FCPEuro

I've always been a huge fan of the W203 chassis. I think it offers the best combination of size, handling, features and reliability and I recently picked one up for a steal during a snowstorm in January.

Silver on grey, MBTex, C240 RWD, 117k miles.




So why was someone willing to sell this car for next to nothing? This car burned oil, misfired, and had a parasitic draw. All headaches to deal with however I was able to resolve all of these problems over 2 weekends using products from my product catalog.

So the first problem I attacked was the oil burning. Both valve cover gaskets were leaking and the breather covers were clogged.

Using this kit I pulled the covers, cleaned them and resealed the breathers.
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mer...it-oem-m112016




While doing the valve covers I realized one of the harnesses was routed in front of the water pump incorrectly and the serpentine belt was cutting into the insulation so I pulled the water pump to sort that out.

I used the water pump gasket located here:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mer...ket-1122010180















Next on the list was a very common issue on these cars, the interior door handle.

I grabbed an orion gray door handle from Mercedes and got that installed in a half hour.









Next up was the misfire, cylinder 1 plug 'a' was not happy so I remedied that with a fresh set of plugs and wires and had the car running flawlessly.




https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mer...t-w112igkitoem


Lastly, the parasitic draw. This one kicked my *** because I made the mistake of trying to troubleshoot by connecting a meter in series and pulling fuses after the car went to sleep. The moment I connected in series I could not replicate the problem.







The car would not misbehave and the most I saw was a 10 milliamp draw. It was only after I decided to test by checking the voltage drop across the fuses that I was able to track to problem down to the teleaid/telematics unit and a sticking trunk switch. I did a video on this issue which I will publish this week.


I did a number of other short videos with the car that you can watch here:



And Mike did the serp belt video here:


All in all I enjoy the hell out of this car and for a very minimal investment I was able to turn this thing into a solid daily driver. If you would like to see more content around this platform, feel free to reach out to me

--Kyle

C230 Sport Coup

Very nice work gentlemen! I still think the 203 is a very beautiful car with very pretty lines, as compared to the earlier and later versions with their very angular
lines. Well, the 205 is pretty nice, but you won't be finding one for a grand!

Regarding the water pump, I've done this job...not fun on a M112 ML320.
You need special wrenches to remove the fan, not an issue on the 203.
I noted with some amusement your diagram with the screws laid out on a paper towel.
For those who attempt this job themselves, I recommend a piece of carboard, trace the out line of the gasket and push the bolts through the cardboard.
Just in case you accidentally bump it, they'll stay put and as we can see, they'll all different lengths and getting them mixed up, well lets just say, it's not a good thing.

Great post!

evannguyen

Awesome job!

efzauner

great write up! My 2005 C240 is still humming along with 211Kkm My daughter is learning to drive on it. Figure its not worth much to sell but as long as it runs well it keep the miles off my R350. Did the door handles too! Dumb question: Are there 2 types of black? seem the handles I got are a tinge charcoal grey, not black black.

FCPEuro

Thank you gents, it is not uncommon to order the wrong shade of black, there is anthracite and one other color code. I believe anthracite is darker however feel free to share a VIN and I can provide you the correct part number with color code.

---Kyle

C230 Sport Coup

Regarding color codes.
For me, Mercedes no longer carries the Oyster grey components, (speaker grills etc)
and crosses over to a darker shade of grey. So, wouldn't doubt they did the same thing with the black.

FCPEuro

Got a bulb malfunction light, naturally I thought I needed to replace the bulb. Bulb was fine, bulb socket not so much. Looks like some arcing burned a hole through the tab.





Also threw some Brembo pads at it, excellent value priced ceramic alternative to the Akebono's








Next up, rear left window regulator. What are you guys using to lube your sunroofs?

--Kyle

mlopez218

Great job! She lives again!