Happy New Year !

Recently I had a V belt fail that was powering the power steering pump.

When it failed I was making a left hand turn and I'll tell you what it will freak you out ! Very very hard to turn. If I had to swerve to avoid something I would of HIT IT !

What I'm getting at here is I had been checking my belts often and this belt looked perfectly good from looking at it.

When I picked up the belt off the Hwy to look at it I saw about a 6" chuck missing but the outer part was just fine. It was like somebody slice a chunk out of it and left the outer surface in tact.

I had rebuilt the power steering pump a few years ago since it leaked slightly and I attribute the belt failure to this fact. I think the power steering belt at at the rubber where it binds to the outer flat surface.

So. If you have any power steering leaks I'd change this belt more often. Wish I had and this would of not happened.

I don't see anyway now where I could of seen it was in Failure Mode.

Just a head up. Happy Motoring.

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1982 300SD

I could imagine that was pretty scary - particularly as the castor set up on these cars (W123 and W126) makes the steering really heavy without power steering.

Like you say looking on the outside of a V belt doesn't often show signs of imminent failure - you need to look on the inside. Be more wary of belts that look like they've had oil spilled on them. Small cracks on the inner surface of the toothed structure of the belt indicate that it is time for a change.

A general rule of thumb for the correct tension on a V belt is to tighten it until you can turn the longest length of the belt by 90 degrees.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Army,

I like that 90 degree rule. I'll use it from now on. Yeah if I had looked the belt better I may have seen the impending failure. I think I'll go in and change the other 3. (2) alternator belts, and (1) AC belt this Sping. When I recently saw a front crank pulley Suck a Belt on in here and ruin an engine a simple belt is best changed more often on these cars. I guess keep it simple stupid. I felt stupid when belt failed, guaranteed!

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1982 300SD

BTW the belt I removed did not have teeth. Is it supposed to? If it is I put the wrong belt on. Any input?

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1982 300SD

To be honest I don't know - all mine have sort of rubber teeth on the driven side. But that might just be a European thing...

Can you find a manufacturer's name and part number on your belt? Perhaps a quick flick through google will help?

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

The belts I've bought from the dealer for the 617 do not have teeth, but I have seen some aftermarket brands that do. The teeth are not required, but the belt should be OK.

Oh no!

Oh no!

I've got non original belts - the shame - the shame - the shame



(Note to self:- Must rectify immediately)

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

LOL, I think the current belts on my 240D have teeth, I don't remember where they came from. I believe all the belts sold on this site are toothless.

Hi LNG,
My rule is; if one fails, replace the lot.
I dont bother keeping the old ones as spares, they are cheap enough to have a second new set as spares. You may notice the new ones tend to appear to ride higher in the pulley, thats because the sides wear off them & in time the belt rides on the bottom of the pulley groove. They fail quick once that starts to happen.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

My rule is to inspect the inner surface for cracks, and signs of slipping (burn marks, cord showing etc) every year in the spring. if any belts show signs, I replace them all. I use ONLY continental belts on the alternator, but the others are not as critical. in a pinch I've used mcparts brand, but I pull the alts and install continentals at my first opportunity.
this site will send a full compliment of correct belts no issues!

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

That is because the site is getting old

All rubber gets old, and the belts are no exception. they May look good and no visable cracks. first thing I notice, is the top edges will start to curl a little when they are at the end of their lives. remove the belt and bend it the other way, and you will hear the fibers cracking.

A power steering belt coming loose is close to the oil cooler line. could do damage to the hose and oil loss to the engine.

When I got the 240D last Feb, first thing I did was replace all the hoses and belts. Belts looked ok, but when removed, could see the wear and they definately cracked bending the other way.

Belts really do not cost all that much, when compared to what they do, and the millions of times they rotate around the pullys.

Not sure the interval they should be changed or what the FSM says. I replaced the ones on the 85 in July 07 when I replaced the engine. they have about 38K miles, and maybe this summer it`s time for them.

On my 82 Datsun PU, the belt goes around the crank, water pump and alternator. I get between 17k and 22k, and the belt will break. I have never got more than that out of one. I use to put 35K a yr on it, now about 5K, so now it is more age of the belt than miles.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Conti-germany belts have the toothed design....I've been using those on all of our diesels for years with no failures yet. The current set on my SD has over 60k on them.....They are getting old.....but I have a spare set on the shelf. I'll probably change them in the spring if one does not fail by then. (Doubt they will)

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)