Mugwump's flying without wings - E320 CDI, ATF migration.

[Bear]

I do oil changes from above, but yeah, I will be checking underneath. The springs were replaced in the past couple of years apparently, the perches look okay* but I will check properly when I have wheels off. Replacement panels are only a small part of the story if they are going to let go - I can't weld and don't have confidence that 'any local garage' is going to do the job correctly, having been ripped off way too many times in the past. Learning to weld is on the cards, though!

[JohnDeere]

Cor, 6310i - very posh! Bluetooth and WAP!

 

Probably the best phone ever.  Still sought after by people who want a phone, rather than a computer.  I had one that I dropped down the loo.  It spent a night in the airing cupboard and then worked again perfectly.  When I passed it on to a colleague, I forgot* to mention where it had been...

[Bear]

Yep, I skipped them - went 9000-9110i-9210i-N70-someIforget-E90 with a few diversions into HTC/Toshiba. I still have a 9500 and N900. Back when they came out you could swap a 6310i for a decent banger...

[Bear]

Big Mercedes tells little Mercedes to fuck off out of the garage so I can get the car on level ground for oil-checking.

 

(I like to imagine that this is just the start of a clown-car parade of Mercedes escaping the shed, and at some point a red W113 will join in that I didn't know I owned).

 

Well, oil & filter change done - got the beast nice and warm driving to collect two gallons* of Millers Trident fully-synth 5W40 of the right spec (man, that stuff is cheap for fully synth - £44 for the two IIRC), set the vacuum pump off whilst getting the Laser 76/14 socket and spinning off the filter cover. All very good - filter was not manky, air filter was equally in decent shape (but now the car has genuine MB ones. Is it bad that I want to flatten the boxes and put them in the history folder? Too late for the oil one though, I put the old filter insert in).

 

E-classes, old and older. Pleased that the W210 also has an "open wide!" setting. Must get the 300CE back to being roadworthy.

 

Looks like I am missing part of the undertray. I can see ground around the front end. Also the fan shroud, which is held on with clips and wedge-shaped teeth between the shroud and mount, had been pushed down and ground off on the AC pump. AC pump is working fine, but I bet that made a racket for a while; realigned it and here's the odd thing - the temp, always sat constant, was always a couple of degrees over the midpoint of 80 on the gauge.

 

I am a fussy bastard and use a torque wrench for the filter housing.

 

After I put the shroud where it belonged, the temp sat bang on 80 even when left idling for ages. Also all the fans are working.

 

Mild diagnostic socket confusion. It has what looks like the 38-pin but smaller in the fusebox, and despite it being a Dec 2001 build I can't find the OBD-II socket. To Google!

 

 

[Bear]

And a dilemma.

 

I took the plate off my 300C, and now I am not sure what to do with it. I was going to put it on the SLK.

 

 

But the E320's number plate looks shit. I think this makes it look a lot neater.

 

 

Really can't decide. I'd be less hesitant if the E320 were tidier, but equally if the E320 had a plate like AN51 ASC or something - just, better typography damnit - I wouldn't care.

 

Wonder if W210 RTK (or R170 RTK) is out there...

[Ghosty]

DVLA has W21 ORT for £399 and R17 OTK for £250...

'plate looks nicer on the E320 I think.

[Bear]

Heh, close, but I won't mis-space them. It'd have to be W21 ORK or R17 ORK and I'd worry people might think I was into Warcraft or LARP or Hobbits.

[the judge]

On the 320 thankuplease. Warming to the yellow on an slk now. *opens ebay app,moves out of swmbos spying range onto chair*

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Don't fold up the boxes of your service parts and put them in the history, that would mark you out as a mental old giffer type.

[Bear]

My car has beige seats and an automatic gearbox. It has one of those plastic things on the boot floor, and a detachable towball in a black plastic bag in the spare wheel.

 

I don't think the folded boxes would really be the clincher there.

 

On the 320 thankuplease. Warming to the yellow on an slk now. *opens ebay app,moves out of swmbos spying range onto chair*

 

I nearly bought another one - T-plater, looked likely to go for £600annabit because it was a non runner, no MOT etc. - I had an 85% surety that the non-running was either the relay pack or a transistor on the ECU. In the end it went for £900 but the winner had 2 feedback, new account, etc. so I am waiting to see if it's relisted. Yellow is the best colour for them, though they look good in red or green too. Just not "yet more bloody silver".

[Bear]

Remember the old "What's your's called?" adverts for the Renault 5?

 

Most of my cars are named with SciFi themes, unless something else strikes as appropriate. The arrival of the E320 naturally sparked a new set of thoughts for names, until the obvious one jumped out.

 

As such, the large craft is now called Cygnus.

 

The others are, or have been:

SLK - Serenity

500SL - Maximillian

(Lawn tractors at the time - VINCENT and the vandalised one, BOB)
'02 Voyager was Ilia

The short-lived W-reg Wookie for the WxxxOKY number on it.

D-reg Transit Camper, Starbug

 

and loads of others. Naturally the big XM was Millennium Falcon, and I think I mentioned elsewhere the Chrysler is called Marvin.

 

Does anyone else name their cars, and actually think about the names for a while and see what fits? Really hope so. Hate to think I was in some way crazy.

[dome]

I called my Fiat Strada Dick Turpin because everywhere it went it held people up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you Douglas Adams...

[Noel Tidybeard]

honda is either Dippy after the registration BV07DPY

the renner is Reg after- Régie Nationale des Usines Renault

the sunnay is variously known as AL cos the reg is G502ALH or bangladeshi car (by step daughter) cos its an old nissan and round here they normally driven by brown man innit

[Bear]

And now, I can use the phone! It's like being a busy executive in 2002!

 

 

This phone isn't actually the one in use - nerds will notice the later firmware carrier ID with Vodafone UK and lower case. This handset, one of the pair from Ben (thankyou!) was unlocked with a good battery, but wouldn't charge for some reason yet to be determined.

 

So the other handset is now unlocked, charges fine on charger or car, and displays VODAFONE in capitals! It also seems to have a better loundspeaker in it.

 

Either way, I got to see COMAND working for the phone.

 

 

And the dash display!

 

 

It works very well - phone book accessed via steering wheel keys, nice clear SMS display on the head unit, easy navigation, and good signal as you'd expect from these old, unkillable phones.

 

Tempted to strip down the non-charging one and spray the shell the same green metallic as the car, but I probably wont.

[nacho man]

There is just something MEGA about them old nokia's I used to love them, especially the little 8200 which was the phone to have when I was 16 or so.

[Bear]

Popping out to visit Marvin, so stickered the E320 accordingly. The spacing annoys me now, oh well.

 

 

'Thanks' to my friend's eyes for words and the cropping of the plate, the car also now has a new name.

 

Mugwump.

[Bear]

Mugwump has managed two disgraces now. Excusable was having a flat battery when getting back from Portland, as he'd been sat in a Heathrow carpark for a month.

 

Less excusable - today's excursion to get a "welsh dresser" (or, a bloody great big pine thing for the empty wall in the kitchen) revealed, after some tedious ambling around Orpington roads, a flare on 2-3, occasional sharp shift, and a faint whining sound that could be heard IN the car, but not when listening to/revving the engine. "Oh bother".

Being a W210, being a Merc with a 722.6 box, there's generally a good culprit for odd gearbox behaviour - the electrical connector. Sure enough, I get home, pop the car in the garage and plug in the diagnostics - no new codes, just low voltage ones (I hadn't reset from Heathrow). Pop open the ECU box, and "Hello. Why is my EGS ECU looking moist, and shiny."

 

Can you tell what it is yet?

Yep. ATF, up the wiring loom and into the ECU. Which is SO full of it, I tipped it up and it poured out.

 

Hopefully the whining was just a slightly low ATF level, as everything else seemed okay. This means I am left with one working car...

[Bear]

Right, Mugwump got some attention!

 

First, the EGS (gearbox) ECU. Tipped on the end so the ATF ran out - quite a lot of it, for a small module. Cleaned the board and connectors, reinstalled it. Checked codes, no new codes.

 

Whilst doing that, the disarray of all the plastic parts below the windscreen, "replaced" by a windscreen fitter I guess judging by the RAC logo on the glass. The flat part that goes around the wiper arm had a half-inch gap, nothing was clipped in correctly. Stripped it all apart (dislodged all the grub to rinse out), cleaned, reassembled - and put it all back together correctly. The rubber seal for the wiper now sits flush and centred. The wiper motor cover is the most annoying bit, the lower part is really flexible and meant to slot into an overlap on the top. Trying to push it all together, it just moves away - the solution is to line up the slot, slide it to the centre, then push to clip.

 

The windscreen seals are perished. Time for the I <3 Mercedes fanboy rant.

How much is a new windscreen seal? Unlike the SLK's part, which is a rubber extrusion and costs a fiver. the W210 is a solid bit of plastic with a bonded rubber edge. Last thing I had like that was the Chrysler Voyager - £141.

Threw the part number at MB parts online - £11 and some pennies.

 

Also fixed the rear washer - hose was detached in the back.

 

Jobs remaining: Fix the LCDs on the dash (which started displaying more today, but not enough and the bulbs need doing anyway - touch sensitive illumination), double-check the pin bushing on the gearbox (ordering one anyway), rear subframe bushes (both of those need some means of getting under the beast), and the scary bit:

Rear bumper off to check for rust.

[Bear]

Forgot to mention - the MPG claims I've seen for these...

 

On the run to Heathrow, without dawdling but naturally stuck with M1/M25 traffic and roadwork limitations: 50.1mpg.

 

Current typical average, which is including a run to Scotland (where I naturally kept it trotting along at a good pace on familiar roads) and a run down south: 43mpg.

 

That'll do pig. That'll do.

[Pete-M]

50 mpg? Mine won't get anywhere near that! 39 is the best I've ever seen.

[cort1977]

I tried fixing the LEDs in my dash with some ribbons from a helpful bloke in Scotland.   Got one side working, unhelpfully it was the temperature side not the clock.   It's a bit fiddly and i think i messed up taping one of the ribbons in place.   By the time i got it all together I had the hump with the whole job so am just living with it.

 

Also, mileage on my petrol V6 one is currently about 22 UK MPG so I iz well jel.

[tooSavvy]

Ahh! Custom Plates.....

 

Dividing opinions on here would seem.

 

No£ to spray about, personally - BUT - if one fell from the sky, I would motor between B16 RTA .. if only to placate the gods of chance

 

TS

[Bear]

50mpg, I should grab the picture I took!

 

 

Most guides say leave the ribbons, but shove a spacer in to force them down. That's what I did on Jen's Saab SID display, and it's worked really well - one line that seemed stubborn has come back over time, as well, I guess it all had to bed in. I'll try that before ribbon replacement.

[Bear]

Did cleaning the ECU fix the problem... Not exactly.

 

If by fix, you mean "have absolutely sod all effect", then you'd be close. First chance to drive since the first issue, got to Lutterworth roundabout and when pulling away there was a noise like the rear subframe rattling, thudthudthudthud. Then the transmission flare, as making way on slip road to M1. Then just not much speed. Finally, it seemed to go into limp home mode.

 

 

Oh well.

 

Lessee what the computer has to say.

 

 

P2600 - voltage too low. Well, that's probably because I unplugged the module. Duh.

 

P2502 - Implausible Gear or Transmission Slip.

 

Well, shit.

 

 

ATF looks like a change wouldn't hurt it, level I'd need to check when it's warm and I don't want to drive it to get it warm. So, I guess this one is off the road until I can get underneath to change the ATF, filter, clean the pan and check the plug.

[dome]

ATF change isn't too bad on these, odds on a bolt will shear on the sump though.

[Bear]

This one doesn't have the torque convertor drain that earlier models have - hopefully the bit in the service history that suggests the oil and pin bushing were changed is true and the bolts won't be an issue.

[purplebargeken]

Good luck with it. 

[Bear]

So, a new bit of review kit landed in the workshop today. After some logistics which involved repairing and using the old farm pulley & chain thing, it was in the correct place and the first victim was subjected to a terrifying experience.

 

Actually it was ridiculously easy. Holden cantilever lift, weighs about 450Kg, runs on a 13A socket (but 16A cable provided). Can be relocated as long as the floor is flat; mine had a couple of bumps, hence the chain to move it.

 

Got the E-class up in the air, undid the massive undertray - many, many signs that this car has been for an off-road excursion including bent bracket, cracks and scraps on the plastics - and got to the gearbox plug.

 

The history suggests the gearbox oil was changed 30,000 miles ago, along with the filter and pin bushing. I'm unconvinced. If i get the pin bushing out and the date code is commensurate with when the car was built, I am calling shenanigans; I'm also going to question why it seems UK garages are hell-bent on ripping off owners of automatic cars by charging for work they haven't done. It won't be getting a full fluid change as CBA doing the whole coolant line - powered flush & fill regime, but I'm dumping the sump fluid and changing the filter - if nothing else to get a peep at the valve body and the condition of the consumables.

 

 

There's definitely a current, active ATF leak. The undertray was dry at least, so the fluid readings I got probably were right and the fault is either valve body, or shorted connections due to contamination (or an insulating effect from the ATF on the pins).

 

 

Got a new one of these to go in.

 

Once this is done, the Accord goes on to have the brakes freed off, then the 300CE to have the coils changed for unchopped ones, then the SLK to swap all the brake stuff over.

[purplebargeken]

I like all of your cars.

 

ATF? Tell me about ATF, ha.

 

Those Nokia phones are ace. I loved mine. Wish I had another one. Hmm, eBay.

[Bear]

Well, I should have done things in a different order. The Saab's MOT ran out last month, which I didn't realise, and it's needed on the road on Monday - or another auto car is. I'd been trying to get the E-class working, so it had the new pin bushing installed and I'd been cleaning a lot of the breather/intake stuff which is /disgusting/ - I really don't like diesels. Went for a test drive, blew an intake hose off so interesting noise/no power. Clearly needs new seals in and more work on making sure the clip actually clips it in. And then the gearbox found neutral instead of fourth, so I just thought "sod this".

 

Accord up in the air and wheels off. Front brakes have sticking sliders; depressingly the pads and discs don't look like they were that bad - guides removed easily, pads are recent - but the caliper slider that has jammed meant they've been rendered scrap. Don't think I'll find pads/discs anywhere on a Sunday :/