Mercedes Recall (Harmonic Balance)
 

I have a 1999 CLK320 and I called to schedule a service with Mercedes today. My advisor told me there's a recall on the Harmonic balance. He said it's kinda important and that I should have it taken care of. It's free and will take 2, 3 hours.

Does anybody know anything about this?

By running the vin, my service advisor told me that mine had not been done yet and needed to be checked out. I was told it takes 2 hours, so I told him that I'd do it the next time I came in. I got my transmission flushed the next time I went in (best thing I've done for my car), and when they checked my harmonic balancer, they read the serial number and determined it wasn't one affected by the recall.

I guess it causes vibration if it was one of the bad ones. Given both my motor mounts are leaking, I'm used to a little shaking anyways. I was still hoping I was getting something done for free at the dealership, any free service is good service. Good Luck.

Thanks for the response ratha67. I'll go have it checked out the next time I take it in.

Acutally I'm trying to do the exact same thing - having the transmission flushed. What do you mean by it's the best thing you've done to your car? I'm told that it's basically a standard maintenance. What differences are there after you've done yours? (I've never done mine since I bought the car almost 2 years ago....) Thanks.

Just shifts much smoother... And it ended up costing a lot less than what I had expected. Here is the thread a posted after getting the transmission fluid done.

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class-w208/244828-just-had-my-transmission-flushed.html

does the recall effect all years and engines?

No, it only affects specific vins.

I know they have told me mine needs it done. But I haven't been to the dealer in a while. Other than to pick up parts. Guess I should get it done though.

I would definitely get it done in the next month or two if your car is subject to the recall. My balancer went right before I got the recall notice in the mail. I was about 100 miles from home and notice some rough vibration and a noise from the radiator fan. I pulled a piece of the rubber balancer out of the radiator fan (hence the noise). The car idled a bit rough, but otherwise operated fine, so I drove it home and took it to the dealer the following morning.

When the balancer went, the rough idle managed to nick the timing chain cover so I now had an oil leak. There was another part damaged too, but I don't remember what it is. Total repair cost would have been almost $2,000 if the recall hadn't been issued -- due to the recall, it didn't cost me anything. At some point, MB could fuss over failed balancers for customers that didn't perform the recall that they received a notice for so I would get yours fixed.

Here's the funny part -- was leaving for vacation a couple of days later. Since they needed to order parts, I told the dealer to keep the car for the week, and I would pick up the following Monday morning. I came home from vacation and found the recall notice in the mail... Sometimes my timing just stinks.:nix: