TVT_DESIGN

We've installed tons of pulleys on Mercedes over the past few years and have never had this problem. Recently we installed a pulley and noticed a leak from right behind it. Turned out to be coming from the front crank seal.

Anyone ever have any issues with aftermarket pulley damaging crank seal from improper machining or being out of balance?

02C32

I noticed this seal problem at 45k when my pulley began to fail.
I believe if the pulley is not installed correctly the seal goes quickly soon after.

AMS Performance

Front crank seals fail all the time. More importantly, the front crank seals on many of the mercedes have been updated in design due to the older design having seal issues (M104 for example has a new updated design in addition to a few other mb engines). I've seen them go as early as 40k and as late as 100k, just depends honestly. It probably has more to do with age than with actual mileage as the rubber part of the seal gets harder over time and does not seal as well as it should as it gets old. Of course if its installed incorrectly then that could be another issue as well.

For this reason it is always recommended to put in a new seal anytime you do a pulley install so you save the need to do preventative maintenance down the road... two birds, one stone.

hope that helps.

TruTaing

Mine went a while ago.... I have the AMS pulley, but then again ive got a ton of miles w/ and w/o the pulley too

TVT_DESIGN

Yea from now on that is what we are going to do. I know it wasn't cause by installation error, but arguing with the customer over that is a moot point. So now we're eating the bill.

gt4awd

Front crank seal had to be replaced after my second install of 185MM. First pulley internal dampener went bad, and developed vibration. I believe that ruined the seal. Mercedes would not warranty the new seal because of the 185MM.

TVT_DESIGN

Would the pulley company warranty it though? The pulley we put on was brand new and the leak developed in about 20 mins of driving.

Your thermo is on its way, in case you were wondering.

gt4awd

To be honest I put no blame on Eurocharged for the front seal. They were kind enough to send me a new 185MM no questions asked. I'm sure the seal was original also with nearly 100k on it. Didn't have oil leak until second pulley install. I had troubles getting the first 185MM pulley off, so that may have damaged the seal. Can't wait for the thermostat!

jturkel

mine went back when i had the evosport 178. i installed it though and reused the crank bolt (which i blame for this incident)

testknight

My first EC pulley wobbled and broke my seal...they sent me another pulley that seated too far back when I installed it and was rubbbing my tensioner assembly...I then drove back to their shop and the third one (appeared to be a used one, which is fine by me) they put on worked. They did address the seal that time as well (on them)...and re-tuned my car for free...so they did make good on it, but I did have the issue you described.

AMS Performance

developing a leak over tens of thousands of miles is one thing, but 20 min... something was definitely wrong. More and more of the M113s engines will start to have to get their front crank seals replaced these days as the engines are slowly getting older & older. So doing a pulley upgrade is a great way to do performance upgrade & preventative maintenance all at once.

Either way, always replace, its a very cheap part (like $8-10 if memory serves me correctly), and takes almost no time at all to replace.

Hope that helps.

TVT_DESIGN

The car had 15k (M112k) on it and was in immaculate condition when it came into the shop. We put the new pulley on and by the time we made it to the dyno (about 20-30 mins) a leak had developed.

I picked up another pulley and a few crank seals incase this one has issues as well.

Omey, in your professional opinion what do you think could be on the pulley that's causing the failure? Improper length? Bad machining? Out of balance?