| Inspecting
Mercedes accessory belts and why. |
| When
performing any under hood maintenance, always inspect
your accessory belts. It takes very little time and
it can save you a lot of money down the road in unnecessary
repairs. Look for any cracks on the underside of serpentine
and V belts. (This it the part of the belt, that contacts
the pulleys). Also check for any fraying, and any
glazing. Glazing is when the belt has been heated
up past its intended operating range. This is usually
caused from the belt slipping within the pulleys.
The effectiveness of the belts "grip" is
compromised when this happens. If cracked, frayed,
or glazed, replace them. |
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What
are Mercedes serpentine belt tensioners?
A Mercedes serpentine belt tensioner is
used to keep the proper amount of tension on
the serpentine belt. A serpentine belt is a
multiple groove belt (usually having 4,6,or
8 ribs) that replaces multiple v-belts with
one belt. Because of the increased surface area
between the belt and the system pulleys, the
"grip" of the belt is much greater
allowing the use of a one belt accessory system.
You can see, with only one belt operation all
of your accessories, it gets even more crucial
to inspect these systems for cracking, fraying,
or glazing. |
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| My
Mercedes Benz makes a "slapping" noise
at idle, and goes away when I give it gas... |
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| This
is usually caused be the belt tensioner shock
and or end bushings on the shock going bad.
Because the belt tensioner provides "spring
loaded" automatic tension on the accessory
belt, a shock must be used to dampen vibrations.
When the shock goes bad, this causes the tensioner
to oscillate back and forth, causing the belt
to do the same. The belt then, (at the longest
stretch between pulleys), vibrates, causing
the "slapping noise". The shock bushings
are not replaceable separately, so you will
have to replace the tensioner shock as a complete
unit. |
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