I cranked the car (’85 190E) and there was this engine noise that suddenly grew louder. Next thing I knew, a loud crash of metal, after which I cut the engine off and investigated. It turned out that the crankshaft pulley had come off the crankshaft. The crankshaft belt pulley and vibration damper came out together as one piece (still coupled together by all those bolts). The big center bolt and 3 washers are still screwed into the crankshaft. There seem to be some kind of black rubber that failed and caused the pulley and vibration damper to separate from the crankshaft. Good thing I was idling in the driveway.

Does anyone know what the fix for this is? How do you hold the engine steady to remove the 27mm retaining bolt? On the Hondas, I would remove the starter and jam the flywheel with a big screwdriver. What’s the procedure for the 190E? Do I need to buy the belt pulley and vibration damper together, and just remove the big bolt and whatever is left from the old pulley, then swap in the replacement and bolt up? Please help.

Not that un-common of a problem.
The vibration damper is vulcanized to the crankshaft sleeve.

MB has a special too to lock the flywheel at the rear of the motor.

Go to www.asttool.com & look at M0240

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You are right. Thanks for the link. I searched but can't seem to find M0240. I found this though http://tinyurl.com/5moohc
Is that what you meant? Is there any other way to hold the crankshaft from moving while I take off the bolt? Would be nice to do the swap tomorrow since I am off. I bought a used replacement pulley and vibration damper (like new good condition) for $40. Local shop told me 3 hours labor $165. {ouch!}

Wow. That's scary. I'm in the market for a 190e. Is this something that they all go through?

__________________
- - - '77 federal 280e - 222k miles
- - - '85 380se - 129k miles
- - - '07 Chevy truck
- - - '79 Datsun 280zx with '82 turbo motor
- - - Currently looking for a clean 190e with less than 160k miles.

My understanding from searching online is that this vulcanized rubber method on the vibration damper is used by others including Volvo. It is a part that can fail over time and one article points to bad engine mount being a major contributor to the extra vibration that eventually leads to this rubber separating. Here are pics of the bad pulley and vibration damper assembly and the replacement I bought. The silver center (on the replacement) is still attached on the crankshaft by the 27mm bolt while the pulley and damper vibrated loose. The new replacement unit I bought is pictured on the left with the silver center piece still attached by the rubber. I just need to find a way to hold crankshaft steady while I remove and replace the parts.

I just uploaded the pics to the link below instead.
http://tinyurl.com/6js66n