Mercedes c180 parts cannon deployed

[dean36014]

Personally I find the seats cripple me on a long run hence the back rest cushion. Since I had my spine fusion last year I can't tolerate any pronounced lumbar support in a car seat. I took the Merc to France a few months back and I was virtually crying in pain until I put the full height cushion in.  Didn't know about the key thing, going to try that on mine 

[dean36014]

Just looked in the handbook and found this. Doesn't apply to mine as the handbook is for a newer model. Mine definitely doesn't keep the starter going.

[Ben_O]

Well it's still going well. Still no issues and it's quite a joy to drive.

I'm really liking it.

Only thing that did concern me was the fuel gauge. I brimmed it on Sunday and the needle read just over the full line.

I did 30 miles then 50 then 70 and it still read over the full line... I assumed that the sender had jammed and needed to be fixed so I went in search of it quickly after work. No access to it from under the seat or in the boot and I couldn't be bothered to get it up in the air so set off home.

Eventually after it ticked past 80 miles on the trip the needle moved onto the full line and by the time I got home, it was just under the full line so 83 miles achieved before the needle moved.

I'm sure it's working but just surprised that it didn't drop sooner especially as u have probably used between 2 and 3 gallons...

I'm starting to think more seriously about sorting the minor rust on the doors soon before the winter. Knowing me, I'll end up painting right down both sides of the car which of course means I may as well do the bonnet as well.

Cheers

Ben

[C1am]

Erratic/non reading fuel gauges is a well known W202 issue. Mine only read full after the first few miles when brimming the tank and then fell to zero. I just used the trip meter to keep tabs on when to fill up. There are twin saddle tanks and the sender can only be accessed from underneath. I looked into the cost of parts and decided to live with it. 

[Ben_O]

Thanks for that.

I'll see how it goes and deal with it if it becomes a problem later.

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

1300 miles achieved now and everything is going well.

Only thing that isn't working is the button in the ceiling that unlocks the doors. Bit of a pain as the doors lock as you pull away and when you stop to let someone in, they can't get in unless I lean over and open the door or open and then close my door which then will unlock all doors.  I need to have a look into that.

I have plans to perform a full service on it as the only proof I have it servicing is on the works system which shows it was last done in August 2018.

I have finally figured out the mpg after brimming it in Sainsbury's 2 weeks ago, doing 400 miles and then brimming it again yesterday in the same filling station and it works out as 32.60mpg which I don't think is too bad. That's a combination of steady flat cap driving and occasional foot down flat out style within the speed limit of course.

I'm still very pleased with it but I need to start making proper plans to sort the rust issues on the doors before they get too much worse. That of course means taking time off work which is difficult at the moment due to being so busy there.

Cheers

Ben

[HMC]

Sounds about right economywise- weirdly thebigger you go with merc engines, they only use slightly more fuel with each increment. On a long run that’s partly gearing as (at least on w210s) they lengthen the ratios as the engine size increases.

[Ben_O]

I managed to sort out the switch which locks and unlocks the doors by cleaning it with electrical cleaner and that now works.

Driving along Thursday night in howling wind and rain doing around 50mph and had a blow out. I managed to limp it to a nearby pub car park as we were on lanes so nowhere to stop and pull over and found the tyre unsurprisingly to be shredded.

Bollocks...

I couldn't fit the spare as the steel wheel uses shorter bolts than the alloy and they were missing from the toolkit so had to abandon ship and leave it there overnight.

I was actually on my way to collect my father in laws car to take it into work the next day for mot so at least I had a mode of transport.

Managed to track down 5 new shorter bolts friday morning  4 in Southampton and 1 in fareham so they were dispatched to me on the iow. Sadly the one from fareham didn't make it so i had to make do with 4. 

Back to the car friday evening. Pissing it down with rain still, I swapped over the wheels and was on my way.

New tyre ordered for just £24 All in which I'll fit myself on Monday.

 

Such fun...

[busmansholiday]

You may just have explained why there's a set of five wheel bolts bouncing around loose in the boot of mine. Must have a look when it stops raining.........

[Ben_O]

I stupidly hadn't checked my toolkit. I have the tool roll containing a few screwdrivers and spanners, the Jack but no wheel brace or short bolts. I now have the bolts and will add a wheel brace to stop that happening again. There is a sticker on mine located on the plastic trim on the inside of the back panel that suggests the use of the short bolts when using the spare wheel.

Interestingly the spare had never been in the car ever. It was brand new so where the bolts went I have no idea.

Probably kept indoors for safe keeping....

[Ben_O]

Had a stone hit the screen yesterday but there was nothing obviously damaged so a sigh of relief was had.

This morning was a different story 

Bollocks

 

[Wingz123]

Where are you mate? If your insurance doesnt cover it I have a chap in wiltshire that would do it for you - cant see where you are though....

[Ben_O]

15 hours ago, Wingz123 said:

Where are you mate? If your insurance doesnt cover it I have a chap in wiltshire that would do it for you - cant see where you are though....

 On the isle of wight mate.

Thanks for the offer though. Just had a quote from national windscreen and they want £260 fitted which I thought was a bit high considering it has no sensors or electrickery at all in it.

The crack is now most of the way across the screen. It couldn't have stayed low though, it had to go diagonally across didn't it..

I'll have a ring around and check for cheaper offers. 

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

It's been great! I still haven't replaced the screen which has now cracked right across.

That might be a job for the new year for it has now decided that it doesn't like to run at the moment.

I'm not yet sure of the issue. Christmas has got right in the way and I managed to borrow a car to do my running around so it's just sat.

Basically for no reason right out of the blue it now won't crank.

I got in it outside the house to go to work last Monday morning, ignition on, all lights up as usual fuel pump runs and relays click, turn the key to crank and nothing.... Just as if I hadn't turned to crank.

I tried locking an unlocking the car again and again, I tried using the key another way up, I checked it was in park and that was about it as I was now late for work.

Bugger. I hope it's something simple. 

 

[Wingz123]

Leave battery terminal off for 20 mins/half an hour and see if it resets anything ....

Do you have the red and green flashy lights in the rear view mirror? When locking/unlocking?

[Ben_O]

8 minutes ago, Wingz123 said:

Leave battery terminal off for 20 mins/half an hour and see if it resets anything ....

Do you have the red and green flashy lights in the rear view mirror? When locking/unlocking?

I'll go and give that a try thanks!

Mine is a later one so doesn't have the led lights in the mirror. It also has the key that isn't really a key too but that seems to be operating the locks fine.

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

Grrrr.  No dice ?

[Ben_O]

Horrah! Starter motor was stuck.

Good ol fashioned thwack with a club hammer and we have success!

I'm hoping it was just water or something from driving  it through flooded roads but if it needs a new one then so be it. I'm just glad it wasn't something major.

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

Next issue today but it was thankfully an easy fix.

Driving to work and the wiper stopped working  all it would do is sweep the centre 3rd of the screen and wouldn't park.

When I arrived, I moved it to the park position by hand and it was slack. Then all that would happen when switching it on was the motor making it's noise with no wipe.

Being a panoramic wiper, I hadn't the first clue what to do with it as there is no obvious way to remove the arm. Turns out the arm cones off with the motor so out it so came and revealed that one of the splined pivot points had come adrift so I tightened the nut, refitted it and all sorted.

Phew!

[Ben_O]

Havent updated for ages now.

I still have the car and use it everyday for my commute.

Its just passed its second mot in my ownership and apart from a couple more minor advisories went atraight through which was a relief. Especially as all ive done all year is put petrol in it. Lots and lots of petrol lol.

It still behaves very well apart from the occasional immobiliser fault but ive now learnt how to overcome that when it happens so it can stay like it.

The rust on the n/s door bottoms is slowly getting worse but im still planning to fix it.

So yeah, all good! I still really like it so its going to be a keeper i think.

 

[Tetleysmooth]

I bought the C200 off of busmansholiday. When I got it, it was hanging on to the low gears for far too long. I started pricing up gearbox services and replacement gearboxes. Then I found some info about the gear selectors. They can go bad, and it seems to be a fairly common problem on these and other Merc models. To cut a long story short, I bought a replacement selector off of ebay. These can be replaced from inside the car. Some blokes get underneath to release the selector fork, but there really is no need, because once the four allen bolts are out, the whole lot lifts up and the fork is revealed. It really is an easy job. Once the selector was replaced, mine was, and still is, absolutely fine. It still hangs on to the lower gears for a while, but as said, these cars are designed to.

The only other slight problem I've had was with the right rear window. It would go down ok, but only raise in short jerky movements. I replaced the switch panel on the centre console, another piss easy job. All fine again now.

So, if your car starts hanging on to the lower gears for far too long, don't condemn the gearbox straight away, try a replacement gear selector unit first. Your one sounds like it's working as intended though.

Nice cars. I've got every intention of keeping mine for the foreseeable future.

[Ben_O]

Well it's still going.

Just passed 143,000 miles now and I'm ashamed to say has had zero maintenance.... not even a wash.

I just haven't got the time!

Only problems encountered of late have been a puncture caused by a 6" nail in the works car park which is  now repaired and an inter.ittant fault with the heater blower.

I'm not sure on the cause. First thought was resistor but I cant be sure.

Thing is it either works perfectly on all speeds or it doesnt work at all.

Sometimes it cant make its mind up and will work then turn off, then work again, then cut out...

Who else thinks it's the resistor?

[Ben_O]

Well I haven't exactly been writing much on here as the car had been doing perfectly.

It does now require new front discs and pads as the wear light is starting to flicker. I've ordered the parts and will be fitting them tomorrow after work. I'll also give it an oil and filter change whilst I'm at it.

It had its 3rd mot in my ownership last Friday and sailed through despite me spending zero on it again this year and doing nothing but driving it and topping up the screenwash.

I still can't believe how well this £100 car is doing!

I have a list of advisories which I will work through over the next few months. One is for corrosion which I really should sort whilst it's still solid, another is the cracked screen which I will finally get around to getting changed.

I'm a bit concerned though as my insurance company uses autoglass for this and we have had some very bad experiences with the local fitters through work so I wonder if I can choose an alternative firm?

Pushing 149,000 miles now and it still feels great.

What a car!

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

I had to deploy a small parts cannon at this car recently.

I replaced the discs and pads and also both front wheel bearings and all was well.

Then I was presented with a strange noise from underneath. It was a rotational sound that sounded like a squeaking rubbing noise. It started off faint and only occurred at low speed but gradually got worse until it happened at most speeds.

A quick look underneath showed that the rubber part of the centre prop shaft bearing had completely broken up allowing all the slop.

I didn't have time to fix it before a long motorway jaunt so it was decided that surely it will centre itself at a steady motorway speed and be fine and it was.

I have now replaced the centre propshaft bearing which was actually quite a pleasurable Job, well everything is on this car..

All was fine for 50 miles before I was presented with a loud randomly changing pitch screaming sound like nothing I've ever heard before. I looked underneath again and everything seemed in order. I ended up slackening the two bolts holding the centre prop bearing carrier and it slipped back on the elongated holes and settled there so I retightened it and the noise went away.

Now for the first FTP. well almost...

I set off for work and all was fine. I drove down a hill, round the corner and went to accelerate up a hill and nothing.. the gearbox changed down two gears and I just made it up the hill. At the lights, it was barely running and drove with a horrible misfire.

I limped it to work and left it there until I had time to look at it.

First check was cover off the top to access the plugs and coil packs. Removed the leads and coil packs and one of the recesses that the plugs go down into was full of orange coloured slimy oil.. shit

Plugs removed and oil cleaned up and everything back together showed no improvement. Intact it was worse and the smell of neat petrol was overwhelming.

I followed this by doing a compression test. 170 across the board. I iustvdecided to throw a pair of coilpacks at it and a set of plugs and its fixed.

I couldn't believe the old coilpacks and plugs were the Originals! 151,000 miles 21 years old originals.

I have a temporary set of alloys fitted to it which I liberated from a later c200 whilst I repair the originals as they leak air from the crusty rims.

The rust is getting much worse and its filthy. I'm actually ashamed at how bad this car looks now considering how nice it was when I first got it but hey ho, whatever.

I also crashed it into my gate post one night thanks to the people awkwardly parked in the street making the swing in very tight. My fault too though as I was convinced I'd miss.

I need to get my finger out and start sorting my mess out but I still love it and was genuinely sad when I thought I'd killed it

 

[Ben_O]

Forgot to add, the orange slimy oil had no explanation at first.

It was suggested that it might be a failed rocker cover gasket but I then remembered topping up the oil when I first got it and it overflowed out the top and went everywhere.

I hadn't overfilled it, I just tried to fill it too quickly. I recon the oil I found must have spilled through the cover and been in there since.

The other job I did was to finally fix the non working heater blower. It used to work, then it didn't, then it did and then it didn't and never worked again.

I found the blower motor under the glove box, wiggled a wire and it burst into life again. Quick check everything was tight and a blow out of the cobwebs and dry old leaves and it's now back to toasty blowy goodness on all 5 speeds!

[Minimad5]

Just don't see these anymore.

An old bloke who pottered about locally had a diesel estate in white, full cloth and steel wheels. Not seen it for ages.