Thread: Harmonic balancer troubles on Defender

Not sure if this has ever been covered before. Had my 99 fender start to make a strange noise they other day, like a clacking sound when the engines going which sounded a bit like a dodgy bearing. On turning off the engine there was like a follow through of the sound. Not being mechanically minded took the truck to a mechanic mate. Fan belt removed all sounded well with the engine purringnicely, no noise, belt back on and sound returned. Eventually tracked down some fraying rubber behind the harmonic balancer. Pulled it off and the rubber had split right around allowing the wheel to turn and contact the pulley bolt mounts. Part alone is somewhere near $700. The place in Brissy selling it says they sell one a week. Is this a common problem for the fender. Mine has 99500km on the clock.

We have replaced two in two years, so I don't think it is a really common fault.