Go figure! Took me a week of on and off deinstallation of parts while waiting for alternator to come in.

Impossibly tight bolts, not sure how to relax belt tensioner, wrong tools, and the list goes on and on.

Took the old and new alternators to a shop this morning, and the owner worked the incredibly torque'd 22mm bolt off with his impact wrench and swapped the pulley. No charge. Guess I just found a new indie!

Reinstalling the alternator...10 minutes. Reinstalling the belt, 2 minutes...NO messing with the tensioner or anything...threaded it by hand. Simple as that. Belt is tight too!

I am told that fan clutch gets in the way, but I was able to install the belt without removing the clutch. I did remove the fan though. Not sure why it was so easy to thread the belt...maybe because it stretches a bit and because of its width.

Reinstalled fan and shroud and started car. Voltage is between 13.5 and 14 volts...no gassing of the battery...much better. Belt appears fine...fired up accessories...all is well.

Glad that job is done!!! Total install time: 30 minutes!

From some of the other threads I've read and instructions Ive seen on the manual and CD-ROM, I wouldn't dare post any DIY pics of the process...apparently the belt removal and reinstall was unorthodox, as was the whole deinstall process.

I now know how to do an alternator swap, but I don't EVER want to deal with that belt tensioner!!!

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Good Work G-Benz!!

What trick did you use to take the fan and clutch off?

I checked my distributor cap and rotor last night on the 300E and it looks like I'll have to take the fan off to get the cap all the way off. Previously I unbolted the 4 bolts from the back and took the fan off with the pulley. I like some of the tricks I've read here though...

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D.H.

04 ML500
02 E430

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

Corngratulations, G-Benz!

Which car/engine was that on???

-Tom

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RIP "Betsy" (Oo=*=oO)
'96 E 3 2 0 (W 2 1 0) M 1 0 4 (Totalled)
Spaces in sig so as not to screw up the SEARCH; every time someone searches for that MB they don't want my sig!

2004 Audi A8L
'98 VW Passat 1.8T 5M
'87 Alfa Romeo Milano 2.5L 5M
'67 Impala convertible, 327cid

This was my 93 300E with the M104 engine.

I just loosened the three allen bolts on the clutch to remove the fan blades, but DID NOT remove the clutch. That gave me enough room to slip the belt off as well as ample visibility to discover other components I only heard about in this forum.

Belt tensioner looks intimidating...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Dennis,

First, the dist cap on a 1990 300E will definitely come off without removing the fan! I've taken the dist cap off first every time I"ve removed the fan on my '91 300TE 4m.

Second, the fan is actually very easy to remove with the clutch once you fab the tool. The manual describes the tool and it is made of 3/16" rod, very similar to the heavier coat hangers one might find at one's office. There is a 90 degree bend at the end that catches in a hole in the back of the fan clutch to hold it tight while turning the 5 mm allen bolt in front. Once you get the allen bolt to bust loose, you're there!

Check out the manual for the tool, they are sold by the tool companies for $15 - $20, but it's the easiest tool I ever made.

someguyfromMaryland

Thanks for the tip, SomeGuy.

I'll play with it more this weekend. I was a bit rushed last night as I was also trying to keep my 2-year old helper from "helping" too much!!

The tool for holding the fan clutch sounds like a piece of cake. I'm going to fab one just for the fun of it!

__________________
D.H.

04 ML500
02 E430

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

Okay, a follow-up from me:

I wanted to take the distributor cap off with all the wires attached just to check and clean it. There's no way it will come off with the fan installed (103 engine). The fan came off easily just as G-Benz' did - with 3 small allen head bolts around the perimeter. There was no need to remove the clutch.

My cap and rotor looked good, so I just cleaned up the surfaces of the contacts with a small file. I like keeping my cars in top shape, but those parts aren't cheap!

__________________
D.H.

04 ML500
02 E430

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

Congratulations on what sounds like a job well done! now we know who to go to

Dennis,

I don't know what to tell you, other than I've pulled the dist cap up and over the top several times without remioving the wires or the fan. You obviously have to pull it forward to clear the rotor, ut it will work. It's a moot point now, I understand, but I wanted to make sure you knew that the dist cap will clear the rotor.

someguyfromMaryland