I figure that all of you who are interested in this topic should know something else. Unless you have a CL or S class, the dealers are instructed not to perform the inspection or replacement. Unless of course, if the part fails, then they will replace on any model. But next time you are in for service, you should ask if your car is affected, because you may not be notified. Again, this is MBUSA calling the shots, not the dealer, so keep that in mind before you strangle your service advisor.
A very good friend had the pulley fall of in a garage, he had it towed to MB, they charged $400 some odd dollars plus a rental car. There was no bulletin at that time and the car was out of warranty, by a few thousand miles. The dealer in Kentucky inspected the car before the "road trip" and claimed no knowledge of any problems. Then he gets a letter from Klaus Uhlman saying send in your bill and we will re-eburse you. The check he recived was for $250, claiming they do not pay retail price for parts and no towing.
A very good friend had the pulley fall of in a garage, he had it towed to MB, they charged $400 some odd dollars plus a rental car. There was no bulletin at that time and the car was out of warranty, by a few thousand miles. The dealer in Kentucky inspected the car before the "road trip" and claimed no knowledge of any problems. Then he gets a letter from Klaus Uhlman saying send in your bill and we will re-eburse you. The check he recived was for $250, claiming they do not pay retail price for parts and no towing.
he should be able to get the full reimbursement. BTW, you no longer need the letter. MB has sufficient stock of replacements. Anyone want to know if their car is affected, I can do a check for you. PM me and I can see what I can find out.
Drove my E320 2000 home tonite, terrible smell, noise...looked in manual, called independent said my crankshaft is bad...he said better hope not, probably your harmonic balancer. Tonite I'm reading all this info and wondering if I should take to dealer and mention campaign 200502003. Have a 112 engine, 210-065. The only other numbers I could see with my flashlite near where all the noise is coming from was 112-201--4-17. While I'm at the dealer is there anything else I should point out to them, I read I should direct them to check spring perches for rust. I'm an older soccer Mom and have no idea what this is about, can imagine the eyes rolling. This will be my first problem out of warranty.[:0]
By all means take the car and mention the campaign. If it's covered they'll foot the bill. I'd actually probably call the dealership first and ask them if they'd prefer to tow it in, if you give them the VIN they'll have better knowledge whether your car is in the recall group.
On the spring perches, they're not a recall, just a curious design. Nothing wrong with having them inspected, but unless you're hanging out in salt air or salt-road communities, you're unlikely to have an issue.
Ramp, it's not a dumb question, HBs are amazing little things. Okay, maybe not so little; at least not light. In any event, internal combustion engines generate some nasty rotational vibrations and when the peaks and valleys (amplitudes) of these various vibrations coincide, they kind of build on one another and they can become violent. Aside from being a serious intrusion into a quiet, smooth ride, they have the potential to do engine damage.
The typical HB is a heavily-weighted, evenly-balanced thick disk that bolts on to the front of the crankshaft and is keyed to the crank so it rotates with it. Then there is a thin layer of compressed composite around the perimeter of the disk, usually a rubber composite compound, and then another wrap of metal is around that. Since the outer band of steel/alloy is not keyed to the crank, it flexes the composite sandwiched layer, the effect of which is to dampen the amplitudes. Thus, it "balances" the harmonics, so it's an harmonic balancer.
What impresses me is that someone actually thought something like that up. :)
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