Benzman33

I'm interested in buying a local 2010 E350 4matic but the guy says the belt tensionor vibrates a little. Does he mean a timing Chain? Coming from Audi and VW that kinda scares me lol. Did the E350 have a timing Chain?

kajtek1

MILEAGE???
I believe only early 350 had balance shaft issues, but double check it.
The serpentine belt has tensioner and idler pulleys who don't last for some reasons.
Probably not a big deal to replace it, but subject to closer investigation.

Benzman33

Ah thank you, It has about 150k on it. I know that over 100k it becomes weird with what goes wrong lol.

cetialpha5

Only the 2006 and early 2007 had balance shaft problems.

Tensioner and pulleys are known to go early on the M272. Mine were bad by about 60k. You can pretty much get them anywhere, probably around $150 for the tensioner, two pulleys and the belt. Rockauto had a kit for the W211 but not the W212, the parts were the same except for the belt which was slightly different for some strange reason.

Benzman33

cetialpha5

I don't know when they fail. It's a pretty simple job to do the swap, pretty much any mechanic can do it. I suppose if it snaps on you, then you don't have an alternator, a/c, power steering and whatever else the belt drives, probably water pump too. Usually it makes a lot of noise before going.

Benzman33

This guy is saying that it vibrates a bit? Does that make sense? Would that have anything to do with the belt tensioner

cetialpha5

Probably not. Vibration is typically motor mounts which are known to go. But it could also be engine related like misfires or the intake manifold. You should probably take it to an MB dealer and have a pre purchase inspection done on it and get the car scanned for any mb specific codes.

Benzman33

That's to much work lol. Gotta take risks.

Benzman33

Any car with over 150k on it is a gamble, I'm not gonna take it to a dealer.

cetialpha5

How much is the car? Intake manifold is up there on the list. 150k is about the mileage range it would go at. It may have pending MB specific codes, but won't show on a basic OBD2 scanner. Motor mounts you could probably tell by getting it up on a lift. Dealer will probably charge in the $200-250 range for the PPI. Motor mounts are around $100-150 each plus the transmission mount and the intake is in the $500-$600 range plus labor. The 4matic motor mounts can be a minor nightmare as it's somewhat involved, dropping the exhaust, taking out oxygen sensors removing a/c, alternator, etc, not a simple job.

Also there are some other parts involved with the timing chain, can't remember if it's called the tensioner or something else, but it's rare and also a possibility with that kind of mileage.

KEY08

Drive it until something breaks at this point. What is the value of a super high mileage 2010 350?

kajtek1

150k miles sure puts the car out of reasonable market. When I don't hesitate to buy high-mileage MB and even gasoline engines can make 400k, it is mental thing.
My understanding is that would that car be well kept, the tensioner would be replaced as this is not high expense. When somebody drives with such issue, you can only wonder how many other things he neglected.
Would the car have pristine paint, it could be worth some money, but only after running engine smoothest test.
MM on those cars don't last long, so buying any used car you should plan on replacing them rather sooner than later.

rohanpatel14

MBNUT1

What noise do the tensioner and idler pulleys make?

kajtek1

When single row bearing start making a noise, that's indication that it can grenade any time.
First indication is some play in it.

Mud

^^ this, plus sometimes there's a slight whine or similar noise at initial start up that goes away as the bearing heats up.

I haven't checked MB tensioner or idler pulley bearing numbers but I remember bearing number 6203 fits a surprisingly large number of pulleys across many mfg. On past cars I would pop out the failing bearing and replace it, way less than buying the entire new pulley. I'd get new double seal bearings from McMaster Carr. Would be curious to know what the MB bearing numbers are. Sure, I know new pulleys maybe not that much but I didn't mind taking a few minutes to do the bearing.

kajtek1

Bearing have unified production for generations and MB is buying them from national manufacturer.
Its been long years since I worked in industrial mechanics, but still remember that bearing with double metal shields has ZZ behind numbers indicating size and type. That would be the best for the application.
Somebody made topic about replacing bearing only, but you don't find many bearing places even in big city, so most of the time buying whole idler pulley is just easiest thing to do.
That brings the old joke I made base on real-life situation.
You go to automotive place and ask for "M8x1x30" bolt and the technician will ask "what is your VIN?"
so good luck getting a bearing from them.

KEY08