606 Belt tensioner shock and spring - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

connerm · #1 03-09-2007, 09:32 PM

1995 e300d 182,000
Just finished changing the spring and the shock. Removing the bottom bolt of the shock took 2 hours. The rest of the job took about 1.2 minutes. The bottom bolt is about 1/32" too long to come out enough to free the shock. I removed the fan, belt, fan cowl and loosened the waterpump pully bolts a little - only enough to be able to move the bolt back enough so the shock was free. I never did get the bolt free. I could have backed off the pully enough to get it out, but I just put the new one in and tightened it all back up. Unbelieveable pain in the ass. If there is a better way, I couldn't see it. I guess I could have found a huge allen wrench and removed the entire tensioner, but I figured, the bolt is right there. Its got to come out somehow. I was wrong. Dang.

mdisav · #2 03-09-2007, 10:09 PM

You can do it without removing the belt and fan and just slowly loosening the water pump bolts to where you did to get the old shock out and the new one in. It is tight but quite do-able.

TMAllison · #3 03-09-2007, 11:17 PM

On my 606 turbo, when tightened the bolt sticks out of the tensioner arm !1/16", I can back it off enough to slip the shock bushing past the bolt by tweaking the bolt from 90 to 70 degrees.

To others who haven't been able to do that and whose bolt also protrudes I've suggested filing it off flush, then trying again.

The "huge" hex on my tensioner is 17MM.

connerm · #4 03-10-2007, 07:16 AM

TMAllison,
Filing is a good idea. However, the bolt didn't protrude at all. It was so close, but I didn't want to wiggle too much beyond 90 degrees and wreck the threads. I should have waited until I could find a proper 17mm allen wrench. I have a hundred allen wrenches, but not one is a 17mm. Huh. Imagine. If I were a mechanic and not a caveman, I probably would have had a 17mm in my tool box instead of flint, and antler tools. What a royal p.i.t.a. job.