1988 W124 300 TurboD Coupé ''Gold'nBrown'' - intercooling it

This has really come together nicely Jan, you must be pretty stoked with the fruits of your labour.

It's yours and Dave's cars that are stopping me from throwing the towel in on mine!

Joe

Thanks a lot! I think it's interessting, that's why I document this in such detail...

The wiring loom is completely different; whilst the petrol engine has like a dozent plugs & connectors, the diesel has - 4 1 of which is for the air con compressor (the blasted thing!!) - though I'm still in doubt if I actually swap the electronic idle controll over - the car doesn't seem to need it. But maybe in winter it does? And with aorking air conditioning, it certainly needs it - as the compressor draws so much power, it would stall in idle when you turn the steering That said - the looms are all separate systems and can be removed individually - one of the beautifull features of pre-CANbus era cars You can add and remove stuff pretty much "as it pleases you" without causing too much trouble. On the other hand it means: LOTS of wires...

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Today I didn't have terribly much time - but I got as far as taking apart the front suspension. And of course I found more stuff that needs replacing, like sway bar bushes, brakes and a thorough regrease of the wheel bearings... Which means; parts ordered, and I'm ordered to a break untill parts arrive. So much for the plan of visiting TÜV on saturday - don't think this is going to happen. But no need to rush it now...

Always scaring; removing springs... *sweats*



New ones are not much longer - but the extra coil means it's going to be tough to get them in... The old ones barely got out.




But: almost flawless A-arms! Another sign of just how good this car is! Usually they'r total rotten and scared...



Reason why they need removing: driver's side is fubard. Probably due to a leaky steering gearbox. Another thing on the list of stuff to sort out... Will try to get hold of a 3.1:1 Sportsline steering box, as the Coupé has a long-ish 3.6:1 and I feel it's a tad too indirect. Low priority, though.



And naother pile of scrap...



Cheers,
Jan

Thanks!

At the moment I'm having a major tin worm, though - and I can't find any errors. I've basically reversed all electrics I did - problem persists... I'm out of ideas and will give this thing a break for now - I need to re-start my head. Electrics are bl00dy disgusting! I hate electrics, even worse if they don't work and I'm forced to tinker with them... Blargh! I need a break.

Cheers,
Jan

If only I would know... They don't work. Indicators, heater, horn(s), half gauge cluster... I've checked everything - no faults. Need a mental break. It all worked just 2 days ago - now dead. I'll find it, I'm sure. But catching tin worms is such an incredibly annoying work... And worst of all, there are no proper, complete wiring diagrammes in the workshop manual. Which makes it even more frusttrating to find the needle in the hay stack. Horrifying!

I know how you feel mate...

just ignore it for a week and as Joe put it, let it ignore you back.



I´m sure you´ll get it sorted Jan

With sh!t working again, I was motivated to tackle the engine wiring loom. Most surprisingly - wiring the ELR took the grand big sum of - 2 wires TWO! Only the air con relais is missbehaving and switches the fan on with ignition - but I still have a couple of wires left there

It looks like the ELR is working!! Idle is very low without ELR, with the pump's magnet plugged in idle shoots up and is immediately catched and brought to a slightly higher idle which does sound about correct. I've not yet wired the rev counter in - by ear it is fine. And much smoother than without ELR! Sound positive, eh?



And tidyed the engine bay up a bit after installing the engine wiring loom.



Also new sway bar bushes, the old ones were far beyond use... Surprisingly, the sway bar is in very good nick, no deep rust scars - which is a first!



A-arms with brand new Lemförder ball joints - soaked in Owatrol oil to do something against the surface rust. As the spring seats were a bit rusty.



I soon realised though, that a "set" of bushes is indeed a set "for one side" and contins 4, not 8 bushes. Duuuh... Ordered another "set" - more waiting. Sigh. Oh well...

So instead of putting the front suspension together I removed the remains of the bonnet insulation (ice scraper works well!). And realised I had no suitable glue. And skipped this work as well



Ok, so maybe TÜV will see me next week - by now the car also need a regular inspection (MOT). At least I can do all at once then. But this means inspecting the car a bit closer for possible fails - and perhaps welding the rear wheel arch before I drive it to the TÜV station.

Cheers,
Jan

Still waiting for a-arm bushes... They were sent out today - if they don't arrive tomorrow, they'll do so,as the company they are shippedwith doesn't deliver saturdays. Hrmpf. I want this thing back on it's feet now...

Anyway - a eBay bargain arrived today, at least. A spare radiator. And the main reason I bought it was the oil pipe that's attached to it. Mercedes wants over 75€ for it. This was 59€ to my door and came with a very good spare radiator. Win or what?



Oil line was installed propmtly - MUCH better! It's a bit awkward routing, but looks a lot better than my bent gaser pipe...

Before:



After:



Next job was the belt damper. I soon realised that the water pump pulley had to come off. Which meant: removing the viscous fan clutch. Which meant: break your fingers and try to get a hex bit to the bolt holding it, there are like 5cm space between the radiator & bolt. But I managed it and even managed to put it back. And all that, because some engineer decided he'd make the lower bolt holding the damper 1mm(!) too long to get the damper out. ARGH! Overengineered cars my a$$!!





And unfortunately, that's all for now...

Cheers,
Jan

Took some kilometers on the odometer today - all working well! And... It's fast! Not as fast as before, but differently fast, from low down. Which is very enjoyable! And the purr of the engine when it revs at 1500 to 2000 - aaawwwww!

However, one think is not working. Which is the kick-down. And I soon knew why; it's controlled by the air-con relais which with the diesels with auto box is also a kick-down relais. So... I took a piece of cherry pie and dug into the wiring diagrammes.



And realised: THIS is going to be the real PITA wiring! I thought it would be the idle controll - but no, it's this. Anyway, no way to avoid it, except pass on air con & kick-down

Also the front end is a little too high. But there are the thickest available rubber pads on the springs - the thinnest will bring it down 15mm which should be enough. And I think it'll settle a bit anyway. Well I hope it does. As far as the stiffness of the springs is concerned; the ride is spot on!



Sooooo... Two jobs left: put interior together, kick-down wiring - and then TÜV. Oh and bleed the ASD & SLS. That's three, actually. I'll make it four, as there'S probably something I totaly forgott about Should learn to actually put 'to do' lists on paper...

Cheers,
Jan

Glued on the bonnet insulation - was easyer than I thought



Amazing; when cruising with 30 all you can hear is the tyres... Awesome!

And: kick-down works. And that's the last bit of wiring done. Apart from making it tidy again.



Didn't feel well last couple of days, so not much done. But the car is coming together slowly. Only the hight at the front is bugging me majorly. I can maybe get 3cm with the thinnest spring pads - but that's it. It's close, but it might be just enough... If it isn't - well fcuk.