W124 '95 E300D Belt Tensioner Shock
 

Need to replace my belt tensioner shock on my '95 E300D. Am hoping that this is an easy DIY job, but not sure. The top bolt is easy enough to remove, I am not sure about the bottom bolt however. It looks as if there may not be enough clearance for the bolt to come out, as its going to get blocked by the back of the belt Pulley.

My question is the following: Is there enough clearance for this bolt to come right out without having to remove the fan shroud, fan, pulley, belt, etc.

Thanks

Phil

I did it once without removing the pulley, although it was a real pain, I think it might have been faster just to take everything out of the way and do it since I spent more time fighting it then I would have saved.

You can have everything out of the way in 20 minutes or less.

Thanks for the info John. I guess a shortcut may not be a good idea. Will do it the proper way

Phil

I'm actually in the same boat. I am in need to replace the damper and tried without removing the pully but to no avail. You will need to remove the fan blade and clutch and pulley to better get to it.

I now there is a tool from MB to my recollection made for this application as the bolt tha tholds the fan in place is a torx type? No room for a regular socket and ratchet as you are in the radiator and risk to damage the radiator.

If anyone has completed this task if they could post more details of how to get this task completed. :computer:

Its not a "shock", its a damper.

P E H

Corrected :argue:

I just chaned the damper a few months ago. It is a bit of a pain, but it took no more than 20 minutes to change the damper without removing the fan. All that is needed is to slip the belt off of the the tensioner pully and move it up so that the bolt holding the lower section of the damper can slide out of the way.

Actually MB calls it a "belt shock." It's essentially the same as your engine shocks with bushings on the ends that wear out before the shock does.

It does make it a little harder without the specal tools, I would think if you can hold the fan pulley with a set of vice grips and get a SHORT 8mm allen on the fan bolt you should be able to get it out. This may be where the problem lies, I don't recall just how much room is between the radiator and fan on your model. I do know there are some that absolutly can't be done with out the tool (i.e. the 190E 2.6).

good luck, ask away if you have any more questions or get stuck.

I tried to tilt the tension assembly with the belt completely off and could not get it to tilt enough to get teh bolt out. Don't ask how I replaced the belt without removing anything other than the tensioner spring.

I tried exactly what you described tonight and to no avail. It appeared that the tensioner pulley was hitting the crankshaft pulley and not allowing the space to go up higher to slide out the screw.

I have no idea what you did as I also tried removing the screw into the water pump pump as there was some play but not enough to remove the bolt.

Is there a recommended mileage interval when this damper should be replaced? What are the early warning signs of it wearing out?

Thx.