The balancer shaft itself wears at the journal nearest the balance weight. The shaft has been made out of a steel grade too soft for the job and as the balance shaft is (by definition) running out of balance, it is causing wear on one side of the shaft. If you look at the shaft you will see wear lin...

I thought it might have been just me that had had balance shaft problems. My Mk 3 is on its third and has only done about 15,000 kms, mostly off-road. I knew it had had a replacement shaft fitted before I bought it, and it went again shortly after I bought it. (I believe that the replacement was a u...