Belt Tensioner Repair, Help Needed.

[anf6789]

Alright, so my belt squeals like crazy on my 1994 C280, even though it was replaced less than 5 months ago, but anyway...
About two weeks ago my car was making a clickety clack noise. The mechanic said he thought it was the water pump(which it wasn't) It was this:
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n285/anf6789/P1010604.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n285/anf6789/P1010605.jpg
The fan support thing, and its pretty messed up(look at the ball bearings). He also said my tensioner adjuster was messed up, and might need to be replaced sometime. I would say he was right
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n285/anf6789/P1010600.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n285/anf6789/P1010601.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n285/anf6789/P1010603.jpg
the bracket for this is messed up, the part with the 13mm adapter sways back and forth freely, and
the belt is so loose, i can take it off it lifts up about 2 inches.
So i went and got three parts today. The actual adjuster(new one is gold, old one is grey), you spin it counterclockwise to make the belt tighter(I've heard), the one on there now does absolutely nothing, I think its stripped or something. I also bought the bracket that holds this(you can see it in the pictures( the hole is oval shaped, I don't think it is supposed to be this way), thats coming in tomorrow. Also purchased was the little shock that also goes with this assembly.
Pics
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n285/anf6789/P1010597.jpg
Shock
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n285/anf6789/P1010602.jpgSo what I need to know is how do I get to the tensioner, to change these parts. Im pretty sure me and my friend are capable of doing this ourselves (screw shops). Im pretty sure all these things are connected, I think the belt was on too tight, which in turn broke the fan bracket and the adjuster.
I appreciate any help you can give me, If anyone has any how-to directions to change the shock and the other parts shown that would be very helpful.
Thanks again,
ANF6789

[dshenberger]

I have the V6 280, so, I am not sure that I can be of too much help. But, I have never seen a belt tensioner that was adjustable. The shock should put the proper tension on it. The only movement should be to relieve tension for belt removal/installation.

Will it help to remove the radiator hoses? It would be a real pain if you had to pull the fan out. :) Just start tearing stuff apart. You'll find a way!

Good luck!

[jnenad16]

you will have to remove the tensioner to install the adjuster arm. bearing bracker is quite easy to replace, just take off the belt, the fan blade and clutch, and the pulley and the bracket will be exposed.
IMPORTANT:
when tightening the belt, ALWAYS make sure that the tensioner body bolt is loose, then proceed to adjust the tension with adjuster arm, otherwise if the tensioner bolt is tight, you will damage the tensioner and/or the adjuster arm. after you are done setting the correct tension, tighten the tensioner body bolt(the one that bolts the tensioner to the engine, either 19mm hex or 10mm allen).

nenad

[anf6789]

Thanks alot!!,IN order to take of the tensioner, Does anything else have to come off? Doesthe water pump need to come off?
Are there any special torque's for the bolts? and how tight should the belt be? Any other help would be awesome!

OH and am I correct on spinning it counterclockwiise to tighten the belt?

Thanks
ANf6789

[anf6789]

It took about 4 hours and 2 people but i fixed it, It was a bitch. Sooo many bolts in hard to reach places. Pain in my ass.

[anf6789]

What should the belt tension be at?

[jnenad16]

you want the belt to play about 10mm - 15mm up and down, measured between the water pump pulley and the bearing bracket pulley.

nenad

[anf6789]

ok thanks. it still squells on cold startup, any ideas?

[jnenad16]

alternator perhaps? those are usually the squeakiest ones. if not, any othe pulley could be the cause, you will need to listen to them all at startup to identify the cause.

nenad

[anf6789]

so the pulleys can squeel, too. It only happens on first start up, and if you rev it it goes away.
THanks for your replies, i appreciate it

[jnenad16]

use pulleys as a reference, but the bearings behind them are the actual sqealers, meaning if the squeal is coming from around an alternator pulley, the most likely culprit is the alternator bearing meaning you will have to replace an alternator to get rid of the noise.
hope I didnt confuse you with my poor explanation. :)

nenad

[anf6789]

Haha, its alright! I will have to check that out. It doesnt bother me enough that i'd replace something,(unless it was broke) I continue on my hunt for this freaking screech.

[anf6789]

Update:

Today i replaced the Belt Tensioner, as it would not get any tighter and the belt was still loose. I ordered a non-oem Uroparts tensioner, looks exactly the same.

So I put the new tensioner on, put everything back together, kept the center allen key bolt loose, and started to tighten the tensioner. IT doesn't get any tighter then about 2 inches of play. The belt still squeels and is prety loose

Did I do something wrong. I have a brandd new MB belt on there i put on at the same time, Is there some sort of sequence to tighten this thing.
Its really pissing me off


UPDATE:: MB gave me the wrong size belt, assholes! It works perfectly now with the right size belt. And I didn't have to pay anyone to fix it!!

Any help would be appreciated,
ANF6789