I second that opinion! You can't have a solid metal pulley 'as harmonic balancer' has to isolate things vibrating at a diff frequencies.... Obviously, for simplicity sake, lets call it, we will double the width of the rubber ring thus putting only 1/2 the torsional and or shear stress on it.. It should last longer..

All said, its not a 'bad batch' as bad batches don't span across multiple production years. I would say, it depends more on your driving style and/or ambient temperature than anything else, as for life of these. IF all rubber components have to be replaced, the first thing I can think of are the engine mounts etc., which are under severe load conditions. Also, for god's sake this is a premium vehicle. Its not a Hyundai.

Its almost unfathomable why a manufacturer would not do a voluntary recall, and or at least a service bulletin about it. ...

Anyway, no mercy from me as for why it should be considered, 'acceptable' life. I have a nissan with 160 miles and I havent paid for timing belt replacement.

Mine just went out today on a 99 C280 with only 29,700 miles on it. My car has a Starmark warranty, can anyone let me know if this should be covered?? There was also a 2000 S-class at the shop for the same problem, so this is obviously not an isolated case - especially after reading everything here.

Maybe not related, but I have noticed a vibration from the engine at first start-up in the morning lasting about 5 seconds...then stops. I just noticed that my fan has a distinct wobble at idle. The car is a 1998 E300 turbo diesel, with 80K miles on it. Is this anything possibly due to the harmonic balancer?
RSL

WHEN REPLACING BOLT, IS LOCTITE REQUIRED AND WHAT COLOR IF NEEDED?

I'm interested in a low mileage 2001 E430. It was originally sold in November 2000. Here's the Vin number, can anyone tell what the build date is? Would it have the new balancer?

WDBJF70J11B1734xx

I don't know if it is a must. We use Blue Loctite on ours. We have had NO returns.

We charge 2.5 hours labor plus the part.

Labor, $180/
Part, $80
Bolt, $3.00

Less than 300 with no belt. IF you add the belt, it is an additional charge of about 40-60 dollars (Part only) The labor doen't change.

Pretty Reasonable Expense
 

Benzmac - That seems like a pretty reasonable expense if you look at it as something that needs to be refreshed periodically as preventive maintenance. If Mercedes would look at it as such, it would not be an issue. Which comes to the question again as to how often (time/mileage) this component needs to be refreshed for trouble free operation.

It would be nice if the design/application were changed so that this part failure would not cause the kind of damage it does. However, other cars (Toyotas/Hondas) having timing belts that fail with interference engine designs that also cause considerable damage and expense.

The disputes should end. I have seen Mercedes cars for over 12 years. I have NEVER seen a single failure of the crankshaft front balancer until the m112 and m113 enigne release.

We should not think of a front balancer as a maintenance/wear item.

BENZMAC
 

AMEN!

I wonder how much is it roughly going to be to replace the entire harmonic balancer unit, oil pan, and water pump? Can I talk to the local representative to see if they are willing to split the cost?

98 ML320 Harmonic Balancer
 

Have a 98 ML320 with ~75,000 miles. Harmonic balancer went up in summer of 2003. Went through crankshaft, oil pan and many other engine parts. Bill was over $5,000. Called MBUSA, who said there was no history of this for this model. They offered no assistance since it was out of warranty and kept repeating the mantra of "the owner is responsible for all repairs after the warranty period". The rep would not let me speak to anyone higher up and referred me to my dealership. Dealership said he had never seen this on a MB. Dealer had the car for a week and finally agreed to "only" charge me $2500 because he wanted to keep me as a customer. Let me know if a class action suit is started or pending.

Also, on the same car, we get a whistling noise from under dash when starting up at random times. Goes off after a minute or two. Will stay on even if you turn key off. Dealer couldnt find cause. Didnt do it for a year and now that it is turning cold it is doing it again.

Sorry to hear that.:mad:

99 CLK430 - newbie here
 

Hey fellas,
Where do I look on a CLK430 to check this problem? Do I need to remove the engine cover? Are there any links to pictures? I'm honestly not very automobile literate!!
TIA!!

Nicky , no need to remove cover, best to read this whole thread from the beginning. Plenty of good info and pictures describing the problem.I think page 6 or 7 has a picture of culprit. The balancer was updated in late 2000.