Crankshaft Balancer Failure! UPDATED - Page 11 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

DRBB1 · #1 08-31-2003, 01:26 PM

So do I need to inspect the balancer on my 89 560SL and 96 S320? Any history of failures on these cars?

dtkw · #2 08-31-2003, 03:43 PM

Nah, I asked the same question before only I have a 86 and 95, nothing to worry about. Seemed like they started that on the 97 or 98 models.

suginami · #3 08-31-2003, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DRBB1
So do I need to inspect the balancer on my 89 560SL and 96 S320? Any history of failures on these cars?

No, the crankshaft balancer in question affects M112 and M113 V6's and V8's produced from 1998 to the middle of 2000 (when the updated part was installed).

Your 1996 S320 is also a straight six, not a V6.

DaveJ · #4 09-01-2003, 02:49 PM

I had my harmonic balancer checked out on my 98 E320 with 68K miles.

My independent shop said it showed some sign of small cracks and he pointed them out to me. With the engine running the balancer seemed to be running true and not out of round.

I also took it to my dealer and had them offer their opinion. They basically gave the same response, but said to keep an eye on it. The dealer confirmed they've seen problems with harmonic balancer failures on this engine, but offered no assistance. The response was if and when it fails, we'll talk about it then. And since it didn't show signs of immediate failure, they won't do anything about it now.

I plan to have my indendent replace it in the next 1-2 weeks. My service shop charges less than $200 to replace it. The dealer wants close to $500. It's just not worth taking the chance and not replacing it for a cost less than $200.

Shame on Mercedes-Benz for not taking a proactive position and performing a mandatory recall. As in the case of FSS and the oil change fiasco, it'll probably take a class action lawsuit and years of haggling to get any resolution on this. Which by the way, was the FSS lawsuit ever settled?

grapes11 · #5 09-01-2003, 02:56 PM

Dave, FSS lawsuit was settled in June 150,000 engine warranty for oil sludge related failures problems and $35 oil change coupon (BIG DEAL) I hope they really follow through on the warranty part of the settlement.

DaveJ · #6 09-01-2003, 08:20 PM

Thanks for the info on the FSS settlement. I received my letters with the coupon but never received any follow-up indicating the lawsuit was settled and the coupon was valid.

vince · #7 09-02-2003, 08:16 AM

IMHO, you cannot "check" the balancer with any degree of confidence. I had the balancer on my E430 changed in October of 2002 (my dealer changed it under warranty before it failed). At the same time, I advised my 87 year old mother (in California), who drives a '99 C280, and still runs a business some 100 miles from her home, to inform her dealer of the problem and to have hers changed out even if she had to pay for it. When she took the car to the dealer in December 2002, they advised her that they had not seen much of a problem with these and would not change it, even if she paid. They told her they would "keep an eye on it" and in fact, it was checked in June of 2003. Last Thursday (August 28, 2003) the balancer flew apart. It went with no warning - no noise, squealing, or vibration. The car had to be towed 45 miles to the dealer. The dealer "goodwilled" the repair, which fortunately involved only replacing the balancer and belt - the timing cover and pan were not damaged. During my discussions with the Service Director, he admitted that checking the balancers is not reliable. So, get yours changed. In the overall scheme of things, it is a cheap fix.

DR.DIESEL · #8 09-02-2003, 10:18 AM

I would be willing to bet the reason there is not a recall or even a service campaign is because of the pecentage of failures so far.
When you think of world-wide production and distribution of MB's
from late 97' to mid 00' that have 112/113 motors,
compared to the actual count of failures. The percentage has to be pretty low. I can't help but imagine there are at least 500,000
Benzes built between these years and the amount of balancer failures must still be pretty small in the big picture.
Give it time, just like the ML clamp. There will most likely be a
campaign soon.

DR.D

vince · #9 09-02-2003, 12:04 PM

I don't know what percentage of the installed base is having failures, but my local dealer stocks 18 or more of these balancers. Some of the large SoCal dealers stock 40 or more. Even the dealer that my mother frequents had enough in stock to do her car. This is an item that dealers never stock. So, something must be up with these parts.

pentoman · #10 09-02-2003, 07:48 PM

How's this?

On a '98 C240 we just recovered. Just serviced by the dealer too. Owner selling it when it's fixed.

pentoman · #11 09-02-2003, 07:49 PM

Same car. We removed the belt, and in this pic you can see we removed the fan so we could get the broken balancer bit off, and could then run the car, although with no alternator or water pump.

DaveJ · #12 09-02-2003, 08:24 PM

pentoman, great pictures. Thanks for sharing. I now have an appointment to have my harmonic balancer replaced.

logikman · #13 09-03-2003, 11:49 AM

Please make sure that you use the same Engine and Component to let NHTSA pickup the quantity of complaints.

Chose E 320 (not 320, not E class not anything else) and component:
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE:BELTS AND ASSOCIATED PULLEYS

If that component is not avaialbe in your model year list, dont hesitate to add to the list as allowed by the option there!

I just launched a NHTSA complaint...

"Crank Shaft Balancer Failure- Mercedes E320 1999 (from individual experiences of several Mercedes customers with 320 V6 Engine on W210 platform and others). Around 72000 miles, my vehicle crank shaft balancer pulley started sperating a thick black rubber ring, which is sandwiched between the cranksfat and the serpentine belt pulley on the outside, Belt burning smell and clicking noise which quickly turned into a knocking noise recognized as I was driving at very low speed, luckily. I parked the vehicle and checkd the engine bay, to find a fallen off piece of crank shaft balancer pulley (it made a thud when it came off while dirving). It could have easilycaused flying object damage if I were driving at higher speed. I took it to the dealer and got it fixed, worth 421 dollars. I was told that the crank shaft pulley is a common failure for this model engine and I was lucky that it did not 'TOTALLY' gouce the timing chain cover and oil pan. I have heard first hand incidences of others with similar model vehicles in the range of 1997 through 2001 having timing chain cover gouged off completely and vehicle becoming inoperable within minutes and causing mechanical damage to the extent of 20 to 25 hours repair needed, and over 25000 dollars needed on average."

Please consider reporting your similar issue, I hear that NHTSA would respond quickly when a certain volume of similar failures are seen. Obviously, we are well over a hundred right here with same issue!

Thanks

Logikman aka Suresh Palakurthi 717 222 9779 palakurthi@usa.net for coordination of the effort.

itb76 · #14 09-03-2003, 07:52 PM

The owner of the C was lucky the outer ring fell away from the engine, not toward it, milling an ugly groove in the block!

george d · #15 09-05-2003, 11:10 AM

I took my 2000 ML 320 (with 39,400 miles on it) in for Flexible Service B this week, and asked them to do the power steering hose clamp recall (even though they had "Starmarked" it and it had been in the shop two other times for warranty work, they had not changed that clamp!), and to check the Harmonic Balancer. They cautioned me that there was no recall on the harmonic balancer. I said that I was aware of that, but that I wanted them to check it for me anyway. When I picked it up, they had replaced it at no charge!

I was very pleased with all the work that they performed!

george d