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Serpentine belt, pulley + tensioner job

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Old Feb 13, 2024 | 01:43 PM
  #1  
audio_engr's Avatar
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Serpentine belt, pulley + tensioner job

My MB dealership upon inspection tells me : Inspected Serpentine belt and tensioner. Found that the belt is walking out from the tensioner. Recommend to replace Serpentine belt, pulley and belt tensioner.
Its a 2018 W213 E43 with 62k miles.
What are your thoughts ?
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Old Feb 13, 2024 | 02:20 PM
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can't comment about the price as I am in Canada. I also did the belt change at 60,000 miles (100,000km) when I had the RMS done. It was changed on my choosing as the car is nearly 6 yrs old and I felt it is time for preventive manintenance.
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Old Feb 13, 2024 | 02:31 PM
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The labor cost seems insane.
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Old Feb 13, 2024 | 03:17 PM
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Originally Posted by audio_engr
The labor cost seems insane.
I say so too. If in doubt, always get a couple of more quotes from dealers and indy shops.
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Old Feb 13, 2024 | 03:35 PM
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Unfortunately, most MB dealers will milk whatever they can get out of owners. If it were me, I'd get it done at an independent shop.

Just as one example, they want to charge you $366.55 for the identical part you can get yourself for $205.70.

https://www.mercedespartscenter.com/...ner-2762000370


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Old Feb 13, 2024 | 04:57 PM
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That will be around here, and you can round it up to $1000 assuming my Indy is a bit more expensive.

Around your area, just guessing your zip code





Summary: get another quote, and start looking for an independent that does not see you as a cow to be milked.

Last edited by JCM_MB; Feb 13, 2024 at 05:01 PM.
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Old Feb 14, 2024 | 09:46 AM
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Originally Posted by bobblehead
can't comment about the price as I am in Canada. I also did the belt change at 60,000 miles (100,000km) when I had the RMS done. It was changed on my choosing as the car is nearly 6 yrs old and I felt it is time for preventive manintenance.
good call! wish I'd had that done as well when they were doing the RMS repair . . .
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Old Feb 14, 2024 | 09:52 AM
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short term pain (as they already had the tranny & engine pulled out). I did not want to do this extensive (time consuming) fixes ever again.
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Old Feb 26, 2024 | 09:26 PM
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Originally Posted by audio_engr
The labor cost seems insane.
I had mine replaced at 47K miles when the dealer was replacing the oil separators. This was per recommendation by the technician to save on labor cost. Since the engine bay was already taken apart to get to the oil separators he said you might as well do the belts and tensioners now. Doing it later would be almost $2K in labor because he would have to tear down the engine bay again almost to the same point.

I couldn't believe the labor cost either until I went to the shop and saw for myself what they were talking about.

Here is how much the tech had to remove to get to the oil separators:




Here is where the belts and tensioners are buried:




So yes, the labor cost is high but they can justify it after seeing what they have to do (just wished they were more reasonable on the rates but that is typical dealer markup). An indy shop can do it cheaper but I wanted the peace of mind by having an AMG certified tech perform the work.
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Old Feb 27, 2024 | 01:26 PM
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Originally Posted by AMGfan18
I had mine replaced at 47K miles when the dealer was replacing the oil separators. This was per recommendation by the technician to save on labor cost. Since the engine bay was already taken apart to get to the oil separators he said you might as well do the belts and tensioners now. Doing it later would be almost $2K in labor because he would have to tear down the engine bay again almost to the same point.

I couldn't believe the labor cost either until I went to the shop and saw for myself what they were talking about.

Here is how much the tech had to remove to get to the oil separators:




Here is where the belts and tensioners are buried:




So yes, the labor cost is high but they can justify it after seeing what they have to do (just wished they were more reasonable on the rates but that is typical dealer markup). An indy shop can do it cheaper but I wanted the peace of mind by having an AMG certified tech perform the work.
What AMG dealership did you go to to have your oil separators replaced at? What did they charge you to replace the oil separators? Im wondering because I had my RMS done but still on original separators, thinking about getting separators replaced to avoid rms failure again
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Old Feb 27, 2024 | 08:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Rover338
What AMG dealership did you go to to have your oil separators replaced at? What did they charge you to replace the oil separators? Im wondering because I had my RMS done but still on original separators, thinking about getting separators replaced to avoid rms failure again
I used Fields MB in Lakeland, FL. Don't have a price just for the separators since the repair ended up being replacing the thermostat, both belts and tensioners, both separators, and all associated seals. Total w/tax was a bit over $5500 (parts-$2176, labor-$2966). The oil separators were the primary goal but since the tech was in there he recommended replacing the other parts to save in the long run.

Got the dreaded RMS leak repaired 5 months prior and worked fine until the separators started making a venting noise. Hopefully now with both separators and RMS replaced that will avoid a future failure. Not sure how true this is but the tech said the new parts are updated so if there was a design flaw on the originals it won't apply again.
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Old Feb 27, 2024 | 11:18 PM
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Originally Posted by AMGfan18
I used Fields MB in Lakeland, FL. Don't have a price just for the separators since the repair ended up being replacing the thermostat, both belts and tensioners, both separators, and all associated seals. Total w/tax was a bit over $5500 (parts-$2176, labor-$2966). The oil separators were the primary goal but since the tech was in there he recommended replacing the other parts to save in the long run.

Got the dreaded RMS leak repaired 5 months prior and worked fine until the separators started making a venting noise. Hopefully now with both separators and RMS replaced that will avoid a future failure. Not sure how true this is but the tech said the new parts are updated so if there was a design flaw on the originals it won't apply again.
I believe there was a change, to what extent, I have no idea. For what it's worth, I called my dealer and spoke to the parts department. They said there were multiple iterations of part numbers for the separators which usually (not always) indicates some sort of change in design. Hopefully you have a lot of issue free miles ahead of you after those repairs!
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Old Feb 28, 2024 | 08:17 AM
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Ok thank you for providing the cost. Fingers crossed the tech is telling the truth and the new separators are updated and prevent future RMS failure again. That is somewhat comforting hearing from two different users here that there supposedly was an update on the separators.
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Old Mar 2, 2024 | 11:49 AM
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Just a quick update to my serpentine belt + pulleys issue. I had the work covered under CPO warranty hence only paid for the belt thats not covered under warranty.
My E43 is now at 65k miles and am wondering if the Oil separators issue is a problem that exists on these type of engines ?
Your thoughts ?
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