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Cleaned the headlights with the Sylvania restoration kit. I've used it before with success on another car and like the results. Also think I may have found the reason for my lower idle and bad brakes at start up. The egr valve solenoid is bad. I'm going to buy another solenoid and get it working. I'm not driving the car right now as I loaned it to my 16 year old who just sold his 4runner. Can't wait to be able to drive it again. Even though it's parked at my house, it's his until he can buy something else. Before After
C230 Sport Coup + 2006 W164 ML350 + 99 Ford Escort (What the heck, it gets 38 mpg!)
Really great to see people keeping an interest in these cars.
One of the really great cars from Mercedes, and they are cheap cheap cheap all day long!
Best selling car they built at the time, not sure about now...
630K sedans, 380K wagons, and something like 250K coupeys.
Clean it up, fix the little niggles and you got a car as good or better than anything new being sold.
I look forward to the day when I have a place to just put my car on jack stands, and
throw a newer engine in, touch up the paint, replace suspension and engine mounts, and
clean it like it's never been before.
Last edited by C230 Sport Coup; 03-06-2019 at 09:06 PM.
Weather this weekend is projected to be in the 50's!!!!! I'm going to replace the front strut bushings and will report back on ride quality. I also am going to use an old towel packed around the spare tire holder to quiet any noises back there and who knows, might replace the front and rear brakes if I'm feeling froggy. I ordered the EGR solenoid and it will be here in the next few days.
My son has now been driving the car since Saturday and the first thing he did was buy a mobile remote FM transmitter so he could stream music from his phone to the stock radio. He has taken a liking to the car and is having fun driving it around. He was skeptical at first about it, but the more he drives it, the more he likes it.
My door locks are pogoing. How can I tell which location is the problem, and is it usually the physical latch mechanism or the electrical connection in each door? I originally thought it was the passenger rear, but I do see movement there when the locks pogo.
Looks great, I am sure you will be turning this into a jewel as well, just like the W203.
i am however curious, with all this damage, does the vehicle now hold a salvage title? I know in CA based on the age of the car, it would be salvaged.
Yes, it has a salvage title and will soon be a rebuilt title after I get it fixed and inspected. Doesn't matter to me, I don't plan on selling it, but I've sold 2 vehicles already this year with salvage titles, a SAAB 9-3 and my BMW XIT. People don't seem to care, at least at the under 5k price point.
Update to the car. I was/am going to change out the front strut mounts today but my son also told me it seems like the car doesn't have as much power as it did. Oddly enough, the fuel gauge shows right above 1/4 tank, which is about where the car was when I bought it and the guy said the pump was bad and it wouldn't start. I read somewhere that our pumps have 2 pickups, one higher than the other, so I'm going to check that out. I just spent 10 minutes taking the driver's side fuel sending unit out and that side of the tank is dry, so I know gas is being sent/sucked over to the passenger pump side fine which leads me to believe the problem is definitely on the passenger side. I'm going to go put the sending unit back in and seal it up and start working on taking the passenger side pump back out (I did this a month or so ago), and take it apart and see if I can find something clogging the intake. I'll take some photos and be back in a bit if and when I find something. I have 55 PSI which is dead on, so the pump itself is fine. It has to be something clogging the pickup or something similar... right??
Pulled the cover and ring off the passenger fuel pump and that side was completely full as in spilling out when I pulled the pump out. Working as intended I think, so I put it back together and will monitor it. Fuel gauge actually shows just a tad under half tank, not a quarter tank, so I think it's ok. At any rate, he's on spring break and will be driving it around town so if it dies, he will carry an empty gas container and will be able to get gas and fill up the car easily.
Got the drivers side front strut mount replaced. What a chore!!! Compressing the spring, removing the nut, and putting it all back together took almost an hour. Got it all back on the car and will do the passenger side tomorrow.
I just want to throw this out there. The engineer who designed the oil fill tube (seriously, why would this even be a thing??), and the transmission fill tube so close together should be stung by a thousand fruit flies. Yes, I made the mistake and had to change my oil today because I put half a gallon of ATF in my oil fill tube.
Also, i see many people saying a tranny pan fluid drain should remove about a gallon of fluid. I drained mine and let the fluid run out for awhile and it was closer to 1/2 gallon, maybe slightly more. I then measured it when at 80 c with the tranny dipstick tool and it was a little low so I put in another quart or so.. Didn't have a gallon though in there.. maybe it was just low?
C230 Sport Coup + 2006 W164 ML350 + 99 Ford Escort (What the heck, it gets 38 mpg!)
Yes, typically about 4-5 quarts in the pan,
but no idea how much with using the drain without dropping the pan,
Always more fluid when the pan comes off.
But much easier to deal with once you've drained as much as possible.
Big OOPS on the oil fill location,
Guess you didn't realize it was in the back?
You know...going into the tranny and not the ENGINE!!?
Yes, typically about 4-5 quarts in the pan,
but no idea how much with using the drain without dropping the pan,
Always more fluid when the pan comes off.
But much easier to deal with once you've drained as much as possible.
Big OOPS on the oil fill location,
Guess you didn't realize it was in the back?
You know...going into the tranny and not the ENGINE!!?
I realized its in the back. I don't understand why there is an oil fill tube in the back of the engine where the ATF fill is on 99% of every other vehicle. You fill the oil through the valve cover oil fill location.
We've noticed a spring (boing) noise coming from the passenger rear when going around corners or some bumps. I think its probably a broken rear spring, but we are going to take the rear tire off tonight and inspect it. I'm ordering new sway bar bushings for front and rear as well as steering rack bushings and if the spring is bad, i'll get one of those too from rock auto.
:Last night we jacked up the rear end and pulled both tires. From what we found, the spring on the passenger side is broken on the bottom like many are, but the driver's side appears to have been replaced at some point. In the end, I did order the new front and rear sway bar bushings, 4 new steering rack bushings, and a new rear spring. Parts should be here next wednesday and overall handling should finally be back to normal. It wasn't bad to begin with, I just cant stand creaking, wandering, minor clunks, and other misc noises on such a fine luxury car....
I'm not complaining. I enjoy working on cars and every vehicle seems to need one thing or another. On a side note, my son found a vehicle he likes and if its still available on Saturday, we will be driving 3.5 hours to pick it up and back home which means, if it all works out, I might be selling this Mercedes in a few weeks.
I'm not complaining. I enjoy working on cars and every vehicle seems to need one thing or another. On a side note, my son found a vehicle he likes and if its still available on Saturday, we will be driving 3.5 hours to pick it up and back home which means, if it all works out, I might be selling this Mercedes in a few weeks.
He wants another Toyota 4 runner, but this time, one with zero frame rust. 1998-2001 are the years he's most interested in due to the boxy look. He wants to lift it, put larger tires on it, and add a locking rear diff if he gets one without it.
He wants another Toyota 4 runner, but this time, one with zero frame rust. 1998-2001 are the years he's most interested in due to the boxy look. He wants to lift it, put larger tires on it, and add a locking rear diff if he gets one without it.
C230 Sport Coup + 2006 W164 ML350 + 99 Ford Escort (What the heck, it gets 38 mpg!)
Expensive? Check the price on a new C lately?
Cars are expensive. Period. But once completed you'll have a really nice car and won't need to do squat for a while.
You're just getting all the deferred maint done. Same thing happened on our 06 ML350.
The early W164's have a major engine issue with a soft gear on the balance shaft that requires engine disassembly.
She bought it with ~60K and other than replacing the brakes (yours truley) did little else.
So, at 175K miles, it finally just konked out with multiple issues. Could not get her to fix or part with it.
Problems she had were a little above and beyond what I could reasonably do. I though she should donate it and write it off.
We finally found a competent mechanic who did the balance shaft, intake manifold, power steering pump, AC Compressor, steering rack, (and had him throw in a new Alternator and Starter for good measure) and other stuff so much in all...and all with a 25K mile warranty for
6 grand. Yeah, a lot of money but it's a real cream puff now. New one would be what 80 grand for GLE?
I used to hate driving it, now I love it!! He's done a couple things under warranty since repair, and an oil change but purrs like a kitten now.
Originally Posted by slagdemon
:Last night we jacked up the rear end and pulled both tires. From what we found, the spring on the passenger side is broken on the bottom like many are, but the driver's side appears to have been replaced at some point. In the end, I did order the new front and rear sway bar bushings, 4 new steering rack bushings, and a new rear spring. Parts should be here next wednesday and overall handling should finally be back to normal. It wasn't bad to begin with, I just cant stand creaking, wandering, minor clunks, and other misc noises on such a fine luxury car....
This $300 car sure is getting expensive..:0
Last edited by C230 Sport Coup; 03-22-2019 at 03:57 PM.
03-04-2019, 11:24 AM
