(1)vehicle was making a left hand turn and became almost impossible to turn steering wheel. (2) crankshaft dampener became separated at point of rubber vulcanized and caused serpentine belt to come loose leaving power steering to stop working along with all other pulleys run by the same belt. (3) dampener and belt were replaced. (old parts are available) this is an extremely dangerous situation that my local dealership says is happening very frequently. New types of replacement dampeners have been changed six (6) times in the last five (5) years in the parts book. Several local mechanics say it's a very common problem and they wonder why a recall has not been ordered. It would be very easy to find out how many crankshaft dampeners have been ordered and replaced by both dealers and parts sales. Again, let me say this is a very dangerous situation that is very common. My primary worry is that a small person would not be able to turn the steering wheel if the power steering goes out as in these broken dampener cases. I'm a 225 lb man and I could barely bring the car to a safe stop at only 25 miles per hour. What would have happened on a mountain road? please investigate this problem for everyone's safety. Thank you!!

- Clovis, CA, USA

Fuel gauge does not read correctly/run out of fuel/engine quits loss of control, power brakes and steering may lead to crash/defect

- Southborough, MA, USA

Mercedes Benz, ML320,1999, harmonic balancer failure. Destroys the whole bottom front of the engine including making power steering inoperative. May cause a real bad accident. I also have a 2000 C280 with 47,500 miles which looks like carries the exact same problem with the same possible accident potential.

- Sunrise, FL, USA

The harmonic balancer on my 1999 Mercedes ML320 engine type M112 failed and resulted in $4,000 to repair. The part failed with no advanced warning. Even the Mercedes dealership who performed the power steering recall two weeks prior to the failure did not spot any problem and they knew to be looking. I was lucky the failure occurred in my driveway backing out of the garage in stead of on the freeway with an immediate loss of power steering or destruction of the engine.

- Double Oak, TX, USA

The power steering failed upon starting the vehicle. Fuel leaked and made it difficult for the driver to control the vehicle.

- Dover, MA, USA

I heard a snap sound while driving and a burning rubber smell afterwards. We were going to pull into a parking lot to investigate, but half way to making a left turn, we lost all steering capabilities and coasted to the side of a intersection. I normally drive on the freeway, and if this happened then, I am sure I would have had a major accident.

- Houston, TX, USA