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Jaypee's 300td Merc - Unbearingable.. 23/07/21.


320touring

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The verdict is in:

Screenshot_20190629-114203.thumb.jpg.001ca974235ec25238efde722d41aa07.jpg

So :

some droplink/front ARB bushes (they are pennies)

Exhaust ( not too bad)

balljoint (cheap but scary!)

Rear damper.

 

Not that simple. Rear dampers are fluid, and them plus spheres are what does the suspenshiuning.

The rear springs are just there to stop sinking.

It'd likely need 2 dampers and 2 springs from a E200T (only estate with conventional suspension)

 

time to do some thinking/manmaths

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Rear struts are just* hydraulic rams afaik.

You should be able to reseal them for pennies if you are able to find a decent hydraulic seal supplier.

Or

 

Many years ago I did a load of work on my dads 300te. One of the struts was leaking from a cracking in a weld at the top of the strut. I removed it,ground out the crack filled the strut with water and welded it up.

It lasted another decade until it was scrappaged. 

I also referbed the height valve body and changed the spheres at other times.

It is supposed to used special merc only fluid from what I could tell at the time. 

I got covered and stank for a week.

True story bro?

 

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My brother @jaypee has now taken on this beauty - and is making steady progress through the MOT fail items.

Chief amongst which was getting the exhaust replaced.

The car has done at least 220k running on veg oil - which has a higher moisture content than DERV..

Subsequently, the exhaust has suffered some* corrosion

IMG-20191230-WA0017.thumb.jpg.bb3aabe9e1d072938aa366c77548fa9a.jpgIMG-20191230-WA0020.thumb.jpg.e1d37045b719b018ca572d7f6794fa2d.jpgIMG-20191230-WA0021.thumb.jpg.b013ebff2aebe88dcb899835fa6a2ab8.jpgIMG-20191230-WA0016.thumb.jpg.d0d01fb962be21d61b4d5b27e16caf03.jpgIMG-20191230-WA0018.thumb.jpg.7d157468e01371eae1cddf9ceb930b6f.jpgIMG-20191230-WA0019.thumb.jpg.d6e790283ec65ab995961373c10841a0.jpgIMG-20191230-WA0015.thumb.jpg.58102ab5ca9d0c07361adf12ed4132a6.jpg

 

as can be seen, it was somewhat overdue replacement. He already has the system from the downpipes back, but needs to order a downpipe.

Unbelievably, all 4 downpipe bolts (2 per pipe) came off without fuss - we reckon it must be the original system.

 

Obviously, with the engine on headers only, it would be rude not to make a video..

This cannot adequately convey the level of earsplitting cacophony of demented noise issued forth like dragon breath.

 

When your RML was up, I made him do a flypast ..

 

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  • 7 months later...

Howdy!

I have been tinkering with this of late, now we're able to get out and about again. 

So far, I have:

Replaced the front to rear suspension lines, as they were holier than a holy thing. 

Removed the remnants of the exhaust, and replaced it with a new system (at the second try) 

Repaired a couple of spots on the floorpan @320touringdid this.

Replaced a formerly orange indicator bulb with one of a more legal hue. 

The progress was ably assisted by father touring, @320touring@dome, @davehedgehog31and @captain_70s

All that remains between it and an MOT should be:

Front ball joints and rear arb brackets and bushes. 

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First part of the plan was to change the suspension pipes, so, off with the old. I initially only looked at replacing the feed line, however, once I did that, and filled the fluid back up, then started the engine. It burst the return line! #joy. So that was replaced too. I used some 6mm copper pipe to replace. 

 

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Fear not, the pipes were later secured with P-Clips and self tappers, as the original brackets had twisted out of the floor. IMG_20200815_120604.thumb.jpg.3560c50ad3a2edec2677d758464122b2.jpg

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8 hours ago, Jim Bell said:

What happened in the 1st try? Did you have the car parked the wrong way round?

GATHER ROUND AND I'LL TELL YOU A TALE TO GIVE YOU THE SMALL BALLS! ?

The first try was usurped by the exhaust supplier sending me a downpipe for a LHD W124, this made it super* fun* to try and install, as it kept getting hooked up on the steering box. Eventually, after a couple of hours, I got the front pipe onto the manifold, then realised that the rear pipe wouldn't reach the rear manifold. This made me extremely* happy* and I said such things as 'I am certainly glad, that I was given this opportunity to figure out potential engineering solutions to this problem'. 

It's the wrong downpipe Gromit.... IMG_20200821_153506.thumb.jpg.6c9aa1af408460abc42fa345b776522c.jpg

And it's gone wrong.. IMG_20200821_174225.thumb.jpg.8a0d81b39a48e2fcb1c365f1b880f538.jpg

FLIP*

To further improve* my mood, I then dropped the centre section of the exhaust onto my middle finger, trapping it between the exhaust and a hammer. At this point, I gave up for the day. 

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1 hour ago, Jim Bell said:

Ah man. That sounds far from fun. It's on now though. And nobody died. Though I hope the pipe supplier steps in dog turds then treks it though his man's house. 

Aye, sub optimal for sure, however they are taking it back and giving me a refund so not too bad. 

Round 2.

It's the right downpipe Gromit (it fkn btr b m9) IMG_20200829_103158.thumb.jpg.52aed2a5e33787d51d70f56e013a0622.jpg

Clearance for the steering box.... YAAAS IMG_20200829_103206.thumb.jpg.b3aad5752832ec564aa3218371af5abe.jpg

Some comparison shots. 

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1st downpipe 

IMG_20200829_104343.thumb.jpg.e746a1a58c3099a7bf57b47f260dfeb1.jpg

Correct downpipe 

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Thankfully, fitting the correct part is far easier. So with some @captain_70s assistance at the front, and @dome at the rear (oooh err) it was snipped up in no time at all. 

Then it was time to start the machine to see if it had been a worthwhile endeavour. Thanks to @320touring for the video, as you can see and hear, she started on the first* turn of the key, with no throttle, nor* did she require a quick loan of @dome's newly purchased battery for the Jag. 

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Well done on the rear suspension, I did a similar copper pipe replacement job on a w210.   It’s a lovely system when it’s working,A fun bit for me was bleeding the system afterwards. Without any real idea I decided exercising the height adjuster would be the thing to do so with an adapted coat hanger I made the rear go up and down whilst sat beside it. A sort of AS version of a Californian low rider.

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On 6/29/2019 at 3:39 PM, H4irymel said:

It is supposed to used special merc only fluid from what I could tell at the time. 

If you look at the fluid specification, it's essentially the same as Citroen LHM, which is the case for quite a few vehicles that need "special" hydraulic fluid.  If it's mineral, the viscosity range is usually very similar or identical to LHM.  Which is a shittonne cheaper than manufacturer-only fluids.

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22 hours ago, HMC said:

Well done on the rear suspension, I did a similar copper pipe replacement job on a w210.   It’s a lovely system when it’s working,A fun bit for me was bleeding the system afterwards. Without any real idea I decided exercising the height adjuster would be the thing to do so with an adapted coat hanger I made the rear go up and down whilst sat beside it. A sort of AS version of a Californian low rider.

Thanks dude! I am yet to broach the bleeding subject, it appears that it is fluid tight currently, so may stick with that until an MOT is gained. However, I may pick your brains when the time comes! #lowrydr4lyf 

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20 hours ago, Talbot said:

If you look at the fluid specification, it's essentially the same as Citroen LHM, which is the case for quite a few vehicles that need "special" hydraulic fluid.  If it's mineral, the viscosity range is usually very similar or identical to LHM.  Which is a shittonne cheaper than manufacturer-only fluids.

I have picked up some generic 'suspension fluid' so we shall see how that goes. Failing that, I will rob the LHM from @320touring's GSA..... Shhhh, don't tell him! ?

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21 hours ago, Talbot said:

If you look at the fluid specification, it's essentially the same as Citroen LHM, which is the case for quite a few vehicles that need "special" hydraulic fluid.  If it's mineral, the viscosity range is usually very similar or identical to LHM.  Which is a shittonne cheaper than manufacturer-only fluids.

Given DB licenced hydropneumatic wondrousness from Lemon Corp. for the 450SEL 6.9 that doesn't surprise.

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Well, today's fun*was replacing the rear anti roll bar brackets and bushes. 

As can be seen, they were in factory*condition. 

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Much wailing and gnashing of teeth later, we managed to get the rear bolt out. 

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Helpfully* they were loctited in. 

That got the easy one out of the way, then onto the front bolt. Which was even grottier and had much, much, much better* access. Especially coupled with the arb, and trailing arms in the way! My tiny* mitts didn't really help either. 

Judicious application of the hammer, screwdriver and various pokey things enabled the crusty remnants of the bracket to be wiggled out before unbolting. 

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Here, father Touring displays the total material left! 

We used a little scissor jack to raise the trailing arm and align the arb. Which worked well. I used some longer bolts with nuts on to help get the bracket lined up. That also worked splendidly. 

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Once lined up, I measured a couple of these to the correct length, marked with the nuts, then zipped them off with the deathwheel. No pics of the shortened ones. 

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All that was left to do was replace the long bolts with these shortened ones. 

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A little skoosh of rattle can black too. 

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Looks like it just rolled off the production line! 

?

We then flicked onto the other side, and were met with similarly crusty bolts, however, the bracket was solid, as was the bush. The consensus was that the representative from The Ministry can decide whether it's an issue. 

Bouyed by the successful endeavours to this point, we thought that we could start to look at the ball joints... Well, well, well, it turns out that the bolt is as tight as a very tight thing, we had a breaker bar, with my not insignificant weight upon it, to no avail.

So, again after consulting with the assembled company it was decided that we tidy up and head home! 

Cheers to @320touringand dad for assisting! 

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On 1/3/2020 at 6:24 PM, 320touring said:

This cannot adequately convey the level of earsplitting cacophony of demented noise issued forth like dragon breath.

Merc Inline-6 engines sound the absolute nuts at idle / just off idle with no exhaust.

Shame they drone so badly at any other speed.

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A wee bit more done on this today. The ball joint bolt was tighter than a tight thing, previous attempts to remove were fruitless. 

However, after judicious application of, heat, hammer, bar, socket, impact gun, Irwin (repeat ad infinitum) the bastard actually moved. This is only added to, by the peril of working on Merc front suspension, with a spring rare of 1 billionty hundred pounds per square mm! *sphincter clenching*

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This was met with great joy and rapturous applause.. 

The remaining hours of the day were spent trying to get the farking ball joint out the lower arm, heat, hammer, heat, hammer etc.... To no avail. 

That's next weekend sorted then! 

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