All,

I replaced the belt on my '96 E300 when I installed a new alternator about a year and a half ago. As of about 5 month ago, there was a squeak developing. I just got the car back from my ex and the squeak is so noisy that it can be heard inside the car. I looked under the hood while fueling and thought it was coming from the water pump.... so I ordered one and was getting ready to install, pulled off the fan/clutch assembly and though, "what the hell, I'll drop a little water on the belt to see if that stops the squeak". Sure enough, 10 drops of water later, no more squeak.

My question is this, can a belt this new (it's a Mann) be going wonky on me already?

Thanks much for your replies.

-l-

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'84 300d turbodiesel (83K miles)
'96 300d (226K miles)
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other fine diesels...
'99 Polaris diesel (Fuji Heavy Industries single)
'01 Diesel Trail gator (Yanmar triple)
'95 John Deere 970 (Yanmar quad)
'11 BMW 335d
'12 VW Jetta TDI

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'00 BMW K1200LT
'02 BMW R1150RS

'15 BMW R1200GSA

Use a Continental belt, FWIW....

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

While the belt is off spin everything on the front of the engine except the crank and see if you can hear/feel anything that does not feel right. How many miles are on it?

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Jim

Does this car use a Micro V belt? ( flat belt )

Don't be so quick to condemn any particular brand of belt, most belt noise issues stem from pulley surface condition.

The pulleys that ride on the back of the belt get polished / glazed / receive a thin coating of rubber during use. Rather than the belt gripping the pulley as it passes by, it slides back and forth on the smooth surface making noise. Adding some water to the belt provided some lubrication making the noise go away for a short time.

When a new belt is installed, it has a grippy back that makes noise go away until the belt surface gets polished.

To fix the problem, take some 80 grit sand paper by hand or power 120 grit / Scotch Brite sanding wheel and clean / rough up the EDIT: FLAT PULLEY surface.

Also have a look at the label on the belt, some have a much smoother / hard surface than the rest of the belt, take some 80 grit and roughen up the label to get rid of that once every 5 seconds slow chirp.

_DO NOT_ use any sort of belt dressing, it is sticky in the short term / drys hard in the long and will only cause you more noise in the future!

I must disagree. I have had noise complaints with almost every belt out there, to include Mann, Dayco, Gates and Goodyear.

Only Continental has been noise free and it is also the only brand I have personally used that does not have to be re-tensioned, FWIW...Robert

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership