belt sizes
 

lost the a/c belt on my '81 300sd. Called the benz dealer to get the right belt. They had 4 sizes for the '81 300sd! Gave them the vin and they said that it is a 5x925, but they have none. Fastlane lists it as 13x925. What gives? Phil is not around today and I need to do this today. Any ideas? Is this a metric size? Is there any way to convert it to a # that the Auto zone guy will be able to use? Thanks.

Dann

I had the same problem and got all 3 they listed, and took the wrong ones back. Or you could measure the distance with a piece of string. I used auto zone and they made it easy.

German belts only on these cars. Autozone and the like do not have belts that fit as they should. The correct belts are a bit thicker than normal. The "partz R us" places will sell you a belt that is the correct length but it will not last or will slip like crazy.

My 84 300SD took 13A0925 for the air conditioning compressor and 13A1145 for the power steering. I got Dayco Gold Label fan v-belts from Autozone last month and these belts work fine. It seems like people like to put Gates "ribbed" belts on these cars. My experience is that "ribbed" belts tend to have shorter lives and slip more than "solid" belts.