E300 poly-v-belt dampers

[david-griffiths@st-brelad]

My E300 turbodiesel (98/S) has a loud rattle coming from the front of the engine. I am sure that it is the left hand damper of the pair controlling the tension in the poly-v-belt system - when viewed from front of the vehicle. It gets VERY hot very quickly soon after start up from cold. Noise disappears when revs increase. Can you tell me what the name is for this and how to replace it, please?

 

[dieselman]

It's the belt damper. Before replacing check the idler pulley bearing as they can cause the damper to fail quickly.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Replacement is pretty easy, the right side is a spring, put a thick lever in the hole on the top of the plastic mount the spring is on. Undo the bolt on the top right, slide it out, then use the lever to relax the tension on the spring. Then undo the top bolt of the shocker. The bottom bolt is trickier, it just scrapes past a pulley - it will move past with some coaxing.

Replacement is about £15 IIRC. Save the old one, the bushings can go on them easily and you'll have a replacement bushing if it does.

Might be worth doing the spring as well, metal fatigue etc.

Have your engine mounts ever been changed?

 

[david-griffiths@st-brelad]

Re: Parrot-of-doom - E300 engine mounts

Thanks for your response. I'll follow your advice - what does IIRC mean? Are they available from GSF or Euro-Carparts?

I haven't changed the engine mounts. The car has done 108k miles - will they need doing soon?

Incidentally, your piece on changing ATF was excellent.

I am going to write up my experiences on changing glowplugs on the E300 as this was quite scary - the consequences could have been dire if a plug snapped, but it shouldn't put people off.

 

[dieselman]

If I Remeber Correctly....

Is your car a n/a 300 or a turboD? If n/a tehn they don't get through engine mounts often due to less weight and torque.

On a turbo the o/s one always goes first due to the weight of the turbo and the rotational torque.

 

[david-griffiths@st-brelad]

It's a E300 turbodiesel. I'll check that out - thanks. Will try the 4/5 cycles approach re: glowplug light before I come back to the forum.

Can you tell me how to gain access to the windscreen wiper mechanism at the base of the arm so that I can grease it, please. How do you remove the plastic cover to gain access? I don't want to break anything!

Finally, where do I go to replace the air-con pollen filter, please? Presume it's somewhere on the scuttle, inside or out, but don't know where to look

Thanks for your help - all invited to reply!

 

[dieselman]

To access the wiper mechanism just move the wiper to the centre position lift the small hinged cover off hte arm then slide your index fingers under the main black cover at 5 O'clock and 7 O'clock and lift up. Then slide the cover up the wiper arm to reveal the mech.

The pollen filter is in the passenger footwell above the dash under guard.

 

[dougjoy]

Thanks deiselman, your info just answered all the questions I have at the moment. Can I also thank you for the advice you have previosly given other people on diesel leaks at the shut off valve and the replacement of the glow plugs.

I've successfully used your advice and cured the leak and replaced all my glow plugs.

Thanks again