More Merc Madness , Battery malarkey

[MJK 24]

You’re lucky you got the wiper apart.  They had two suppliers at the time.  One design was serviceable,  the other wasn’t.  Guess which I had?!

[Rusty Pelican]

10 hours ago, MJK 24 said:

You’re lucky you got the wiper apart.  They had two suppliers at the time.  One design was serviceable,  the other wasn’t.  Guess which I had?!

Never knew that , this ones a Bosch unit , 

[MJK 24]

One of the Merc forums recommended chain grease for mountain bikes to lube them with.  Silicon chain grease perhaps?  

It was a fiver for a toothpaste tube sized amount from Halfords.  I levered mine open a bit and squirted the lot in, hoping it would make a difference.  And that it did!  Must faster and no more juddering!

[Rusty Pelican]

Dug up some history on this here Merc .

This is from a previous owners garage that they used.

Sadly i dont have the original engine . This was apparently done in 2019 

 

 

[Rusty Pelican]

So this is why the Hazards didnt hazard and a few interior lights didnt get bright . didnt spot it just looking as the fuse aint blown

[loserone]

My blower fuse went the other day

Is the plastic supposed to melt like this? I've never come across these kinds of fuse before 

[Rusty Pelican]

15 minutes ago, loserone said:

My blower fuse went the other day

Is the plastic supposed to melt like this? I've never come across these kinds of fuse before 

Decent ones are actual ceramic , modern crap ones are thermoplastic rubbish , no they arnt supposed to melt 

 

[loserone]

Aah!

[Volksy]

12 hours ago, loserone said:

My blower fuse went the other day

Is the plastic supposed to melt like this? I've never come across these kinds of fuse before 

My blower fuse was blowing on the S Class. The motor was trying to seize up. 

I've replaced it with a new one from AutoDoc. Was about £100 for the unit. Mine was supplied in LHD format but you can swap the motor out to the old housing. 

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Continental fuses are awful. Fiddly to remove, fiddly to insert, and like to blow without looking like they've blown. Maybe the ceramic ones are better, but I doubt it. Even if you buy them from Mercedes they're the plastic type. 

[Rusty Pelican]

On 03/03/2024 at 11:51, Conrad D. Conelrad said:

Continental fuses are awful. Fiddly to remove, fiddly to insert, and like to blow without looking like they've blown. Maybe the ceramic ones are better, but I doubt it. Even if you buy them from Mercedes they're the plastic type. 

They are all plastic now , i have found ten 8A and ten 25A proper ceramic ones at a local garage though , still need the 16A ones . yep mine just corroded on one end , looked perfect at a glance 

[Rusty Pelican]

Trying to find out how much this beast cost new .

So far all ive got is option code prices as follows 

Options on the slam pan 

Option 470 -ABS £591.99

Option 600 - headlamp wash / wipe -£342.04

Option 412 - Electric sunroof - £848.03

Option 650 - Sportline suspension / steering box etc - £1503.96

Option 341 - side indicators - price unknown.

 

Options not on the slam pan but in the VIN code for the car .

Option 620 - catalitic convertor - price unknown.

Option 570 - Armrest front - £124.55

Option 584 - F + R electric windows - £779.21

Option 430 - rear headrests - £145.35

Option 348U - Metallic paint ( ice blue ) £570.92

Option 240 - outside temp - £116.63

Option 915 - 70 ltr tank - £68.66

Option 543 - vanity mirrors twin illumination £69.78 ( unsure if thats each or a pair )

Option 281 - leather steering wheel and gearlever knob - £157.53

Option 876 - interior light ( rear ) - price unknown

Option 400 - rear arm rest - price unknown

Option 524 - paint preservation - price unknown .

Price unknown might mean standard equipment for this car ?

No idea if VAT is included or added .

Anyhoo Options cost was £6379.70 if im remotely correct
Still No idea how much the basic car cost before options ???? 

[Rusty Pelican]

Well its still going well . In fact scary well . I did 323 miles doing mixed driving tother day . Motorway , town etc - I think its called combined in motoring circles. Anyhoo it used 52.29 litres of motion lotion meaning I got 28.08 MPG - Mind blown .

So to treat its goodness I fitted a new bonnet liner . Loads of pattern part ones available and to confuse the issue theres different ones for different engines . Come the end i got a genuine one , just gave the dealer the reg number and it turned up next day .
Pig to fit though , used a tin of heat resistant contact adhesive , a few light coats on the foam sound dedening and two on the bonnet . managed to reuse all the top push in clip thingies too . Repainted the black lower part of the bonnet whilst i was doing the job. 

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Dare I ask how much? I need one too. 

[Rusty Pelican]

19 hours ago, Conrad D. Conelrad said:

Dare I ask how much? I need one too. 

£131 inc the dreaded VAT 

[Rusty Pelican]

Well what an absolute faff the last few days have been, What should of been a 1 hour job became 11 hours although this was my choice ( not the 11 hours bit but the doing of it .
Anyhoo saga was the indicator / washers / horn / do bloody everything switch was getting temperamental . Indicator switch was very stiff to use and burying it in WD40 did zilch.

So i bought a new one direct from Merc at a wallet crushing £102 inc the dreaded and set about fitting it . basically steering wheel off , three screws , one plug and done --- except that there were two wires soldered onto two wires ( of which there are many ) on the old one . this went to a bank of three fuses which went to many many wires of various colours and basically these fecked off all over the yin yang .
Yep bloody aftermarket alarm fitted and connected the likes id never seen like some kind of hideous parasite .

So it was either cut the new switch and connect as was or remove said parasite and i plumped for the latter esp. given id no key for said parasite and it probably didnt work anyways.

First day was the front half , siren thing , some control box i found lurking under the glovebox and its wiring , it linked into the starter circuit which i did loose but got back after finding a random merc specific plug thing it went too . I did however loose all the electric windows and passenger side central locking .

Day 2 was hideous , found a load more under the passenger side carpet , two more boxes parcel taped the the trans tunnel which went to all four window switches WHY !!!!!  Plus a load that went to sommat that ran the door lock on the passenger side.

Come the end its all now working minus the Alien parasite 
PS What the hell is the thing in pic 5 that goes to the starter and what is the round thing with a light and some kind of port poking out a rectangular hole , this is still in it and looks merc based but does nothing ? 

[2flags]

Oh, that looks like it's the son of Lucas.  It looks like it's been letting it's smoke out!

[EyesWeldedShut]

Round thing with hole may be for a Cobra style dongle - had one in my old Ssangyong that was wired/soldered in like yours  (Merc 3.2 litre pezz engine) thing would always be a bastard to hot start until we took the entire immobiliser system out.

 

[mk2_craig]

I had something similar in an old XR2 once which all got similarly stripped out. These aftermarket alarm and immobiliser things could be rigged up to do clever full closure stuff hence why there’s a load of spaghetti plumbed into the windows circuit. 

[Rusty Pelican]

Neighbours lawnmower 1 , My drivers door window 0   😒

[comfortablynumb]

34 minutes ago, Rusty Pelican said:

Neighbours lawnmower 1 , My drivers door window 0

Not good, but I guess the window is preferable to the panel work 😕

[Rusty Pelican]

Well its not been starting  right of late , power seems  a bit down and starting sometimes is a bit long winded . Anyhoo i found a Garage specialising in German cars , phoned up explaning what i have and whats going on.

The first thing he said was " Please dont tell me anyones played with the screw on top the K Jetronic " , to which i replied its all voodoo and i wouldnt dare touch the thing . Ah great bring it in then . I guessed he knew his stuff .
Today it went in , took 3 weeks to get a space so they are busy . Pulls much better now  , he said the duty cycle was a bit out and it was running lean , should be a lot better now but any issues pop it back .

He checked the whole car over with photographic evidence where possible and listed the following  for info only in case i want to tackle it or " more likely work for him " . Some i already knew about and was on my " to  eventually  do list " so no bollocks lying or anything .  

Antifreeze too weak = easy fix il sort this week .

Battery has failed the start amp test = 67% , 442A = Its rated at 540A . Il replace before it gets cold .

Brake fluid moisture content 1.5% so needs doing when the rear flexis get changed - another advisory as the ferrules are a ball of rust .

No evidence of transmission service . il look into this .

Slight leak on cylinder 4 exhaust port = il get a gasket soon.

N/S diff oil seal leaking - looks a fun job .

Steering damper leaking - need that ASAP so ive ordered one and il fit it during the week if it ever stops raining .

O/S and N/S front shock boots are shot - yeh whatever , they do nout anyhoo  .
I replaced the power steering fluid last week which he mentioned was exceptionally clean

No rust issues so chuffed with that .
MOT booked with them early November 
Garage is called RCMR in Yeovil , Somerset . So far im very impressed  

[Volksy]

Glad you found somewhere that can deal with KJet, it's a wasteland of expertise up here. 

[Rusty Pelican]

Done the antifreeze - well i say done coz all i did was syphon out the expansion tank  ( 1 .5 ltrs ) and fill up with neat antifreeze , guess it will mix up eventually .

Also did the steering damper - literally a 10 minute job  

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

That alarm removal looks like it was a proper nightmare. Can't beat a 1990s car alarm (unless you're a car thief, in which case you can beat it quite easily)

[Rusty Pelican]

More fun and frolics . Part of the health check list was a new battery which i purchased . Apun removing said battery i did notice the tray was a very thin and rusty , removing said tray and found a rust hole underneath - well this is ballooning out of control.🤔
So first off the bit under the tray . cut out the rot as best i could and spotted that underneath this is absolutely drowned in waxoil - or at least the German version of it . I aint welding that , if it catches fire theres no access to put it out . Anyhoo I cut a plate , painted hydrate 80 rust muncher on it all  buried it in seam sealer , self tappers got it screwed in then more seam sealer on top , then paint over the top once set.

Battery tray was another ball ache , MB only list one and its too big , apparently they only do LHD ones now which are bigger as the battery is on tother side . Cue me cutting down a new tray and welding the sides back on it . 
As they say , Pics or it didnt happen