IF YOU HEAR STRANGE NOISE COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD -STOP TURN OFF THE ENGINE.
This morning on the way to my office I heard strange scratching noise comming from under my hood. Idler pulley seized (the one attached to the water pump housing) besides tearing apart belt (no big deal) it ripped out part of the water pump housing.

The part that sucks the most is I could not stop ( one way street under construction - nowhere to pull over and million cars behind me), I know better not to drive when somethig broke under the hood and makes weird noises.
Needles to say $200 repair turned in to $1000.

Todays day sucks .

 

Sorry this happened to you. I feel your pain. Happened to me a few years back. This always happens to all C32's some time or another. Best thing to do is replace the idler pulley prior to it happening. Just like the Valeo radiators. Replace it before it ruins your transmission.

For people that haven't checked their idler pulley, see this thread:

https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c55-amg-w203/270130-stock-c32-m112k-owners-check-your-oe-idler-pulley.html

 

Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

Had the same thing happen last fall, with an aftermarket pulley kit. Bill sounds about right... my idler unfortunately slammed into the AMG specific oil cooler, which added a $500 part (IIRC) and additional labor to the repair... was around $1,800 all told.

 

This same exact thing happened to me. I heard it and had the car towed but unfortunately I still needed a new waterpump. Total repairs were $750 for me I believe.

Sorry to hear it happened to you though. Best of luck...

 

Well, at least I can say it has not happened to me (I am not trying to rub it in). I did follow boohoo's advise (https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c55-amg-w203/270130-stock-c32-m112k-owners-check-your-oe-idler-pulley.html) and instructions to swap out my idler pulley with an updated unit. Total cost= $35. Total time= 10 minutes.

Thank you, boohooramblers.

 

Same thing happened to me 2 weeks ago. I'm on my 3rd idler pulley/belt set. I know the feeling and it really sucks!

 

for those of us who have an LET pulley kit installed (version II) with their idler pulley and bearing, we're ok, correct?

 

Where did you get the pulley for $35 at? Thanks

 

Pulley $72
Water Pump $250 remanufactured from MB dealer
Belt $60
Thermostat $34 ( may as well change it @ 68000miles)
Two air filters $18 each
parts total $452
labor + tax $390 ( includes towing )
total loss $842

Car ready for p/u @ 10am tomorrow.

Next time something breaks and makes noise I'm not moving an inch- lesson learned.

 

Autoanything.com has the idler pulley for $13 bucks. Should I give them a try or spend the $70 on a MB one?

 

Hmmm..better to be safe than sorry

 

$13.00!! I'll take two.
how long before you typically have to replace an idler pulley?

 

one of my idler pulley failed before when i was on the freeway as well (evosport pulley). however it didn't destroy anything other than itself (not even the belt) which I was extremely lucky.

 

 

+1

 

Bought it off of a MBWorld member that had an extra. Retail is about $70.

 

Thanks to you guys, I replaced two of my idler pulleys and the main SC'er pulley over the last 4 months. Using the techniques from the forum here, I listened to and decided to not replace the last one but went ahead and bought the replacement. I just keep it in the trunk and figure, I'll replace it when I get a non-rainy Saturday. It is an easy job. These are all cheap and simple to replace and good insurance for a reliable C32. My car had about 50k on the clock when the first pulley started making minor noises. They all chimed in after that.

Irish

 

Sorry to hear that my friend

 

Its threads like this that make me scared to own this car out of warranty. I am a DIY tard.

 

....again

 

I looked last night and it looks like the idler pulley and tensioner pulley are the same. I have to check but I will be doing both.

 

If you follow boohoorambler's video DIY instructions, you could be a one armed ADHD crash-test dummy and still think the pulley swap was easy.

I am tech-inept in every way and I still got it done in 10-15 minutes.

 

Nice. Now I feel better at trying this... and I will probably off myself if I fail.

 

Those are uprated units, beefier than stock, IMO. Bearing is rated for more RPMs as well.

Anyone on the original setup would be well served to replace with new OEM or better.