My 98 E320 has shreaded the inter two ribs of the drive belt. There was also a broken belt? about the same diameter of the crankshaft pulley that I don't know where it came from.

Upon investigation it appears that when the drive belt goes around the idler pulleys it rides the drive belt too close to the engine which is causing the inter ribs of the drive belt to shread.

The belt tensioner appears be working, it fluctuates about +- 1/4" with the engine at idle. Based on the mileage of the car it should be replaced.

I believe that the problem lies with the broken belt? The belt is about the diameter of the crankshaft pulley and about 1/4" thick. It looks like it sheared off because the width is about 1" with one edge straight and the back edge torn.

Any suggestions?

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Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles

I Would Say INSPECT The CRANK PULLEY! THROWING/Chewing up The MONO BELT!
MB Is HAVING PROBLEMS with the V6/V8 Pullies (THEY ARE THE SAME) The Ring around the Crank pully will show wear/cracks and Will Come LOOSE as the Crank pulley is a Two Piece Pulley!! And When It Does WATCH OUT! The Pulley Will TAKE OUT the Front cover/water pump oil pan and anything else in its way out!

Yep, this took out the engine in my co-worker's '96 C280.

The engine had to be pulled out of the car and rebuilt.

The invoice said something about a harmonic balancer, and I have no idea what this is for.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

I showed the broken belt to my dad yesterday and he said that it is a vibration dampner and that they are not typically available as a separate item.

Mark, do you know if I need to replace the entire pulley since you state that the crankshaft pulley is a two piece unit?

Thanks for all the input.

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Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles

Do a search on archive you will find that its a usual problem for w210

I WOULD contact MERCEDES BENZ of NA and State To The CUSTOMER hotline ... That You are aware that this IS A PROBLEM with the V6/V8 112/113 ENGINES And You Would LIKE SOME HELP with the Pulley ...Be NICE and MB should help out...the Whole JOB or 50/50 You Pay for HALF...?
I Would Try this FIRST!

BTW Yes the Crank Pulley is Made with a Dampner in the HUB as a close Inspection will tell you this a thin space of rubber all the way around the ring! And Thats WHAT WILL FAIL!!!


Good Luck

Babelfish translation:>>

In the contents motive for action machine of trouble, because structure of the crank & the pulley is inadequate, when there are times when the rubber * ring section for vibration proof breaks, continue use in that way state, the particular ring section slipping, strange noise occurs, as when it is worst, the belt for supplemental device drive comes off from the particular pulley, the charge warning light lights up, there is a possibility control force of the steering wheel increasing. <<

This covered numerous models and came out early this year.

Gary

Babelfish translation:>>

In the contents motive for action machine of trouble, because structure of the crank & the pulley is inadequate, when there are times when the rubber * ring section for vibration proof breaks, continue use in that way state, the particular ring section slipping, strange noise occurs, as when it is worst, the belt for supplemental device drive comes off from the particular pulley, the charge warning light lights up, there is a possibility control force of the steering wheel increasing. <<

This covered numerous models and came out early this year.

Gary

I managed to get the crankshaft pulley off. First I tried a 1/2" impact wrench with no success - the compressor I borrowed was a small unit (3CFM).

The method I used to get the crankshaft pulley off was to put a 1/2" breaker bar on the 17mm hex bolt and have the breaker bar pointing down. I wedged a 3/8" drive extension between the pulley holes and the engine block. With the front of the car jacked up I used my legs to apply force on the breaker bar. With alot of force I broke the bolt free. The crankshaft bolt appeared to have blue locktite on the threads which I will reapply.

Removing the crankshaft damper I noticed that the outer pulley worked its way toward the engine leaving a slight gouge in the engine block (slight amount of oil seepage). I applied some JBweld epoxy to fill in the gouge.

All that remains is a new crankshaft damper and drive belt. I was lucky that the crankshaft dampner went at 35 MPH instead of 75 MPH and did no engine damage.

I would encourage that anyone doing their own repairs do a through inspection as apposed to just replacing the defective part.

I thank everyone for their suggestions. Mark, since I purchased my Mercedes used from a private owner already out of warrenty, I felt that Mercedes did not owe me a break. Besides doing the job myself all that I am out is the cost of the part and I have gained knowledge repairing my Mercedes. This is also how I can justify purchasing new tools to my wife.

__________________
Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles