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Video: Check your Balance Shaft Sprocket in 10 minutes.

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42K views 25 replies 12 participants last post by  marvin-miller  
#1 ·
OK . . . I've created another crazy DIY video on how you can very easily and in ten minutes, check your V-6 powered SLK Roadster for a potential worn Balance Shaft Sprocket and/or stretched Timing Chain. This is quite easy to do yourself and will buy you a boatload of peace of mind. Because I just did this myself, I've decided to keep my Blue Mickey a 2005 SLK 350 for the long haul ;)

Keep in mind, the round stamp you are lining up in the Camshaft Position Sensor holes are not located on the center of the Camshaft Sprocket, but are actually located radially from the center, close to the edge. So, once you've lined up the stamp in the hole on the driver's side intake Camshaft Hole, look at the passenger side hole. If this stamp is well-centered in the hole, you can relax . . . you do not have a stretched Timing Chain or worse . . . you do not have a worn Balance Shaft Sprocket which requires removing the engine to replace. This is due to the fact that there is a bolt under the Flywheel which must be removed to do the job. This is about a five to six thousand dollar repair to have Mercedes perform.

If on the other hand, you see that this stamp is not centered in the hole, but is actually hanging low in the hole, sadly you likely have a worn balance shaft sprocket :( I believe you can insert a camera down inside the engine to confirm the balance shaft sprocket is in fact the culprit and not simply a stretched timing chain. Keep in mind, a stretched timing chain code on your Reader may also really indicate a bad Balance Shaft Sprocket as the net effect of this, is similar to a stretched timing chain. I would confirm the Balance Shaft Sprocket is indeed bad before going though the trouble of removing the engine. I also believe but am not positive, you can replace the timing chain with the engine in the car.

It is also a good idea to do this check for any potential Mercedes purchase which uses these V-6 engines produced between 2005 and 2008 as it affects models other than the SLK Roadsters as well. I would advise purchasing two new O Rings before doing the job, they are about 75 cents each. I hope this video is useful and takes some of the mystery away from the woes of the lurking Balance Shaft Sprocket issues on these V-6 powered Mercedes from 2005 to 2008.

 
#4 ·
Interesting approach. All other checks points to center the crank at 310 degrees (or was it 305?) and then check all 4 ports of camshafts. But come to think of it - this new check would really do it correctly. 1 (intake left) + X (crank) + 1 (intake right) = 2 + X (Sum). If intake left > or < intake right = problems. Same thing applies with the "old" check, but also unnessecary involves exhaust cams (geared to intake cams) and the crank itself, so you can leave them out of the equation. Applauding.:bannana:
Sorry for the maths, but that's what's it's all about:grin:.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Excellent Illustration

Keep in mind, the round stamp you are lining up in the Camshaft Position Sensor holes are not located on the center of the Camshaft Sprocket, but are actually located radially from the center, close to the edge.

Here is a great illustration of what to look for. Keep in mind, your engine only has a single Timing Chain which wraps around only the Intake Camshafts unlike this illustration. The Exhaust Camshafts are "Geared" to the Intake Camshafts. You only need to look at the two intake camshaft stamps (the two in the center of this illustration) as the outer exhaust camshafts are "Geared" to the intake camshafts and, therefore, will not lag behind. Also, bear in mind, these stamps are not at the center of the camshaft, but are located radially from the center near the edge, so when you rotate your crankshaft, the stamps will eventually come into view in the holes where you removed the camshaft position sensors. Line up the Driver's side camshaft stamp first, making sure to turn the crankshaft clockwise only and not going backwards should you go a bit too far; this may cause slack in the chain and give you an erroneous reading. If you go too far trying to line up the stamp on the drivers side, go all the way around again clockwise until the stamp reappears. Once you have this drivers side stamp lined up perfectly centered in the hole, look at the hole in the passenger side intake camshaft. If it too is very well centered, you have confirmed you do not have either a stretched timing chain, nor a worn balance shaft sprocket. Take a deep breath and give thanks ! ;)

Image
 

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#9 ·
I can't see this method saving much time. Taking off all four camshaft position sensors doesn't involve much time or effort.

Also it is easier to just rotate the crank clockwise, facing the car, to 305 degrees to position the crank correctly to view the stamps in the holes. Trying to rotate the crank and view the holes at the same time seems senseless. BTW, you might have to rotate another 180 degrees is they don't line up.

I'm guessing if your balance shaft is OK the four stamps should line up ideally in their respective holes?

Since my car is a 2010, I've never done this check relying on my engine number not being in the range of bad engines. I should do it just for the heck of it, since I have until 2020 to make MB pay for the repair.

If any of you are concerned about this matter, MB can perform this check for you:


They can't say they don't know when you point out this video from their workshop series.
 
Z
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
Since I just bought a car with a VIN number in range, I decided to do the check right away, just in case I needed to tel the dealership to take it back. The car only has about 33k miles on it, so I didn't expect to find anything - but you never know.

I watched the video above, and had a difficult time determining which sensors to pull out. I had to watch it a few times, pausing on certain spots, while looking at my engine. I decided to take pictures so that others will be able to easily perform the check.

First, you need a really long wrench and a 27mm socket so you can turn the crankshaft. I didn't take pictures of that, but it's really easy to get a long wrench in there and turn it. Watch the video.

The TORX (it's called E-TORX - the video didn't explain this) set was not the easiest to find, and my local hardware store did not carry them. I had to order them on Amazon, and I posted a picture of what they look like in case the following link goes dead. Here is the one you need:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5IE9LV/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

After that, I just took off the air intake stuff (30 seconds), unscrewed the torx screws from the sensors and took the sensors off. I turned the crank until I saw the badge in the one on the right, then checked the one on the left.

I'm good to go. No problems yet. I'll just check every year.

Pictures attached, and named appropriately. I hope this helps.
 

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#14 ·
A question?

zaft said:
Since I just bought a car with a VIN number in range, I decided to do the check right away, just in case I needed to tel the dealership to take it back. The car only has about 33k miles on it, so I didn't expect to find anything - but you never know. ... I hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Here's my chance to find out something I wanted to know. When you rotated the crank around to 305 degrees, did the all four of the stamps center in their respective inspection holes? I suspect they did, but it doesn't hurt to ask someone who knows.0:)
 
#12 ·
Awesome job Zaft. You probably spent no more than 1/2 an hour of your day, and bought yourself a boatload of peace of mind. I'm glad to hear your car passed the test, and yes, I think it would be a good idea to keep and eye on it until you reach 100,000 miles. I think by then, the problem of a worn Balance Shaft Sprocket would reveal itself. Glad to hear these videos were useful to you ;)
 

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#13 ·
For those of you who are in a club, I have a great idea. Have a Check Your Balance Shaft Day where you all get together and check for a bad balance shafts. You only need a couple of tools. I also don't think you need to remove anything to do this check.

Here's another bit of information on this problem:

http://www.mercedesmedic.com/check-my-mercedes-benz-for-balance-shaft-issue-by-vin-m272273/

BTW, in my post above I said 180 degrees. I meant to say 360, and I thought I had corrected it.
 
#19 ·
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