. Unlike most HB's, the MB HB is pinned rather than keyed. Techs are accustomed to putting the HB in place on the keyway and then driving it in place with the bolt. That will wreck the crank on an MB, you have to put it in place and drive it down with the bolt, then REMOVE the bolt and ensure that the holes align, then put the pins in place. If they are not aligned, pull it and try again until you can tap the pins in place.

You have to put the HB in place slightly counterclockwise of where it needs to align, because the bolt will turn it some.

Hope this helps,

i bought a car with the crank damaged by ignorant work, as described above... exactly. i had to run down a "new" crank. it was not a lot of money since the engine needed rebuilt anyway... but i would assume the crank needed replacing on the ebay car and value it that way.

on my car the hb was visibly wobbly if you looked down at it while running. there is some reason the car is being sold on ebay and a bad crank may be the reason.

good luck.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

"pull it and try again until you can tap the pins in place."

I musta pulled the HB and put it back 15 or 20 times before getting that "sweet spot" when I rebuilt the "80" 616 in my wifes 240, it was getting frustrating

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