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.
C32 AMG serp belt completely shredded when I spun out and locked the power steering
I was on very wet roads and spun out with my C32. I panicked and kept my foot on the gas with the steering wheel at full lock, and I was able to save the car but the belt was absolutely obliterated and shredded so bad it wrapped around the harmonic balancer. I was able to get it out and replace it with a belt I had in my trunk, but when I hit 5 mph the belt was thrown off again, but this time power steering fluid was sprayed absolutely everywhere in the engine and on the hood itself, all on the left side of the bay. After replacing the belt a second time, it threw the belt when I went into reverse, and sprayed more power steering fluid. The third time replacing the belt, it stayed on, but the power steering no longer worked as the reservoir was below minimum. What I would like help on is where the power steering hoses are on the left side of the engine, as the reservoir and pump are on the right side, and what could cause the belt to be thrown multiple times when under very low load. I can add pictures of the carnage if that would help anybody. Thanks for any help you guys can give, it means a lot as this is my first project car (Luckily don't need it as a daily so I can figure things out on my own)
Some questions I have if anybody cares to read them after my essay above, don't really need answers to these that badly.
The extra belt I had fit the first time I put it on, but the second time it would not go over the tensioner, so I bypassed the AC compressor which allowed me enough slack to get over the tensioner.
The power steering fluid doesn't seem like normal power steering fluid, it was very thin and a light yellowish brown color, is that what pentosin looks like?
I have a needswings pulley saver kit on the car, could that cause belt issues?
How could putting the power steering in full lock throw the belt? Does the power steering pump lock up when it hits full lock with the engine at high RPM's, or is the bursting of one of the power steering hoses and the belt shredding not related?
I noticed the tensioner was a bit slack on the first belt and hitting the movement limiter which made me worry that the tensioner wasn't giving enough pressure on the belt. Could that be a sign of a bad tensioner, or was the belt too big and that could be what caused it to be thrown?
Found the source of the leak. The high pressure power steering line in front of the harmonic balancer was somehow pushed into the balancer, or hit with the shredded belt, and was torn. $130 later and I should have it fixed by Sunday. It looks like a PITA to install so let’s see how fun it is. My theory for the belt coming off is that it got soaked with power steering fluid and slipped off the water pump, because that one was almost impossible to keep the belt on the pulley when reinstalling an extra belt I had. Still doesn’t explain why the belt shredded when the steering locked but I found a bad tensioner pulley so I’m assuming that that pulley was messing with the belt and caused it to wear down quickly. Either way, whoever the dumbass at Mercedes is that put a high pressure line less than an inch from the harmonic balancer, id like to have a word with them. I’ll rig up a zip tie contraption to hold my new line far away from the balancer.
Quick note, I don’t know why but I can’t find any hoses for the C32 AMG. However, the hose for the C320 on FCP euro looks exactly the same as the hose on the car, and that’s the one I’m going to order. I think that they may have changed the power steering design for the 04 year, because it seems different from all the others I’m finding online. Hopefully it comes with crush washers, if it doesn’t I’ll reuse the original ones. I’ll update if it’s the right hose.
Update: wrong hose, completely wrong hose. I thought I’d get away with ordering a $80 hose, little did I know the correct hose is $360 on ECS tuning. 😫😫😫 first hit from the AMG tax. I’m going to take the hose to some hydraulic hose repair shops and hopefully they will fix it and I can return the one I bought to FCP euro. I’m also going to ask them to extend the hose a few inches so that I can route it better to clear the harmonic balancer, even though I don’t think it’s normally that close anyways. Hopefully nobody else has this issue, it’s been a pain and I haven’t been able to drive my car for a while now.
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.
