ChasR
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motivation
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Club RR Member Number: 170
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I previously mentioned that I planned to take the W124 to the Laon Historique. As a result I've been sorting out alot of the issues with it. They basically are: - Vibration at high speed that gets severe; I changed the brake caliper but I'll need to drive it to confirm that - Crank seal leak, it's leaking quite a bit.-Sort out the exterior; I doubt that will happen - Give it an oil change; That's inadvertently happening!- Finish off the ICE; I threw my Alpine 9887R in, and then a CDE-178BT. I was going to sell the 9887R but I ended up selling the easier to install HU of the two, being me. Unfortunately the W124's interior is a pain to take apart, and the 9887R requires a bluetooth module fitting! Oh and I need to still sort the wiring; it's dimming the HU lighting it's that poor! But the Alpine can consume alot of power in 9887R form.I decided to sort out the crank seal. After all, it's leaking like mental and marking its territory wherever it goes! With that in mind I cracked on with stripping the front end of the engine down. I forgot just how oily the front engine of that engine is! It's a mess!  W124 crank seal saga by Charlieboy, on Flickr Once this was done it was time to clean down the front of the engine. Wow, this thing was filthy in front! Carb cleaner was just about breaking through the grime, with it coming off in chunks! As soon as I finished cleaning it I progressed onto removing the old crank seal. I was not prepared for how stubborn it would be to remove! I also didn't bank of the woodruff key falling into the sump!  W124 crank seal saga by Charlieboy, on Flickr I'm hoping not to remove the sump! It basically involves lifting the engine slightly, and only then removing the sump, with many of those fixings looking not to have been disturbed for quite some time.  W124 crank seal saga by Charlieboy, on Flickr It's fair to say I am annoyed and it really has put an extra bit of work in prior to the car being ready for the Laon Historique, which is now only a month away!  W124 Woodruff Saga by Charlieboy, on Flickr Will it be done or will the towel be thrown in? |
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Last Edit: May 4, 2018 9:26:29 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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I left the thread with it looking like I'd be taking the sump off. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to! I then started on attempting to remove the woodruff key. Initially I drained the sump. Unfortunately it didn't do alot! With a speaker magnet I then progressed to get out the woodruff key. I could hear something rattling about with the magnet inside but I just could not get it out! Since I had drained the oil and got further into the job I then proceeded to buy the following: -Gulf 10W40 oil -Mann Oil Filter -Gold Plug sump plug. These have a strong Neodymium magnet. I can confirm these are very strong! -New Woodruff key. Since the old one came out I figured it was wise to fit a new item -An extendable Magnet. I do have one of these somewhere but I could not find it! With that in mind there was nothing left to do but to crack on with the job.  W124 crank seal saga by Charlieboy, on Flickr  W124 crank seal saga by Charlieboy, on Flickr Initially I installed the Gold sump plug. With the magnet I then went on to fish out the metal particle. Except it wasn't the key! It was instead the remains of a chain link! The strange thing is the link looked undamaged! I then ended up checking both the oil pump chain and the cam chain through both apertures with each of them seeming fine. I can only assume that the link was dropped down into there when the chain was changed many years ago. Mechanics, you have to love them! On the plus side, the little I could see of the cam chain tensioner pad confirmed all was well. One thing I found strange was how I could see the cam chain from the tensioner pivot bolt aperture! It was strange how the this pivot bolt was very loose when I removed it too! Was this the reason the link was present in the sump? I then measured the potential thread engagement of the bolt with the tensioner spacer in place. It would never hit the tensioner or cam chain unless the spacer was missing. I then cleaned the super grubby tensioner. Only then did it became apparent that the tensioner itself had been replaced at some point in the past. It explained why the pivot bearing felt fine and why the idler pulley felt like new; both had been changed fairly recently in the car's life. But why was the bolt loose? In short, I don't think the mechanic tightened it enough. With a 12mm allen key the Haynes manual says this bolt should be done to 100Nm. Yup, it's tight, tighter than I'd go without seeing to factory figures! With that in mind I torqued it up and yes it is quite tight in there now, with the pulley once again being straight! W124 crank seal saga by Charlieboy, on Flickr Along the way I cleaned up all of the removed pulleys in carb cleaner. A cleaner engine in a diesel is a nicer thing to work on after all! I then went on to remove the oil level sender at the side of the sump where I then placed my magnet.Strangely, I found the woodruff key on top of the oil pickup pipe strainer! As soon as I fished that out there was a large sigh of relief!  W124 Woodruff Saga by Charlieboy, on Flickr After that it was a case of fitting in yet another crank seal, but at £8 it was hardly a deal breaker! Once that was done I got a little carried away for the night. In short, I refitted the crank pulley back on, which I'll torque check later on (it's meant to be at 320Nm, yikes on a 27mm headed bolt!). After that, once I cleaned up all of the pulleys I fitted the Gold Plug, removed the oil filter and refilled the engine with oil, refitted the level sender, refitted all of the cleaned ancillaries up front with the exception of the viscous fan and shroud, as well as refitting the radiator, and filling it up with coolant. I then went to fire it up where it is nice to not have an engine that leaks! The above took me about 4 hours, including tool packing and cleaning time; diesels are filthy things to work on! I'm not the quickest worker it can be said! But at least the car is no longer leaking and the car is once again drivable and not filthy underneath! Now to go onto the fun stuff! ICE if I can find a home for the bluetooth box behind the HU, and possibly a seat repair! I may even change the wings! |
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Apr 16, 2018 11:17:32 GMT
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Best of luck with the little niggles, they're the most time consuming but really make all the difference. Mine has some ways to go too :3 You're coming to Laon from the Eurotunnel? Might go myself depending on the turn of events, I did purchase my car there after all ! Cheers  |
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1991 Mercedes-Benz 300D Turbo † ~~ Met a cute daydreaming DS3, it was love at first sight... 1993 Mercedes-Benz 300D Turbo ~~ Current daily [Thread] |
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Best of luck with the little niggles, they're the most time consuming but really make all the difference. Mine has some ways to go too :3 You're coming to Laon from the Eurotunnel? Might go myself depending on the turn of events, I did purchase my car there after all ! Cheers Cheers! This car has a few niggles. In short - HU wiring needs tidying- Driver's seat needs repairing- Auxiliary Belt replacing- Wings repairing/replacing I have one wing-Sort out the window switches; the passenger ones are tempremental; new switches will sort it but I want to clean them first. I may ask my friend for replacement switches.
-Bluetooth module needs installing onto HU: I need to figure out how to tear the dash down; it's trickier than other dasboards!- ICE needs installing ; In Progress May add in a sub; we'll see - Sort out a bit of loose trim here and there-Give it a polish/wax; it desperately needs one as well as a good wet-vac inside! I'd rather do the latter first! I am indeed going to Laon via the Eurotunnel. I was going to take the Mercedes there looking all ratty but it seems in a twist of fate I've decided to possibly titivate the bodywork. The photos are kind on it; the wings do let the side down but I do also like the patina too! |
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Last Edit: May 4, 2018 9:27:25 GMT by ChasR
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Apr 19, 2018 16:21:51 GMT
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You won't be alone with sh!t paint if you come as is don't worry  Wet vac is definitely more rewarding imo, just don't let it get too humid inside or it might drop the headliner. Dashboard is quite a job in W124s... Get everything clear (center console, foot mats/rests, seats might make it easier too), the dash is under all that and more (instruments, front speakers, glovebox etc). Good luck! |
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1991 Mercedes-Benz 300D Turbo † ~~ Met a cute daydreaming DS3, it was love at first sight... 1993 Mercedes-Benz 300D Turbo ~~ Current daily [Thread] |
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Apr 23, 2018 13:34:57 GMT
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This weekend turned into a bit of a car-centric Sunday! I started off by going to the Bicester Sunday Scramble, where there were tons of awesome cars about! I'll provide an update on that in a separate thread.  While I was busy enjoying my day there the Mercedes needed work doing to it, fast! Given that my Merc day of Saturday turned into cleaning off the patio and then wreaking of algae for an age I really put some time in on Sunday somehow! Firstly, I went to an old friend who breaks Mercs for a living to source a few bits. This included a spare wheel as well as two working window switches. His Mrs. breaks a few parts; look out for Jasmine, aka FrauBenz for selling decent used parts. My bill. That said I did a straight swap for my early alloy spare for the steel wheel.  W124 April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr Some will say I should have been offered money. In truth, I was happy to not travel miles away or pay a fortune like what most sellers want for a steel spare wheel. The alternative was to get alloy wheel nuts but that seemed like more hassle than it was worth personally! So, I now have 4 working windows instead of two in addition to having a usable spare wheel with decent tread. This left the music scenario! As much as I love the sound of a 5 pot it's great to have some tunes on a long road trip, especially in a cruiser like a W124! With that in mind I had a second go at installing the Bluetooth box into the Merc, onto my Alpine. In short, it worked very well!  W124 April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr  W124 April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr As the keen eyed may be able to see I alluded to the HU's wiring being very sketchy previously! I plan to fire up the soldering iron and sort that out. If I then get time the ICE may get a further makeover. Seeing as it may not happen and that it will improve things alot if my plans do come to fruition I'm going to keep those plans to myself for now . What I can say is that I dialed in the crossovers and EQ on the Alpine and the W124 actually sounds very pleasant inside now! Unfortunately I cannot really enjoy the sound while driving the car. Why, I hear you ask? W124 April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr There is something missing in the form of a seat! In truth, I've sent it off to a friend of mine to retrim the bolster, using material from another seat that I picked up from Jasmine. With the deadline drawing closer things are getting more tense! |
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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So, from today I have two weeks to have a working and driving car for the Laon Historique. It's almost there but not quite. At the start of this post I had a headunit where its sound worked by telepathy, no driver's seat with it being down at the trimmers and finally I still have some minor mechanical work to do. The latter can be left but it would be nice to deal with all. Oh, and I still had the front end of the engine in pieces. Since the last post I was not looking forward to doing the wiring on the W124's HU Harness! Mainly because the masking tape was proving tricky to cut off, while attempting not to injure myself with the craft knife! With that in mind I moved to finishing off the work in the engine bay! I still need to find a means to hold the crankshaft while I tighten up the crank bolt; it's done up to 320Nm, and the in gear trick isn't really enough, and I wonder how the clutch will fare with that much torque against it! I shall have to investigate what other options there are for tightening the crank bolt.I know for a fact it's tightened over 150Nm, but of course is that enough? I put the bolt in with my Kielder rattle gun, so it's a question of how tight that got the bolt. Ideas here are welcome. While I was deliberating that it seemed it would be a good time to refit the auxiliary belt and refil the cooling system with OAT coolant:  W124 work April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr As always, this is a cheap car but it doesn't mean I am skimping on things or getting the poorest quality items! This arrived from CP4L for £17 and being a Dayco item should last well. It's a shame the relatively new Gates belt couldn't be kept but I suspect it had worn funny from the previously loose tensioner on the engine. Thankfully the car is now silent from the pulley area.  W124 work April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr I initially had a problem with an airlock in the system. Coming back a week later to top the coolant up right to the top of the reservoir however seems have solved this thankfully, with the car having toasty heaters once more! But there was nothing for it. I'd have to tackle that shonking wiring if I ever wanted a reliable audio system in this car, especially with my rare Alpine 9887R headunit fitted! In the end however I am glad to report that there were no trips to A&E surprisingly! I merely got my craft knife out, and just went for it, albeit precariously at times!  W124 work April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr Once the insulation was done it was time to sort out the speaker wiring! I say sort as the channels were wired incorrectly! It went soemthing like this: Headunit Wiring - Speaker Wiring Left Front - Left Right Left Right; Left Front Rear Left & Right - correct but the polarity was wrong on both! I ended up getting a 9 volt battery, tracing the wires back and then checking the polarity of the speakers that way! By the evening I had all of the wires soldered up, the wiring is now correct in addition to the speakers no longer cutting out on their own! Some people are against soldering here but IME I've almost always had those Halfords style crimps fail on me, where here I wanted a longer lasting solution! But while the sound of the car had improved there was still room for improvement! My car has lost its factory speakers some time ago, where instead of the factory fitted speakers it now has 10cm JBLs up front:  W124 work April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr To quite a few of you the above would be fine with the above installation I suspect but the audio consieus will be aware that you can get some cancellation without a decent baffle for the speaker. Not a problem I thought; I have a HU which has fully active crossovers (i.e it takes place of the speaker crossover boxes, giving much more flexibility) and so I better put an audio setup in! Stuff which I haven't used for about 4 years now! In my mind I put out the kitlist to include: HU; Alpine 9887R with the BT-400 iPod/Bluetooth box Amps: Genesis Series 3 4 channel with a Phase Linear Monoblock for the sub Sub: Phase Linear Aliante Si 12" in a ported box. But what about speakers? Enter stage left:  W124 work April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr These are a pair of Dynaudio GT240 5.25" components. I've been after a set of Dynaudios for a very long time and when these came up at a bargain price years ago I snapped them up. Now it was just a case of fitting them. Or so I thought:  W124 work April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr It's sort of in there.  W124 work April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr No, that isn't going to work! The above created a bit of a stumbling block for me. I assumed the W124 speaker apertures were 13cm like the Dynaudios, but it was not to be. It turns out they are 12cm with Mercedes' own fastening scheme which thankfully is still intact! I then considered a set of original factory speakers and even Rainbow's Custom Fit offerings, albeit at £100. I'd have to sell the Dynaudios to buy them, but I already have a few people asking me to buy the things off me! Further research ensued. A known face in the W124 in the form of Nick Bolide informed me that while the Merc stock speakers weren't great, the Rainbows weren't much better! With that in mind it was back to the drawing board. Without alot of effort and time it will be tricky getting the Dynaudios/ICE in with other jobs still to do on the car. I may well fit the Dynaudios in, but it will be in a non-invasive fashion, and probably with the mids in the kick panels of the car. But that wouldn't help me now! I debated making a baffle for the JBLs but seeing as they may not be used for the long term it seemed like alot of effort to go to for not much of a gain. They are £30 speakers after all. Later on I came up with the idea of using some SecondSkin Damplifier Pro sound material to seal off the mids. It is fair to say that it looks quite Heath Robinson in my attempts:  W124 work April 2018 by Charlieboy, on Flickr However, it made a bigger difference than I imagined! For 10cm speakers they actually have some bass! This was very apparent though a back to back comparison! Furthermore, the ear-piercing midrange in the vocals (remember, these are cheap JBL speakers) is now much more forgiving. Not great but acceptable now. It sounds sounds alot nicer and with less volume from the headunit required now that alot of that cancellation has gone. All that was left for me to do there was to refit the stock speaker grilles and then do some EQing to make it a little nicer. It now has the mid-range tamed down a little more still (but still nowhere near as bad before I did the above and tried EQing) and generally sounds fine for an old Mercedes inside, just how it should be! As I have alluded to above, I may do one more thing to the audio side of things prior to going to Laon, but we will see. |
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Bank Holidays. they are great for many people out there. A day off work to do as they please. Some go away for a weekend. Others go on a weekend binge, while some go and meet their family and friends. Me? I may have dabbled in all of the above, but did not lose sight of the goal in mind. The Laon Historique. With the 2 week deadline fast approaching I had my aforementioned list to work through. With that in mind I went down to the unit and progressed with working on the car again. This is probably the first time the old girl has seen daylight for almost two months. It's also the first time my SLR has been used for a while thanks to a new lens; for now mobile phone shots like the rest of mine will indeed be reduced to the pleasure of many people out there!  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (1 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Firstly, I would finish off the previously botched wiring:  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (2 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr As you can see, the wiring is becoming an improved. All signs of the twisted/masking tape wiring have gone!  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (3 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr All that was left to do was the tape up the wiring into a tidier form and then refit the lot. Oh, and still checked that everything worked! Thanfully it did! With that done and me still looking quite clean I decided to refit the repaired driver's seat; it had a ripped driver's bolster. Unfortunately I had no pre-repair shots but at least the interior is looking fine again courtesy of The Trim Shed.  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (6 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (8 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr With the driver's seat refitted it was time to move onto the brakes. A fellow RRer saw that I changed the other rear caliper and suggested that I change the other side. I begrudgingly bought one from ECP. After all, with a basic inspection the wheel was working fine.  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (9 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr However, he was right. Upon further inspection, 1 piston hadn't been working for some while but it wasn't catching the disc. The other was OK. But the seals were not so great on both. But look how shiny the new parts are!:  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (10 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Yup, at least the new caliper would look a little blingier! With that in mine I cracked on and fitted the new items onto the car.  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (11 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr The bleeding didn't go so well I admit! I used the Eezibleed to bleed the brakes. Normally, this is a simple operation. I am aware some people hate them. This time however, something caught me out. Despite previously using the Eezibleed on cars with no hiccups this was not to be. It blew the clutch master cylinder hose clean off the reservoir! Very swiftly I ended up grabbing a load of water and started pouring over all of where the brake fluid had gone from the reservoir! The other difference this time was I used the rear tyre and not the spare; after all, I normally only use an Eezibleed at 20PSI, and no more! Being a wheel at 30PSI may have affected things. However, I have decided to fit on a jubilee clip onto the master cylinder reservoir line for future purposes. On the plus side the rear brake was bled in time and with all of the air taken out. With both rear calipers changed the pedal position has dropped a little but is still at less than 50% pedal travel, possibly as a result of having 4 pistons working on the back of the car as opposed to 1 1/2! I am hoping that with the previous owner doing the master cylinder and these calipers being changed, that this end of the braking woes and the intermittent floor pedal scenario. Reading around it seems it should be with the logic also making sense. But it's fair to say I had to cheer the old girl up. I had some treats in store after all! Yes, I may be trying to do things on the cheap but it was not going to be getting budget parts fitted either! We had Delphi, Sachs & Pagid in the house! Amazingly, most of those parts came from DoctorCarParts, a retailer who sells decent quality parts for reasonable prices. I've gone outside of ECP for some parts it for the Carina I had to use DCP, but it was no bad thing. Here they delivered again.  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (5 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr It was then time to change the steering damper and drag link. The drag link I was unable to do since my tools in the unit could not get enough of a fit onto the nuts. I did debate persevering but also didn't want to damage things and make life awkward later. In truth, the nuts will come off with a flexible spanner/flexible ratchet spanner as well as going from above with a rattle gun. I have both, but none were down at the unit. Since I could do the steering damper I persevered on with the suspension repairs. It is said that the steering dampers can go weak on many old Mercs. Mine was shot to be fair. With the damper nearly compressed all seemed fine and it almost worked as good as the new one. But with the damper semi-extented it would go in quickly for an inch then then stop, sometimes boucing back to the position I left it in. Yup, it was a little shot! With that in mind I continued with fitting the new damper:  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (12 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr It was certainly grubby, was the old item I removed! The bushes weren't great either where it attaches to the body and the drag link. But it was then time to clean off all of the old grime from the old unit. It's always interesting to see what you are removing after all.  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (14 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Both of them look perfect right? Well, one of them is working as intended, and it's not the older one! Upon closer inspection, the damper I removed was the original damper to the car. It was a genuine Stabillus item and dated back to 1990. Considering the age and the mileage of the damper it hadn't done too badly.  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (13 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr All that was left to do was the fit the new damper to the car. To my surprise the steering is a little heavier than previously with the damper swap, but still quite on the light side! It will be interesting to see how the car drives when I take it on its road test prior to Laon.  Mercedes Laon Prepartions (15 of 15) by Charlieboy, on Flickr It's fair to say that the car is almost getting there. It's certainly ready for the roadtrip, despite me doing more than I planned with the car in addition to jobs I have been putting off for some time like the headunit wiring. So much for this being 'just a winter smoker' eh? |
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Last Edit: May 8, 2018 8:19:55 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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May 12, 2018 21:52:15 GMT
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With Laon now only a week away things are getting real! Really tense that is! With that in mind I got the W124 out of the unit after its two month hibernation. Firstly, I started off by removing the centre drag link.  Weekendwork by Charlieboy, on Flickr People don't like these tools but in my experience they don't destroy the boots when they are used carefully. In my case the boots on the drag links had split anyway! I did cheat however with the balljoint splitter! The impact wrench also came in handy for removing the drag link bolts without needing to use a counterforce to hold the balljoints, since I didn't split them and the taper was holding them in place.  Weekendwork by Charlieboy, on Flickr Before I knew it the old item was out. On first inspection both looked fine. But it was deeper where the flaws became apparent.  Mercedes Laon Prepartions v2 (1 of 8) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Mercedes Laon Prepartions v2 (2 of 8) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Mercedes Laon Prepartions v2 (3 of 8) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Originally I thought only one balljont boot was split! It turned out that both were in exactly the same place! It seems they may have been split for some time as the balljoints were gritty in them operation. It was no bad thing that I was changing the drag link it seemed! With that done I fitted on the new drag link, torqued up the bar and didn't refit the steering damper. Why? I was still thinking about the crankshaft bolt that I didn't tighten up correctly as discussed here. My previous attempts didn't allow me to! With that in mind it seems the car Gods looked favourably on me this weekend! Firstly, I have a couple of package arrive! One of them was for the crank locking tool I had ordered from Germany.  Mercedes Laon Prepartions v2 (7 of 8) by Charlieboy, on Flickr It looks a little specialised and I wasn't convinced that two M6 x 90mm bolts would be man enough to hold the flywheel! Since the crossmember prevented me from getting in a crowbar I had no choice except to precariously fit the new flywheel lock:  Mercedes Laon Prepartions v2 (5 of 8) by Charlieboy, on Flickr All that was left to do was to grab my torque wrench and set it to 320Nm. It's the first time I have ever set it to its maximum torque! You can just make out the removed sump bolts in that photo!  Mercedes Laon Prepartions v2 (6 of 8) by Charlieboy, on Flickr The linked thread should describe things. But I really was expecting something to break with that much torwue! When I finally heard that torque wrench go click it was a massive weight off my mind! With that done it was time to deal with the second parcel!  Mercedes Laon Prepartions v2 (8 of 8) by Charlieboy, on Flickr Yup, I acquired and sort of faked a set of Mercedes dealer plates as if the car came with those plates as if it came out of the showroom! It didn't help that the old ones were looking unkempt and generally tatty! Fitting those was a doddle but that can wait until next time! The poor car really needs a clean! It's fair to say that it is getting there! |
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keyring
Part of things
Posts: 913
Club RR Member Number: 47
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May 13, 2018 20:19:20 GMT
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Enjoyable read going through this! Look forward to more updates, and hopefully it makes it to Laon trouble free!  |
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Last Edit: May 13, 2018 20:21:41 GMT by keyring: Silly autocorrect
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ChasR
RR Helper
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May 14, 2018 21:25:06 GMT
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We can all but hope keyring! I'm hoping my latest efforts may at least make the car feel wanted, at least if cars truly do have feelings! I found exactly the same thing! The two tools make balljoints a relatively easy removal process! As tradition with these threads, it's time to come onto detailing. Or rather to not try! This was how it looked after being stored for 2 months in the unit. It did indeed look like a genuine 'barn find'! Maybe I missed a trick here. Maybe I should have put my investor hat on and pointed it was a barn find, a super rare W124 at that!  Weekendwork by Charlieboy, on Flickr But, that's not me. It doesn't really help that I am enjoying the relaxing yet surprisingly swift progress! I've been busy cleaning the Mercedes prior to the trip. The bodywork on mine isn't the best as some of you know! But at least it doesn't stop me using it, unlike me trying to save the M3! The polishing has given mixed results but overall for the better, I suspect. It took some mopping, cleaning, and waxing to get it here with various products!  Final Preparations W124 (21 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Final Preparations W124 (20 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Final Preparations W124 (18 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Final Preparations W124 (16 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr I even installed a USB cigar voltmeter as another way to keep an eye on things:  Final Preparations W124 (14 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Final Preparations W124 (13 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Final Preparations W124 (10 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Final Preparations W124 (8 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Final Preparations W124 (7 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Final Preparations W124 (6 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Final Preparations W124 (4 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr  Final Preparations W124 (3 of 21) by Charlieboy, on Flickr |
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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As a few of you know I drove this car to Laon and had a thoroughly good time in it! Yesterday I picked the car up amid a buyer coming to view it this week. The truth? I miss driving this thing! It may be lacking presentation but God it just cruises everywhere it goes! I can't sell this now!, but I must! What on Earth am I going to do? |
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Last Edit: Jul 9, 2018 7:40:15 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Jul 31, 2018 22:48:39 GMT
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Today was a sad day. It was time for the Mercedes to go to Pastures new. With the 2CV now in the frame and having three running cars I really needed to cut one of them loose! I felt bad for getting rid of this one and getting attached too! But you cannot have them all, and to be fair the W124 diesel scratch truly has been satisfied! The new owners were dead happy with the car. May it serve them well . |
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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It seems despite escaping the W124 traits you just keep on coming back! This one wasn't a planned arrival, but then they never are! So, what was my excuse for this one? Well, it started with a message, not a kiss as Tom Jones said. One day, after I got back from work, the old man informed me he knew of a reasonably priced W128. He keeps calling them that! "Hey Chas, you know that W128 you had?" "You mean the W124?" "Yes, that one, well my mate is getting rid of one" "I've just bought a 2CV, what makes you think I need another car?" "This one is fully loaded, and its cheap!" Sigh "Go on then" "It's a 300, I think, and an estate" "Petrol or diesel?" 'Petrol, son" "I'm not interested, there's a reason why I bought a 250D, those petrols love a drink, even more than the M3 loves a drink!" "It can't be that bad can it? My Mondeo (2.5 Turbo Volvo lump) does 28-30MPG average?" "Erm, yes, it really can be worse. Way worse! I'm expecting worse than the M3 and maybe on a par with the 730i we drove for a bit". That 730i I mentioned was a 1991 E32 derivative, and man that thing is probably the thirstiest car I've ever driven! MPG? 18. Cruise? Around 18! No matter how you drove it, that thing just chomped through the fuel! It was a lovely drive but wow it was terrible on the fuel, even compared to our 4.0 Jag. My old man thought the Merc would be frugal since the Jag was. Until I informed him that the 4.0 AJ engines were designed with MPG very much in mind. Not like the Merc or BMW units. With that, I thought it was a matter of it being case closed. But we know it never goes that way. Later on in the week, I had a few photos sent over.   So the car wasn't a 300, it was actually an E320. One of the last S124s made. Oh, and another thing. It had been off the road for 2 years due to a running fault. It wouldn't start. With those two shots there was only one thing for it. To go and take a look. Maybe it would be so bad that it wouldn't come home! Or maybe it would be a little more. |
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Sept 2, 2018 23:06:28 GMT
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Eventually the day would come that I'd have to see it. It sounds terrible, but while I was hoping it wouldn't be a lemon I also didn't care if it was. Why? I didn't want spend the car on a car I didn't really need! I did however get to ask a few questions with my dad being the proxy for the answers. "How bad is the rust" 'He says' it's gone behind a headlight' "Ah ok, You do know those HFM equipped cars eat through their original wiring looms; What's the deal with that" 'He tells me it's a freshly rebuilt loom from the ground up.' "Ah, ok" 'So, when are we going to look at it son? You want it don't you?' "I'm not bothered. I'm free this weekend. Shall we head down?" 'Sure' And so we did. It's fair to say what greeted us wasn't great! But let's start on the good stuff eh? It looks alright from this angle eh?  S124 E320 by Charlieboy, on Flickr There interior is there, but it's not what you'd call clean!  S124 E320 by Charlieboy, on Flickr  S124 E320 by Charlieboy, on Flickr  S124 E320 by Charlieboy, on Flickr So, in short, it was a sound E320, not a 300 as I was initially told. But maybe the jacking points and subframe mounts were bad? Nope, they were solid. They are about one of the best I've seen on one of these and I've walked away from some externally pretty examples too! Damn, This was looking like a done deal! Before I could even say that I'd think about it, the old man uttered the words that sealed the deal. No, it wasn't 'awld awwwwt yer 'annnnnndd' by Mike Brewer. It was far more incongruent, for me anyway: "Mate, we're not going to haggle, but we'll (read I!) will give you the money". After which the logbook was signed, the deed was done and I was once again the owner of yet another W124! Great! I like these things but I didn't need another car, especially one that didn't run! The conversation on the way back home between my dad and I went along the lines of "where are we going to put it-it can't go in the unit as a non-runner; you do know there's a hill that you have to push the cars out of the unit onto!" So the unit was out for storing it. I didn't want to risk towing it back 60 miles either. Remember, this car hadn't been run for 2 years, and it was enough to make the previous owner give up! In the meantime I arranged a trailer to get the car in the form of a work colleague. That was £140. But I knew the petrol and trailer hire (and not to the mention the MAM weight of a mate's Focus being questionable with a 1600kg S124 on the back) wouldn't be much less anyway, and more stressful. So while I was at RRG in the M3 on the Sunday the said collegue was towing the Mercedes from Tewksbury all of the way back home. It's fair to say that I enjoyed RRG! While coming back in the AC'd M3, enjoying the cooler air inside the cabin I was thinking long and hard about that S124 and what could cause it not to start. Eventually, I'd have my chance. It had landed!  S124 E320 by Charlieboy, on Flickr I am sure my neighbours were loving yet another car coming onto the drive on the back of a trailer! But would it move from the driveway under its own steam? |
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Sept 2, 2018 23:16:02 GMT
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Have you seen that thread of the lawyer up Newcastle way who made his golf one perfect? Like fifty grands perfect, daily driver.
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Sept 2, 2018 23:19:55 GMT
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Sept 3, 2018 17:31:26 GMT
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For a minute, I thought you were talking about a Golf! (sorry). But yes, I do know r129sl's car, at least from the thread. His thread has been insightful and his pointers even more so. He certainly knows a thing or two about the old Mercs! His R129 thread is also quite something! I'm tempted with mine to this! My commute however has recently increased to around 200 miles a week, albeit 100 of that is paid for. It's certainly making my head scratch a little! |
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Sept 19, 2018 22:27:25 GMT
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It would be a while before I tackled the S124. After all, I have RRG to attend, some in-laws coming around on the same day and I ended up running around like a headless chicken; the in-laws, and then I finally got to work. I heard on the grapevine that a non-working Over Voltage Protection (OVP) relay could cause a few issues including a non-start. Finding a good one was hard. The dialogue on eBay went as follows: "Hi, did the relay come off a running car?" "Hi, the relay is in good working order" So, they said the relay was perfect, but not if the car ran on it. If you research Merc circles, many think you don't need an OVP relay for the car to start. On a Bosch KE-Jetronic or diesel car that may be the case but not for an HFM equipped car. Thankfully, I had some help from an old friend. He lent me a relay. But with a shot battery, it was never going to sort itself so, so on I went about charging the battery:  S124 E320 by Charlieboy, on Flickr As soon as I plugged it in, this was the result.  S124 E320 by Charlieboy, on Flickr Hallelujah! It was the relay! This of course left me with an issue of buying a relay. The tappetyness would soon go quiet; the tappets must have had no oil in them! The engine was very slow to turn over, but despite the battery, it did still fire up. My friend told me £35, but that a new one was £70. I know why he wanted a little more for a used OVP relay ; they are harder to come by working as I'll get to later. With this in mind, I threw a bucket of water over the car in that time, so as to attempt to make it more presentable. But with flakey paintwork in areas, that will never happen! It was then MOT time around the corner. Had I really bought a bargain or a pup? |
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Sept 24, 2018 20:45:45 GMT
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In short, it passed the MOT with flying colours! I was surprised! It needed a few things however to get it through! 1) An SLS Pipe repair 2) A new sidelight bulb 3) A pair of front indicator bulbs That was it! I am not joking! Much to my surprise it even passed the emissions!  S124 E320 by Charlieboy, on Flickr  S124 E320 by Charlieboy, on Flickr I was shocked! But, I was not that eaaily out of the woods! It went from running OK to developing one of those dreadful intermitten faults; a random misfire. It really ruined the driving experience. I didn't really know what to do! I had planned on a service and was going to get a service kit. This, however, brought up an interesting fact about the spark plugs. No-one seems to give a clear answer as to what plugs the car needs! In short, this is what you get from people if you ask for their recommendations: -Mercedes : Bosch F8DC4s (German Made) -Bosch : FR8DC+ (Russian made if the ECP items are anything to go by, and it seems most Bosch plugs now are in the aftermarket -NGK : BCP6ES So in short, Mercedes offer a German non-resistored plug of what Bosch suggest and NGK suggest a colder spark plug, albeit unresistored like the factory items? I did look online but I struggled to find German parts. In this case, the dealer wasn't much much than the internet anyway, and so I arrived with the new plugs. But what would come out of the car?  Servicing by Charlieboy, on Flickr It was what most motor factors offered me, the BCP6ESs. None, and I mean none of my local ones could get the Bosch plugs in, and likewise, they also suggested the resistored Bosch items. So, you get exactly the same parts from the motor factor? Erm, yeah... So, did the car run any better with the new plugs? Nope, not at all! If anything, it ran worse at idle, but slightly better on a run! Would I ever get to the bottom of this misfire, especially with the car being a week away from being pushed into daily service? |
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