How to tell if harmonic balancer is failing? (don't want to be raped by dealers)

[bobcat]

How do I tell if the harmonic balancer is about to fail?

The one of my car is the "old" design, not the new one MB
came out with.

4 different technicians at 2 MB dealers told me the
harmonic balancer on my car looks fine. Are they just
waiting for mine to fail and rape me on the repair? ($$$$$)

[manny]

Are you paranoid or something.
If 4 technicians told you it is fine, then it's probably fine.
You can look at it yourself, if the rubber is bonded to the steel, without any visible cracks, you're good to go.
I believe not ALL of them fail, but some.

[bobcat]

Originally posted by manny
Are you paranoid or something.
If 4 technicians told you it is fine, then it's probably fine.
You can look at it yourself, if the rubber is bonded to the steel, without any visible cracks, you're good to go.
I believe not ALL of them fail, but some.

as far as I can see, there's no visible crack...

However, I did notice that it seems to be vibrating/wobbling
quite a bit. Is this normal?

Thanks!


P.S. I'm not paranoid... well, maybe a little... as I recently
had to shell out nearly $5000 in repairs...

[renerodz]

Bobcat,

I was told that the small cracks are not a bad sign, it is cracks on a coating on the rubber. Although if it is wobling quite a bit like you describe, then it is a bad sign. You should drive slow and change it immediately, in my opinion.

I have a '99 ML320 and a '00 C280, both use the same part. On the ML at 56K Harmonic Balancer was wobling bad, and by the time I've got to the dealer it was $2,800 worth of repair (after serious fighting, they cover it all, I was just lucky though, it is not the case 98% of the time when you are out of warranty).

I have heard that the part that will fail for sure is P/N 112-035-00-00. There are newer parts P/N 112 035 06 00, 112-035-08-00. The latest part is 112-035-13-00-05. They say that the newer parts are all good, but they keep making revions to the part.

My indy says that on the latest, they even brought the price down.

On my ML I have now at 83K miles the 112-035-08-00, and the C at 59K miles came from factory with same. I am planning to get the latest one on the C now that I need a new belt. Hopefully then this is over with. Then whenever I have a chance I will have the ML also changed with the latest. There is nothing wrong with either of them at this point, just paranoic.

Anyways, it is cheap insurance. The dealer will charge about $200 for it installed.

Hope this help

Rene

[renerodz]

Bobcat,

I forgot to mention, the part number is stamped on the part. You can check yours, but if it wobbling, no matter what part number you have, just change it.

Just for curiosity, would you tell the part number on yours?

Thanks,

Rene

[bobcat]

Originally posted by renerodz

The latest part is 112-035-13-00-05.



Thanks for the info!

Do you mean the latest part# is 112-035-13-00 to 112-035-13-05 ?

I just looked at my balancer and the part# is 112-035-00-00.
(sound of credit card being swiped by the dealer) :(
I do have extended warranty, but they do NOT cover it
until it actually fails. Guess I will shell out the $200 and have
the part replaced.



Bobcat

[renerodz]

Bobcat,

The latest P/N is 112-035-13-00-05, they added 2 more digits to it.

If you have warranty, it must be covered. It is a well know problem. If it is wobbling, then it already failed. If they insist not to cover it you should let them know that you will bring the issue to MBUSA.

Rene

[bobcat]

Originally posted by renerodz
Bobcat,

The latest P/N is 112-035-13-00-05, they added 2 more digits to it.

If you have warranty, it must be covered. It is a well know problem. If it is wobbling, then it already failed. If they insist not to cover it you should let them know that you will bring the issue to MBUSA.

Rene

I just ordered the latest one from the parts dept. Price was
$45 plus tax. Now I'll just have to get it installed. Unfortunately,
3 dealers have quoted me from $310 to $400 for labor. :(
Will call an indy MB mechanic that I know tomorrow and see
how much he charges for labor....

The odd thing was that the MB parts guy knew the part# of the
latest harmonic balancer without even looking into the EPC.
The other one is that they have 35+ of them IN STOCK! He told
me they order more of this part on a weekly basis. (!)


(perhaps it should not have surprised me, no?) :)

[renerodz]

Interesting!!!

Per alldata the labor should be 1.4 hrs. At $100 per hr they should charge you about $140.

Rene

[bobcat]

Originally posted by renerodz
Interesting!!!

Per alldata the labor should be 1.4 hrs. At $100 per hr they should charge you about $140.

Rene

Rene,

I'll go down to the dealer and speak to them in person tomorrow... over the phone, they just seem to pull random prices out of their a**...... :)

Come to think of it, I just realized I have absolutely no idea what the harmonic balancer do... :D

A related question... I assume the belt has to come out during this operation. I'm thiking I might as well have the 90000-mile belt replaced at the same time. (although it is in good condition when the dealer inspected it visually last time) What do you think?

Thanks for all your info and help! I really appreciate it! Ar :bunny: :bunny: :bunny it's 80w3402, what will the output look like when I wash it thourgh the ASWT low-frequency filters? Or should I have it scanned with the RW6 ultrasonic detector? Seems like a waste of all the supplies if you're not even going to run the enviro studies... this i

Happy Holidays... !

:bunny: :bunny: :bunny:

[renerodz]

Although the belt is supposed to be changed every 60K, I would change it also, then start a new count.

Good luck,

Rene