Help Please W212 E350CDI OM642 Seprentine Auxiliary Belt Replacement

[SteveK9]

Hi the serpentine belt on my 2012MY E350cdi appears to have given up the ghost (no power steering, alternator or aircon). I cannot even begin to see it and after googling cannot find a single guide or reference to how to replace it. even using googles advanced search it is offering me loads of irrelevant stuff and nothing useful. Can anyone point me to an idiots guide to replacement as that ,must fit me as not even being able to see how to start it has got to put me in that category. Many thanks in advance

 

[alecmascot]

This should give you an idea :
Mercedes-Benz W204 Drive Belt Replacement - (2008-2014) C250, C300, C350 | Pelican Parts DIY Maintenance Article

 

[SteveK9]

Sadly this bears no resemblance to mine, my engine cover is one piece and removal of it and the associated pipes reveals nothing other than a plastic plate covering the front of the engine and the top of the fans housing, you cannot even see the belt with mirrors on sticks let alone start to try to replace it.

BTW that's drops of sweat you can see on the hoses, it's about 95deg here lol

 

[KennyN]

Hope you have nothing planned for the next couple of hours.

Dont know how much applies to just removing the belt but not a 2 min job either way.

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K

 

[SteveK9]

Many thanks, if only this was the same engine and / or layout, mine is essentially different, not least on the first point one comes to with the intake airducts, thereafter the differences become more extreme so far as I can tell. I'm lucky in that I have a two post ramp so going by the very instructive video this would not have been too bad a job. It amazes me that in none of the videos do they tell you WHAT engine they are doing the work on, in some cases not even Petrol or Diesel let alone 4Cyl V6 V8 etc. Google searches are about as useful as a chocolate fireguard (try setting a strict search for various terms related to belt, OM642, e350 CDI etc and you'll be amazed by the fact that even though the results MUST contain the relevant terms NONE do, be it photos, videos or just everything.)

I've got an E250cdi as well and it is again totally different (4cyl for a start) but belt replacement is a doddle.

Great idea though looking for something else that would require removal of the belt, I'm going to keep trying on that tack unless anyone can point me to a workshop manual?

 

[cheddar]

I did one on a E350CDI not too long ago, I remember swearing a lot as it was excessive (the amount of cr*p) that had to be removed just to get access to the belt/tensioner etc. The pipe that went from the turbo to the intercooler needed moving I think, the seals fell apart on removal and had to wait for mercedes to order me some for next day. once that was out the way the big panel that silences and protects the belt/pulleys etc could be unbolted and moved. the cause of belt snapping on that job was one of the idler pulleys had collapsed and required replacing too.
sorry no pics, but it's well within DIY if you have tools and patience.

 

[SteveK9]

Thanks for the encouragement, tomorrow's another day and I've ordered a workshop manual so with a bit of luck I'll have a better idea what I'm doing when that arrives. BTW does the belt drive the water pump? In other words can I safely (albeit without power steering etc) drive it if I need to take it to get it fixed?

 

[cheddar]

Yes, I'm pretty sure it does, so I wouldn't let it run for very long at all with no belt on.

 

[SteveK9]

Got the workshop manual and it makes it sound easy. Strip down the front of the car, remove fan assembly after unscrewing pipes from bottom and a load of other stuff to take off then you need to be a contortionist to get in to see what you're doing as there is STILL no access to the top of the belt. What a rave, you need a child with the brains of a rocket scientist and brawn of a wrestler and a neck about 2ft long with a head about 3in at it's widest. Probably easier to drop the engine lol. Whoever came up with this design must be laughing his socks off as he thinks about the misery he's causing. I'm old enough to remember when it was a 5 minute job to change a belt and your missus tights would do at a pinch - or was that just an excuse to get them off?

 

[MrGreedy]

Just found this useful thread. Thank you to those that have contributed.
I'm thinking of attempting the serpentine belt replacement, and am a bit miffed at the amount of stuff that needs to come off, but I think the linked video in post #4 pretty much shows the lot, air intake differences aside.
I don't have the luxury of a lift and it's freezing and blowing a gale outside. I think I'm going to leave this until late spring when I can face wriggling around on the floor and daylight won't be so restricted.

I was hoping to inspect the belt and idler pulleys and tensioner beforehand, but it looks like a 2 hours inspection job just to get all the bits of fan and intake plastic off and back on again, so I'm just going to order the parts.

For non-start stop E350 CDI, the Merc online catalogues show the following part numbers:
1x tensioner - A6422001370
2x idler pulleys - A6422001070
1x v-ribbed belt - A0029934296

Gates do a kit with all of the above bits in. K017PK2035 and £83 from Autodoc.
SKF do a kit as well. VKMA 38070 and £85 from Autodoc.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

What's the life expectancy on these?

Last time I googled, MB state it's just something that should be 'inspected now and again' and replaced when it starts to look.. dodgy (my words not theirs!)

 

[MrGreedy]

What's the life expectancy on these?

Last time I googled, MB state it's just something that should be 'inspected now and again' and replaced when it starts to look.. dodgy (my words not theirs!)

Yep, that's correct. Inspect the belt and replace when it starts to crack.
My car's only a bit newer than yours, and at 10 years (regardless of mileage), it's getting in the window of replacement.
Seeing as the Gates/SKF kits are around £85 (and I rate both of those companies) and given the work to just inspect the belt, I figure it's easiest to just replace the lot.
Replacing the pulleys and tensioners should be pretty straight forward once all the plastic is out of the way, and it's a job I've done on loads of other cars I've owned, so the process is one I'm familiar with.
I believe one of these idlers is more prone to disintegration than the other, and as I'm keeping the car, I'd like to get this done sooner into my ownership rather than later.

The coolant hasn't been changed, and I'm also contemplating the thermostat at the same time, as it's just above the drive belt. That's £150, but they operate by an expanding wax I believe, and over time the wax can leak out and they deteriorate.
Again, a job for the warmer weather. I hate scraping my knuckles over freezing cold, wet, gritty metal.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Thanks for the info - definitely a summer job.

FWIW the thermostat is really easy to do, literally a 30 min job (1 hour with a cuppa and baby-ing everything). You can do that separately and you don't lose hardly any coolant, just top it up.

 

[MrGreedy]

Just another bit of info to help those who find their way here. The example engine in the vid in post #4 looks, after a bit of detective work, like the E350 CGI (petrol). Pretty sure that's what it is.

 

[Dunhamkid]

Just another bit of info to help those who find their way here. The example engine in the vid in post #4 looks, after a bit of detective work, like the E350 CGI (petrol). Pretty sure that's what it is.

Look at

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This shows how to remove the intercooler which covers the auxiliary belt.

 

[MrGreedy]

Hah! Nice link!
Cold. Windy. Pissing it down. Crawling around outside on the floor. Seems all too familiar

 

[MrGreedy]

Just looking at prices for these parts. Thought I would see approximately how much genuine Mercedes parst cost. Take a breath:

Circa £115 - 1x tensioner - A6422001370
Circa £30+ each - 2x idler pulleys - A6422001070
Circa £30 - 1x v-ribbed belt - A0029934296

Total highly competitive price = £205+
And that is from random places on eBay selling allegedly genuine parts.

Seeing as the Gates kit K017PK2035 is £83, the inner Yorkshire man in me can't bear to pay for the genuine bits

 

[simmon01]

Look at

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This shows how to remove the intercooler which covers the auxiliary belt.

Sod that! Having done the alternator control unit this week on the 642 engine in a C class I would be getting rid if the oil cooler needed doing. I didn’t manage to extract the alternator to gain access to it, found it easier ( really? ) to manoeuvre it in it’s tiny space to do what I needed. After much thought and bad language, I reckon removing the water pump may be the way to do it in future. Peace to all

 

[Rotor100]

I paid £200.00 for a new belt and tensioner fitted on my E350 , independent garage.

Dont run the car if you think your belt has snapped , it will fcuk something up.

 

[such01]

I'm looking to buy a kit to change everything but struggling to find a suitable kit for my W212 with stop start.
I see the gates kit mentioned above is not suitable and I've looked online but get conflicting results.
Can anyone check pls using my vin WDD2120232A607662?

Thanks