leetski

Using a stethoscope I learned that my crank pulley was making awfully loud racketing. Has anyone seen/heard anything like this on their cars? I drive an '03 CL55 equipped with evosport pulleys and a bunch of other goodies(?).

If someone wants to hear, I'll upload a sound clip once I get a chance. I appreciate the help guys.

alx

the crank pulley transfers perfectly all the noise coming from the engine and the 55 motors are very mechanically vocal even at idle (lots of clicking and clacking). they all sound like they are worn out and on their last leg as they are fairly loose in terms of tolerances (german school of thoughts)

i think you are hearing just the motor doing its thing...

leetski

I have a pretty acute ear and I am almost positive that this noise is relatively new to 55 orchestra. I'll work on getting that recording up ASAP. Thanks alx.

leetski

Here is the link with video/audio...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nxTVQCD4zM

Any thoughts?

alx

Ugghh that is ugly. I agree that this is not part of the 55 motor repertoire. On the other hand the clanging is too fast to be part of the valve train so it must be coming from the crank. My guess is your damper is coming either apart or the whole pulley is lose on the crankshaft.

Let us know.

dyno

if you are hearing it as coming more from the left side (passenger side), then it can just be time to replace your tensioner



ps: I just realized I entered the wrong forum, not CLS this one ... LOL

leetski

The dampener is part of the pulley design?

Should I just get the same replacement crank pulley (evosport fully dampened overdrive crankshaft pulley) or look for something a little more durable (other manuf.)? and in what size? I imagine its not a smart thing to go for an OEM crank pulley given that I have a typical evosport setup?

brad @ evosport

Sorry for the issues you are having first of all.

However, are you sure it is the crank pulley and not one of the tensioners?

Feel free to call us and we can assist you with the problem.

thanks
brad

alx

i think on the video he has removed the belt... so the tensioners are not spinning... i think...

my take is the noise is must be coming from the crank as it is the fastest spinning part- the clackety-clack rate is too fast to be valvetrain related... so it is either the crank pulley or one of the timing chains tensioners...

dyno

here you may find more details.
maybe it's just this

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...k-anybody.html

leetski

You can never be 100% certain. I used a mechanic's stethoscope until I localized the sound around the inner walls of the crank pulley. I'll take you up on that offer, do you have a number? I appreciate it, thanks.

leetski

That's correct. In the video I did remove the supercharger belt. Initially I was lead to believe by some of the search hits I was getting on the subject of "engine noise" that the possible culprit was the supercharger clutch bearing. Suffice to say it is not.

The stethoscope was really a good investment. I got the kind that has two attachments. One is cone shaped and the other is a simple stick. I used the cone shaped one to isolate the knocking to the crank pulley area.

leetski

I stumbled across your post during my initial search on the subject. That doesn't seam to be an issue as it concerns this specific noise, but there is significant play there as well. Something to look into at another time definitely. Thanks for contributing man.

dyno

wish you it's nothing about internals ..

maybe it's worth isolate external factors by removing not only the belt but also the tensioner pulley.

brad @ evosport

No problem. My # is in my sig!

thanks
brad

grane

What is the verdict?

While you are in there I'd replace the tensioner as well it is cheap; perhaps new belts too.

Where is the water pump in relation to that?

leetski

I have been very busy myself lately and the times I've tried getting in touch with Brad coincided with his (as it appears) busy schedule. I was really hoping to hear from Evosport (Brad) and see what their take on this is. I'd like to replace the crank pulley (and maybe the tensioner) with an equal one from Evosport and maintain the performance upgrades that I bought the car with. Unfortunately, I haven't come across a shop in my area that I trust to do this and as you know the dealer refuses to install aftermarket parts. So as it stands, I may have to go OEM...

To make things interesting, my car battery died the other day. It appears I have a current drain somewhere. So I am torn right now because if I don't drive the car the battery discharges, but if I do, I run the risk of who knows what as evidence from abnormal racketing noise.

leetski

Little overdue. I replaced Evo crank pulley with OEM one. I took apart the Evo crank pulley and learned that the rattling was coming from one of the internal springs. The spring sits inside a slot and over time it may have shrunk causing separation between end of spring and contact point, thus the rattling. The End.

alx

this is good to know- is the vendor stepping forward?