Alternator Pulley '98 e 300

[ESchwab]

I have a '98 E300 diesel. Three days ago, I was driving down a street near my house and heard a clunk from under the hood, and I got the battery picture in my instrument cluster -- meaning the alternator was not working. It turned out that the pulley on my alternator had come apart. The portion of the pulley that the drive belt fits on separated from the rest of the pulley and had dropped to the plastic sheet below. The part of the pulley that stayed on the alternator shaft looks like a polished steel pipe about an eighth of an inch thick (maybe thicker).


My question is, can I remove the part of the pulley that remains on the alternator shaft with ordinary tools and replace it with a new one, again with ordinary tools? When I looked for the nut that holds the pulley on, I saw three sets of splines instead. When I checked on Peach Parts for a new pulley, I also noticed that they are selling a set of tools for removal of these pulleys. The tools cost $246.00.


It looks to me that Mercedes engineers have found yet another way to frustrate DIYers. They do it with hex head bolts, torx head bolts, reverse head bolts, spline bolts, and other ways that require special tools not ordinarily in our tool boxes. I never understand this. We are the ones who keep 20 and 30 year old cars on the road so that their sales people can declare Mercedes to be the best. Any help would be appreciated.

[sixto]

Same happened here - http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/386234-alternator-pulley-fell-off.html

Here's more info - http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/385479-dramatic-alternator-failure-how-my-1987-300d-left-me-stranded.html

You need special tool.

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

[compress ignite]

Two different animals:

Over Running is a One way clutch which allows Alternator to freewheel
(Less load on serpentine Belt drive system)
Thereby SAVING:
The Harmonic Balancer
and
Spring loaded tensioning system.

Decoupler Pulley is also an One way clutch WHICH has a spring that allows
SOFT engagement of the Alternator's drive.

Gates application chart for the clutches they offer:

http://www.gates.com/oreilly/tech_tips/GATES%20ADP%20BROCHURE.PDF

Please note: Gates does not manufacture any of the clutches.
INA which is a division of Schaeffler (Along with LUK, Rueville and FAG)
provides Gates with it's clutch products.

'çannot prove ,but believe INA is OE supplier to Diamler (A.K.A. Mercedes)

Welcome to the Schaeffler Group

Schaeffler Germany | Company

If you plunder around the Gates page you'll see an application for the
'96 - '97 E300D that requires "No Special Tools"
Gates part # 37011P

But Gates does offer the "Tool Kit" (Which is applicable to all pulleys)

Keep in mind that all this overrunning/decoupler clutch action ONLY began
a few years ago.
AND that the Home Market (Deutschland) probably saw them in use before
North America.

[Mxfrank]

Also keep in mind that an decoupling pulley has a life expectancy of about 70K miles.

[torsionbar]

Originally Posted by ESchwab

My question is, can I remove the part of the pulley that remains on the alternator shaft with ordinary tools and replace it with a new one, again with ordinary tools? When I looked for the nut that holds the pulley on, I saw three sets of splines instead. When I checked on Peach Parts for a new pulley, I also noticed that they are selling a set of tools for removal of these pulleys. The tools cost $246.00.

Two forty six?! How about $30. I have this set, and although it's advertised for VW, it works for pretty much all european cars. I recently used this set for the alternator on my 98 E300 and its an exact fit:

Metalnerd Serrated Alternator Pulley Bit Set - MN3400 - MN3400 - IDParts.com

The pulley you want is made in Germany by INA, and is cheaper under the VW part number 022903119C roughly $30. I've installed a number of these on w210 E300's.

While you have the alternator out, replacing the voltage regulator / brushes is an easy DIY. Its literally a couple of phillips screws. If you have over 100k miles on yours, I'd recommend it. Bosch part number 1197311242 costs about $30.

[ESchwab]

Thanks to you all. I learned quite a bit from you. I had always looked at pulleys as being sort of forever parts, built to outlive just about every thing else on the car. (My experience was in the 1950s, when I worked for my dad who rebuilt starters and generators.) Frank says their life now is about 70k miles, shorter than the alternator. I'll bet the rebuilders don't realize they have a limited life and put them on the rebuild after eyeballing them to see if they look alright.

Based on Torsionbar's post, I went to Amazon and found 8 or 9 tool sets for these pulleys. This one for $23 says it is for Audi, BMW, and Mercedes:

https://www.amazon.com/Alternator-Service-Magneti-Mercedes-Chrysler/dp/B015ZQNBGS/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1503019839&sr=8-6&keywords=alternator+pulley+tool+kit

OEM Tools has two sets, priced and $34.63 and $25.61; Lisle has one for $25.78; Astro has two, $92.61 and $19.88; Continental Elite $41.71; Gates $103.93; and a Temo set for Mercedes, BMW, and Bosch $40.84.