NOT drive belt tensioner pulley absorber or Rad fan BUT

[James Edwards]

Had a look at the the drive belt tensioner pulley shock absorber this pm - thanks Sunil Sood & Spike for your advice.
BUT discovered that the noise came from the air con clutch!!! The noise seemed to be not on steady revs but after high revs - when foot was lifted of accelerator I could see it had stopped turning - then it created the rattling sound!
Now - is this easy to fix - what parts do I get?
Any advice will be much appreciated. Can it be fitted witout loosing the gas?
James
Kent
98' C250TD Est sport 135K

 

[R22]

Rattly air-con clutch

If you can get at the front of the compressor, you may be able to remove the clutch without removing the compressor.
Take your time please and check, check and doublecheck how this clutch is held on.
There will be one centre bolt to remove and then you will need to check for circlips. Once you are satisfied they are out of the way, removal normally requires a larger bolt screwed into the clutch, pushing against the centre shaft, hence drifting the clutch off.
In the centre of the clutch is a ****** great bearing, and likely this is shot, causing the noise you describe. Now, you could go to a mercedes dealer and attempt to purchase this bearing, or you could go to any bearing suppliers and buy it at an affordable price instead.
PLEASE NOTE: Behind the clutch are spacer shims to maintain an air gap of between 1.25 > 1.5 MM between the clutch surface and surface plate.
If this air gap is too big the electromagnetic coil will not bridge the gap, too small a gap and there is a risk that the clutch will constanly drag.
Hope this proves usefull, regards Lloyd

 

[R22]

Rattly clutch

Sorry James, should say that once the clutch is removed, you will notice that the bearing is in the centre of the pulley, the pulley is removed after removing the circlip. Seems daft go over it in such detail, but once you are in front of it, it will become obvious, Just Take Your Time :wink:
Regards, Lloyd

 

[James Edwards]

Thanks Lloyd
Just a small question - Before I get working just thought I would like know how the system works!
When the climate control calls for AC does it work by electro magnets pulling in the outer wheel (in front of the main belt driven pulley) as the noise comes when that outer wheel (what ever it is called) tries to get in to the same revs as the engine when it overruns on rapid deceleration. Also sometimes at tick over! The rattle/noise is not consistent.

 

[James Edwards]

Just been out with the car & the rattle/noise is now continuous on tick-over. On revving up I noticed that the pulley end moved out and the noise stopped - but came on again when the pulley end moved in - on tick-over!
Hope you engineers can understand what I am saying!
Looks a bit difficult to get at - perhaps the rad will need to come out - don't want to have to regas?