Hi All,

I made my car mad by test driving something else out of pure curiosity.

In the last day or three a whine has developed from under the hood. I've previously had the alternator rebuilt, idler and tension pulley replaced. It's definitely coming from something connected to the serpentine belt and on the passenger side of the engine.

Noise: Belt removed:
Anyone with more expertise able to ID the source or recommend tips to troubleshoot further?

 

I would like to place a nomination for the water pump.
Do I hear a second ?

 

Sure sounds like the water pump, especially when he manually spins the pulley.

 

The evidence is overwhelming I second that nomination, 😞 it's always a sad day when we have to spend money, but😃 with the help of the Forum it will be a lot less!!

 

Is there a write up that you know of on the forum for the procedure? I have the service manual but have never drained the coolant before. I read that one of the guys replaced a pump in a parking lot with minimal tools. It sounds like he did it without draining but I am only speculating. My concern is if I put the fluid back in, what is the procedure to ensure air doesn't get caught in the system to eventually cause an overheat? From what I understand in the service manual, the system should force any air into the coolant tank thus pressurizing. So long as I don't open the tank cover, all should be okay. Am I on the right track here?

 

NO.
You WILL lose most of the coolant, so you might as well do a full flush and replace with 50/50 distilled water and Zerex G05.
The radiator has a drain plug bottom driver side.
HINT: as you remove bolts from the old water pump, place them in the corresponding hole in the new pump. When you have the old pump removed, then transfer them back to it. When installing the new pump, you then will know which bolt goes where.
I had no problem with air bleeding on my NA, don't know about SRT6's.

 

All was going well until reassembly and the worst happened... a bolt broke in the block. I was careful to read and follow the service manual. It indicated to tighten to 35nm so I set my torque wrench accordingly. The larger bolts went in fine but the 5th bolt snapped and my heart immediately sank to my gut because I knew right then that this just became a disaster. So much for saving some money and having the satisfaction of DIY. The worst part is I was turning thinking the wrench should be close to clicking. I questioned and should have stopped when snug. I know better than to keep going when it starts getting snug. I'm really beating myself up over this... ::::dunce cap:::::

Update: so I see now that I missed the bit explaining the M6 bolts should have been 10nm. I hope I didn't ruin the block. :/

 

Most likely you didn't harm the block.
E-Z Out time. Been there, done that.

 

So having never done this before it's got my stomach in knots at the thought of drilling on the block.

I've got it soaking penetrating oil in hopes that it'll help some. I'm in the process of finding a mechanic that will fix this.

 

I think I'd crank down on that with a pair of vice grips.. Looks like enough left over to get a good bite on.. ? Or maybe a medium sized pipe wrench..

 

The break was a lot cleaner. I've been soaking with penetrating oil and tried using vice grips to slowly turn. All it's doing is spreading the bolt and the grips are brand new.

I ended up finding a local mechanic well experienced in this and he said he'd come by and take it out. At this point I would rather pay him $100 to remove the bolt instead of me learning on a perfectly good engine and making a far more expensive mistake.

I need to get my hands on some busted mowers and practice this extraction process a few times to get a feel for it before I feel comfortable attempting on my car. If I had done this before I probably wouldn't be so intimidated to have at it.

 

I feel ya.. LOL.. My first rodeo was on my Harley.. Custom pipes and I ended up with a broke off header bolt. Everything on the web said "remove engine" to drill out.. as the down tube runs right in front of it. I welded a drill bit and a tap on to two old sockets.. and used a swivel connector and extension on a drill and ratchet for the tap .. LOL.. Problem solved.. but not for the faint of heart by any means!

 

That's my thought process, "I'll fix it or I'll .... it up!" ,but yea , not for the faint heart! ( consequences an all )

 

Make sure your mechanic chases out the threads with the proper sized tap once he gets the bolt out.
( It ain't a bad idea to chase out all the bolt holes )

 

I would only add that only top quality taps should be used as some of these Chinese cheapos are capable of opening up the thread form way too much. This could lead to threads being stripped at the correct torque setting.
Threads in our cars are to specified class sizes, and some of the Chinese taps are at the bottom of the class.

 

Got it out. I found a local Mercedes mechanic that would come by the house and have a crack at it, off the record of course. He was able to heat it up with a torch and make a slit for a flathead. A few taps of a mallet and out it came. Even offered to buy the car off me if I ever became interested in selling.

Unfortunatly though the noise returned. He took another look and found it was the alternator. Which makes sense since it was a cheapo fix while out on a road trip no long ago. Nevertheless, he took a look at the old water pump and comfirmed the bearings were on their way out. Not failing yet, but it was definitely coming. So this turned into a preventative maintenance job as opposed to a fix. Fortunately the alternator is an easy swap.

For the forum search record, the service manual is wrong in instructing to tighten all water pump bolts to 35nm. Only the M8 bolts should be this tight, M6 will snap right off. If using the 2004 Service Manual, refer to ZH 7-14 for correct torque specs.

 

Every mechanic worth his salt has done this, at least once, so you're learning. Soon you will be a bona fide Crossfire mechanic and you will feel comfortable attacking other problems. OJT is the best kind of training.

 

Glad your back on the road! Sounds like you paid a very reasonable price for the repair! No personal experience BUT a friend went over to another friends house to 'help' him replace a water pump on his car (just for the price of a few beers). Well, turns out those beers were the most expensive beers he ever bought. Yep, snapped a bolt off below the face of the W/P flange (just below). Had to take it to a mechanic to remove the stud, and install the W/P. Friend never asked friend to help with another mechanical problem (especially if 'beers' was in the process). Lesson well remembered. As a footnote, forgot to mention the snapped off stud was at an angle, and those who looked at it were not wanting to tackle drilling on an angled stud (below) the flange, hence the tow and mechanic fix.

 

Swapped out the alternator and no more whining noise.

I've seen a few other posts around here about Bosch alternators and modifications needed to get them to work. The Bosch alternator to get is AL0787X. Exact fit without modification and despite it being a bit larger in size it went right in without hesitation. Ironically it even had the Mercedes star etched into it though advertised a just a Bosch alternator on Amazon.

 

That part number is for the NA models only.
The alternator you have purchased was originally on a Mercedes car, hence the MB logo on it. It was then traded in as a casting, remanufactured and resold. It may have on it the MB part number as well as the original Bosch part number. They can come with just the Bosch part number, not the reman number you have. There is a Valeo equivalent of this alternator available.