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Took the next effort to get rid of the virbrations... One wheel bearing started to make scary, rumpling noises. I decided to replace both wheel bearings with high quality SKF bearings.  (Steamy lens, sorry...) And I want to replace the tie rods. Since the car had a suspension aligment done not too long ago, I didn't ant to mess up the tracking. So I "stole" some steering arms of E, welded them to some scrap metal and now I have a "tracking-copy-device"   Looks a bit rough but does the job  Also put on yet another set of brake discs (after 5000km), this time ATE and not cheap Meyle discs... I fear the brake discs may have caused the virbations. Only done one side, as it started to pour down violently and got very dark... If you read my updates carefully, you may know I take everything as an excuse to not continue working - and so I just did that and had some pie, instead of doing the other side  Well - at least when this is donw the front suspension is completely renewd, apart from the strut bearings. Cheers, Jan |
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OMG - I've only done a short test-run; but - it looks like the shuddering in the steering wheel is finaly gone. I'm so happy I could hug a tree!! Autobahn test tomorrow If it comes back, I sell this car!!!* Cheers, Jan *only kidding |
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Great work and excellent idea for the steering arms
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 745
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Hey Jan
Did you buy the winter replacement?
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Current Fleet:
1968 Wolseley 1000
2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe
2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport
1998 318is Coupe
2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged
1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Great work and excellent idea for the steering arms Thanks Tony! Only need to weld on another piece of steel; 'cause the other side is twisted the other way Ah well. Resolved that temporarily with some mole grips Hey Jan Did you buy the winter replacement? No. I decided against it. It's too far gone... Would have been a W124 300D with brown interior - a genuine factory Taxi at that! With only a mere 1.6 million km (994.000 miles) on the clock. But it's too rusty, mainly the rear subframe mounts, all brake lines, fuel lines and front frame rail under the battery. And rust at every edge imaginable. Engine is a EGR-prototype, but bruns engine oil and drips out of every seal possible. All in all, too much work to get it through TÜV...  I was a bit too optimistic... It's too expensive for what it is. 300 maybe, but not more... On a brighter note; I'm pickung up a free Pug 205 next week. Cheers, Jan |
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 745
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A mere 994,000 miles..... Just run in! I bet that car has a lot of stories it could tell!
I think you need a 190e in your life, maybe a nice diesel?
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Current Fleet:
1968 Wolseley 1000
2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe
2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport
1998 318is Coupe
2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged
1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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A mere 994,000 miles..... Just run in! I bet that car has a lot of stories it could tell! I think you need a 190e in your life, maybe a nice diesel? I wish it could talk! Judging from various stickers, it spent most of it's live in Berlin! A 190D would be nice - but it looks like prices just sky-rocketed o0 I think I'm a few years late. And I don't buy cars for more than 1000€ (the TDT donor was the most expensive car I ever bought - at 1000€). But there's still a bit time untill they put the metal eating stuff on the roads... |
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Sooooooo - with the new silence in the car (the bearings made a HUGE difference - I didn't notice just how much noise they made!) I noted another issue; the differential whines a bit. Not alarming, but audible. So - I wrestled the fill- and drain plugs of the diff. I was literally hanging under the car, back on ground and with my feet jammed somewhere against the subframe & spare tyre well... I almost rounded the drain plug (14mm hex!). But; in the end I won. Let it drain for some hours, then filled it with 0.5l brake cleaner, turned it for 2 minutes and drained the brake cleaner. Then flushed it again with brake cleaner, untill the fluid runing through the drain hole was almost clear. New Castrol Syntrax LSD...  ^very tight due to exhaust & hydraulic line Result: whine is gone. It's a whole new sensation to drive this car. But I think the exhaust is too loud...    Also replaced the ASD pressure reservoir, this was realy neccesary as the relief valve was ticking frequently and the pressure hoses made som pretty violent moves  Worst case are burst pressure hoses which are specially made. No normal hydraulic hoses, but more flexible to a certain degree. I think "high pressure expansion hose" is the correct term. And german Feuerwehr is quite happy to charge high sums for cleaning oil of public roads. Result: no more *clack pfffssscchhht* and the ASD light stays off (I wonder how long...  ). I think I'll mount the Lorinsers next Seeing as they were not causing the vibrations Cheers, Jan |
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Mark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,097
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Jan,
Quick question for you about general reliability. Are most of the bits and pieces you end up doing preventative maintenance or effectively things that you would have to d anyway in the next few 1000km anyway to keep it on the road? The reason I ask is the suitability of a W124 300TD as a daily, my current e39 throws up relatively few bills but I always saw the w124 as bullet proof - more bullet proof than the amount of work you end up doing!!
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Hi Mark! Mmhh - well that's a good qiestion. If I look at recent work; the wheel bearings were neccesary, as was the ASD pressure sphere. The tie rods - not so much. If I look at my 200TE - this needed a lot less work. On the other hand the Coupé is a keeper. So I tend to fix anything remotely broken (pedantic? ) Plus I don't have the slightest service history to this car. A lot of stuff has been replaced 'cause I was at it anyway whilst doing the engine swap. The front suspension p.e. was probably still good for a lot more than 1000km  They are good cars - but tend to need a lot of work, if neglected by previous owners. A lot of work can be hiding at the rear; the many hydraulic lines start to rust. But I don't know how much of an issue this is in Oz - I imagine you have less salt on the roads than we do Broken hydraulic lines are no fun to replace, and the big ones runing from accumulator sphere to the "damper" are $$. And then - W124s like to rust. The later model year, the worse. Best years are '85 to '89-'90. Then MB started to save money and all went down in the '90s... Rust wise this car was a very lucky find So all in all... "It depends". Cheers, Jan |
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Soooooooo - differential is still whining a bit - but bearable. Still... Sigh.  Probably have to save up for a rebuild or find another 2.65 with ASD (harhar - like that's possible :-\). Anyway. Lorinser back on - again severe vibration. Winter wheels on - no more vibration. I don't get it... Took the Lorinsers for theyr third balancing today - I'll give them one last chance tomorrow. They have been fine for over a year - then I chnage the steering gearbox, everything's shaking, I put the stock wheels back on, still shaking, I replace everything, no shaking except with the Lorinsers!? Excuse me?? I'm officially out of ideas. Except one idea: BIN the bl00dy - unfortunately awesome - Lorinser wheels... Booo! Bl00dy a$$hole car! Don't like it right now. Have put up a for sale add... No just kidding Looking for C-Class 16" steels right now. On the other hand there has been talk about snow in the radio - I can just leave the winter tyres on I guess. IF the Lorinsers stil shake tomorrow. I have a very dim hope they don't... At last the ASD light didn't come back on today. Maybe tomorrow? And I'm still in two mind wheter to take this thorugh the salty season again, or not. I'm leaning towards "yes". Heated seats, ASD, good heater. All on board you could wish for |
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Oct 10, 2013 13:24:37 GMT
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Soooooooo - differential is still whining a bit - but bearable. Still... Sigh. And I'm still in two mind wheter to take this thorugh the salty season again, or not. I'm leaning towards "yes". Heated seats, ASD, good heater. All on board you could wish for Get yourself a W123 for the winter mate, that should upset the Merc purists |
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Oct 10, 2013 14:13:56 GMT
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Get yourself a W123 for the winter mate, that should upset the Merc purists Try find one that's usable with my tiny budget... I'm constantly looking, though ------- Ho Le Fook - FINALLY!! Looks like I found someone who's capable of balancing wheels! Wasn't the cheapest (10€/wheel...) - but boy what a difference! Observation 1: 1 wheel needed 1/4 of the weights in a totaly different place!! Observation 2: other wheel (only had the front ones done) needed less weights, again in different places. There's still a wee little shudder at about 50MPH - above and below it's fine. Which means (I'm going through a lot of emotions here, bear with me ) I'm starting to love the car again and am as happy as I could be No more hating this car. I wouldn't have bothered, if I was not in the possesion of the probably most awesome factory supplied tool ever:  - makes fitting wheels with deeeeeep lug holes so much easyer. And at 1,70€ it's a steal! Lorinsers back on - happy again!  I didn't fit the center caps in this pic, just in case this test drive ends up like the previous ones... And I added a second plane for the tracking-copy-tool and painted it  Cheers, Jan |
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Oct 10, 2013 15:26:43 GMT
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I really like this car, and its one the reasons why I've just bought a w124 |
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 1965 Mk1 Mini 1989 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport 2004 Audi A2 TDi 2007 Lotus Exige S 2011 Mini Cooper SD |
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 745
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Oct 10, 2013 19:06:26 GMT
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I'm trying to imagine the Lorinser's in Bronze.... What do you reckon Jan?
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Current Fleet:
1968 Wolseley 1000
2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe
2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport
1998 318is Coupe
2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged
1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Oct 10, 2013 19:28:03 GMT
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g111mds : don't blame me! Just kidding. Thanks! Been looking at some Ts lately, as winter runabout... Battenberg : I did a potatochop here with ESM 001s in MB "smoke silver", which is silver with a dab of gold:   I think I give it a shot with the winter alloys, they need frsh paint anyway If it works - well why not? though I have plans involving 16" steels and SL hubcaps Cheers, Jan
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Oct 11, 2013 16:22:50 GMT
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Behold, the new car has arrived. I call it "the bathPug"...  I thought "oh someone's left a bottle of water in the boot". But when I hit the brakes sharply, my feet got all wet. Yeah...  This is NOT going to be my winter ride... That's for sure! But how's the saying!? Never look a gift horse in the mouth... Or something like this. Polish, cleaning - eBay. Apart from that it drives well, everything works but needs new CV joints both sides. Too much work. Cheers, Jan |
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Oct 17, 2013 19:33:33 GMT
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Update: nothing to report... Over 7000km since the conversion - I think I can shedule the next oil & filter change this year (10kkm). Speedo now showing 542.400km - which is the milage of the gearbox & turbocharger. The engine is now at somewhere around 240kkm.  Regards, Jan |
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Oct 21, 2013 15:33:46 GMT
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Another tiny update; the cruise control IS WORKING!!! YAY! Finaly got round to plug in the repaired ECU - and it works flawless! And I started to strike stuff off the "unimportant jobs to do" list. First job was to remove the glove box and replace this:  It's another of those little details that make the differenc with W124s. This fragile plastic bit goes between the glove box lid catch and a damper that prevents the lid from just falling down, instead it opens soft & silent. Yes - a glove box damper!  Next was the center air vent. They'r known to break, the switch is a bit of a weak design:  Replaced it - all works again! And both the air flap & the switch have a little hole to align both to no cross-thread the bolt that gos into the plastic receiver on the air flap:  AND i won a pair of rubber floor mats (genuine MB ones) for 1€ on ePay Very nice this time of year  And that's it Cheers, Jan |
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Oct 22, 2013 12:19:03 GMT
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A glovebox damper! Thats seriously PIMP.
I love that brown interior, very nice.
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Worst case are burst pressure hoses which are specially made. No normal hydraulic hoses, but more flexible to a certain degree. I think "high pressure expansion hose" is the correct term. And german Feuerwehr is quite happy to charge high sums for cleaning oil of public roads.
).
Probably have to save up for a rebuild or find another 2.65 with ASD (harhar - like that's possible :-\).
