SLK (R170) 230 Kompressor Haarschnitt

[Hawkeyethenoo]

Hello. You may remember me from Tokyo Express thread??? Legnum has gone, John. Sold to a very decent chap from the South of England. Meagre funds realised from that sale lead to me purchasing something I'd always prev dismissed as a girls car. 1999 SLK 230. On first viewing the motor was pretty straight, the roof worked, front wings had been replaced it was crucially, pretty grot free. Seller was asking £1750 (Feb 2017). I went in at firm £1400 and then said nothing........ I needed a supercharger in my life and the wife would look sweet driving it, if nothing else.... He agreed and we shook on it.

 

Deal done, we parted with him holding cash and me heading for the nearest pez station. Issues at that time was front brake sticking. Central locking not really working correctly, AC not working at all.

 

Since then it's had. All round discs N pads. Full service including changing the blower oil, brake fluid and slushbox fluid N filter. I then went onto replace all four shocks as replacements were just under £200 for the four and it really improved the handling/drive. CL issue was the vacuum pump which sits in the boot, the boot can get wet if the drains are not kept clear, so the pump gets soaked and becomes fubar. Replacement pump was £150.

 

In September last year, the wife and I headed off to Europe and covered just over 5000 miles in 5 weeks. The car was amazingly reliable and yes damn it, fun to drive, best mpg was 35 and worst was 30. Amazeballs. We even clocked up a GPS indicated 135mph on the autobahn and there was more to come if only that 7 Series had moved over. Bastid....

 

That's about it other than if yer needing yer hairdone, give me a shout, natch.

 

Hawkaye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Since buying the w203 these are firmly on the radar. Like you I had dismissed them but RichardK of this parish posted enough to make me interested...

 

Around 200bhp in something that size must be a hoot.

 

Any tips on changing the kompressor oil as I wouldnt mind doing mine.....

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[Skizzer]

I like these, having scooted around Zurich in a rented one for a few weeks in 2001.

 

If I were even halfway sensible I’d ditch several other cars and get one as a runaround for fun.

[sam simmons]

While i do prefer the later mclaren fronted version these seem a bargain but at 6 ft 4 i dont fit comfortably in one with the roof up...yes i have tried.

 

enjoy...nice colour

[Hawkeyethenoo]

Since buying the w203 these are firmly on the radar. Like you I had dismissed them but RichardK of this parish posted enough to make me interested...

 

Around 200bhp in something that size must be a hoot.

 

Any tips on changing the kompressor oil as I wouldnt mind doing mine.....

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

Followed this guide. https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Mercedes-SLK230/90-ENGINE-Supercharger_Oil_Change/90-ENGINE-Supercharger_Oil_Change.htm

 

Oil kit came from eBay. Cheers all.

[Hawkeyethenoo]

SLKs indicators have stopped working gone KAPUT! - they don't flash, just stay lit! Turns out it's related to the 'Comfort Module/ECU' which does many amazeball things including the flashers. Merc couldn't have fitted a £5 relay like every other cage manufacturer - NINE! A new ECU is £500. 

If it ever stops raining long enough? I'll haul the bastid thing out and get evil on its arse with yon soldering iron and really show it who's the daddy! http://www.slkworld.com/slk-r170-general-discussion/380561-comfort-module-nr-170-820-09-26-picture.html

 

MOT is due on the 18th. Nice.

[twosmoke300]

ANd this is why I hate mercs and beemers . Arrogant Germans with pointless design just for the sake of it

[Hawkeyethenoo]

Went out to look at this non flashing indicator issue. Opened the bonnet, had a very brief look under there, decided the car needed moving to gain better access. Closed bonnet, dropped the roof moved the car and thought, I'll just try the indicators again and it worked first time. Fecking German electrics, I mumbled....  Went back inside poured myself a beer and watched the MotoGP. Altogether more enjoyable.

 

Hope it keeps working for the MOT which is imminent.

[The_Equalizer]

I like these, having scooted around Zurich in a rented one for a few weeks in 2001.

 

If I were even halfway sensible I’d ditch several other cars and get one as a runaround for fun.

 

How about a CLK? Super cheap and certainly Autoshite, plus room for four and a reasonable size boot?

[Skizzer]

How about a CLK? Super cheap and certainly Autoshite, plus room for four and a reasonable size boot?

 

You say 'room for four' like that's a good thing - in my world, three's a crowd in a sports* car.

 

 

 

*other descriptions of the SLK's power-to-weight ratio and handling prowess are available, mainly on TopGear/Poisonheads.

[PiperCub]

Went out to look at this non flashing indicator issue. Opened the bonnet, had a very brief look under there, decided the car needed moving to gain better access. Closed bonnet, dropped the roof moved the car and thought, I'll just try the indicators again and it worked first time. Fecking German electrics, I mumbled....  Went back inside poured myself a beer and watched the MotoGP. Altogether more enjoyable.

 

Hope it keeps working for the MOT which is imminent.

 

A zero-cost fix - the one we all love!

 

However this does serve to show us that while these fancy/pointlessly complex units (Comfort module? MB - FRO!) can & do occasionally go FUBAR on us, nine times out of ten it's not the unit but the connections that are the source of the problem. Dirty, loose, broken connectors, damaged interconnect wires, etc are way more likely the cause so it's always worth going through these before getting bummed for many hundreds of quid for something you don't need and the solution may be free. 

 

Some time back I read that well over half of the 'faulty' control/ECU etc type modules that get sent to companies that fix/recon them are actually 'NFF' as we electronic engineers say - No Fault Found.

What happens is, there's a fault, people automatically condemn the electronic unit ('Black Box'), buy another, install it and plug it up, it works fine so the original unit was u/s wasn't it? Well, no not necessarily, you probably fixed the problem by reseating the connections and if you put the old one back, chances are it'd be fine too! 

[vaughant]

A zero-cost fix - the one we all love!

 

However this does serve to show us that while these fancy/pointlessly complex units (Comfort module? MB - FRO!) can & do occasionally go FUBAR on us, nine times out of ten it's not the unit but the connections that are the source of the problem. Dirty, loose, broken connectors, damaged interconnect wires, etc are way more likely the cause so it's always worth going through these before getting bummed for many hundreds of quid for something you don't need and the solution may be free.

 

Some time back I read that well over half of the 'faulty' control/ECU etc type modules that get sent to companies that fix/recon them are actually 'NFF' as we electronic engineers say - No Fault Found.

What happens is, there's a fault, people automatically condemn the electronic unit ('Black Box'), buy another, install it and plug it up, it works fine so the original unit was u/s wasn't it? Well, no not necessarily, you probably fixed the problem by reseating the connections and if you put the old one back, chances are it'd be fine too!

Very true on mercs especially.

A great* bit of design work on my old ml was to sight the abs unit directly beneath the washer fluid tank which of course leaks and causes a "£1200" repair.

 

Or, costs absolutely nothing once you remove a few bits of trim, the washer bottle then open up the top of the module to find a load of shitted up corroded connections.

 

Clean them up, all back together, happy days.

 

Same in major industry sadly, the amount of places I've worked where a so called expert would say "change the drive" or "change the card" without looking any further is unreal. Inevitably it will or may work for a short while but then it fails again, usually as you said above down to poor wiring, crap connectors, something else causing it's failure.

Electronics seem pretty damn reliable if you ask me, it's always my last port of call.

[PiperCub]

A great* bit of design work on my old ml was to sight the abs unit directly beneath the washer fluid tank which of course leaks and causes a "£1200" repair.

 

 

Classic winning design philosophy! Well, to be fair, when they designed it and then mocked it up for real prior to production, the reservoir was dry so they can't see what the problem is........ You just can't make this shit up can you! Common sense AWOL there then. 

 

"It worked fine on the bench" as the development guys used to tell me (the test engineer), great, but what about in the actual real world????  

[Guest Hooli]

As long as it breaks outside the warranty period then it's extra profit via parts sales for them.

[The_Equalizer]

You say 'room for four' like that's a good thing - in my world, three's a crowd in a sports* car.

 

 

 

*other descriptions of the SLK's power-to-weight ratio and handling prowess are available, mainly on TopGear/Poisonheads.

 

My fault for misreading your use of sensible. However, the CLK is rather good if there are four of you. My kids, although young, small and probably quite pliable, still ,might find it a bit of a squeeze if I tried to shove them in the boot of a SLK. 

 

Speaking of dodgy leaks frying the ECU, that 230K unit has a problem with an oil leak from the cam sensor tracking down the wiring to the ECU and the causing problems. There's a quick and inexpensive fix from Mercedes that's well worth the money. Full details here:

 

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?threads/slk-cam-sensor.49807/

[Guest Hooli]

And to think LR got slated for the same issue on TD5s, funny how you never hear about it on reliable* German cars.

[xtriple]

My first SL500 (R129) had a malfunctioning wiper - it used to stop randomly pointing straight up like a DTM racer! I took advice: everyone said it was such and such an ecu. SPoke to MB at Exeter, they said it was the same ecu which always fails. £500 and none available s/h so one was bought. It didn't work! Well it's got to as that controls the wipers, nothing else does.

 

wrong.

 

I followed wiring (and I HATE wiring with a passion) and found another ecu/relay type thing on the passengers side that seemed to be in the curcuit so took it off, opened it, bent bits of stops/cleaned various contacts, put it all back together and off the wipers went, all fully functioning. I took the new ecu back to MB Exeter and eventually got a refund (after a hell of a fight) and told everyone on the various MB forums about this second box of tricks. I was called a liar!

 

Advice is still given to change the ecu straight away as: 'It's always that!'

[PiperCub]

^^ Taking a punt here but am guessing you got called a liar by people who:

 

1. Have paid out £500 needlessly and are suffering a bad case of (as our USA chums would say) serious butt-hurt.

2. Didn't have the brains to think for themselves in this situation and blindly followed the party line.

3. Didn't possess any fault-finding or general common-sense talents in order to investigate and work the problem out. 

 

Like I say, just a guess..........

[yes oui si]

Cracking wee things. Cheap to get them another 30-40bhp as well which makes them a right hoot.

[Hawkeyethenoo]

My fault for misreading your use of sensible. However, the CLK is rather good if there are four of you. My kids, although young, small and probably quite pliable, still ,might find it a bit of a squeeze if I tried to shove them in the boot of a SLK. 

 

Speaking of dodgy leaks frying the ECU, that 230K unit has a problem with an oil leak from the cam sensor tracking down the wiring to the ECU and the causing problems. There's a quick and inexpensive fix from Mercedes that's well worth the money. Full details here:

 

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?threads/slk-cam-sensor.49807/

 

Thanks for this. I must 'ave that cover off and check it oot!

[Hawkeyethenoo]

My fault for misreading your use of sensible. However, the CLK is rather good if there are four of you. My kids, although young, small and probably quite pliable, still ,might find it a bit of a squeeze if I tried to shove them in the boot of a SLK. 

 

Speaking of dodgy leaks frying the ECU, that 230K unit has a problem with an oil leak from the cam sensor tracking down the wiring to the ECU and the causing problems. There's a quick and inexpensive fix from Mercedes that's well worth the money. Full details here:

 

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?threads/slk-cam-sensor.49807/

 

You sir, have done me a big favour.

 

Removed said cover and found the sensor connector and loom wet with engine oil, as shown. As for as I can see it has only travelled about 6" up the loom so it's been caught in time? 100k

 

 

 

Ignore the loose cam cover bolts. Loosened those thinking they held the front cover on? but it just pulls off.

 

MOT booked for Tuesday 15th

[Hawkeyethenoo]

Just been on the blower to MB Grangemouth, who I've sourced parts from before and are pretty good to deal with. Parts man knew fit I was on aboot right away, common fault and seemed pleased when I confirmed that the oil had only spread a short way up the loom. Seems to be an issue on all engines beginning with 111 as this one is.

 

Starter line 271 150 2733 O £27

 

Also ordered a new cam sensor/magnet (preventative maintenance, what!)

 

with (modest discount given), comes to £97.