AirFrcd

I will be posting more information as my mechanic sheds light on the LET idler pulley failure.

In a nut shell, I was making my daily morning commute when I was "greeted" by numerous error messages, followed by my power steering no longer functioning, and a final warning message to "shut off engine, as coolant temps are excessive".

I pulled over immediately, and had the vehicle towed to the repair shop.

At first glance, the idler pulley is bent at a 30-45 degree angle, and the drive belt is off of the pulleys, and accessories.

More to come.

splinter

Our idlers are worked pretty hard given their loads and heady rotational speeds.
They’re a known issue on both stock and modified engines..

https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c...er-pulley.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c...y-failure.html

Good luck with it.

robbinghood

I think your car is cursed. But let's hope this issue can be resolved through non-witch craft means.

SilverBulletAMG

I'm assuming this was with the new "high speed" bearing as well? Stories like this make me cringe.

TemjinX2

Honestly, it be said that the pulley saver kit should be a requirement for the let 185. That idler is so small that its spinning a lot more quickly then the other pulleys, they tend to go out fast.

i had mine for only 6month before the idle pulley started making noises. My suggestion is upgrade to the pulley saver kit.

dkflipse

Who sells it? Needswings?

TemjinX2

here's the link...i posted my review on it.

http://www.needswings.com/Pulley-Sav...gs-psk185.aspx

AirFrcd

UPDATE:

The water pump needs to be replaced as well!!!!

Does anyone have the phone # to Needswings????
Please PM me immediately if you do.

Thanks,

Lawrence

dkflipse

If it is such an obvious (and potentially expensive) problem seems like LET should insist on it being purchased in conjunction-or even become a re-seller

AirFrcd

Agreed.

///AMG4EVER

Lawrence - I'm sorry to hear about your breakdown, but l will echo some of the members thoughts here... it's a common issue that any modded C32 will eventually face.

I'm on my 3rd idler pulley (replaced 60 days ago) running a 178 mm renntech pulley. Unfortunately, my water pump was also damaged and replaced in one of those failures.

It's part of the risk that comes with messing around with the car.

Again, sorry to hear about your misfortune.

PD: I agree that LET (and the rest of the pulley vendors) should acknowledge this issue, or at least, recommend replacement (at a great price) every 12K-15K miles.

AirFrcd

You are absolutely correct.
A modified vehicle is always subject to increased wear and tear, and as such, one is increasing their likelihood of premature repairs, or failures.

Is the Needswings "pulley saver" a relatively cheap, and proven solution, or preventative to this situation?

My idler pulley lasted approx. 14K before having its "seizure".

Gramma_Benz

And for the record, when my idler pulley failed, I had no mods on my car whatsoever....It also ripped off the guide on my water pulley pump and was an expensive repair.

Sorry to hear this happened to you as well.

loungn14

I had mine fail when I was stock as well.

Was this the new LET high speed bearing that was offered as a replacement when the issue was first acknowledged a year ago? I have not seen one of those fail personally yet.

There are numerous threads on stock and modified idler pulley failures. It does suck.

As far as a partnership or something with the needswings product, that product is way to new to say for sure or not if it works. The 185 has been out for 3-4 years. We didn't start seeing the idler pulley failures for a while into the product lifecycle. More testing has to be done for me to put my name on someone elses product to be used with mine.

AirFrcd

PICS:

TemjinX2

ouch

SilverBulletAMG

Can't tell from the writing on the bearing, but it doesn't appear to be the newer bearings? That is something I hope to never see in person.

mk4mike

stick with oem!

TemjinX2

oem would fail more quickly since the new LET one is rated at a higher 19000 rpm.

I also doubt it would since since the let pulley is a lot smaller to allow the belt to fit with the 185 crank

c32AMG-DTM

Jake - agreed 100% that the NW solution is too new to know for certain what its product longevity will ultimately be. That said, it appears a well-thought-out approach, and I am unaware of any failures of NW's "pulley saver kit" so far... which at least seems to bode well. Time will tell.

IIRC, LET started offering the 181mm and 185mm pulley kits in late (like November or December) 2007 at the absolute earliest, with many of LET's first customers installing pulley kits in early 2008. So, by my math, they've been out for ~2 years.

Those pics look familiar; while the idler bearing failure ultimately sucks, it's fortunate that in your case the idler stayed on (albeit cockeyed) so as to not damage any other components on the front-side of the motor.

Sorry to learn of your issue, best of luck with the repair.

CLKCLK

I would if mine is CLK500

CLKCLK

From the picture, I don't think the bearing fails. I bet you the bearing is still rotating freely right? The increasing force on the bell on a smaller pulley is pulling the entire pulley to the right harder causing the base being eaten from the left.

If nothing wrong with the bearing itself then it doesn't matter what bearing you put in that small idle pulley, it will fails the same. Maybe longer bolt or a bracket to the upper guide pulley will help a bit?

razormb

See TemjinX2 pulley review for pictures of my fried LET pulley with the updated bearing.

MikeR

I have been running the LET 181mm pulley kit since April '08. I did install the NW pulley saver kit when they first came out even though I had not had any issues with my Idler pulley. Bearings WILL fail, it is just a matter of when. I installed the pulley saver kit to try and prolong their life....

Sorry to see that pic....

ML500K

Personally I think the NW PSK is a good addition to the 185. Without it, this idler bearing which is a lot smaller than stock is spinning so much faster than normal. I highly recommend people with 185s to get it