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.

The tensioner on my '98 rattles until the glow plugs quit. I just live with it. To remove the bolt, you have to release the pressure on the belt and swing the belt tensioner out out the way. (As I remember, without going out and looking at it.)

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-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

When I changed mine, I could rotate the damper arm down far enough to just get the bolt out. Be sure to have the tension slacked off and the belt off also. If your bolt is long enough to stick out the backside of the damper arm, you may be able to file a little bit off to make the bolt shorter.

No, your not missing a hole in the pulley, there isn't one.

It took some time and I had to push quite hard down on the arm to get sufficient clearance. You're rotating the arm CCW to get as far down behind the pulley as you can. When you do get it out be sure to file off a couple of threads so you'll not have this problem again. Because, if you keep the car you will be doing this again. My first lasted 100K, the second about 40K, but that was a cheap one. From then on I stick with the OE damper in this case.

HTH

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Muleears
'07 E320 Bluetec 133K my DD
'04 Jaguar XJ8 VDP, 34K
'10 Hyundai Accent 60K Grocery Getter
'02 VW Golf soon to be on the road again
'97 E300 Diesel Son's DD
'61 VERY tolerant wife

Hampton Roads, VA USA

Gone but not forgotten:
'67 250S 95K
'86 300SDL
'87 300D Turbo, 364K! R.I.P.
'98 E300 Turbodiesel, 213K
'02 S420, 164K
'01 Prius 138K

Hey thanks Evan and Muleears. Mine rattles all the time at idle. Actually, kind of a dieseling noise, except the C230 used to do it also and it was gas.

I tried to do the damper the quick way, not necessarily the right way. Next time, I'll take off the belt, release tension, and go at it again. Definitely will take a few threads off with a grinder when I get the bolt out. When you rotate the damper arm CCW, are you saying the bottom bolt will back out outside of the WP pulley? I have to look at it again over the weekend.

Lad

Muleears, I just noticed, I also have a '61. Mine is a federalized European import, sweet when running right, but finicky and expensive to maintain.
Lad

Yes, you are turning it into (behind) the pulley.

I've had many imports (cars!) and they can be finicky. But, this '61 is the best ever.

__________________

Muleears
'07 E320 Bluetec 133K my DD
'04 Jaguar XJ8 VDP, 34K
'10 Hyundai Accent 60K Grocery Getter
'02 VW Golf soon to be on the road again
'97 E300 Diesel Son's DD
'61 VERY tolerant wife

Hampton Roads, VA USA

Gone but not forgotten:
'67 250S 95K
'86 300SDL
'87 300D Turbo, 364K! R.I.P.
'98 E300 Turbodiesel, 213K
'02 S420, 164K
'01 Prius 138K

Bad motor mounts can also cause the belt to jump and vib resulting wear in tensioner parts.

Before condemning too many tensioner parts carefully lift the engine 1/4" with a floor jack and big rubber bushing between the oil pan and jack and see if the vib is still present. Dont lift more or you can damage the hard connections at the mounts, fan, exhaust, etc. etc.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

Thanks Terry, mounts are on my list of the ususal suspects, but will do one thing at a time. Reason it could be the mounts: disconnected the top of the tensioner damper to see if the clacking goes away at idle. It did, but a few seconds later I scared myself silly with the most horrific internal engine noises, sounded like a metal thrasher inside, at idle, went quiet above 1200 rpm. Could feel the reverb on the entire engine. Reconnected the damper, everything was OK again, except for the damper clatter. The engine is also very loud at 2400-2700 rpm, but better outside that range. Just need to spend more time with her, to get to know her better and stuff. Are all of the non-turbos this slow?

Lad

A symptom of bad mounts is that it vibrates through the chassis when you place the selector in "D" but the vibration quits in "R".

As for the NA car baing slow, I drove my friend's '97 years ago and it always seemed adequate until I got my '98 and man, the power hits like a kick in the butt...

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250