Hristo

Could you tell me if WDBUF87X77X210726 is in the range for balance shaft issues? Thank you.

hudge

Thanks Rudeney, I will now do more research to understand possible Issues with this 2003 CLK320
Hudge

OMEGA////AMG

this is the vin at one mortar im looking at is it in the affected range?
WDBRF92JX6F801345

Rudeney

Yes, like all MY2006's it will be "in the range"

Kahin Dur

Rudeney

No balance shaft problems with MY2009; only an issue for MY2006 and half of MY2007.

BarbarIAN F

WDBUH87X17X212661 any good?

xsever

No, engine serial number is 30 423041 and is within the affected range.

BarbarIAN F

well, I guess I get to do a balance shaft, thanks for the info...

BarbarIAN F

what are some of the symptoms of the shaft being bad?

Rudeney

The symptoms are DTCs 1200 and 1208 (corresponding to generic OBDII codes P0017 and P0016). If you have no codes, you have no problem now, and you may never have a problem. It; snot a given that "in the range" = "failure".

edda

Can you please check this Vin for me WDB2094542T079543 I think its very close to the affected number range, but not sure

Rudeney

WDB2094542T079543 has M272 engine #490400, which is beyond the balance shaft problem range.

DCBC300

WDDGF81X98F079688 is my Vin. Would you be able to look up mine?
250 000 km or so, should this problem have reared up already?

Rudeney

That's a MY2008 so no worries - only the MY2007 cars need to be checked by VIN/engine serial number.

joeljp

Could you please check for me if this 2004 SL350 with VIN WDB2304672F086681 is within the affect range? A thousand thanks in advance :-)

xsever

Even though it's named SL350, the car with this VIN has an M112 engine and not the M272 affected engine so you are safe. This car has the M112 engine coupled with the 5-speed 722.6 transmission which are known to be very reliable as compared to the early batch of M272 engines and 7-speed 722.9 transmissions.

joeljp

Many, many thanks for your assistance! I'll go and take a look at this SL350 this weekend. Hopefully, she's a good solid car. All the best !

Mercclk6

Can u check this for me. WDBUF87J46X203548

Rudeney

It's a MY2006. It does not need to be checked. If it's an xx350, xx550, xx450, xx280 or xx300, it's in the range.

Mercclk6

I'm still confused on how to know if it is based on the vin, is there a yes or no based on the vin. I'm having a hard time understanding

xsever

When yoy decode the VIN, you get the engine's serial number which allows you to see if it's in the range of affected engines.

Rudeney

It is based on the engine serial number. Here's the "TSB" that describes it (Scenario #1):

http://benzbits.com/BalanceShaftTSB.pdf

You will note the section...

These engines were introduced for the MY2005 SLK350, and then the for all xx230, xx280, xx300, xx350, xx450 and xx550 models from MY2006 and forward (until the new turbo engines). They discovered the existence of the problem sometime in late calendar year 2006, and it was immediately corrected for all future engines. This was during the MY2007 build cycle. So, all MY2005/2006 cars with M272 or M273 engines will be in the affected range. About half of those built for MY2007 will be.

If you have a MY2005 SLK350 or a MY2006 xx230, xx280, xx300, xx350, xx450 r xx550, then your engine is in the range for potential failure. If you have a MY2007, you need to get the engine's serial number to check. The easiest way to get the engine serial number is to plug the VIN into a decoder that reads MBZ's build sheets and will give you the engine serial number. Here's on that's easy to use:

https://www.datamb.com/

Note that when people ask for a check, I usually just quote the engine serial number as the last six digits, so it would actually be "M2729xx 30 yyyyyy" or "M2739xx 30 yyyyyy".

Mercclk6

I think mine needs to be replaced. I told the dealer that t by e check engine lig by t was on and he reset it. 10 mins later it came b.c. ack with the code p0016 p0017 but the car runs fine. The other day I was driving it and it felt sluggish. I turned it off and turned it back on and it was fine.....? Not sure what happened and why it did that. I have 141k on it. Not sure if its passed the mileage for know failures to occur or what 2ndly I looking to changing out the audio system. The sun rattles. I still want the factory look as well as the audio controls with BT and suggestions?

Rudeney

Yes, P0016/P0017 are classic symptoms of balance shaft failure. There is no mileage limit, and as more of these fail at higher mileages, it makes me wonder if they will all fail "prematurely" (meaning before say 300K miles).