Hi to All, Im working on a 95 e300d and i need to know if the serpentine belt tensioner mounting bolt (bolt that requires 17mm hex bit) is reverse thread or not. Because Im having a hard time breaking it loose. Thanks

Its regular right hand thread but is threadlocked into place, I had to use a 24 inch breaker bar and it gently removed it very easily - I did remove the radiator first to be safe as my 17mm bit was a chunky 1/2 inch drive item so had tons of room.

use a blue thread lock on it and I did follow the torque specs but honestly it was a gun to my head moment as Im screwing a very large steel screw into aluminum. A little low torque would also work as the blue threadlock would hold it sealed.

btw which brand of arm have you bought.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

1997 E300D

I just did this. Bought a 17mm hex wrench for it -$9 from sears. Put my "breaker bar" over it and got to work. My "breaker bar" is just the top part of my hydrolic jack handle and it fits nicely over this hex wrench, 1/4 & 3/8 socket wrenches for extra leverage.

Came out easily and after installing the shock, serp belt and tansfering the pulley, put it back in with Locktite sealent and some oil lube on the other thread part of the big bolt. Reversed steps and estimated 100nm with my breaker bar - Lots of practice doing this.

If you are trying to replace the tension shock, I do not recommend trying to work the screw out against the water pulley. Its simply too long and I checked out a youtube video of a guy who actually had a "shorten" screw and got away with a short cut. My screw was a 1/4 longer than his so I had to take off the Fan to get to the leveler.

For this fan and tight quarters, I cut a small piece of my 8mm hex wrench (almost1/2 inch) stuck it into my 8mm 1/4 socket wrench and I had to use some sticky glue or else it fell out all the time. I used a grinder with a metal blade to make this cut, but a dremel with a metal cutting blade can do this as well. Thus I made my own little stubby.

To make more room (tight quarters), I took off the four bolts of the front frame and pushed the radiator and stuff back 1.5 inches, thus I could barely fit my harm, my stubbey and the 1/4 socket into the fan 8mm hex bolt. Once again, I put my "breaker bar" over it and while I loosened it, I held the pully in place with an adjustable wrench and used my muscle to get the 8mm screw loose. Then I had to use two hands to get the screw out - again tight quarters and you don't want to beat up the rediator with your tools. Cost of this $0, some creativity and muscle.

Don't let the youtube video fool you on the short cut. That is how I broke my leveler and had to buy a new one. But I also replaced my Serp Belt during this process and it was time for it anyways.

Total time with the actual work - 1.15 hours and I took my time.

Pabster