Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE - BELTS AND ASSOCIATED PULLEYS | ||||||
| PE03058 | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | 12/17/2003 | 04/22/2004 | ENGINE CRANKSHAFT PULLEY FAILURE | ||
| The office of defects investigation (odi) opened this preliminary evaluation to investigate allegations of engine crankshaft pulley harmonic balancer failure that could result in loss of power-steering assist.odi has received a total of 546 non-duplicative reports that allege engine crankshaft pulley harmonic balancer failure on all mercedes-benz vehicles using the subject component.the subject component failures are progressive in nature and only a small percentage of the complaints and warrant claims involved a failure that had progressed far enough to effect power steering performance (6 of 55 odi complaints reference increased steering effort).there have been no crashes or injuries related to the alleged defect.a safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.accordingly, this investigation is closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency will take further action if warranted by the circumstances.see summary report attached for further detail. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 09/29/2010 | 134000 | ||
| Engine just stops running/stalling after from 15 - 30 minutes of driving. has happened twice midway through left turns. (scary!) can happen anytime and any speed. | |||
| 08/01/2009 | 80000 | 2 | 09/12/1998 |
| Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6) september 12, 1998 i purchased a 1999 e320w.] i am the only owner of the car. the car is driven leisurely. to date, it only has 92,000 miles on it. i have been regularly obtaining the a & b maintenance services. the electrical system has been malfunctioning for months and mb allegedly can't diagnose it; and i have been using an excessive amount of oil. a second opinion mechanic said it is oil slugging which was recalled but mb won't honor. he also said my engine / motor now needs to be replaced. there is also an intermittent scraping on the passenger side. during all of the services to mb they never told me about the recall nor provided service to ensure that my car was not affected. they said it was not a total recall but a case-by-case situation and i am not eligible. i am very fearful when i am driving. each time i go out i fear what might happen. i do not have the funds to pay for a engine. please help me. i can provide a timeline of the history of my vehicle which with hindsight looks like i purchased a lemon. the second opinion mechanic informed me of the recall/class action but mb concealed the information. *tr the locks were inoperable and the key would not come out of the ignition, the check engine light illuminated, the serpentine belt, ball joints, tie rod ends were all replaced. the fuel sensor level was replaced. there was a shimmy in the suspension. the dealer replaced the tires and left rim. the valve stem was leaking, the left rear window was inoperable. the crankshaft position sensor was replaced. all of the dashboard lights intermittently, but regularly turn into line bars. the tail light circuit board and the right rear tail lamp, right front head light and left front parking bulbs were had to be replaced updated ivoq 05/27/10.*jb | |||
| 06/10/2005 | 64000 | 3 | 01/06/2004 |
| Crank position sensor (cps) started to fail when the outside temperature was above 95f. car (1999 mercedes benz e320) failed to start twice when parked after driving for a short distance. only after cooling it would start again. at one point the engine became very erratic while in traffic. at another point i was stopped on the traffic light and the engine just stopped running. fortunately i was near home and after waiting a few minutes it started again. it was embarrassing to say the least , having a mb car stall in front of other much cheaper cars on the traffic light. fortunately, i was using this car for only short trips and did not incur the risk of having it stall on a highway, but i am sure it would as long as the engine temperature was above a certain point. i researched this problem on the internet and found the following mb car owners chat/forum room with discussions on the many similar problems experienced by others: http://www.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=80989. *jb | |||
| 07/01/2005 | 28000 | 1 | 06/01/1999 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the check engine light illuminated while driving. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was determined by diagnostic testing the air mass sensor needed to be replaced. the contact stated also owns an ml320 which had the same failure july 2006. if the air mass sensor is not replaced, further damage can result to the engine. | |||
| 06/01/2005 | 55000 | 1 | |
| Consumer 1999 e320 had transmission problems and caught on fire with 110,000 miles on it. *ts the consumer stated the transmission problems started when the vehicle only had 55,000 miles. before the fire, the vehicle had a tire leak and a defective lamp assembly. *jb | |||
| 02/27/2003 | 1 | ||
| While driving and without warning oil started to leak from the engine. *nlm the dealer didn't use the recommended synthetic oil as stated by the manufacturer. scc | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 03/16/2003 | 60530 | 4 | 04/28/2002 |
| 1999 mercedes-benz e320t, 60k miles - crankshaft harmonic balancer (damper pulley) failed. advised by mechanic to replace immediately, so as to avoid loss of multi ribbed-v-belt and concurrent loss of power steering, alternator and water pump function.*ak | |||
| 01/24/2004 | 76500 | 1 | 10/10/2002 |
| Harmonic balancer (crankshaft pulley) is separating, creating noise and potentially lost of power assist for steering. *jb | |||
| 07/30/2003 | 67000 | 1 | 04/10/2001 |
| The rubber insert in the pulley crankshaft experienced a mechanical failure which resulted in no power steering or brakes. *jb *scc *nlm | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||
| 06/01/2001 | |||
| Vehicle will stall out while driving on highway.vehicle will not re-start. contacted dealer.*ak | |||
| 06/16/2000 | 5 | 08/01/1998 | |
| I had purchased a mercedes-benz e320 4 matic wagon on august 25th 1998 from millennium automotive group at bridgewater, nj. since then this car has stalled while driving on several occasions and was brought back to the dealer to be checked and serviced. the dates of service are as follows: 1) june 16, 2000 odometer 12,435 miles, 2) jan 3, 2001, odometer 17,549, 3) jan 29, 2001 odometer 18,008 miles, 4) july 25, 2001 odometer 21,797. during these visits to the millennium automotive group, we were reassured that this vehicle is safe to operate even though they are clueless as to why this vehicle stalled so many times. many parts were replaced, and we were led to believe that the car was thoroughly checked and is safe to drive. however, this car stalled again at pulaski skyway during a rain storm and i was almost hit by the car behind me on sep. 14. 2001. this car is indeed not safe to drive. currently i am driving a loaner car from the millennium automotive group and i am pursuing for a full purchasing refund from mercedes benz usa pertaining to nj state lemon law (njsa 56:12-29 to 56:49). i feel obligated to report this matter to you. if you believe you have more information or any legal advice to assist me in this matter, please contact me at 908-322-4730, or contact my husband's beeper at 201-422-2177. my husband, steve shih has full authorization on my behave to deal with this matter. thank you. *ak | |||
| 08/08/1999 | 6 | ||
| Intermittently when going over any type of bump vehicle stalls . vehicle has been seen 6 times by the dealership. dealer is not able to duplicate the problem. please provide any further information. *ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE - BELTS AND ASSOCIATED PULLEYS | |||
| 08/31/2004 | 56989 | 1 | 01/07/2004 |
| As i was accelerating onto the freeway, i heard a loud noise from my engine. i started losing power steering and my battery charger light kept flashing indicating a problem with the crankshaft pulley. luckily i was able to get home safely.*ak after safely driving home, i looked under the hood and noticed huge chunks of rubber parts inside. i took the car to the mercedes dealership the next day and was told that the harmonic balancer had been damaged. when the harmonic balancer was damaged, it in turn ruined the oil pan cover and the timing chain cover resulting in a $2500 repair bill. the service manager stated he would write merceds to see if some of the costs can be defrayed and will be getting back to me. i highly doubt any substantial amount will be defrayed by the manufacturer. i am extremely disappointed in mercedes and the e320. | |||
| 07/02/2004 | 1 | ||
| During normal operation i experienced total loss of steering assist and the engine quit running. i barely missed hitting several roadside obstacles and was nearly stranded in the middle of a high speed roadway. i am a woman of over 70 years of age and do not have the strength to wrestle a 3000 pound car around without power assist. i had great difficulty maintaining control and avoiding a collision. the car had to be towed nearly 20 miles to the dealership where it was out of service for approximately a month at a cost of $4500.00. the dealership told me that the car had a failure of the harmonic balancer on the engine which destroyed a large number of surrounding parts. the damaged parts were replaced and the balancer was also replaced. the old part has been requested from the dealer.*ak | |||
| 03/16/2003 | 60530 | 4 | 04/28/2002 |
| 1999 mercedes-benz e320t, 60k miles - crankshaft harmonic balancer (damper pulley) failed. advised by mechanic to replace immediately, so as to avoid loss of multi ribbed-v-belt and concurrent loss of power steering, alternator and water pump function.*ak | |||
| 08/25/2003 | 71500 | 1 | |
| Crankshaft balancer failure- mercedes e320 1999 (from individual experiences of several mercedes customers with 320 v6 engine on w210 platform and others).*ak around 72000 miles, my vehicle crank shaft balancer pulley started sperating a thick black rubber ring, which is sandwiched between the cranksfat and the serpentine belt pulley on the outside, belt burning smell and clicking noise which quickly turned into a knocking noise recognized as i was driving at very low speed, luckily. i parked the vehicle and checkd the engine bay, to find a fallen off piece of crank shaft balancer pulley (it made a thud when it came off while dirving). it could have easilycaused flying object damage if i were driving at higher speed. i took it to the dealer and got it fixed, worth 421 dollars. i was told that the crank shaft pulley is a common failure for this model engine and i was lucky that it did not 'totally' gouce the timing chain cover and oil pan. i have heard first hand incidences of others with similar model vehicles in the range of 1997 through 2001 having timing chain cover gouged off completely and vehicle becoming inoperable within minutes and causing mechanical damage to the extent of 20 to 25 hours repair needed, and over 25000 dollars needed on average. | |||
| 04/04/2003 | 62000 | 1 | |
| The engine main drive pulley broke off rendering vehicle inoperable. the failure happened on open road at highway speeds. *ak *jb | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - MANIFOLD/HEADER/MUFFLER/TAIL PIPE | |||
| 06/30/2001 | |||
| There's a pipe that runs under vehicle that is leaking oil. consumer feels that this could start a fire. please provide any further information.*ak | |||