When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So I've got a w204 c250 m71.86, I'm in college and the maintenance on the car has honestly been exhausting. I bought the car around 70k, I guess I should've known what I was in for and I did SOMEWHAT. Ever since I've been doing thing to thing wrong with it first it was a coolant line crack on the heater core, then had to replace both struts, a rim, then turns out dealer replaced the tires on the wrong rims since it was a staggered set, wear was too low and had to replace all tires to move them due to how discount tire works but cant complain its not that bad, and steering "links" or whatever, then it started having long cranks and what not attributed it to the chain tensioner, replaced it. In that process idk if I did it or it was the original issue but in the end the camshaft was so far off the adjuster, I decided to replace the entire system with new febi-bilstien parts. Now I have a car perfectly in timing, but due to a lot of factors my master link was compromised so I had to use one off the old chain, and due to the individual link's length not being compatible with the Mercedes chain riveter it was not possible to complete a rivet with the tool, so I used the chain breaker to line up the pins one by one in the new chain to the best of my abilities then vice grips and a decent portion of my strength, the only master link I could source without spending way too much on a new chain is waiting the three weeks from FCP euro. I have exams coming up and the car has already been down for a week of exams I think I'm just going to drive it like this, how long do you guys think I have?
Oh and yeah forgot one time it blew off the serpentine belt on the way to the airport, very loud bang followed by my power steering and everything else failing, guessing it was due to idler pulleys, replaced all and tensioner, and belt
Prediction on the time it may take too fail is almost impossible.
I would suggest that you get the correct master link before running the engine. If you just do the math on the amount of times the gears turns per minute just at idle is allot and if that chain comes apart while the engine is running it will be the end of that engine.
If you can find the timing chain on Amazon order one and get the master link and return it saying it was missing the link.
It's a shady thing to do but sometimes hard times require shady things. 🤪
Last edited by RobertR728; Mar 20, 2025 at 06:19 AM.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
How screwed am I?
