HI Benz World! Brand new to the forum as I just bought my first Mercedes: a 2005 C230 Kompressor with 224,000 miles, it for what I thought was a steal. I think the rims sold me.

In any case, the next day, I noticed that the A/C was blowing hot air and tried to recharge it on my own using R134a. No change.

I visited, the next day, a Benz specialist who, after hooking it to a SD Connect, said my compressor was the problem and that he would charge me $1200 to fix it. Yikes!

So, I figured it was DIY time. Had the local A/C guy remove the Freon, who told me that he didn’t think he compressor was bad because he had noticed that it was blowing veryyyyy slightly cold air, and offered to refill it and recharge it. I declined, saying what the specialist had said. Using a thread posted by user Rabney72 on this site, I removed the compressor myself this weekend. Not the easiest thing to do, but it’s out, and then I took it to a rebuilder.

The rebuilder told me that it looks pretty new and that the clutch isn't seized.

How should I proceed? Could the problem be elsewhere, such as the receiver/dryer or the expansion valve? What could it be? The specialist warned me also of some electrical reading he deciphered from the SD warning of some impending electrical problem, one that hasn’t yet tripped any of my sensors.
What should I do next?

Thanks in advance.

 

moved to W203 forum...

 

Here's my baby : )

 

Thx

 

Nice car!

This may sound elementary, but did you check all fuses first? If there is some sort of electrical problem the fuse panel is the first place to start. If you have already checked all fuses, I will have to refer you to the MB experts here on the forum as I'm new to MB myself.

 

Welcome to the forum and great looking car. Hopefully someone may be able to help you out with your issue.

 

The car was a steal because it had such high miles and will most likely become a money pit as they can be very expensive to own.
Lets start with a few questions first how good of a shop was the first and secondly how good of a rebuilder did you visit?
I assume the answer is no but did anyone hook the system up to a decent set of gauges to see what the pressures were doing?
Thank you for having a shop properly remove the freon I can forgive the chrome rims because you did that

As for what the guy said about the pending codes did he happen to give you a print out of them? If you paid for a diagnostic he should have! Also the car will store codes for as far back as when it was built if no one ever bothered to clear anything so take what he said with a grain of salt. Dealers rarely hook the cars up to star after fixing an issue so you will get old codes for many random things.

One thing I would be concerned about is looking into the timing chain as the m271 is known to jump timing when they hit anywhere from 70-120k miles. They usually will make a noise on startup until the tensioner takes the slack out of the chain.

Do you have any maintenance records on the car?

 

I checked the fuses but am on my way outside to re-check them. ANyone know where to find the fuse diagram for the 2005 c230?

 

Money pit it is,

1) I'm not sure how good these places are, to be honest. The specialist works solely on MB on and I assumed, after seeing the little old man with the fancy SD computer and hearing confidence in what he was saying, that he knew what he was talking about. He also claims that he has been working on MB for 30 years. Who knows?

2) The Rebuilder is the same: I don't know. She said that they would replace the gaskets of the 7SEU17C unit.

3) No, I am ashamed to say that I did not have the a/c connected to gauges to read pressure. Instead, I took the word of the tech who told me I needed to have compressor replaced. I have completed these steps, in order:
*recharged a/c ( Think I over filled)
*checked fuses ( after a little confusion, figured out the box should be missing some fuses)
*specialist
*removed freon (local guy)
*removed compressor (used an MBworld diy)

4) Sorry, I'm still in my 20's, so chrome..... sigh.... But prior to having the freon removed by the technician, I must confess I released some before learning from a friend that it is illegal and damages the Ozone. I'm not sure how much exactly, but the technician who evacuated the system told me I had a little over a pound of freon in it, which he said was low. I was too embarassed to say that I had vented a bunch of it (the compressor DOES look like the seals could be leaking)

5) As far as diagnostic codes, no, he didn't give me any print-outs When reading the SDConnect, I had the impression that he was reading live data, which came from the laptop it was hooked to. He read me this and that, took me to a different page, attempted to engage the clutch, and failed..... He assured me the clutch was responsible. HOWEVER, when I received the car, the dash warned service B gad not been done in close to 50k miles. Maybe this is what you're referring to, code-wise.

6) Car had one owner. I CarFax-ed it and found 5 service records. That's it.


ONE CURIOUS THING:

I had the VIN decoded on this site, and it returned information for the 2005 c230 Kompressor, but the manual version? My car is Automatic! The shift knob does have glue at he base........


Does this sound like a mess? Feels like it.

Thanks Samaritrey

 

Mine was behind the fuse panel door on the driver side of the dash.

 

^yep should be there if not it is posted on here somewhere also if you read the owners manual it would have told you where it was

If I was in your shoes and planed to keep the car for awhile I would just buy a new AC compressor and all the other things such as the drier and expansion valve. The compressor can usually be found on amazon for a decent price new or rebuilt. You could also check around local parts stores if you want something more immediate. I say this for a few reasons one is that you have it off and the car has higher miles miles so unless it was replaced recently it was probably going to go and you said it looked to be leaking.
Sadly the ac not working could also be an electrical issue or something else that a new ac compressor won't fix so you have to decide if you want to reinstall original and check pressures and everything else or just replace what one person said was the issue and hope for the best. One thing I would do either way is clean out the lines as who knows what is in them and if you replace the compressor you would probably want to not ruin the new one.

As for the service B warning as soon as you get this done I would go on a maintenance craze and do oil/fluid change in everything (engine, rear diff, power steering, brakes, transmission) as well as checking out all the systems. The approved fluids are easy to get for those systems Engine Mobil 1 0w-40 Euro, Diff and PS any MB parts store such as pelican or Rmeuropean, Brake just have to get correct dot type but I like to use MB fluid, and Transmission you just need to find a shell distributor near you and get shell 134 ATF.

As for your vin code issue probably a mistake check out this site http://epc.startekinfo.com/epc/
free to sign up to with US card. Then you can pull your data card as well as look up any PN for anything in the car.

As for the rims I am young to but don't understand lol and since you vented some I can only forgive 2 of the 4 rims

 

Damn 224k miles. You're giving samaritrey, one of the moderators, a run for his money. If it made it that far I guess the potential timing chain issues have already been resolved because the engine would have grenaded a long time ago had it not been tended to. A/C is nice and frosty in my car and only once in a while when I turn on the fan to like 2 or 3 nothing happens then when I turn it to 6 it blows strong and when I turn it back to 2 or 3 it's just fine. That's one system I don't want breaking in the car because it won't be a cheap fix. On the flip side the A/C systems are nice in these cars, the compressor have the clutch type where it clicks on and off which would cause the car to vibrate.

Oh samaritrey you will hate me for this because I vented a ton of freon when I had my Nissan Maxima before this car. The A/C just quit one day in the summer and all freon leaked out and stupid me I tried recharging it just for the hell of finding where the leak was coming from so more freon vented into the atmosphere (but just a bit). Turns out a rock must have hit the condenser and caused quite a hole. I changed the drier and condenser myself and had a shop add oil and recharge it.

 

Found it.the year reads 2003. Should it read 2005?

 

I put it all back together. It was tough; that space is crazy tight.

This morning, my local A/C guy says he detects a leak, and that it might be because...wait for it... I didn't change the seals on the hi/lo when I re-installed. He advised to replace the seals, refill with freon & dye, and retest. I thanked him and left.

MY GOAL:

After A LOT of research, it seems, if you can find them, that a/c compressors can be rebuilt for less than a $100 in parts. It seems as if the steps to do this are universal, so if I could just rebuild it myself with new seals, clutch, coil, regulation valve, bearing, and a lot of mineral oil lol.

Is this possible?

 

Grats on your purchase. She's well traveled it would appear. By the sounds of things, you're going to ramp up your internal knowledge of her real fast. Good luck

 

Appreciate that. Thank you

 

Not sure if we're talking about a 2005 C230 or not but this compressor does NOT have a clutch (or coil). It does however have a variable vane type compressor that is controlled by the climate control unit.
Also the reason the government made mandatory for the change from R-12 to R134A is so that it does not harm the ozone layer which is actually only 1/100th of an inch thick and once the layer is broken it does not heal itself and therefore just leave a hole there that can let harmful rays through.
What I would reccomend doing as a starting point is to find out what is the capacity of the freon (some cars takes 1.5, others may take up to 3 lbs of freon) by maybe call a dealer, put exactly that much in and check the pressure which should be between 30-40 PSI on the low side and 250-300PSI on the high side at around 2000 RPM.
Hope this helps.

 

Hey Congrats and welcomed to the forum!

I am a new owner as well, C230 Sport Sedan, silver, 2005 and 122K mikes, I love her!

When you tried to put in the r134a, did you put it in the low pressure valve? Did you hear any hissing or see any leakage? If so, a common problem is a $2 o-ring on the evap lines that often leak. Just pay close attention to hearing or seeing a leak. If that is the problem please let me know and I will be happy to help.

Was your AC compressor spinning? If not, did you check the fuse? Was the AC light blinking?

By the way, how does she run with 224K miles? I'm really impressed by my 2005 with 122K miles. You might try a couple minor tune up items to improve performance like spark plugs, air filter, and running seafoam in gas tank. Those made my car much more zippy!!

 

LexBrett2, just to let you know as I had mentioned above the 2005 C230 that are sold in the US, the compressor uses a variable vane type and therefore has no clutch and coil set up. The only way the compressor will not spin is if the belt is broken.
I forgot to mention in the last post also that the High side line is always thinner than the Low side line (we're talking about the diameter of the line itself) and this goes all the way back to when the first AC was installed in an automobile. This is one way to differentiate the Low side and the High side.

 

Seafoam in gas tank?

 

Enjoy the car, You'll get the A/C fixed and all will be well. Make sure the fluids are changed since you don't know for sure. I've got 275xxx miles on mine, and I still look foward to driving it.

 

Don't be discouraged by the high miles.
But as pointed out there are some things you need to look at,
timing chain and cam gears notably on that engine.

Regarding the AC,
I inherited a POS Ford Escort from my dad, which actually runs fine,
but the AC didn't work.
I figured it needed to be recharged.
So I paid 150 clams to have it recharged with no result.
The idiots then wanted to drain the freon and do more diagnostics for some ungodly amount of money.
A quick search on the internet pointed me to a control module,
and some repeatedly known bad solder joints on a relay.
1/2 hour later, I had managed to remove the module,
melt the solder, and reinstall the module. Guess what, the AC worked.
Colder than ever!

And my question was, so why didn't the shop know this?
It's a common fault with that car.

I digress talking about a Ford,
but just because you AC is broken isn't the end of the world.
You seem to be mechanical, and as you've discovered, a $1000 repair
became $100 when did it yourself.

I've seen people in this forum dump $2500 on an alternator,
which I DIY'd for $150 by removing, taking to an alternator shop
and having it rebuilt. It only took about 1/2 hour to take it out, and the same to reinstall.

I had the starter repaired in the same manner by the same shop, $25 for new brushes.
It's all it needed.
So, don't be discouraged,
I'm at 228K and still loving my W203.
They're nice cars, and a 1 owner car is a good find.

I just replaced my fuel pump, it lasted 228K,
and the water pump went about 220K before it died.
My car spent more time in the shop when it was new than it does now.
Really no joke, when it was under warranty it spent a total of months at the dealer.
Now it just needs a little something every once in a while.

The only thing I have an ongoing problem with is the climate control blows on the floor constantly, which means hot feet in the winter and cold feet in the summer.
I'd fix it, it's a known issues, stupid plastic
paddles break, and the motors quit. But it takes like 8 hours to disassemble and reassembly the dash, so fuggetabout it.
I even fixed the IR sensors in the door so I can open and close the windows and
sunroof from outside, and again, crappy solder joints.
Found a fix on benzworld. Parts are abundant these days, and used parts on ebay
and junk yards too.
I got a brake booster for $75, and a $800 ESP sensor for $25 on ebay.
It was so nice to finally get rid of the error on the dash, and it was plug and play.

Enjoy the car!

I will say though, 'ewwww...chromes funnels?' That style wheel is known as the funnel wheel...and in chrome, ummm....