S63 Vibration Damper - Harmonic Balancer - DIY Guide

[frankenm]

Truck has been squealing and after inspection I found wobble in the crankshaft pulley and identified the squeal with a stethoscope, no signs anything wrong with crank at least.

Wondering if anyone else has had harmonic balancer, ie "vibration damper" issues with their M?

I'm going to have the truck all apart anyway in the next week replacing the oil pan gaskets and such so not such a big deal to replace when I'm in there just more shit to change that isnt cheap ... never seems to end and list just keeps growing

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The following is a how to for replacing the vibration damper on the S63 engine since when replacing mine there wasn't any references for this anywhere other than Rheinghold instructions which didn't mention everything required.

Parts Required

Vibration Damper Part # 11237572566 OEM or aftermarket I went with one from Rockauto for around $270 / OEM costs around $700 - These are shared with multiple different engines.

Center Bolt Part # 11238648148

Tool Required

Torque Wrench
Torque Angle Tool
Snap Ring Pliers
Specialty Tool - Crankshaft holder Item# 118090 - Can be purchased from ebay for $50.

27mm
12mm Torx socket
13mm
16mm
T60
6mm/Flat head screwdriver


Steps

I will add pics later!

1. Remove air filter box using 6mm/flathead for the clamps
2. Remove brace and air filter box supports across top of fan crowl w/ 13mm
3. Remove fan crowl - There is one plug and one lock on each side of the fan - The locks are pushed in to remove. Be careful with the right side as it is easy to break ....
4. Remove alternator belt using T60 bit on the tensioner pulley.
5. Remove tensioner pulley using 16MM
6. Rotate the engine clockwise using the center bolt using the 27mm until the arrow on the pulley is facing the power steering pump and then unbolt the 3 bolts using the 12MM torx holding the pulley to the damper then rotate the engine again until the AC belt loosens it is tensioned with the pulley.
7. Remove AC belt
8. Remove snap ring on pulley and pull the pulley off - The snap is an exterior ring.
9. Attach the Crankshaft holder on the vibration damper using the 3 screws from the damper, attaching the other end to the bolt hole for the tensioner using the bolt for the tensioner. You might need to rotate the engine to get it to line up properly.
10. Using the 27mm remove the center bolt - It is under ALOT of torque so just keep going until it is off and don't be afraid to break it. - Take a note of the MP on the damper as this is the same install position it will go in.
11. Remove the crankshaft holding tool and get under the vehicle and remove the undercarriage plastic and pry the damper off from the bottom moving from the left to right side switching between the two - it should come off pretty easily. I used a notch in the timing case for prying off be careful not to mare the engine surface.
12. Reinstall the new damper it is slotted so it will only go on one way make sure to push it all the way on.
13. Lubricate the new bolt before installing using oil or anti-seize.
14. Torque the bolt to 100nm or 73-ft/lbs and the using the torque angle torque it again 3x to 60 degrees each time.
15. Reinstall the AC belt and pulley - the pulley is slotted and only installs one way. I found the easiest way to get this back together is putting the belt and pulley on together and rotating the pulley until the screws line up.
16. Reinstall snap ring on center pulley.
17. Reinstall the tensioner pulley.
18. Reinstall the main drive belt.
19. Reinstall fan crowl and top brace
20. Reinstall air filter box
21. Reinstall the plastic cover underneath
22. Turn car on and done...

[mirob]

Originally Posted by frankenm

Truck has been squealing and after inspection I found wobble in the crankshaft pulley and identified the squeal with a stethoscope, no signs anything wrong with crank at least.

Wondering if anyone else has had harmonic balancer, ie "vibration damper" issues with their M?

I'm going to have the truck all apart anyway in the next week replacing the oil pan gaskets and such so not such a big deal to replace when I'm in there just more shit to change that isnt cheap ... never seems to end and list just keeps growing

I feel like I had a similar thing happen to me, is the engine shaking like it's about to implode? Can you post a video before you take it appart?

[Lunker325]

I have an intermittent squeaking from the belt area, thought it was a pulley, but will check more closely next time it acts up.

[frankenm]

I'll take a video but there is no engine shaking just a high pitch whine at rpm above 2500 and cranksahft pulley wobble.

Engine shaking could be signs of cylinders not firing or bad motor mounts.

I first thought the issue was the tensioner and replaced it but did not remedy... Put stethoscope on engine and easily found the problem.

[frankenm]

Replaced this yesterday install was pretty straight-forward and all together took about 3 hours.

Seems this has solved my engine malfunction issues as well ?

I'm going to update the first post in this thread as a how-to for replacement.

[philly42]

Wow it seems like a lot of work. Did you do your oil pan gasket yet? I was looking at the steps in doing so and would recommend walnut blasting while things are out of the way.

[frankenm]

I haven't done my gaskets yet, I'm not losing any oil and it is so much work I'm putting it off ... defiantly on my todo list just taking care of other things until then.

Is walnut blasting even necessary on the s63?

[philly42]

Originally Posted by frankenm

I haven't done my gaskets yet, I'm not losing any oil and it is so much work I'm putting it off ... defiantly on my todo list just taking care of other things until then.

Is walnut blasting even necessary on the s63?

Same here...mine has a small leak. Even if my leak was larger and required 5 quarts of additional oil per year on top of normal consumption, I still wouldn't do the gasket procedure. Way too much work! The only oil leak I'm addressing now is the vacuum pump. As long as your oil pressure is in range, your engine should be fine.

Well as for walnut blasting being necessary...it depends who you ask. Those seeking peak HP will prob say it is. Since our cars have direct injections we have it's disadvantage of build-up. Our insufficient oil/gas separation of the crankcase system doesn't help the situation at all.

We're probably not going to hear about walnut blasting for our engines because of the amount of work involved. It's probably more profitable for shops to seek out walnut blasting for N54,N55 and S55 cars than ours.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...old/1VnYmOQZKD

[frankenm]

Originally Posted by philly42

Same here...mine has a small leak. Even if my leak was larger and required 5 quarts of additional oil per year on top of normal consumption, I still wouldn't do the gasket procedure. Way too much work! The only oil leak I'm addressing now is the vacuum pump. As long as your oil pressure is in range, your engine should be fine.

Well as for walnut blasting being necessary...it depends who you ask. Those seeking peak HP will prob say it is. Since our cars have direct injections we have it's disadvantage of build-up. Our insufficient oil/gas separation of the crankcase system doesn't help the situation at all.

We're probably not going to hear about walnut blasting for our engines because of the amount of work involved. It's probably more profitable for shops to seek out walnut blasting for N54,N55 and S55 cars than ours.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...old/1VnYmOQZKD

Hhahah I like step 1.

Remove the front axle completely with the engine and transmission.

I'm sure a dealership would want something in the tune of 10-15k+ for all this work involved going by the book would be interesting to get a quote on it from one of them - This requires a serious amount of work ... defiantly something I don't see myself doing unless I had the engine out to build it.