I've had to take the serpentine belt off my M103 several times and I may have to do again. I got to wondering if there is an easy way of doing it, it always is a wrestling match for me.

__________________
5 speed '91 190E 2.6 320,000 mi. (new car, fast, smooth as silk six, couldn't find any more Peugeots)
5 speed '85 Peugeot 505 2.5l Turbo Diesel 266,000 mi. (old car, fast for a diesel, had 2 others)
5 speed '01 Jetta V6 (new wifes car, pretty quick)
5 speed '85 Peugeot 505 2.2l Turbo Gas 197,000 mi. (wifes car, faster, sadly gone just short of 200k )
5 speed '83 Yamaha 750 Maxim 14,000 mi. (fastest)
0 speed 4' x 8' 1800 lb Harbor Freight utility trailer (only as fast as what's pulling it)

Jim,

Are you loosening the big bolt on the front of the tensioner, then releiving the tension with the adjustment? Also removing the fan from the fan clutch eases the job.

Good luck,

Bolt? What big bolt? Where? Do you have pictures?

What's procedure to tighten W124 Belt?

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

With the fan off this is easy -- loosen 19mm bolt right beside the PS pump pulley, crank the tensioner down, slip belt off.

With the fan on this is almost impossible.

Fan is easy, too. Unclip shroud and pull up, then lean back over the fan. Bend a 45 degree elbow on the the end of a piece of coat hanger wire. Slip down between the "bumps" on the fan bearing, insert 8mm Allen into the center bolt on the visco clutch, turn until you get the wire into one of the holes on the clutch, loosen bolt. Remove bolt and fan, then shroud. Makes the job so much easier.

Peter

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

I now do two things when changing the belt on the 124-

-(As long as there is a belt and it is tight) I put a 13mm wrench on the PS pump to keep the belt from turning and use the 8mm allen w/o the 45degree wire behind the pump. I then turn the motor (in the right direction) to advance the fan pulley the next position.

- I remove the upper bolt to the alternator which enables it to swing just enough to get the belt to go over the pulley easily.

Haasman

__________________
'03 E320 Wagon-Sold
'95 E320 Wagon-Went to Ex
'93 190E 2.6-Wrecked
'91 300E-Went to Ex
'65 911 Coupe (#302580)

Feel your pain...

I think the shroud is the biggest annoyance.

I cut the shroud in half horizontally. The 2 pieces are then held together with zip ties through drilled holes. Setup is actually far more secure than it sounds...

__________________
1986 300E 5-Speed 240k mi.

My 91 300SE had a 2 piece shroud. Maybe you can retrofit a 2 piece shroud from a junker.

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL