One of the alternator belts severed my tranny line while driving on the freeway.

Belt was fairly new.
Not sure how much damage their is to the tranny but I'm sure it's toast.

If hose was cut and fluid loss was sudden it should have resulted in loss of movement. If engine was shut down in a relatively timely manner the tranny may be fine.

__________________
Jim

I've limped one home in the same predicament until it wouldn't pull itself forward anymore. Maybe three miles? Fixed belt and hose, added ATF, and its fine. Think about it. The more fluid you lose, the less the tranny can do. There is still enough in it to keep bushings, gears, etc lubed.

Crossing my fingers

Ordered all belts and two transmission oil rubber hoses from the Classic Center. The hoses are wrapped with coiled metal. Not sure how the wrapped coil helps. The parts were shipped out yesterday and I should receive them by today.

I thought that the tranny rubber hose was completely severed but when I went to inspect the hose, the hose was still hanging by a thread.

The belt was tangled between the fan clutch and the fan. I was able to remove it and to my surprise the belt was damaged but was still in its circular shape. A layer from the inside of the circular belt was removed and ripped off. How could this belt keep its circular shape and then jump and move to then get stuck where I found it.

The other belt (also alternator belt) stayed in place.

I'm sure that this same scenario has played out on these cars before and thats why the rubber hoses now come with the coiled metal on the outside.

Using the belt tension tool is a must when changing out these belts (unless you do this for a living an know by feel what the Spec tension should be). The tool is extremely reasonably priced for the piece of mind it offer(15$ on ebay), as well as the added ability to check how worn the belts are.

This tool is the Belt Tension Gauge #91107 made by Gates

Also here is the Service manual to proper belt tension and procedure it is #13
Mercedes-Benz Model 116

A belt will only come off if improperly installed, usually insufficient tension. Or the belt snaps.

__________________
Nosce Te Ipsum "Know thyself"

Some call it a Krikit. I did use one.
I had installed new belts last year and reinstalled the same ones after doing the water pump and fan clutch a few weeks ago.

I failed to recheck the belt tension after driving a few times.

I also remember one of the alternator belts not holding the same tension as the other one. I should of tightened the loose one up to spec and not worried about the other one being a little tighter. There are two pulleys on the alternator that allow two belts (same size) to drive or turn such pulley. You would think that you would only have to check the belt tension on one belt.
I guess it might be possible that belts with the same size dimensions are not created equal.

There are 2 specs provided by the FSM, one for reinstalling the same belt and one for installing a brand new belt.

I believe I should of used the spec for the new belt install.

I used the spec (belt tension range) for a previously installed or used belt.

Belt did not snap so I take it that it was loose and then jumped off. Failed to tension the belts properly I guess.


Will install tranny hoses, belts and add tranny fluid on Sunday and report back

I wish they made the oil cooler hoses wrapped in metal coils as well. When my motor mounts collapsed, the entire engine dropped by a few inches, and the power steering pulley cut my oil cooler line. Luckily I pulled over right away and shut off the engine

__________________

Transmission fluid rubber hoses replaced.

Belts replaced and tightened to proper tension.

Transmission fluid added and took the car for a slow drive.

Drove and shifted fine.

Will jump on the freeway later today

Drove on the freeway for approximately 25 minutes and everything so far seems to be OK.

How is the running clearance? Collapsed motor mount on one side gets the oil cooler hose. On the other could get one of the transmission cooler lines? I am not sure but I would check.

I see clearance but you are right, I should double check that.

Back in the day, for cars that had double pulleys, you could get matched belts from the same lot. Then serpentines came out and that system of matched belts went away. So now you always have one belt looser than the other one.

There may be somewhere we can still order a matched pair of belts? In theory if they are from the same production batch they may be pretty close. I have not experienced that.


Yet when you were able to buy a matched pair. They would have just have checked them and selected a couple from one production batch probably. Then packaged them as a pair.

Good you didn't give up on the transmission. I don't know of any automatics that are damaged by running low on fluid. I guess if you were at a point where the clutch plates were slipping you could, but usually the torque converter loses drive first, which does no damage.

Speaking of matched pairs of belts, one guy here claimed that if you aligned the lettering on the two belts, it should stay aligned for years. My guess is it they would get out of alignment after one drive, but someone should experiment. The belts with notches on the outer side seem to be more flexible. That lets you stretch them more when setting the proper tension, so they are more likely to be matched (think rubber bands). I know I have Continental fan belts on one 300D. Perhaps Goodyear Gatorbacks on the other. The later are the more stretchy type.

__________________
1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans