vintageperspective
New member
Thanks to all the excellent photos on here, I have also realized this is where the noise if coming from on my van. ('04 2500 with 213,000 miles). It all started about 2 weeks ago, about 5 miles before I had an idler pully failed, leaving me stranded in DC.. I assumed, at the time, that the loud engine noise was from the pulley, that was about to fail, then did. Towed it about 30 miles to the stealership, and they replaced it without a problem. On pickup day, the noise continued, and the dealership told me "everything is normal" and that the sound was some sort of break-in noise that the idler pully needed to seat with a new serpentine belt. I cant belive they didnt see the harmonic balancer that had completely sheared off its inside ring, its very obvious when I lay under the van, and can spin it all the way around. Its almost like they want my cam shaft to throw a rod into the exterior of my block... and be forced to buy a new sprinter
At this point, Ive driven this van about 400-500 miles with the sheared harmonic balancer. I dont know how much longer it will have before total implosion, but im about 200 miles from home right now. Tomorrow I have to convince the local-to-here stealership to replace the H.B. in a jiffy. It probably wont end up being a Mercedes part, since I need the van back to 100% ASAP! I'll have to buy the M.B. parts later, and watch the chinese version for failure, and try to catch it early.
Of note, I dont see a manufacture date on my H.B. but it certainly looks original to me.
At this point, Ive driven this van about 400-500 miles with the sheared harmonic balancer. I dont know how much longer it will have before total implosion, but im about 200 miles from home right now. Tomorrow I have to convince the local-to-here stealership to replace the H.B. in a jiffy. It probably wont end up being a Mercedes part, since I need the van back to 100% ASAP! I'll have to buy the M.B. parts later, and watch the chinese version for failure, and try to catch it early.
Of note, I dont see a manufacture date on my H.B. but it certainly looks original to me.