My 92 300 TE is making a bearing noise from the air pump. I have never pulled one of these off. Because of the price of the pump, I am going to try a pulley and clutch replacement. From the angle of the pulley, it is a little off center due to the tighness of the belt. I hope this is the extent of the problem.

Any recommendations. Is it easier to take the pump off and work on it or do it on the car?

These air pumps are noisey. Always have been. Always will.

They also very seldom break.

Save your money and let it run. It'll probably never go out. It only functions for about 45 seconds on cold start to reduce smog emissions.

Besides, they're over $1,000 from PartsShop, and even more from a dealer.

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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".

Suggest you search this site using "A.I.R. Pump" as the key word.

On my 560SEL the noise became an issue. From the archives it was evident that the clutch/pulley was the issue, not the pump itself. Bits and pieces dropped out of the clutch assembly. I removed the belt, noat the pump. The noise stopped. I now have to decide whether I want to spend the ~$300 for a rebuilt pump from Fast Lane.

dsccdeputydog: I share your misery. My pump finally went TU after a two-year lingering, and noisey, death. As far as I can tell, loss of the air injection pump doesn't affect driveability at all. Only if you have annual smog inspections would it be a concern.

If it wasn't for the "check engine" light glowing on my dash, I'd ignore the damn thing

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Dean Albrecht
"Lead, follow, or better yet, get out of the way!"E500 owners motto