Bill,

Thanks for the response. The woodruff key sounds like something that could happen. I could not see how the chain could possibly jump like it might on an American car. The only possibility I could come up with was the tensioner going limp and somehow causing this to happen.

I'm going to go out there right now to see what I can find. It's warmed up a little. If I wait until the morning, I'll freeze. There's too much diesel fuel all over the place out there now for me to be safe lighting my propane heater.

Thanks and I'll report back later,

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Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, manual, 533K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles