Am I missing a part of the alternator? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

J.HIDALGO · #1 08-11-2002, 07:39 PM

I just met a guy yesterday that has an 86 300e just like mine. We talked a little bit and he showed me his car and showed him mine, no big deal. However, there was one thing his car had that mine did not. There was a cooling hose running from the front passenger's wheel well to the back of the alternator. The back of the alternator had an "extension" that the hose connected to! Is my car missing those parts? Anybody else has that equipment connected?
TIA

Gilly · #2 08-11-2002, 09:28 PM

That's a conduit for the electric wire to run through. Does your car, where the wires for the alternator go through that front firewall, have a plactic flange that the larger conduit would slip over? Maybe the alternator was replaced and "someone" got a little too lazy to reinstall it correctly.

Gilly

J.HIDALGO · #3 08-11-2002, 10:24 PM

It is definetly NOT a electrical piece whatsoever. As a matter of fact the guy said that it was a "cooler air hose for the alternator."
Ellectrical wires run separate from this apparatus. As a matter of fact, he bought a new hose recently (for less than $10) because the old one was in bad shape.

Gilly · #4 08-11-2002, 11:18 PM

I'm sure that's what he has on the back of his alternator. Did he actually pull the conduit off there to show there was nothing in it? How DID the wires get out of this extension on the back?
I'm not saying it's actually an electrical piece, i'm saying it's a conduit for the wiring.
Maybe some guy in the past couldn't figure out that to do this correctly: you have to remove the whole alternator harness along with the alternator, swap alternators and so forth and reinstall it as a unit (alternator and harness together). There is no cooling duct for the alternator.

Gilly

#5 08-12-2002, 08:42 AM

Sounds like an alt off a Porsche 928 - std fitting is a plastic or metal shroud on the back with a 2"/50mm hose going into the LF fender for cooling air. With their tight engine bay, they need it.
jp

mbdoc · #6 08-12-2002, 08:58 AM

The cooling tube WAS susposed to be REMOVED as water can get into the alternator this way. There was a service bulletin on this subject back in 1987. THAT is why you see this on any other 300E's after 1986.

J.HIDALGO · #7 08-12-2002, 02:03 PM

M.B. DOC's explanation sounds very reasonable. However, I can't believe mercedes engineers did not see that at the time of design. Another "over-engineered" part?

mbdoc · #8 08-12-2002, 05:29 PM

The diesels had the same set-up but never had a problem. IN most cases there isn't enough rain that stays on the roads so this NEVER would be a problem. However in Florida & cities like Savannah Ga. it can rain so fast that you can almost FLOAT down the roads at times. In these places water can be sucked into this pick-up.