4 Belt Tensioners in Less Than a Year
03-15-2024, 03:45 PM
#1
4 Belt Tensioners in Less Than a Year
Alright, let me start off by giving you the information about my vehicle. It's a 2016 C300 RWD. I'll give you guys a timeline of events along with the parts that were replaced.
(June 2023)
Last year in June I had to take the car in for service. The pulley on the water pump was ripped off by the serpentine belt "due to the belt tensioner seizing up). Water pump, tensioner, and belt was replaced. ($2,000 in parts and labor)
(July 2023)
Then in July, the belt snapped again and AC went out while on a road trip. Replaced the belt myself, finished the trip back to my home state, and had the car inspected. The pulley on the compressor failed and was replaced and found out that the tensioner also failed. Replaced the compressor and the tensioner. ($3,000 in parts and labor.)
(October 2023 - Pt. 1)
On my way into work, had to pull over as I noticed a loud popping noise come from the engine bay and smoke billowing out from the rear. Pulled over and found that the serpentine belt snapped and took with it oil line, coolant line, fragments of the belt wrapped around the various belt drive pulleys. Back to the service station she went. They replaced the tensioner, idler pulley, belt, brand new oil and coolant lines, oil pump, and a small radiator that sits the the bottom left rear of the radiator for the coolant. The dealership stated that the tensioner failed and that is what caused the issue. ($4,000 in parts and labor)
(October 2023 - Pt. 2)
Picked the car up from the dealership after they completed all the work from October Pt.1, and got 72 miles on the odometer (less than 24 hours out of the dealership shop) and got down the road before the same exact thing happened again. Car again is towed back into the dealership. They replaced all the parts, but also had to replace the alternator because when the belt snapped AGAIN, it got wedged in the alternator pulley and destroyed it. Culprit was that the tensioner failed... after 72 miles... ($2,000 in parts and labor)
(March 2024)
After around 15k miles from Pt.2 of October, same thing happened again. Called MBUSA and they said that the dealership near me will not be able to honor the warranty on any of the work done by the other dealership, the only options are to spend $1,400 to tow the car down to the other dealership for them to inspect without any guarantee that any of the work would be covered or bring it to the dealership near my new house and have to pay everything out of pocket without any honor of the warranty work and parts from the original dealership (I have the contract in writing and in the invoice from the old dealership).
My question is this... why in the hell have I had 4 belt tensioners failed in less than 30k miles? I'm honestly done dealing with the dealership at this point. Repairs alone cost almost $12k just last year alone. I had someone come out and inspect the car, and low and behold, the belt tensioner is shot... again... 4th tensioner in under a year. I'm going to have a family member who is a fleet mechanic (works on Mercedes busses, ambulances, sprinters, etc. for the county) do all the work this time.
Any clue as to why this keeps happening? Is there something that I and the dealership are missing?
(June 2023)
Last year in June I had to take the car in for service. The pulley on the water pump was ripped off by the serpentine belt "due to the belt tensioner seizing up). Water pump, tensioner, and belt was replaced. ($2,000 in parts and labor)
(July 2023)
Then in July, the belt snapped again and AC went out while on a road trip. Replaced the belt myself, finished the trip back to my home state, and had the car inspected. The pulley on the compressor failed and was replaced and found out that the tensioner also failed. Replaced the compressor and the tensioner. ($3,000 in parts and labor.)
(October 2023 - Pt. 1)
On my way into work, had to pull over as I noticed a loud popping noise come from the engine bay and smoke billowing out from the rear. Pulled over and found that the serpentine belt snapped and took with it oil line, coolant line, fragments of the belt wrapped around the various belt drive pulleys. Back to the service station she went. They replaced the tensioner, idler pulley, belt, brand new oil and coolant lines, oil pump, and a small radiator that sits the the bottom left rear of the radiator for the coolant. The dealership stated that the tensioner failed and that is what caused the issue. ($4,000 in parts and labor)
(October 2023 - Pt. 2)
Picked the car up from the dealership after they completed all the work from October Pt.1, and got 72 miles on the odometer (less than 24 hours out of the dealership shop) and got down the road before the same exact thing happened again. Car again is towed back into the dealership. They replaced all the parts, but also had to replace the alternator because when the belt snapped AGAIN, it got wedged in the alternator pulley and destroyed it. Culprit was that the tensioner failed... after 72 miles... ($2,000 in parts and labor)
(March 2024)
After around 15k miles from Pt.2 of October, same thing happened again. Called MBUSA and they said that the dealership near me will not be able to honor the warranty on any of the work done by the other dealership, the only options are to spend $1,400 to tow the car down to the other dealership for them to inspect without any guarantee that any of the work would be covered or bring it to the dealership near my new house and have to pay everything out of pocket without any honor of the warranty work and parts from the original dealership (I have the contract in writing and in the invoice from the old dealership).
My question is this... why in the hell have I had 4 belt tensioners failed in less than 30k miles? I'm honestly done dealing with the dealership at this point. Repairs alone cost almost $12k just last year alone. I had someone come out and inspect the car, and low and behold, the belt tensioner is shot... again... 4th tensioner in under a year. I'm going to have a family member who is a fleet mechanic (works on Mercedes busses, ambulances, sprinters, etc. for the county) do all the work this time.
Any clue as to why this keeps happening? Is there something that I and the dealership are missing?
03-16-2024, 02:31 PM
#2
MBWorld Fanatic!
Stranger why your are not coming back to this dealer and why this dealer doesn't provide warranty on its work my dealer gives 1 full year warranty on its work. Why you have not escalated?
