My latest w126, my 91 350SD with 206k has a few bugs. Nice car, keeper, but sorting it out has been interesting.

When I bought it, the tensioner was in disrepair:



I put in a new shock and it was mildly better but still not right.
I replaced the tensioner. Simple once I got the old one loose. Drove maybe a quarter mile and the new pulley’s bolt (reused old bolt) sheared off…









When I pulled the system off, the new stabilus shock was somewhat misaligned. When I pulled the whole thing apart, the top rubber was halfway pressed out.



Like there needed to be a washer between the shock and the head. Is there? There isn’t one on my car, and the FSM doesn’t show one between the shock and head, nor the EPC.





There’s just too many things not going right, which to me indicates an issue. But what? Why?

The sheared pulley bolt could have been me. I’ve done quite a few of these, and have not used a torque wrench for the pulley bolt. Maybe I should because the FSM says 14nm which isn’t much. But I’ve never broken one before. I don’t gorilla them down that’s for sure.

Maybe I also have a bad (new) stabilus damper. It’s hard to get it right in there. It seems to be a bit loose even with the new tensioner. I’m not sure just how much motion the tensioner should allow when cinched down to the lower part of the damper.

Any thoughts on this? The car is new to me, and it seems like there is something not quite right in the setup. How much of it is me vs the car vs something else ai can’t tell. It isn’t rocket science.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (116k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
2008 ML320 CDI (199k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (267k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K), 1985 300D (233K), 1993 300D 2.5T (338k), 1993 300SD (291k)