Michael Hamze

Hi there,
I would really appreciate it if you can tell me where is the intercooler located on my 2000 C230 Kompressor and how to drain it?

Along another line, it dawned on me (I have unfortunately in the past delegated all the attention to mechanics) that the red fiberglass-cover of the engine has bent, and somewhat peeled off, under some heat effect, only at the very spot (4 inches) where the Oil-Air separator box is, What do you think is wrong there? I have just cleaned the Throttle body, MAF sensor and Air-Oil separator Box and put in a new air filter. And cleaned and/or taped where potential cracks started to appear on the breather hoses (btw are these sold separately, or could they come as a set?)

I just need to finish the job of cleaning and learning all the components of the Crankcase Ventilation System.

Much appreciated.

Michael

Dirgesan

It's near the bottom of the radiator. What are you trying to drain out of the intercooler? The supercharger takes intake air from the air filter box, compresses it, and then sends that compressed air through the intercooler and on to the intake manifold. Compressing air heats it up and the intercooler is used to cool that air. There aren't any fluids in the intercooler, unless something leaked into it.
Do you mean the supercharger? The supercharger has a hex head plug that can be seem by removing the air box. There's several videos on the web that show changing the supercharger oil, requiring a fluid extractor. For the supercharger oil, I've seen some pubs that say Mobil One is okay, but I use GM Delco supercharger oil. It's the same stuff Mercedes sells but it's in a different bottle. The local Chevy dealer sells it for about 12 bucks a bottle.

Michael Hamze

Thank you for your reply Dirgesan. The reason is that I suspect oil in the intercooler because the car was hesitating in the morn the first 5 minutes of driving, bad exhaust fumes, Air/Oil separator soaked with oil. Any insights?

Dirgesan

It could be your crankcase vent valve. Check this thread:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...il-coming.html
It's on the driver's side, under the intake manifold, in the middle, near where the manifold connects to the engine.
Looking at the engine, from the front of the car, there's a hose coming from a few inches right of, and below, the oil filter that goes to the crankcase vent valve under the intake manifold.

Dirgesan

FYI, here's a link to the part:
https://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin...ction%20System

Michael Hamze

Dirgesan,
Thank you for the detailed info on the location of the vent valve. So the crankcase vent valve is what you have sent me the pic of AKA Check Valve - Air Injection System?

One more thing which vent hose some owners are venting into the atmosphere instead of recycling through the vent system (supposedly it contaminates the system... and the intercooler), do you know?

Dirgesan

I don't know why they're doing that. Putting expended exhaust gasses in to the intake system improves fuel economy. These gasses help the fuel to burn more completely. One of the things of the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) is that cars work better, with more power, with a small amount of EGR. The C230K doesn't have EGR, so it uses the crankcase vents. ,
Off topic: I saw an early Adam-12 episode last year, maybe number one, where the older cop is telling the younger cop about the specs of the police cruiser he's going to be driving. Hearing it I thought, "Damn! I can beat an early 1960's v8 cop car! And with a 4 cylinder!" Plus, my mileage is a heck of a lot better. Some people might complain about it but the truth is that today we're getting more MPG and power than ever before.

Michael Hamze

What is this?


Dirgesan, I took a day off from working on the car, but tomorrow I plan to get to the "bottom' of the vent valve, though looking today at that side of the engine below and before the Throttle Body is sooo scary, too many things there. It seems that I need more education before dismantling the intake manifold to get to the Vent Valve. Am I correct about the need to take out the Intake Manifold first to get to the Vent Valve?

Secondly, Yea, I agree this super charger is a beauty, and my car now runs as a beauty, on the highway and in town after all the cleaning that I have done on the breather system. But my engine light is still on. (that's where, perhaps, draining the intercooler comes into play, as to avoid recurrence of oil soaking.....)

Thirdly, please take a look at the attached pics to see if you can identify those filters/on the air-oil separator side and before and/or under the air big hoses

Dirgesan

I am by no means an expert on the C230K. I've had mine less than a year, and haven't done much except to replace fluids, shocks, tires, and exhaust. I don't know about your first picture, but the second and third are the air injection shut-off valve:
https://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin...on=A0021405560
This is supposed to be an updated replacement part for A00214044360.

I don't know if you need to remove the intake manifold to get to the vent valve. You might be able to get to it from the bottom. It looks like it screws into the pipe on the bottom and clamps on to a pipe on the top.