I'm so close yet so far from replacing the water pump because the balancer won't come out. I got the 6 bolts and the belt pulley off but how do I get the balancer off? Are you sure the big center bolt doesn't have to come out? I'm reluctant to pry from behind so as not to damage the rubber bits of the balancer and there are no places to screw in a balancer removal tool. Should I just hammer on the edges?

a 3 bolt puller should do it. It's been a bit since I yanked a 119 harmonic but I know the 117's can be fussy some times..

Jonathan


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Jonathan Hodgman
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Enthusiast Service, Restoration & Tuning.
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On my 92 400E, the balancer had to come off to get the last bolt out of the waterpump. With the balancer on some of the cars, you could walk it off without having to remove that big bolt in the center. Unfortunately, your picture of your balancer looks just like my 92 400E and I had to take the bolt off to get the balancer off.

If you take the balancer off, you will be disturbing the main crank seal and may want to replace it while you're there. The bolt is a 27 mm bolt that I was able to loosen with a floor jack under a breaker bar (counter-clockwise to loosen). Unless you have a fancy crank lock tool that they use at the dealer, your second option to stop the crank from turning when you try to loosen and tighten the crank bolt is to take out one of the three torque converter bolts and install a long bolt with a sleeve on it to hold the flywheel from turning when you loosen it. In this link I posted a picture of the makeshift crank lock. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...d.php?t=190442

There is also a special tool that MB has to remove and install the new front crank insert and seal which makes it really easy.

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1993 400E, 256,000 miles (totaled)
1994 E420, 200,000+ miles
1995 E420, 201,000 miles

I was able to remove it by prying it off from behind. Prying, turning the crank 90 degrees, prying again. Took 4 or 5 revolutions but finally got it removed.

You can also put a breaker bar on the nut and wedge it against the ground. Then just bump the starter. This will break the bolt loose easily and quickly.