If they haven't replaced the wiring harness on your ML for the electric fans in front of the radiator yet and upgraded the fuse from 30 to 40 amps you might want to have that done under warranty also before it runs out.

azinn,
I haven't heard about the harness/fuse issues. Do they apply to the 98 ml?

Thanks for the tip! I did discover that my fuse which controlled those fans was blown earlier this summer. (I had found a tip to check that fuse on another forum. After checking and replacing the fuse, I realized that I had never heard those fans running before!) That was something else which was not "discovered" during the Starmark process. I am not too sure what they check before they Starmark a vehicle, but I have discovered missing/blown fuses, broken rear seat assist piston, broken rear hatch handle, cracked and/or missing plastic trim pieces and various other stuff. The dealer has happily and readily replaced/repaired everything that I have brought to their attention. I just thought they might have discovered some of those things on their own.

George D

george d, looks like your fortunate to have a good dealer and a warranty.

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Dave

1998 E320
2001 SLK320
2000 Lexus RX300

Richard28 & george d............... I just had the wiring harness and fuse #44 upgraded on my 2000 ML430 last week under warranty. It is a known problem, but you have to tell them you've had problems with the fuse blowing for them to replace it. If you have a decent dealer it should be no problem to get done. Also got a new harmonic balancer and new window switches, windshield washer fluid tank, new rubber baffels on the sun roof, new power steering clamp, etc.

I had the crankshaft balancer replaced on my '98 E320 with 68K miles today. My independent shop did the repair, and it cost under $200.

The front of the balancer looked ok, other than some minor detioration, but the rear looked much worse. I included a picture of the rear of the balancer. The worst part of the detioration is roughly at the 12:00 position.

My balancer did not fail and I didn't have any signs of failure. This was done as preventative maintenance. My service tech told me today just a week or two ago they had a Mercedes come in at about 36K miles with a balancer failure. Roughly $2K to repair damages.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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Dave

1998 E320
2001 SLK320
2000 Lexus RX300

My 320ML had a pulley replaced at about 77k when the engine was making a clacketty noise. Is that the same as a harmonic balancer. Also, the car at idle seems to have a vibration, but normal on acceleration. So are you guys saying that if the this harmonic balancer fail, can it cause catatrophic damageto the engine? I recently had a 450sl that a ramp broke and cause valve damage. Thanks in advance.

John

Is your ML 320 under any warranty? All 320 engines in that window of 1997 part of the year through 2000 part of the year may develop this problem. PLEASE login into NHTSA.org website and ldge your complaint so that this adds up to the cases in recall. If they issue a recall, we can recoup our costs. Ask your service dealer if there was any engine damage, like gouges timing belt cover or oil pan cover etc., If there was some, then it means that there was damage beyond the replaced parts to the vehicle.

Links to NHTSA page and the process:
Please make sure that you use the same Engine and Component to let NHTSA pickup the quantity of complaints.

Chose E 320 (not 320, not E class not anything else) and component:
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE:BELTS AND ASSOCIATED PULLEYS

If that component is not avaialbe in your model year list, dont hesitate to add to the list as allowed by the option there!

I just launched a NHTSA complaint...

"Crank Shaft Balancer Failure- Mercedes E320 1999 (from individual experiences of several Mercedes customers with 320 V6 Engine on W210 platform and others). Around 72000 miles, my vehicle crank shaft balancer pulley started sperating a thick black rubber ring, which is sandwiched between the cranksfat and the serpentine belt pulley on the outside, Belt burning smell and clicking noise which quickly turned into a knocking noise recognized as I was driving at very low speed, luckily. I parked the vehicle and checkd the engine bay, to find a fallen off piece of crank shaft balancer pulley (it made a thud when it came off while dirving). It could have easilycaused flying object damage if I were driving at higher speed. I took it to the dealer and got it fixed, worth 421 dollars. I was told that the crank shaft pulley is a common failure for this model engine and I was lucky that it did not 'TOTALLY' gouce the timing chain cover and oil pan. I have heard first hand incidences of others with similar model vehicles in the range of 1997 through 2001 having timing chain cover gouged off completely and vehicle becoming inoperable within minutes and causing mechanical damage to the extent of 20 to 25 hours repair needed, and over 25000 dollars needed on average."

Please consider reporting your similar issue, I hear that NHTSA would respond quickly when a certain volume of similar failures are seen. Obviously, we are well over a hundred right here with same issue!

Thanks

Logikman aka Suresh Palakurthi 717 222 9779 palakurthi@usa.net for coordination of the effort.

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I am an enthusiast but you can't pry money outta my hands... Help me to get to full throttle on the Harmonic Balancer Crank Shaft Pulley RECALL!

Is W210 platform the ML SUV?

John

No, the W210 chassis is the E class from 1996-2002.

The problem in question is not exclusive to the W210 chassis, but to all cars that used the M112 and M113 V6 and V8 engines.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Happened to me last Tuesday. The car is "Starmark"ed. Hopefully, the warranty covers the repairs.

I JUST PURCHASED A NEW BALANCER AND BOLT FROM MBZ. I AM GOING TO REPLACE MINE NOW EVEN THOUGH IT LOOKS OK. THAT WAY I WON'T HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT ANYMORE. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY TIPS ON DOING THIS JOB, I NEED TO KNOW THE SIZE OF THE ALLEN BOLT, HOW TO HOLD THE PULLEY WHILE LOOSENING THE BOLT AND IF A PULLER IS NEEDED TO REMOVE THE BALANCER ONCE THE BOLT IS LOOSE. THANKS FOR THE HELP.

YWRKATALL, what was the mileage on your C280 when the balancer failed?

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Dave

1998 E320
2001 SLK320
2000 Lexus RX300

The car has approximately 42,000 mi on it.

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Anand
2002 VW Passat 4Motion
1999 C280 Sport

1999E320, you will need a 17 mm hex driver, and a special MB tool to hold the harmonic balancer. The tool is available through this website, I believe. I fabricated my own, but if I had to do it again I'd just buy it. The bolt is TIGHT; my Craftsman 600 ft.-lb. impact wrench would not take it off, you will need a breaker bar with a 5 foot cheater bar (that's what they use at the dealer). You will not need a puller to remove the pulley. Good luck!

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Lenny

There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games. --Ernest Hemingway

'10 GL550/'04 BMW 545/'99 BMW 323/'98 ML320/'87 VW GTI (race)