w210 tensioner damper removal

[ladfalat]

New to diesels, recently purchased my first, a 97 E300 with 90K mi. It's a bit noisier than I thought it would be, especially above 2500 rpm. But first things first, a nasty rattle at idle I traced to the tensioner damper. Is there a way to remove the lower bolt without removing the water pump pulley. The dampener seems fine, lots of resistance, but the lower mounting point rattles. I fixed a similar problem on my 97 C230 by insering teflon washers on both sides of the mount. On the diesel, just can't seem to back out the lower bolt without hitting the back of the WP pulley. Am I missing a hole in the pulley?

on a separate subject, I devised a $0.25 disposable one man brake bleeder. Forget the $35 bleeder valves. Take a disposable plastic dropper, slice a vertical slit in the bulb with a razor, about 1/2", stick the dropper into the end of the rubber hose from a bleeder screw. Stick the bulb end into old brake fluid. When you pump the pedal, the fluid pressure opens the slit into a fishmouth to let fluid out. On the return stroke, the slit closes, old fluid comes up only about an inch up the dropper. You get the picture.