Engine vibration

[fred_raven]

OK story so far - have an engine vibration , getting serious now , has been there for a while , initially thought it was the belt damper , this was replaced - by mercedes as last one replaced last march - but they stated that the lever and bearing needed replacing. I changed these myself but didnt fix the problem. has now got really bad- used to disappear when enging was hot and still does dramatically reduce. Suggestions have included the alternator pulley or water pump bearing. alternator was replaced 2 yr ago and water pump 6 mths ago.
how can i be sure where the vibration is coming from - lever and bearing cost me £110 to replace for no gain ! Cant afford to replace parts willey nilley hoping it will cure it . suggestions greatfully received. btw vibration has now done in the bush on top of the damper.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Guess who had exactly the same problems

What is the mileage on your car? Because my 1997 300TD had collapsed engine mounts until I replaced them a few months back. If your steering wheel vibrates badly at idle....

Thats very likely the cause of the vibration, and could also be connected to the failure of the tensioner (its been suggested to me on another forum, a member had the same issue, fixed when engine mounts were changed).

Look in the HOWTO forum for details. Theres also a transmission mount at the back of the gearbox that might need changing, although mine was allright I changed it anyway.

Mounts are about £60 each.

 

[fred_raven]

yes , tks parrot - saw yr thread and yr how to and had wondered but need to be sure . If i disconnect one end of the damper holding the free end is nigh on impossible - feels like a machine gun going off was yours like this ! and has changing the mount completely fixed it?
NO noticable vibration on steering wheel - maching gun effect not there when cruising only on slow idle and when decellerating

 

[Parrot of Doom]

To remove the tension is easy. See the black plastic block that holds the top of the spring to the engine block?

Get a big screwdriver and put it in the big hole at the top of that plastic block. Make sure its quite big, a big fat allen key is better actually. Remove the nut from the front of it, rotate the screwdriver/allen key holding the plastic, hard to your left (offside of engine bay), and push the bolt back toward the engine with your other finger. Then slowly let the plastic block move back - the spring will pull it back.

Be careful you don't crush the diesel spill pipe behind the bolt.

You can then remove the shocker at your leisure. Be careful the spring doesn't fall down underneath the engine.

You can pull the mounts to check them. If they're fine, just pop them back in. You'll know if they're gone as the top section will have collapsed.