86' 300E problems

[muybweno]

sorry fellaz but this aint a diesle related question...wondering if you guys can help me out...

my dad has a 300E 86' and he just changed the sparks, wires, and dis.cap about 3000 miles ago. When he went to the shop to get it done, the mechanic told him his ball bearings on some pulley for the serpentine belt has gone bad, but it was still driveable.


now that i'm driving it for a while i'm experiencing "clatter" in respects to the RPMS.. everytime I accelerate...it sounds like a diesle. Accerleration is extremely poor...doesnt feel like a 6 inside...more like a 6 diesle and sometimes on cold days it will surge a little whenever i try to floor the gas pedal. After i reach about 35mph..the "clattering goes away". I just checked the serpentine belt... and the suckers about to snap because theres so many cracks on the belt. On top of that, i just filled the gas tank up (91octane) and i estimated about 110-125miles of driving and the gauge is down to a little less that a 1/4 of a tank left.

what do you think's wrong with the car....i'm assuming many things play a factor in.....i appreciate your responses.

[ATLD]

You are not implying that our diesels are slow, are you?
For your description, it does sound like a bearing failure would be your problem, as it would cause all the problems you mentioned. The increased friction caused by having a broken bearing multiplied by the higher rpm the accessories spin at would certainly cause a catastrofic power loss. MB bearings do not fail often though. But as for your question; it can be any number of specific bearing failures that could cause the problem. The idler, the alternator, the water pump, the steering pump etc. and I cannot tell you which it is, only you/or your mechanic can find out. The best way to find out what's wrong is to listen to the engine with the hood open and try to hear where the sound comes from. I know that at least with my cars, the water pump bearings are almost infallible as the seals usually go first. The steering pump probaly isn't the culpret. The alternators have been known to fail is some situations (I replaced one with a worn bearing, really noisy, but after 200k mi, but not as bad as yours) and that leaves us with the idlers. They should be easier to remove than the accessories (I don't have a 300E so maybe I'm wrong) and should be cheeper. If it's an engine-internal bearing failure it will be costly to repaire and what I would not consider doing myself; though this is very unlikely.
What I'd do is order a new belt and idlers and replace them (as you'll have to replace the belt anyway and there is no better time to replace the idlers) and see if your problem persists. Then go to the alternator, then the water pump, and finally the steering pump. This is roughly the order that I would expect the bearings to fail. If all this doesn't help, you have a much more serious problem (again it probally won't come to this) or maybe something really simple you haven't considered, ha ha. Also check to see that your fan isn't comming in contact with anything that could be making the noise.

Good Luck,
Dr. D