On my 89 240 GL, the original crankshaft pulley (harmonic balancer) failed, the rubber bonding between the inner and outer halves broke and disintegrated. The outer half ended up cocked at about a 25 deg. angle, and had ground away one side of the timing belt cover. And of course it ws no longer turning anything, as it had completely separated from the inner half of the pulley. I replaced it with a junkyard part for only $60. Highway robbery for a part that is15 years old, but better than the alternative. The very cheapest price for a new one was $120, and that being more than I could afford, I opted to take a chance on the used part. Finally got the right alternator belt, started the car up, and all is working, but the replacement crank pulley is wobbling severely. It is cocked or out-of-balance. I did notice before installing it that there were three shallow 3/8 in. holes drilled close together on the outside circumference, not far from the rim. So I know that this balancer was balanced in the past. So what to do at this point? It is so wobbly that the rubber bond is going to fail (again!) from the rapid tightening/loosening of the belts as it turns....and man, are those belts jumping! I cannot drive it like that. I suppose I should try removing/reinstalling the crank pulley once, to see if maybe for some reason it didn't seat flush. If I still have the same problem, then do I need to have an automotive machine shop re-balance it somehow? Can this be done when there are are already three holes drilled in it? But it looks to me more like it has a wobble from not being in proper axial (?) alignment with the shaft, rather than just being an unbalanced vibration. If that is what it is, can a machine shop grind the surface that mates with the crankshaft end so that the wobble is eliminated? What are the odds of a NEW crankshaft pully fixing this problem? It might not, I guess, because the way the crank pulley failed it might have BENT the crankshaft end due to the way the loose outer part of the pulley got jammed up....maybe? Also, is that the actual end of the crankshaft that the crank pulley is attached to, or not? Because if it is the actual end of the crankshaft pulley that is bent, then I am really screwed, as they say.
- posted
19 years ago