Fan and pulley trouble

I have an 89 190 E 2.6. It is having a problem and making a good amount of noise. It seems like either bearings in some pulleys are a problem and also that the fan pulley is touching another pulley and making contact with the blades possibly as well. I recently had the car under water slightly ina flood and had to drive it out. After this I began to have squeaks and noises from pulleys. I think the water took out whatever oil or grease was on the pulleys and they are now having problems. The fan problem however I cannot be certain. I am going to take it to a mechanic tomorrow because I'm afraid to drive it much. If you guys have any input as far as what a flood could cause as well as common problems with the pulleys I would really appreciate it.

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Rob C
89 190E 2.6
Beige

[sixto]

AFAIK, the fan pulley is fixed as are the pulleys next to it. The only possible contact is between the tensioner pulley and the water pump pulley. At the point those pullies touch, however, your belt will be too loose to drive anything.

I don't know what sound you're hearing but I'll guess it's not the belt slipping since it would be dry by now. My guess is that water got to your alternator bearing since it's positioned the lowest among the belt driven components.

Good luck,
Sixto
78 450SEL
91 300SE ... with belt problems of my own

Well took it to a mechanic today and told me it was bad water pump. Then got a call on phone saying some pulley or somthing is also screwed up. So far its racked up to 560$ bill. Sometimes I just want to get a japanese economy car so as not to have all this expensive nonsense always going on.

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Rob C
89 190E 2.6
Beige

[mreid]

Ummmm. I wonder if the Japanese make better submarines than the Germans. UHMMM.

[sixto]

I just today finished replacing the belt, tensioner, fan bearing and an idler on a M103. I considered replacing the water pump because I was "already in there." Easily another half day doing the water pump from that point so I'm going to wait untilt it has to be done... hopefully not next week.

From the perspective of having to do it myself, $560 is a bargain. From the perspective of just about any other car on the road, $560 for a water pump is not that bad. Most FWD Japanese cars have water pumps that are more complicated to replace than that of a M103. *However*, my opinion and experience is that Japanese car water pumps don't need replacing as frequently as MB water pumps seem to require.

Maybe German submarine engineers should quit desinging MB water pumps.

My $0.02.

Sixto
78 450SEL
91 300SE

[engatwork]

six - what milage did you replace the mentioned items at? I have a '95 E320 with 95k miles and have replaced the tensioner pulley and the guide pulley but not the fan pulley. If you have under 120k miles what made you replace them? I have a pulley/belt type of noise between 1500 and 2000 rpm that I am unsure of. I have put the automotive stet. on the air pump and the alternator and it sounds like the air pump is pretty noisy. For right now I am living with it until it gets really bad or something quits.
Once I get on up in rpm/road speed I do not hear/notice it anymore.
thanks,
engatwork
'95 E320
'97 Honda CRV

Well I see someone got upset at the mention of a japanese automobile. Let me add the fact that I have recently had close to 3000$ put into this vehicle for shocks,tires,all brake parts,radiator,thermostat,fan pulley,bracket,and belt. I'm a bit tired of going to the mechanic and walking out with a 500$ bill. The car has only 132K miles on it which is relatively low for a mercedes or comparable long mileage car. Its not that it breaks so much,its that when it does it costs an arm, leg, 75% small intestine, 3 ribs and an ear. If you can tell me that I am over exaggerating I would like to see. Oh and to get just my heater fixed it will cost another 600 bucks because it takes 7 hours to pull apart my dash and front of car just to put in a damn potentiometer or some stupid part that changes the voltage sent from the thermostat. Oh I forgot the 300$ spent to install some valves and R-12 to get it to put out cool air. Yes I would like a toyota right about now. Oh and I do like my car. I'm just afraid of it breaking something else.

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Rob C
89 190E 2.6
Beige

[engatwork]

BenzoX - I did not take any offense concerning the Jap car thing. I have owned some type of a Jap car since around 1982. Owned Honda m/c's in the early 70's - they were indestructable as are the cars. I do all my own work on my vehicles except balance and alignment of tires/wheels. My biggest concern is the electronics diagnostics stuff but on the same hand with the newer Hondas I could say the same thing. I went by the Honda dealer yesterday and the two S2000's he had on the lot looked real nice.

It is my opinion that parts for the Jap cars are not a lot cheaper than the MB parts but they do not seem to really need much to keep them going. The MB is easier to work on. The CRV is a good scoot around town car and the MB is best for putting on the interstate and covering some serious milage or for my 40 mile one way commute to work. I feel certain that I will always have a Honda parked in the driveway. I plan on keeping a MB in the driveway too unless it becomes economically prohibitive. Time will tell.
engatwork
'95 E320
'97 Honda CRV

I get almost as good mileage from my 240D as I did my Mitsubishi.

However I'll gladly change the water pump in any MB, as to have to put a water pump on that Mitsubishi! It was an all day job that required pulling the timing belt, alternator, and disconnecting one of the engine mounts!

The fuel pump was another great one... had to put two in her in less than 140K. To get those on.... you have to pull the intake manifold and complete injection system! Another 10 hr day!

I love my Benz, and soon all the cars in my drive will be MB!



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William
76 240D (W115) - 555K miles
78 300D (W123) - 200K+ miles -- SOLD

I own two Toyota's and I alway's pay more for parts for them than I do for the Mercedes. This place has excellent prices for Mercedes parts too. I do all my own work because of what you speak of. If I took my cars to a mechanic I would be riding the bus.

quote:

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Originally posted by BenzoX:
Well I see someone got upset at the mention of a japanese automobile. Let me add the fact that I have recently had close to 3000$ put into this vehicle for shocks,tires,all brake parts,radiator,thermostat,fan pulley,bracket,and belt. I'm a bit tired of going to the mechanic and walking out with a 500$ bill. The car has only 132K miles on it which is relatively low for a mercedes or comparable long mileage car. Its not that it breaks so much,its that when it does it costs an arm, leg, 75% small intestine, 3 ribs and an ear. If you can tell me that I am over exaggerating I would like to see. Oh and to get just my heater fixed it will cost another 600 bucks because it takes 7 hours to pull apart my dash and front of car just to put in a damn potentiometer or some stupid part that changes the voltage sent from the thermostat. Oh I forgot the 300$ spent to install some valves and R-12 to get it to put out cool air. Yes I would like a toyota right about now. Oh and I do like my car. I'm just afraid of it breaking something else.

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'79 300SD (340K),'71 VW Karmann Ghia conv.,Toyota '77/'88 Land Cruiser's

Well Idunno bout the cars you guys are talking about. I personally would not want a car that is newer than 94 or 95 because of all the crazy stuff on them. My dad has an 87 mazda truck that has 126,000 miles on it and has not been as troublesome since 87 as my 190 has been in a year and a half that I have owned it. The mbs have great german engineering and all but it takes one of those germans to fix the damn things. I'm not a great mechanic but with my dad we did everything short of rebuilding engine and transmission on my 86 cougar but on this thing the most we can do is change the oil and a few selected items.
I talked to a guy the other day that had like an 94 celica with 260,000 miles on it and still working normal. If I had my choice between a MB and a caddilac or lincoln surely I would opt for mb over american garbage. But most any mechanic works on jap cars but only a select few will touch a MB. Everything takes 150-300$ worth in labor time for simple tasks and like I mentioned just to get a part changed in dash for climate control to work it would cost me nearly 600$ because of the 7 hour labor time to pull apart dash and interior to get in there.


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Rob C
89 190E 2.6
Beige

[sixto]

> what milage did you replace the mentioned
> items at?

132,000 miles

> If you have under 120k miles what made you
> replace them?

It had over 120,000 miles when replaced. I intended to replace only the belt and tensioner because of a sqeal when starting, shifting from P or N to D or R, and also from 1st to 2nd. The tensioner was set properly; it was plain tired.

I replaced the fan pulley and the idler beside it because they were loose and noisy when hand spun with the belt off. The fan pulley was particularly bad. I didn't notice abnormal noise with the belt on.

With regards to the Mitsubishi comment, a fuel injected Mitsubishi has its fuel pump in the tank. A pain in its own right, but replacing it hardly requires removing the intake manifold. What's worse is that the described procedure is about what you have to go through to replace the fuel filter.

My acid test of the situation is this: I'd expect to see more older MBs on the road than similar vintage Japanese cars if the cost of maintenance were similar. The average age of MBs I see is lower than the average age of Japanese cars. So, either MBs move away when they age, or they're not as desireable when they age. For example, I don't see 84-85 190s on a daily basis, but I still see Camrys of that vintage. I have to discount the initial volume sold disparity because 190s used to be a dime a dozen in my commute. If it's any consolation, E36s are starting to dry up, too.

I do all my own work. My 91 Mitsubishi cost nowhere near as much as my 91 300SE to keep in decent shape. I believe a lot of the difference is made up for in the resale value of the 300SE. I hope the difference remains latent for a long time

Sixto
78 450SEL
91 300SE

[pezzy]

I own a Acura and a Mercedes and I find that they both are excellent cars. The only problem is, I can get anyone to work on my Acura but have only found 3 mechanics that will even touch my Mercedes. Japanese cars are probably one of the most reliable cars you could ever own (80,000 miles on my Acura with not 1 problem yet) but they seem to age much quicker then Benzs do, for example my Acura started squeaking and rattling everywhere at about 50,000 miles yet my 120,000+ Benz only has a rattle in the sunroof. I would gladly drive a Benz over any other car anyday because they stay fun to drive and dont get boring, whereas my Acura is no fun to drive anymore. Parts costs are roughly the same.


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Adam,
1986 300E
1997 Acura Integra GS-R

Well.....
I just bought a water pump for an 86 monte carlo at Autozone for $28 after exchange, and spent a whopping 1 hour at a beer-driven pace changing it. I scraped a knuckle and broke 1 cheap socket. I just got a quote from my local dealer (dealer=criminal) for a pump for my Benz, which they spooled off some mind-numbing explaination of it being a 5 piece part, of $318.70 (no, not installed...) then found the same part here for about $85. While I'm certainly not in any way related to Albert Einstien, I'm guessing I can change it myself, albiet it will take parts of 2 days and involve "special tools" and require a note from the King of Germany, plus the good graces of the old Nordic Gods. My Benz has 160k miles on it and runs like new. The Monte has 182k miles on it and runs like new. Go figure. What does it all mean? I dunno. I'm somewhat embarassed to be seen in the Monte with it's now "flat silver" paint scheme, but I'm also slightly embarassed by my otherwise perfect 190's peeling clearcoat. The 190 rides better, but the Monte will run off and leave it. The 190 is very, very quiet inside while going down the road, but the Monte is great fun with the T-tops out. hmmmmm....

[JDUB]

The Jap cars like Toyota run good for a long time. But the dealer parts are EXPENSIVE! Just some examples manual rack and pinion $380, or fix yourself inner tie rods $107 each and $ 32 for the boots and $36 for the tie rod ends. Rear tailing arn tie rods were $40 but only require 2. The engines last a long time the other stuff is not heavy duty enough. High mileage over 150k the manual trans will pop out of high gear (typical). Clutches can't take any abuse, and automatic transmissions performance is joke if it's a four cylinder. The unibody structures don't have a lot of welds holding them together unless it's an Infinity, Lexus etc. The small cars like Tercel and Sentra are equivalent to a go cart, the parts are very light duty.