belt change 1995 e320
 

I had to put a new alternator in my car..... i got the alternator off....but will need to loosen the tensioner to get the belt back on..

i don't see the 19 mm bolt to pre loosen the tensioner.. ..... Is it possible to have a torx bolt.... it seems where the 19mm bold should be there is a torx 55 slot.

the build is 6/94.... so i have the old tensioner....

anybody else run into this>

10mm allen should do the job.

it is about the size of a torx 55...so it would have to be a huge allen.


oops a 10mm allen is huge.... my collection only goes up to 9 ...off to the store

Now I remember. Once you loosen that you will see a hex head adjustment nut on a threaded rod. Look down where is goes through the opening and you should be able to tell which way it turns to release tension.

On a 1994 car you certainly could have a replacement tensioner.

The adjusting rod is reverse threaded, but lefty still releases tension, righty still tightens. I thought it was the opposite and toasted my adjustment rod. Ooops.

misson accomplished
 

I finally got my belt back on. It was more difficult that the same project on a 103.

Some notes:

This tensioner did not have the 19mm bolt going through it. It had a 10mm allen.

It was extremely difficult loosening the bolt. I used a 3/8 inch allen socket attached to a 3/8 inch breaker. I thought I was going to strip that fitting. Fortunately the steel is very hard. I finally got that familiar crack sound and then used a 3/8 inch ratchet attached to the allen to loosen it.

The 13mm brass fitting is standard righty-tighty, lefty-loosey.

Getting the belt back on proved to be difficult. Finally I got the belt around every pulley except for the power steeriIng pully. I tried different ways to get it over the pulley, but resorted to a 16-18 inch pry bar which gave me leverage against the pulley and the front cross-member frame.

It seems to me that with the 103 I just needed a simple screwdriver to leverage the belt.

I tightened the belt based on feel. There is no pointer per se.

You don't really stretch the belt while putting it on...the crow bar gives you leverage to move the spring loaded tensioner the final half inch or so to get the belt on.