Im aware of the issue of older tensioners need replacing, but this one slacked and tightened fine. Problem is, for some reason I cannot get the 19mm bolt to thread. Its not crossthreaded, just not catching a thread. Has anyone ever had this problem?

What YEAR and MODEL car??

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

Oh Sorry! Lol.. its an 89 300e

Does it have a reverse thread cut? Some of them do.

__________________
Resistance is Futile.

So you mean the large bolt that goes through the tensioner itself?

__________________
Click here to see the items I have up for auction at EBay

Click here to see a photo album of my '62 Sprite Project Moneypit (Now Sold)

The tensioner rod (the reverse-thread one) may not be seated on te rear of the tensioner body correctly, not allowing it to seat up against the engine properly. The little bracket on the bottom end can be mounted two ways, right and wrong. Ask me how I know.The big bolt is right-hand threaded.

DG

244brick, did you only loosen the 19mm bolt a few turns, or did you completely remove it? If you completely removed it there is a chance it's misaligned with the threaded hole. Use a drift pin to align the tensioner with the hole, and try again. If you only loosened the bolt a few turns then the threads must be stripped.

__________________
Fred Hoelzle