Hey Guys,

My 1991 300E (174k mi) started behaving strangely yesterday. I came off the highway after a 420mi trip and when I hit the first stoplight the engine started struggling. It felt like something was dragging on it, pulling the idle down. Put it in neutral, gave it a touch of gas, and it was fine over 1500rpm. You could also hear an oscillating squeak in the right front of the engine bay. At idle it was shaking badly.

Of course, in Park in my driveway the squeak went away so that I couldn't track it down any further with the hood up. One thing I did notice also: on the highway it felt like I had to give it more throttle to maintain speed. Don't know if that's related or not...

My first thought was that I had a pulley dragging. But I just pulled the serpentine belt & all pulleys are free & spin easily. I also pulled the valve cover and the timing chain looked ok & seemed tight.

Any ideas here?

Thanks!

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Currently:
1972 350SL Euro 4spd
1973 BMW R75/5
1981 BMW R80GS
1995 FZJ80 with OM606 Conversion In Progress