URGENT - 300SE belt tensioner removal
 

Howdy all,

Hate to put urgent on there like it matters, but I am in quite a damn bind to get this done and I can't for the hell of me figure out how to get the pulley right in front of the tensioner off.

I don't have a picture, but it's the pulley with the inverse bell housing and three 13mm hex bolts inside of it. I have tried a strap wrench, wedging and old book in there, wrapping it with leather straps and trying to keep it from slipping with my own strength, and nothing I've tried keeps the wheel firm enough to break the bolts loose.

Obviously loosening while the belt was tensioned would have been optimal, but of course the whole reason I'm doing this is because the tensioner broke and there wouldn't have been enough tension anyway.

Please guys, any advice you've got on how to get this damn pulley off would be a life-saver.

How about an impact wrench ?

Another option would be to sacrifice one of the bolts.
Put a 13mm socket on a breaker bar and 'tighten' that
one while undoing the other ...

I'd have to take out the radiator to have enough room to wedge an impact wrench in there...

...but if that's my only option...

Are you talking about the water pump pulley?

Yes, the water pump pully.

I took a vice grip and section of the old belt and built a strap wrench out of it...


Wrap the pulley in the old belt, and then take the vice grip and pinch down on the belt as tight as you can to the pulley...


A picture would make it easier to show, but it was tight enough for me to get the bolts out of my water pump pulley.

That's the water pump pulley.
The secret lies behind the pulley, where the bolts protrude thru slightly.
If you look back there you should see about 2 threads of each bolt coming thru the waterpump shaft flange. Take a large screwdriver and wedge it in the space between the water pump and the flange, and jam it against the end of one of the protruding bolts so the pulley can't turn. Then loosen one of the other two bolts. I've done this many times, works great.

DG

S-Class,

You are a lifesaver. That secret worked perfectly.

Thanks!