its official! i bought a pos..

[funkgab]

so right after you guys warn me about my wiring harness that rats ate up.. my car stalled on me.. it looks like its being starved, will post video as soon as my phone charges, running way too lean or something... basically the eta/airfilter started shaking.. and popped off and stalled or something... the previous owner sure did know what he was doing.. basically its having vacuum leaks, misfires a little, rarely, but looks like wiring harness/eta.. probably eta harness(hopefully not) took it apart really quick while i was waiting for aaa, it looks filthy, kind of covered in oil/black grimes.. i feel like such an idiot, and need assistance for the next step.. ~edit added pic and video. i know its a terrible sound the engine makes goes away with more gas, probably since more air is being sucked in.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPw22FhzKB0 btw i have no idea if this happened cause gas is low.. but man i probably need to make a whole new car, or just get another car. the filthy eta.. never seen one, well i saw my m103's but its very clean.. unlike this one, its the first m104 eta i've seen and the air cover got opened by mistake actually.. how hard is it to take it off and clean it?

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[Saijin_Naib]

You know the answer. New harnesses, new vac lines, new EHA, possibly new ETA.

[funkgab]

yeah.. sounds like it.. i might as well get a new car.. man i should have bought midasmike's car.. damn me for trusting old receipts.. going to check under the valve cover never did it before.. and yeah the vacuum gormets look toasted.. i have a good feeling the previous owner knew.. cause he gave me a bag of goodies.. mostly bulbs and vac lines..

love how i get a check from school for $350 from financial aid right when my car dies :|

[Saijin_Naib]

Originally Posted by funkgab

yeah.. sounds like it.. i might as well get a new car.. man i should have bought midasmike's car.. damn me for trusting old receipts.. going to check under the valve cover never did it before.. and yeah the vacuum gormets look toasted.. i have a good feeling the previous owner knew.. cause he gave me a bag of goodies.. mostly bulbs and vac lines..

love how i get a check from school for $350 from financial aid right when my car dies :|

You're lucky you have that check! I owe my dad quite a bit for all the bills he has footed so far that I've not paid back yet.

[funkgab]

and saijin i think your lucky your dads the mechanic.. haha money you can always pay back later.. yeah i owe my mom tons.. for my last c280.. the w124 300e, i did with my own though.. the ce.. oh lord biggest mistake of my life.


took the ignition cover thing off.. plugs look good.. well at least i'm learning how the engine works :P
(there was some rat drippings!! i need to find that damned palm springs desert rat!! he did quite the damage)
but man the 2 holes that connect to the air filter.. nasty..


heres the air filter itself.. is it supposed to have oil all over it? :|

well the p.o knew what he was doing somewhat i guess, and the ziptie.. mr.mb (my mechanic) put it on cause he broke the clip off :|

[funkgab]

some more updates... as i spent all night just taking apart the car to inspect..
first time doing it, its pretty fun this car actually..

that damned rat.. left drippings and chewed up my harness! well it was from the previous owner.. but damn..
after i took off all the pvc tape, this is what was under it.. jesus christ was this guy thinking.. jesus christ what was I thinking!!! somebody please hit me with a hammer!!!




oddly enough, turns out the harness is great shape besides where the rat chewed it up..

looks like that where the rat chewed it up.. and i cut off all his weird ghetto fixes and connections..


perhaps i can solder just that part as a temporary after i cut some more wiring? and ill buy a new harness later? because the harness besides there again is still great.


went under the car a little bit.. don't have jacks, so just took a pic of how much oil is leaking



so many vacuum seals things, the little elbow things are in bad shape..
i didn't get to the valve cover, cause i dunno how
but after i took off the cover (screws were in bad shape, they wouldn't really tighten for some odd reason, cept 2...)
for the coils/spark plugs.. looks like the coils are aged, and the spark plug wires are old too
thats the only plug i could take out.. ;p seems to be covered in oil..

thats where the plug came from..

something else i inspected are the symptoms

basically the car takes forever to start, won't start unless im holding down the gas, and the brake pedal is hard.. and when i turn the wheel, the power steering kicks in, rpm flutters to about 500, shakes and car dies..

[RHW]

What are the odds of curing losses, maybe part this one out?

[ptoro01]

The m104 runs rough with the intake tubes taken off. The intake isn't particularly bad, that oily residue is just blow-by from the manifold gases. No biggie.

You'll need a valve cover gasket, that'll probably fix most of the oil leaks.

Right now its not running because of the harness, solder that disaster back together, then check for other splices.

[funkgab]

Originally Posted by RHW

What are the odds of curing losses, maybe part this one out?

yeah.. tell me about it.. i know i bought a pos, but it had receipts! and the harness is a 92 harness... dammitall!

i would, if i knew how, and had the space/tools.. i might even pay someone too haha

this is my 3rd benz.. my luck gets worse every time! :| next time im telling someone else to buy it for me lmao..

Originally Posted by ptoro01

The m104 runs rough with the intake tubes taken off. The intake isn't particularly bad, that oily residue is just blow-by from the manifold gases. No biggie.

You'll need a valve cover gasket, that'll probably fix most of the oil leaks.

Right now its not running because of the harness, solder that disaster back together, then check for other splices.

yeah i just gotta figure out how im going to take it out, and what kind of solder i should use.. my only access to a solder is at work, and man do they use cheap stuff.. my boss won't even get me flux ffs..

funny thing is it ran fine the whole day

[funkgab]

you guys were right, thats the wire by the ABS pump, and on its actually a 93 harness by delphi or whatever the company..

so looks like im going to need get a new harness either way, i tried to fix it, by crimping them, car still has same issues.

jumped the fuel pump relay, i hear something hissing from the pumps to the engine even when the car is off, but it does start a little faster.. even though it takes a while.

and it stalls when the steering wheel is turned for some reason..

going to clean the icv and the intake and mas/maf with some carb cleaner.