Wingz123

Looks a billion times better!!! 

So today was a productive day....
We did plan to get more done (clay barring and polishing/waxxing but I think our plans were a bit ambitious! 
Ken pulled up and having just completed a 60 mile trip and the engine nice and hot I set about removing the engine cover and cracking on with the changing of the glow plugs. 4 obviously being a 4 cylinder (C220 CDi 150bhp) the first came out perfectly. Swapped, copper grease and back in. The second and third however just kept on turning. I tried to shock them by tapping the extension that was on the plug but alas it made no difference. The 4th came out perfectly. So of the 4 glow plugs I was only able to swap the rear two. Once done and the engine started the glow plug light disappeared within seconds just as it should do. Previously it was staying on for nearly a minute after the engine was started. The glowplugs that came out were covered in carbon on the tips indicating they were not getting up to temperature properly during the ignition stage. 
Success 1!
Onto job 2......I inspected the brake fluid. It was black and not looking great. I proceeded to go through the system starting at the wheel furthest away etc flushing through fresh dot 4 brake fluid. It was filthy and the fresh fluid going in will certainly improve the feel of the pedal. Ken confirmed pedal now feels great!!
Success 2!
Onto job 3.....with the passenger side front wheel off we started unscrewing the bolts holding the passenger side wing on. For those of you that have followed this thread from the beginning will remember just how rusty both wings were. They really let the car down and Ken had sourced 2x very tidy non rusty replacements in the correct shade of silver. Wheel arch liners and sill cladding had to be removed in order to access the bolts (several of which snapped because RUST!).
You'll be able to see in the pictures that replacing the wings has dramatically improved the appearance. A good mop and polish and this really will be a lovely thing. Ken was pretty impressed with my AutoSmart Tardis which removed some glue residue and tar spots with minimal effort. 




Success 3!
Job 4 was drivers door swap. This was time consuming and required stopping and swapping of loom from door to door and fit, adjust and assess several times to ensure the panels gaps were as they should be and not way off. 

Overall this was a success too...Success 4!..
Took some patience routing the wiring through the rubber insulation as large fingers and small holes do not really go together!
It could do with a little more fettling to get the alignment perfect. It is 95% there - we left it that, we were both very hungry and very tired!
Here are some pictures. As you can see looks way better. 
The only rust now on the car is a tiny bit on the bottom of the passenger door and a bit at the bottom on the rear quarters....hopefully they wont be too difficult to address



And Ken showing my daughter his cats...

Groupon air con voucher used. Aircon is now frosty cold, however, the report said that tge system has nil pressure initially and that might indicate a pin hole leak, so they could not say how long I have the cold for

So today was a productive day....
We did plan to get more done (clay barring and polishing/waxxing but I think our plans were a bit ambitious! 
Ken pulled up and having just completed a 60 mile trip and the engine nice and hot I set about removing the engine cover and cracking on with the changing of the glow plugs. 4 obviously being a 4 cylinder (C220 CDi 150bhp) the first came out perfectly. Swapped, copper grease and back in. The second and third however just kept on turning. I tried to shock them by tapping the extension that was on the plug but alas it made no difference. The 4th came out perfectly. So of the 4 glow plugs I was only able to swap the rear two. Once done and the engine started the glow plug light disappeared within seconds just as it should do. Previously it was staying on for nearly a minute after the engine was started. The glowplugs that came out were covered in carbon on the tips indicating they were not getting up to temperature properly during the ignition stage. 
Success 1!
Onto job 2......I inspected the brake fluid. It was black and not looking great. I proceeded to go through the system starting at the wheel furthest away etc flushing through fresh dot 4 brake fluid. It was filthy and the fresh fluid going in will certainly improve the feel of the pedal. Ken confirmed pedal now feels great!!
Success 2!
Onto job 3.....with the passenger side front wheel off we started unscrewing the bolts holding the passenger side wing on. For those of you that have followed this thread from the beginning will remember just how rusty both wings were. They really let the car down and Ken had sourced 2x very tidy non rusty replacements in the correct shade of silver. Wheel arch liners and sill cladding had to be removed in order to access the bolts (several of which snapped because RUST!).
You'll be able to see in the pictures that replacing the wings has dramatically improved the appearance. A good mop and polish and this really will be a lovely thing. Ken was pretty impressed with my AutoSmart Tardis which removed some glue residue and tar spots with minimal effort. 




Success 3!
Job 4 was drivers door swap. This was time consuming and required stopping and swapping of loom from door to door and fit, adjust and assess several times to ensure the panels gaps were as they should be and not way off. 

Overall this was a success too...Success 4!..
Took some patience routing the wiring through the rubber insulation as large fingers and small holes do not really go together!
It could do with a little more fettling to get the alignment perfect. It is 95% there - we left it that, we were both very hungry and very tired!
Here are some pictures. As you can see looks way better. 
The only rust now on the car is a tiny bit on the bottom of the passenger door and a bit at the bottom on the rear quarters....hopefully they wont be too difficult to address



And Ken showing my daughter his cats...

Oh yeh of course, forgot that! 

I looked at the photos, cleaned my glasses, then looked at the photos again and realised it wasn't my glasses ?

If you ever come to get rid of it please give me first dibs I would be interested.
Thank you,
 
James

Thanks for the piccies mate.
There was a fault code being thrown up on the dash display, a blown bulb in the reg plate light. 
The screws were utter shite but eventually came out, the lenses were filthy and were scrubbed with a toothbrush and dried. New bulbs fitted, I eventually found two after a bit of a search.
Light happiness achieved. 

I like that, because it’s so rare to see a nice stock one.
Please don’t make it ‘individual’, i.e. identical to every other one.

Booked for Monday at the St Albans branch.
Going to get the reg plate bulb shortly.
Will also investigate the SRS fix....
Panels on their way. 

So I gave the Merc a service this morning. 
Engine sits quite far back so after removing one underway the words "Goddddammmn!" Were uttered and a secondary slight further back positioned underway had to come off. All held on with 8km bolts which came undone lovely. Has anyone seen the underneath of one of these?? Everything is covered with plastic covers!! I thought engine bays were bad enough these days!! 
Initial injector inspection was good. No black death here and the injectors were spotless as was the area around them. Ken had ordered new copper o rings and stretch bolts on my recommendation for that inevitable occasion they do go and to do them all but I said to just leave in the glovebox for now. Do not disturb them! 

Oil filter was unscrewed, and the 3x small o rings changed. 

Air filter also changed. Judging by the state of the existing one I'd say it was definitely due a service...what d'you reckon??...

Fuel filter also changed. Funny one these fuel filters.....impossible to gauge how old/long ago they were changed just by looking at them. I marked up the new one with today's date and current mileage.
Old one...

New one once fitted....

Plan oil and filter change every 5k and fuel filter and air filter change every 10k. Simples!
Looked clean inside the filler cap...do love these OM611 engines.....the air filter housings are sat on little rubber bushings! RESPECT for over engineering!!

So in conclusion, after today's service on the car the mpg has improved further, the throttle response too and she is smoother the more miles that are driven. I love this car!! 
Oh and one other thing I forgot to mention was the business of filling her up with fresh oil. I knew these engines to take approx 6.5 litres of oil from back in the day when I had a load of w210 e class' as well as my Sprinter which is fitted with the same engine albeit with a different map. These c Class' being for economy whereas my Sprinter probably for torque/power given the fact that it's a van.
No DIPSTICK bar the one in the driver seat!! 
So a trick way involving a sequence of ignition on/off and holding buttons for varying periods brings up a hidden display on the dash that once the engine is started brings up the quantity of oil in the engine via a live readout....

So there you have it. Already greatly improved mechanically. Beautifully smooth and the sort of car that would sit at 100mph all day long on the cruise control. 

How to check the oil level on your Mercedes without the benefit of having a good ol'fashioned dipstick!
 

So I gave the Merc a service this morning. 
Engine sits quite far back so after removing one underway the words "Goddddammmn!" Were uttered and a secondary slight further back positioned underway had to come off. All held on with 8km bolts which came undone lovely. Has anyone seen the underneath of one of these?? Everything is covered with plastic covers!! I thought engine bays were bad enough these days!! 
Initial injector inspection was good. No black death here and the injectors were spotless as was the area around them. Ken had ordered new copper o rings and stretch bolts on my recommendation for that inevitable occasion they do go and to do them all but I said to just leave in the glovebox for now. Do not disturb them! 

Oil filter was unscrewed, and the 3x small o rings changed. 

Air filter also changed. Judging by the state of the existing one I'd say it was definitely due a service...what d'you reckon??...

Fuel filter also changed. Funny one these fuel filters.....impossible to gauge how old/long ago they were changed just by looking at them. I marked up the new one with today's date and current mileage.
Old one...

New one once fitted....

Plan oil and filter change every 5k and fuel filter and air filter change every 10k. Simples!
Looked clean inside the filler cap...do love these OM611 engines.....the air filter housings are sat on little rubber bushings! RESPECT for over engineering!!

So in conclusion, after today's service on the car the mpg has improved further, the throttle response too and she is smoother the more miles that are driven. I love this car!! 
Oh and one other thing I forgot to mention was the business of filling her up with fresh oil. I knew these engines to take approx 6.5 litres of oil from back in the day when I had a load of w210 e class' as well as my Sprinter which is fitted with the same engine albeit with a different map. These c Class' being for economy whereas my Sprinter probably for torque/power given the fact that it's a van.
No DIPSTICK bar the one in the driver seat!! 
So a trick way involving a sequence of ignition on/off and holding buttons for varying periods brings up a hidden display on the dash that once the engine is started brings up the quantity of oil in the engine via a live readout....

So there you have it. Already greatly improved mechanically. Beautifully smooth and the sort of car that would sit at 100mph all day long on the cruise control. 

Is there anyway you could get the car to Birmingham? I have contacts there that can repair the car at a much reduced price if you were able to.... I imagine with what you mentioned above you would need to leave the car and then return at a later date. 
I'd like to think I am a trusted member on this forum and will always do my best to help others. 

I've been using the 200E a lot lately, this week I've clocked up over 500 miles. Whilst the car has behaved itself, I have been struggling with my phone / sat nav. I previously extended the phone charging cable towards the centre console, between the front seats, where the phone sat charging and providing radio and navigation. Whilst my Kenwood head unit controls the stations (I listen to Absolute Radio via the phone app), the location of the phone has not been ideal whenever I needed to follow directions on the screen. 
I decided to install a phone cradle. I made use of an old cradle I last used in my W219 CLS and a piece of plastic of unknown origin. The idea was to install the cradle without drilling holes in any exposed surfaces.

I marked up the ideal location of the plastic trim by using gaffer tape.

I removed the section of carpet that covers the side of the transmission tunnel (it comes out very easily) and screw fixed the plastic panel to it. Two of the screws are hidden, the other two are not but should I need to remove the phone cradle, I am sure that the thick carpet would fluff up and conceal the location of the two exposed screws.
With the cradle installed, I now have the phone in a near vertical position, where I can easily see the screen but where it won't distract me whilst driving. The installation is entirely reversible and cost me nothing.
 

Absolutely agree! I drove back @HMC as had to be back for my daughters birthday dinner.....sat at 80ish and truth be told for the old 200e that is a bit much. She is working a bit too hard at that speed. As @Peter C says 65/70 is much more peaceful.....you retain your ear drums at those speeds! 
Not the car for blasting up and down autobahns.....bigger engines for that. This is for those who value Mercedes built quality and Mercedes ride comfort....much like myself come to think of it! ?
And on the subject of economy.....I filled up at Taunton Sainsburys, sat at 80-85 and once back home in Reading filled up again only needing £14 to brim it.....I thought that was pretty good - 121 miles door to door for that leg of the trip

So I gave the Merc a service this morning. 
Engine sits quite far back so after removing one underway the words "Goddddammmn!" Were uttered and a secondary slight further back positioned underway had to come off. All held on with 8km bolts which came undone lovely. Has anyone seen the underneath of one of these?? Everything is covered with plastic covers!! I thought engine bays were bad enough these days!! 
Initial injector inspection was good. No black death here and the injectors were spotless as was the area around them. Ken had ordered new copper o rings and stretch bolts on my recommendation for that inevitable occasion they do go and to do them all but I said to just leave in the glovebox for now. Do not disturb them! 

Oil filter was unscrewed, and the 3x small o rings changed. 

Air filter also changed. Judging by the state of the existing one I'd say it was definitely due a service...what d'you reckon??...

Fuel filter also changed. Funny one these fuel filters.....impossible to gauge how old/long ago they were changed just by looking at them. I marked up the new one with today's date and current mileage.
Old one...

New one once fitted....

Plan oil and filter change every 5k and fuel filter and air filter change every 10k. Simples!
Looked clean inside the filler cap...do love these OM611 engines.....the air filter housings are sat on little rubber bushings! RESPECT for over engineering!!

So in conclusion, after today's service on the car the mpg has improved further, the throttle response too and she is smoother the more miles that are driven. I love this car!! 
Oh and one other thing I forgot to mention was the business of filling her up with fresh oil. I knew these engines to take approx 6.5 litres of oil from back in the day when I had a load of w210 e class' as well as my Sprinter which is fitted with the same engine albeit with a different map. These c Class' being for economy whereas my Sprinter probably for torque/power given the fact that it's a van.
No DIPSTICK bar the one in the driver seat!! 
So a trick way involving a sequence of ignition on/off and holding buttons for varying periods brings up a hidden display on the dash that once the engine is started brings up the quantity of oil in the engine via a live readout....

So there you have it. Already greatly improved mechanically. Beautifully smooth and the sort of car that would sit at 100mph all day long on the cruise control. 

She tracks straight as an arrow. No wheel wobble, shaking or vibrations of any sort through the car. It is that that really makes the journey a lot less tiresome.
2.5k at 80 = late 50's to the gallon achievable. I got 58.8mpg in an e220 cdi going to Spain fully laden before.....
Have a quick flick ....
 

Yes air compressors normally shut off to protect the compressor when the gas is low as the gas helps push the oil around the system. In other words dont expect to hear the clutch clicking in and out with little gas in the system although in my corolla verso, the type of compressor used is clutch less and relies on a solonoid instead.
Hopefully all will be well on Tuesday at 9am and she'll be good as gold for my trip to Spain in 3 weeks ?

So I gave the Merc a service this morning. 
Engine sits quite far back so after removing one underway the words "Goddddammmn!" Were uttered and a secondary slight further back positioned underway had to come off. All held on with 8km bolts which came undone lovely. Has anyone seen the underneath of one of these?? Everything is covered with plastic covers!! I thought engine bays were bad enough these days!! 
Initial injector inspection was good. No black death here and the injectors were spotless as was the area around them. Ken had ordered new copper o rings and stretch bolts on my recommendation for that inevitable occasion they do go and to do them all but I said to just leave in the glovebox for now. Do not disturb them! 

Oil filter was unscrewed, and the 3x small o rings changed. 

Air filter also changed. Judging by the state of the existing one I'd say it was definitely due a service...what d'you reckon??...

Fuel filter also changed. Funny one these fuel filters.....impossible to gauge how old/long ago they were changed just by looking at them. I marked up the new one with today's date and current mileage.
Old one...

New one once fitted....

Plan oil and filter change every 5k and fuel filter and air filter change every 10k. Simples!
Looked clean inside the filler cap...do love these OM611 engines.....the air filter housings are sat on little rubber bushings! RESPECT for over engineering!!

So in conclusion, after today's service on the car the mpg has improved further, the throttle response too and she is smoother the more miles that are driven. I love this car!! 
Oh and one other thing I forgot to mention was the business of filling her up with fresh oil. I knew these engines to take approx 6.5 litres of oil from back in the day when I had a load of w210 e class' as well as my Sprinter which is fitted with the same engine albeit with a different map. These c Class' being for economy whereas my Sprinter probably for torque/power given the fact that it's a van.
No DIPSTICK bar the one in the driver seat!! 
So a trick way involving a sequence of ignition on/off and holding buttons for varying periods brings up a hidden display on the dash that once the engine is started brings up the quantity of oil in the engine via a live readout....

So there you have it. Already greatly improved mechanically. Beautifully smooth and the sort of car that would sit at 100mph all day long on the cruise control. 

@95 quid Peugeot and I have also taken advantage of this deal. I took my Corolla Verso down the other day and after approx 45 mins the guy came back out and said I can't get it to blow cold. It must be your compressor. 
Various tests done, new (to me) compressor fitted and am booked back in for 9am on Tuesday. Good gang down there at the Reading one. Wonder how much they'll charge me to just balance the two front tyres quick.....
Havent redeemed my groupon voucher yet either so only paying the once. That was good of them I thought.

1.3 automatic. By the time you get home the lockdown will have been completely lifted.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202005069204619
200 quid Corsa that's "still drivibul". 
God bless the Queen's English we teach these days.

I can upload some of the videos I sent Ken although they sound like I'm waffling on talking jibberish having slept about 2 hours in 48 hrs.....