Mercedes Benz E-Class W124 (1985 - 2000) - 92 2.6 rotor arm follower

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Sun 25 Jan 2009 23:04
92 2.6 rotor arm follower - bdsteve
The rotor arm follower on my Merc 260E, (metal cylinder connecting rotor arm to end of Cam Shaft, inside distributor), sheared recently after about 108k miles. I replaced this and now again I have the same problem (@ 111k miles), and am disabled. Before I buy another follower/connector and suffer the same fate again, has anyone any experience of this issue ? Also, since its happened twice, can anyone suggest what is likely to be causing this ?? Cost of the item is not an issue, but my confidence in the reliability of my car has dived ...... I have had it 13+ years with no problems until now.
Thanks "bdsteve"

Edited by Pugugly on 26/01/2009 at 19:10

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Mon 26 Jan 2009 09:17
92 2.6 Rotor Arm follower - Roger Jones
If no-one pops up here, you're likely to find people who have experienced the same problem on one of these sites:

USA
www.benzworld.org/
mbca.cartama.net/
www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/index.php
www.mercedesforum.com/
forums.mbworld.org/forums/

UK
forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/
www.mbclub.co.uk/
www.mercedes-benz-club.co.uk/public/home.htm
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Mon 26 Jan 2009 09:29
92 2.6 Rotor Arm follower - jc2
It does sound as tho' something is distorted inside-if as you say,cost is not an issue-why not replace the whole distributor??
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Mon 26 Jan 2009 11:31
92 2.6 Rotor Arm follower - Number_Cruncher
If this is an M103 engine, then, it isn't a distributor as such - the rotor arm extension shaft bolts directly onto the camshaft timing chainwheel. All there is on the shaft is the rotor arm - there is no advance mechanism or any bearings on the shaft.

Without seeing how the shaft has been fractured, it's difficult to say what happened. I would check;

- that the camshaft is well located fore/aft, i.e. its thrust bearing is correctly retaining the shaft. IIRC, once the timing chainwheel is loose, the camshaft can move about a bit.

- that the timing chain is not loose. A quick check is to rotate the engine until the camshaft is aligned, and then check to see how far beyond the timing mark the crankshaft sits. If it's more than 2 or 3 degrees, it's time for a new chain. Is the timing chain tensioner working properly?

- that the engine is not misfiring

- that the extension shaft, when bolted onto the camshaft is rotating true, i.e., that the assembly is balanced.

The 2nd and 3rd points are to make sure that the shaft is not subject to extreme angular accelerations - if this is the case, be thankful that the cam hasn't snapped!



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