Air pump issue 190E 2.6L
 

Hi All, I have a 1990 190E 2.6L. Recently, when I start it, I get a noise that sounds like a squeaking belt but goes away within a few seconds. Then it got worse. I figured that maybe the belt was a little loose so I tightened it slightly. Didn't help. The squeak sounded like it was coming from the air pump/idler pulley on the left side of the engine so I found that if I sprayed the air pump pulley with a little WD it went away...for a while. So it apears that I may have an issue with the pulley. To replace it would cost over $400 just for the pulley or I could get a whole remanufactured air pump, including the pulley for about the same. My question is, am I on the right track? Have others had this problem and if I have to replace the pump, how difficult is it?

Thanks for any help you may have.

Is it the idler pulley ABOVE the air pump?

You can replace just the pulley and such on the air pump or remove it and use a shorter belt.

I am not sure if it is the idler pulley or not. It's hard to tell but that was replaced about 6-8 months ago. There may be a problem though because the parts people said the allen bolt that holds it on was not available and used an allen bolt that fits the A/C pulley. Seemed to work until maybe now. Any suggestions on how I proceed?