🔩 Gates 38319 Automatic Belt Drive Tensioner with DriveAlign Technology Review

Used a cheaper version from another manufacturer for about 6 months and there was noticeable wobbling. This one is much better and works great in my 2008 C300 4-matic. Very easy installation, instructions can be found on the Pelican Parts website or You Tube. It's pretty easy.

I finally installed this tensioner when the last belt was chewed up. The old weak tensioner allowed the belt to move from side to side and therefore slipped out of the grooves and broke. More than a month has passed since the reinstallation, and everything is fine: no page movements and no grinding. The price was good and the quality is A+

This is the EXACT tensioner used by Mercedes Benz in my 2007 ML350. The part number is the same but the original MB part also had an MB part number on the back. AutohausAZ sells it in an Ina box for almost $100. Just buy a gate. It's cheaper, exact part and perfect fit. Gates now manufactures these parts in Turkey. This is a global economy and no one should care. Order the matching Gates belt now. And don't forget the idler pulleys. There are two in my car.

tensioner looked like new and was 'good', who knows why it was 'used'? Oh, and of course it was significantly "cheaper". An exact replacement for my old one which was noisy. advice to you all. Listen to all the pulleys and elements driven by the belts to find out what's good and what's bad with a simple, inexpensive stethoscope! Thank you Revain and all your suppliers for good products and great prices! Watch the video on YouTube for helpful tips on replacing this part!

Swapped for my 2012 C300 and fits perfectly. When I removed my OEM original it was also marked "Gates". So my guess is that Gates is an OEM and a direct (read: cheaper) replacement without the Merc markup. With some mechanical experience it took me about 2 hours (remove the old one and install the new one). You should probably change the belt as well, I got the Gates version here on Amazon and it worked great. Also, there is a great YouTube video (search QY4Gp11G5tI) documenting the exchange…

Rib belt is tight enough. This is easy enough to check. Take a spray bottle of water and spray it on the squeaky belt while the engine is running. If the squeaking disappears temporarily, then there is belt slack, ie you need a new belt tensioner. The belt on my E350 has been creaking for two years (the belt itself was changed two years ago). Before knowing about the above test, I replaced the smooth and knurled idlers one at a time to no avail. Then I learned this test, took it, and realized I