Help stranded belts flew off - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

JHZR2 · #1 04-01-2010, 07:09 PM

Hi,

Was driving along fine in my 81 240d and all of a sudden, lost alternator and PS. The thing that connects the belts to the harmonic dampener (where you look for timing chain stretch) just came off and dumped the belts. No belts broke, but nothing spins. Didn't see an overheat, but something flapping may have caused a weeping of a tiny bit of antifreeze.

Can I fix this somehow??? In a parking lot?

JHZR2 · #2 04-01-2010, 07:26 PM

toomany MBZ · #3 04-01-2010, 07:31 PM

If you're referring to the bottom pulley, you'll need that, a monster bolt and a number of washers. I suppose you can re-install it in a parking lot.

toomany MBZ · #4 04-01-2010, 07:33 PM

What belt is left on?

JHZR2 · #5 04-01-2010, 07:42 PM

It threw the ps belt, the rest are still in place, just the pulley doesn't turn.

Felt up there, the big bolt is fine, seems that a few of the bolts backed out(felt at least one hole), and then two or three "studs", seems like the others sheared off.

This car has seen no salt, only has 73k, and is in top shape. I did notice that the engine had a bit of a shake at normal idle, but the idle knob turned up made it nice and smooth... Perhaps this is an issue some time coming?

JHZR2 · #6 04-01-2010, 07:43 PM

And BTW, engine runs just fine, will move the car without issue... Or a fan of course...

junqueyardjim · #7 04-01-2010, 07:45 PM

It is also a bit difficult to diagnose from your description. But since the belts run a pretty basic triangle set up, and you lost the ability to turn the belts, either the pulley came off the front of the damper hub or worse case the damper came loose on the end or nose of the crankshaft. Neither repair is recommended to be made in a parking lot, although if you have the front pulley and if it is not all beat up and the screws just came out, well I think that could be done with the correct simple tools and provided you could come up with the correct screws.

DeliveryValve · #8 04-01-2010, 07:48 PM

If you can cut or remove the hanging belt off, I made it home before with using my shoe strings from my tennis shoes. Just wrapped it around the main pulley and water pump. You should have enough juice in the battery to start it and it will run without a battery. Not sure if you'll have power for headlights though.

Here is a link for pictures.
can I drive 10 miles without belts?

Good luck!

.

bgkast · #9 04-01-2010, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeliveryValve

If you can cut or remove the hanging belt off, I made it home before with using my shoe strings from my tennis shoes. Just wrapped it around the main pulley and water pump. You should have enough juice in the battery to start it and it will run without a battery. Not sure if you'll have power for headlights though.

I dub thee "BenzGyver"

pawoSD · #10 04-01-2010, 08:01 PM

I would not drive it more than a mile or two at a time with a 30-60 minute cool down.....you could be in for a major project there. Most likely it sheared off the 8 M10 allen bolts that hold the pulley in place, and then the main bolt came loose (or failed also).....BIG repair depending on the damage.

IMHO I think the leading cause is belts kept too tight, I keep all of ours more loose than tight.

barry123400 · #11 04-01-2010, 08:08 PM

If you can still run with a shorter belt from the lower pulley to the water pump a a pair of womens panty hose will make a fair temporary belt.

I am not quite sure though if there is a pulley available to drive it yet. You might find some bolts to replace the lost ones locally. If there is also a problem with the main harmonic balancers centre bolt all bets are off. There may not be though. Depends.

pawoSD · #12 04-01-2010, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barry123400

If you can still run with a shorter belt from the lower pulley to the water pump a a pair of womens panty hose will make a temorary belt.

I am not quite sure though if there is a pulley available to drive it yet. You might find some bolts to replace the lost ones locally. Depends.

Most likely the holes those bolts thread into still contain the ends of the previous bolts!

It needs to be towed to a MB shop and properly repaired IMHO.....

JHZR2 · #13 04-01-2010, 08:12 PM

Pulley fell off. Harmonic balancer still turns fine.

I feel a few empty holes and a few sheared studs.

I'm getting it towed to my Indy. Does the engine have to come out to repair? Any idea of costs for a job like this?

barry123400 · #14 04-01-2010, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Most likely the holes those bolts thread into still contain the ends of the previous bolts!

It needs to be towed to a MB shop and properly repaired IMHO.....

You are right I wondered if a few fell out and the others sheared. It may not take too much power to drive the waterpump alone. A little slippage even lessens the load. Depends if there is any service around where he is. A normal mechanic should cope okay with this.

pawoSD · #15 04-01-2010, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JHZR2

Pulley fell off. Harmonic balancer still turns fine.

I feel a few empty holes and a few sheared studs.

I'm getting it towed to my Indy. Does the engine have to come out to repair? Any idea of costs for a job like this?

It does not need to be pulled. they might remove the radiator to have clear access to the front of the motor....I'd say 2-3 hours labor?