timebomb

I was wondering if anyone else has heard of this. I brought my car to the mechanic complaining that a pulley was makinf noise and shakey, thinking perhaps it was a water pump. I didnt notice it right away but he pointed at it and said, thats the harmonic balancer. He claims a common problem with maxima engines is the crank is machined so much at the connecting point of the balancer that eventually, it snaps and ruins the engine. Has anyone else heard of this?