Balancer catastrophically FAILED in October 7, 2003 on ML430 @ 72,000 miles. Had vehicle in for service December 13, 2004 with 88,279 miles and asked for dealer to inspect harmonic balancer. Imagine my surprise when I was informed a new balancer was needed for $350. I advised tech writer to go back to his records and reconfirm I paid over $2,000 after supposedly splitting the October 2003 repair cost and then come back and see me. His parting words were "it's 14 months old.....Mercedes only warrants parts for 12 months." He returned shortly to advise "(they) would take care of it".

(I did a visual inspection (engine not running) prior to taking it in for this routine service ("B" service without any oil, any filters, rotation, balance, wiper blades, etc. since I had all these taken care of prior to this appointment). I did NOT notice any cracks in the rubber. However, the service ticket reads "inspected crank balancer, found wobbly". Balancer part number on this service ticket reads 112-035-13-00-05.

__________________
Jim