HELP - crankshaft pulley- harmonic balancer
 

Regarding a 2000 C280.

I am trying for two days now to remove the harmonic balancer (well exceeding 1000Nm in torque) and I still cannot get that fr'''in bolt off. Now I have doubts whether or not this is a right-thread bolt (righty-tighty lefty-loosy). Can anyone reassure me that it is a right-thread bolt?

Thanks!

bolt
 

it is a righty tighty lefty loosey as you put it, 1000 nm? are you sure? that bolt is torqued to 200nm in the first stage and an additional 90 degees for the second stage. how are you measuring the 1000nm? if you are correct in your figure someone mayhave put loctite on the threads.
Ray
mercedessd@cox.net

applied about 100kgs at a meter .

Went out, got myself a high-torque impact wrench (~820Nm, 625ftlbs), still nothing. I tried to heat the bolt up to kill the loctite (as was suggested by someone), no results....

Check your other thread. I was in the same situation a couple years ago. The Loctite didn't respond to heat because there isn't any. You need a good hold down tool and a 5 foot cheater bar! I started with a 4 foot bar, and it wouldn't budge. It's a standard right handed thread. I bought a new impact wrench rated for 600 ft-lbs and it wouldnt' budge the bolt. A 600 ft-lb impact wrench is not the same as 600 ft-lbs of constant torque.

Repeat, get a really long cheater bar! That's how they do these at the dealer. Have a couple beers when you're done.

I used my Hydraulic jack handle with my craftman 1/2" breaker bar (the handle is about 4' long) to remove a balancer.

For what it's worth there WAS loctite on my bolt, it had been put on by the factory - I didn't use heat or anything to try to break down the loctite. I used a 4 ft extension on the wrench and it took a good tug but was straightforward.

Good luck,

Peter

Removing Harmonic balancer
 

Well, This is what I do. Use a breaker bar long enough to reach the frame member and turn crank until bar is lodged against the frame. Then crank the starter. Works every time! :D

After I got really desperate I tried that on my ML. Broke the socket but didn't get the bolt loose! You wouldn't need a hold down tool for the pulley if it worked, but for me it didn't.

Makes me wonder if the Loctite was a running change, or if someone just left it off of mine. The engines are all assembled in Stuttgart, even for the US built ML, so I doubt they just left it off. Then again, you never know....

What socket?

You need a quality socket for this. Craftsman, Vulcan, Snap On or an impact wrench socket. Make sure you have a six point socket, a 12 point will break.

I've removed balancers from VW, MB and Volvo with a 4' long tube and the breaker bar, never broke a socket. It was either a Vulcan or Craftsman.

Same POS from Auto Zone as the one that worked, when I used a cheater bar instead of the starter!