[Alex 3]

Ok, he responded and said only belt and power steering fluid will do. I kind of trust him, when he works I see him pretty confident. Plus to be honest, SLK 350 is more of a fun car for me, I am not too worried if something goes wrong. He will keep fixing it🙂. He changed O2 sensor for this.
Also the dealership isn’t that good either. The other day I paid $1,300 for B3 Service on my Mercedes GL. The following day i was going to Montreal and suddenly it said check additive for adblue, next message remaining starts 10. Can you believe it? It’s Sunday, nothing was open. I ended up coming back without going to many places. When i came home, I had 5 starts remaining. Now going to drop this thing off to the dealership again on the back home from office. For MB, you can’t trust anyone, not even freaking dealership. Thanks

Change dealerships and go to CS in Toronto and report this.

 

[MNK3240]

Change dealerships and go to CS in Toronto and report this.

actually, should. As mentioned, dropped off the car in the afternoon and the service advisor says to diagnose this thing, they will charge $159 plus tax and go from there, lol. I was going to say just day before you did B service that included topping up Adblue, now it says check additive adblue, why should I pay $159 plus tax to start with, did not say anything, just tired! Star Motors in Ottawa is the best MB dealership and for services but they’re like dentists. Once you go there, you keep going, lol. Worse, before they ised to provide loaner, now nothing. Don’t know why they get each year awards for customer service unless all fake news🙂.

 

[Turbo]

Any mechanic worth their salt knows (should know!) that you always change the pully with the belt! Also, why cheap out if it's only a tenner or two?!

 

[MNK3240]

Any mechanic worth their salt knows (should know!) that you always change the pully with the belt! Also, why cheap out if it's only a tenner or two?!

I watched a few engine belt noise related videos and found the following chrisfix video is most useful. He explains how to identify where the noise coming from and check if the pulleys (like Idler, tensioner, alternator or power steering) are okay. I watched this video before my mechanic was checking the noise. So I asked him to look into these things like whether belt is running straight and other things (incl. using water spray method). He said everything was okay, just belt was the issue. The only thing i forgot to ask to see shaking by hand if Idler pulley is wobbly. I watched the video again and now i remember everything.
Anyway, I will ask him to check idler pulley while installing belt. Not sure if i should buy an idler pulley regardless beforehand. The only thing he said not to buy, so buying could be a little awkward.

 

[Turbo]

I'm sure it's fine now, but the tensioner does take quite a beating and isn't designed to last forever. It's only designed to last the same as the belt. Or is it every second belt change? Different cars, different engines, different replace schedule..

This is even worse if everyone before you have made the same decision - only do the belt. Likely the tensioner have NEVER been replaced, in which case it might be just as bad as mine. The belt and tensioner all looked fine, but I decided to do them both anyway, because the service history is a bit sketchy in places.

And as I said earlier, it was absolute luck that I did both, because the tensioner was in horrible state! Behind, on the other side of the wheel, the pretty exterior, was a bearing that was on it's last few miles. Worked fine, but it wouldn't have "been fine" for much longer..

But it's your car, your money, your time, your mechanic, your YouTube watching skills, so who am I to argue.

 

[MNK3240]

I'm sure it's fine now, but the tensioner does take quite a beating and isn't designed to last forever. It's only designed to last the same as the belt. Or is it every second belt change? Different cars, different engines, different replace schedule..

This is even worse if everyone before you have made the same decision - only do the belt. Likely the tensioner have NEVER been replaced, in which case it might be just as bad as mine. The belt and tensioner all looked fine, but I decided to do them both anyway, because the service history is a bit sketchy in places.

And as I said earlier, it was absolute luck that I did both, because the tensioner was in horrible state! Behind, on the other side of the wheel, the pretty exterior, was a bearing that was on it's last few miles. Worked fine, but it wouldn't have "been fine" for much longer..

But it's your car, your money, your time, your mechanic, your YouTube watching skills, so who am I to argue.

All good man, thanks for your concerns. I am ready to change/replace but difference between you and me is that probably, you can do it yourself, so you decide what you want to do. For me I can’t do these things, so dependent on others. Everytime I tried to advise other professionals too much, they ran away🙂. Once I tried with my outdoor driveway interlock guy, then a painter guy painting my garage door, they both somehow finished the job and never came back. Now don’t want to lose this mechanic. Hope you see the point, lol. Imagine if we keep asking doctors to do things or prescribe🙂.

 

[Windinmyhair]

All good man, thanks for your concerns. I am ready to change/replace but difference between you and me is that probably, you can do it yourself, so you decide what you want to do. For me I can’t do these things, so dependent on others. Everytime I tried to advise other professionals too much, they ran away🙂. Once I tried with my outdoor driveway interlock guy, then a painter guy painting my garage door, they both somehow finished the job and never came back. Now don’t want to lose this mechanic. Hope you see the point, lol. Imagine if we keep asking doctors to do things or prescribe🙂.

An oldie but pertinent:

 

[MNK3240]

I changed my belt this winter, just because. It looked fine both belt and tensioner, but wanted it done just to be sure everything is in good nick. It was only £106 from Autodoc for belt and tensioner, so not to much to argue about.

Lucky I did, because the tensioner was on its last few miles! It would NOT have survived much longer!

Question: You seem to be good at these things. Often i buy all the parts from dealership and everything is super expensiv. Wanted to buy power steering pump $1,100,engine belt $96, tensioner $200. Then i pay about $200 to mechanic per visit. So you can see, it’s not cheap for me. Your prices are relatively cheaper. Question do you prefer buy things after market or they’re cheaper in MB UK? THANKS

 

[Turbo]

This is the million dollar question, isn't it?! What is original, OEM/after market or third-party and why does it matter?

FOR ME (!!!), spending four, ten times as much on original parts, on a car that's ten, fifteen, twenty years old is a complete waste of money! You're putting brand new, very expensive parts on a car/engine that's old (as in, together with parts that's very old and "well used").. It will do absolutely nothing for either the value of the car, or its performance!

Also something to consider, that there is really no such thing as "OEM" any more. Or at least, it doesn't mean what it once did.. ALL manufacturers buy their parts from other companies.. MB isn't making bushings, bearings, belts etc! They buy them from someone else..

So FOR ME, I'd much rather buy quality third-party parts. Because that allows me to by MORE parts, to do things that I don't HAVE to do, just WANT to do . And yes, I can do most if not all myself (with help from professionals when and where needed) to save even more money and "fix it up" even more.


For example, let's take your current predicament as an example: You need/should/must (?) change the belt. But you decide not to change the tensioner.. That tensioner have potentially never been changed. Ever. I don't know how much/far your car have gone, but mine have now gone a smidge over 80k miles.. That means, that even if I've changed the belt with a brand new original MB stamped one, bought from MB directly..

Consider what that belt do and what part it "contacts".. There's a tensioner that's over ten years old, there's an alternator, A/C pump and a steering wheel pump. And the tensioner of course. All those have a small wheel on them, which have a small bearing in them.. All this is over twelve years old (in mine - your parts are even older!). Now, why would an original MB belt (that might cost two, three times as much) here be any better than a (good!) third-party?

Among the third-party manufacturers, there are a few that stands out and isn't super-cheap like the ones that's ... "just cheap". It's finding those good manufacturers that can be a bit tricky . It becomes even tricker when you consider that a good manufacturer of belts (and tensioners), might not be good at making (suspension) bushings. And vise versa..

I'm fairly certain that MB isn't giving you a GUARANTEE about your parts. All they're saying is that this part fits your car and we recommend it because it USED to be what we would put in there.. But is that true fifteen, twenty years later?? I personally doubt it. They're not re-evaluating every single part they ever used in any of their cars every year..

Some of these third-party manufacturers are even making parts and sell them to MB, where MB then just stamps their logo on them making them "original". Exactly the same part, but with or with out the MB logo.. You tell me, which of those parts are "better"?

I guess the real question is, "what is quality". And in some sense, "how do you recognise/find quality"?


Not everyone agrees with me on this, and that's fine. It's their money.


PS. Obviously there's an age limit, a "line in the sand" there somewhere, where you stop using original parts and when you (can) start using third-party. I just never had anything this new before, so no idea WHERE that line is .

 

[MNK3240]

This is the million dollar question, isn't it?! What is original, OEM/after market or third-party and why does it matter?

FOR ME (!!!), spending four, ten times as much on original parts, on a car that's ten, fifteen, twenty years old is a complete waste of money! You're putting brand new, very expensive parts on a car/engine that's old (as in, together with parts that's very old and "well used").. It will do absolutely nothing for either the value of the car, or its performance!

Also something to consider, that there is really no such thing as "OEM" any more. Or at least, it doesn't mean what it once did.. ALL manufacturers buy their parts from other companies.. MB isn't making bushings, bearings, belts etc! They buy them from someone else..

So FOR ME, I'd much rather buy quality third-party parts. Because that allows me to by MORE parts, to do things that I don't HAVE to do, just WANT to do . And yes, I can do most if not all myself (with help from professionals when and where needed) to save even more money and "fix it up" even more.


For example, let's take your current predicament as an example: You need/should/must (?) change the belt. But you decide not to change the tensioner.. That tensioner have potentially never been changed. Ever. I don't know how much/far your car have gone, but mine have now gone a smidge over 80k miles.. That means, that even if I've changed the belt with a brand new original MB stamped one, bought from MB directly..

Consider what that belt do and what part it "contacts".. There's a tensioner that's over ten years old, there's an alternator, A/C pump and a steering wheel pump. And the tensioner of course. All those have a small wheel on them, which have a small bearing in them.. All this is over twelve years old (in mine - your parts are even older!). Now, why would an original MB belt (that might cost two, three times as much) here be any better than a (good!) third-party?

Among the third-party manufacturers, there are a few that stands out and isn't super-cheap like the ones that's ... "just cheap". It's finding those good manufacturers that can be a bit tricky . It becomes even tricker when you consider that a good manufacturer of belts (and tensioners), might not be good at making (suspension) bushings. And vise versa..

I'm fairly certain that MB isn't giving you a GUARANTEE about your parts. All they're saying is that this part fits your car and we recommend it because it USED to be what we would put in there.. But is that true fifteen, twenty years later?? I personally doubt it. They're not re-evaluating every single part they ever used in any of their cars every year..

Some of these third-party manufacturers are even making parts and sell them to MB, where MB then just stamps their logo on them making them "original". Exactly the same part, but with or with out the MB logo.. You tell me, which of those parts are "better"?

I guess the real question is, "what is quality". And in some sense, "how do you recognise/find quality"?


Not everyone agrees with me on this, and that's fine. It's their money.


PS. Obviously there's an age limit, a "line in the sand" there somewhere, where you stop using original parts and when you (can) start using third-party. I just never had anything this new before, so no idea WHERE that line is .

2006 SLK 350 Automatic - 63k KM or 39k miles
Nicely done. Agree with you 100%. This makes me feel good that there are others that think like me at least treating this car. As I mentioned before, this is a fun car for me, just want to keep it in running condition and looking great.

I must admit that the car looks beautiful and driving is so much fun!

 

[MNK3240]

Little update on engine belt and power steering pump replacement:
My favorite mechanic came today and replaced power steering pump and engine belt. It was pretty hard/tricky job particularly, power steering pump replacement but he managed to get it done. Seems after replacing engine belt, the hissing noise is gone. After replacing power steering pump, the steering noise from turning left to right or right to left is gone and best of all, seems my steering wheel has become a little softer, not as stiff as before unless i am just imagining🙂 but will know more once i drive more. As for pulleys, while he was working, i checked myself they seemed to be quite solid, not wobbly or something and asked him if they’re okay, he said all good. @Turbo: You’re right all those pulleys are quite cheap in Amazon. This time did not want to offend my mechanic, so did not buy. I love watching him working on my driveway. So far he is nice. If I advise him too much, sure he won’t come anymore.

overall, very happy getting these things done. Next mission is to replace the head unit, going to order one that everyone helped to select. Thanks