M103 acc. dr. belt change comments/questions

[Duke2.6]

Two days ago I changed the acc. dr. belt on a friends '92 300E. The two piece fan shroud came off without problem and we had the fan hub holding tool, so no problem removing the fan. Loosening the 19 mm lock bolt and slackening the 13 mm tensioning belt allowed the belt to be removed but the pointer appeared to not move "down the ramp" but the other way. After installing and putting what seemed to be similar to sllightly more tension than the old belt had, the pointer was not at the top of the ramp, but I was able to move it with my finger. It "ratchets" in small increments, which made me wonder what purpose it serves if it can be set in any arbitrary position.

So I tried to do the same on my car (The pointer was at the top of the ramp) and sure enough, I could "rachet" it in both directions - click - click - click.

The pulley bearing on the 300E spun smoothly and had no play, but the photo of the tensioner in the Fastlane catalog shows what appears to be a rubber sleeve bushing between inner and outer hubs centered on the pivot/lock bolt, and previous threads indicate that if the rubber deteriorates, belt tension cannot be properly set and the belt may squeal.

When we fired up the engine with the new belt it ran straight and smooth and seemed to be quieter than the old belt, but the owner reported that the belt squealed for a couple of seconds on the next morning's cold start.

Question: Is there any way to inspect the rubber sleeve without removing the tensioner? I sure couldn't see it, but 20/20 hindsight says I should have tried to wiggle the tensioner pulley fore/aft and if it was sloppy with little resistance to movement, the sleeve is probably deteriorated.

Even with the Fastlane catalog picture, the M103 engine manual procedure for changing the belt and the tensioner, and the IPB, it's tough to figure out the design architecture - particularly the pointer. Like the throttle linkage, it appears to be more complex than necessary, and boy that tensioner ain't cheap!

With the shroud off it was no problem getting the 8 mm hex socket onto the fan hub bolt on the 300E, but when I looked at my 190E 2.6 there appears to be less clearance between the front of the fan and radiator - maybe not enough to get the 3/8" drive 8 mm hex on a breaker bar onto the bolt??? Anyone tried this on a 190E 2.6?

Duke