belt or chain

[mark.t]

this is my first merc and first diesel, called into a garage today and stood opened mouthed at a sign for diesel m.o.t. bloody hell i thought, what did spring to mind is, is it a cam belt or chain dose it have one at all my god my minds gone blank (i don;t know) panicking check my oil, all ok took off the oil filler cap and noticed a chain, at what millage should this be replaced or any other part, and are there any tips before taking my diesel for its mot (not due till december 04, as the dealer did it before delivery) don;t like the idear of them revving the b****ks out of my car but if thats what they have to do,


thanks mark

 

[jimmy]

Most if not all Mercs have a timing chain, I have never heard of a chain breaking on a Merc but no doubt somebody will say it happens. I think the general advice is that the chain should last 200K miles or so and needs replacing when it gets noisy.

You dont say what model you have but it's a good idea to use a diesel injector cleaner in the fuel tank for the week before an MOT, should not be neccessary at all on a well looked after engine.

 

[mark.t]

thanks

my mind is at rest again, god these cars can give you some grief,

 

[V12]

timing chains are very good on your engine, only heard of a couple breaking, as they are duplex chaines...much better than a simplex!

On the petrols i would get them changed every 150K, but the diesels seem to last longer...

Ricky

 

[IanT]

My local MOT place recommended that I drive it with a little more spirit than usual for a few days before the MOT to make sure it gets a good clean out (high revs / load) as diesels notoriously fail the test only to pass with flying colours after 'a damn good thrashing'.

The downside is that (although you're able to drive it legally with a new MOT certificate) both times I took my C250 in for MOT I coincidentally had a glowplug fail at the same time.

My E had an MOT the day before I picked it up and guess what? The glowplug light has been on since.

Maybe there's no correlation, but I remain to be convinced. (Does the 220 CDI have a belt or chain, and what's the change interval?)

Ian.

 

[V12]

Chain, you think mercedes mess around with belts??

I don't know the reccomended change though...

Very weird with your heatplugs...never come across that!!

Ricky

 

[IanT]

Thank goodness it's a chain...

Chain, you think mercedes mess around with belts??

LOL... after rebuilding a pair of Vauxhall engines following belt tensioner failure (16V and V6) I'm relieved not to have the belt problem with the Merc. I'll have to dig through the pile of receipts to see if it's ever been changed, as it's now got 162k on the clock and I'm going to want advance warning if M-B are planning to bankrupt me at the next service (due soon).

Ian.