There;s a low mileage one (a little over 100K) in Cinamon color which I hate for like 3 grand
But it appears from the photos that one side is cocked on the pano, and doesn't close. VERY bad.
The guy selling it is an ******* and won't speak to you directly or answer any questions! Just directs you back to his website,
Jerk! it's also a manual which I don't want. 722.6 tiptronic 5 speed is like the most awesome tranny every made. Change the fluid regularly and they never break.
And I don't want to have to deal with an eventual VERY expensive clutch repair. I'm done rowing the boat.
There also is a white one that just popped up as well they want a lot but it looks like heated electric seats.
There was a pretty nice silver one in Davis for 4 grand in cloth, sold.
There was a blue one in San Mateeo the guy wants like 6 grand and it's high mileage saying it will go
300K miles. Uh yeah naybe, not without some trouble. The paint looks faded, his ad was wierd,
I would only consider California car so many are in the south and Florida maybe in a flood and I've heard rust can be
a problem with so midwest is out these but mine has never seen snow or ice.
I saw a very low mileage C240 not cheap. Super nice but also super expensive I forget how much 7k maybe(?) and sedan.
Nah.
Yeah I would LOVE to find a car just like mine with a little above or below 100K miles, Orion blue,
FUNCTIONING sunroof, C7. etc. I can swap my goodies over. Buts it's a unicorn. So far it doesn't exist.
So I may swap engine with another lower mileage M111. I think at 260k doing head gasket and not chain doesn't make sense,
and then I'd still have an engine with 260K on it.
BTW- W209 CLK convertibles go all day long in really nice condition for cheap cheap cheap!! Same or less than C coupeys.
A car that sold for 60k is less or the same. S class too!
Nuts!

 

I need to find another job, I need the spare cash for spare coupies!
I would probably just hoard them all and slowly fix them all up and have a massive collection lol.
The rust is scary, and most of these cars end up in the hands of ppl that want to look rich, who then mess them up.
But then again, thats what keeps the costs low for these little beauties.
A CLK would be nice, but then what would I do without my supercharged 8-seater manny work truck?

 

So...
A lot has happened.
The cam sprocket bolts came and went in without issue.
After those went on, I had to put the front thermostat on.
Then came the pesky spark plug tube seals.
It took me several hours of trying before I gave up putting them in.
I went to a local German workshop, gave them the valve cover, and asked for help.
The guy took it to the back, cleaned it up nicely, and installed the seals.
It turns out that when I took the old ones out, I didn't get them entirely removed.
Installing the valve cover was easy, but then came a big problem.
I placed all the bolts down and started torquing them down.
I start tightening the last bolt and then get a righty loosey.
I slowly undid it, and the bolt had stretched so badly that only one thread held it.
As soon as I pulled it out, it snapped.
I put in oil and coolant, then ordered replacement bolts at the dealer.
The manager went to the back to see if they had any extras in a bin, and some older technicians knew exactly what car and what part it was from.
The valve cover bolts are easy to stretch, so anytime they were removed, all bolts were replaced.
I returned home, buttoned up the car, and connected the battery.
Little fun fact, the car having the battery disconnected for 3 - 4 months meant that the radio got stuck showing the PROD message.
This morning, I decided to start the car.
Hopped in and tried starting the car thrice.
No luck.
Turns out the starter had seized up.
But then my dad hops in, and the car starts up on the first try for him.
Then the engine popped and banged, and it looked like it wanted to jump out of the car.
I start seeing blue smoke from the exhaust and white smoke from the motor.
We kill the car and just sit in disbelief.
It seemed like the motor had just almost killed itself.
My dad calls up his more car-savvy friend, and he tells us to crank the car without fuel to let the oil properly circulate.
So we followed his instructions and then started the car again.
A check engine light came on, and the car kept revving from 1500-2000 rpms.
I scanned it, and it was a code for the TPS.
I turn off the car, unplug it, and plug it back in.
The car starts up and idles well.
Other than the heavy smoke from the engine bay from all the coolant, oil, and WD40 had probably spilled all over the motor during the entire repair process.
And there it is.
The car has been driving around all day without a problem as if nothing had happened.
The temps stayed around 85C during operation, and I kept the car under 3000 rpms and went up to 4000 if I needed the power.
And man, removing the supercharger silencer makes the coupe sound crazy.
So here we are, almost a whole year after this thread has started, and four months after the start of this job.
I have a running coupey again, and feel joyous to row the gears again.
Thank you all for all the help and motivation to do this project.
It is crazy that with minimal experience, I could take apart this motor and get it running at its best.
Once again, thank you all.

 

Here is a video of it finally moving under its power

 

Woot Woot! You did it!
If you get a chance could you
post a list with part numbers, where purchased and prices? And any special tools you had to purchase.
Does the forum allow spreadsheets to be posted? Hmmm. Text is fine.
I have the gasket kit, thermostat already just replaced. But everything else... When I asked the parts guy what all I'd need in total he had not a clue. It would be big help.
Congratulations! Car looks very nice!

 

Sorry for the late response, university has been back in full swing.
When I have the time, I will comprise a list of all the tools and part numbers that I can find.
Hopefully I can do something this weekend.

Car has been driving fine, except no boost with CEL showing P0243.
I'm planning on checking the MAF and replacing some gaskets for the intake when I go back in May.
Currently, the coupe has expired registration and needs a smog check.
So the car will sadly sit again until I go back.

 

Check the connector for the boost valve (ie recirculating air valve) on the intake. Likely you forgot to connect it.
Has happened to me before. Also that red rubber piece on the oil catch piece.
You have to put a little oil on it when you re-assemble or it will get smooshed, leak, and same result.
Doubt you need a MAF. That typically doesn't hard fail. Just gives P0171 lean engine.
PIA because it won't pass smog with that.
Frickin' CARB has you by *****. Any CEL can prevennt you from passing smog even itf you pass at the tailpipe.
Clearing an error clears the readiness indicators.
You can't get a registration unless the readiness indicators all are good.
Maybe they allow one? Used be you could but tight**s MF's want to scrap your car.
You can't get the readiness indicators to go ready unless you drive the car.
A LOT. Thousand of miles even and maybe still won't go.
And DMV will only give you a one day pass. But it could take a month....or more.
After 6 months they can impound the car if not registered and you are caught driving it.
So then you have to pay knowing you will fail and go to Smog referee and beg for mercy.
And or to mechanic. No limit to what you can spend anymore.if you change the address before it expires to a non-smog county you can avoid it. Just pick a random address or a friend and/or get a PO Box .and pay your reg at AAA.
But once it's expitred it will need to be another state.
You can register in So. Oregon coast no smog required, No penalty for expired reg,
And only $80 a year reg. 2 years at a time. You will need an address
Or avoid all this and sell your car to me LOL.

 

thank god I dont live in a state with inspections, it sounds absolutely miserable to deal with. Btw I might be able to get you the parts list of what I ended up using when I did my head gasket and valves along with the oe manuals from WIS although im sure you have those

 

Yers, it was very stressful every 2 years when smog came up.
I 'stored' the car at a friends house the last time in a non-smog county before itt expired.
. Nobody even blinked at AAA when I did the
address change, paid the fees, and the smog cert requirement just went away.
My old cars were costing me $500-$600 every 2 years to register $200+ a year for the reg
and then $100+ for smog check plus any repairs needed.
So 2 OLD cars was costing in total more than a thou eveyr 2 years.
Now I pay $160 every 2 years per no smog in So. Oregon. The big cities the do need smog
but most of the state is sparcely inhabited. And the roads are SOOOO much bettter than California.
Smoooth as a babies but. At least the ones that are paved LOL.

 

Again we gotta wait for the next season lol
I probably messed up that red rubber piece or left the recirc valve unplugged as you said.
I have been pulled over for having 3 year old expired tags, luckily sweet talked my way out of it since I had the papers to prove I just came back from a smog check lol.
Once I fix that code, I'm gonna do around 400 miles and then take it in.
I do have a FIXD scanner that lets you know if the car is ready for smog.
Maybe I register my car to my university in Arizona...
If I ever am forced to get rid of my coupey, you will be the first to know.

 

I honestly think my coupeys registration is much more expensive than the insurance.
Maybe after university I go and settle in Oregon, California is too expensive and will kill me with all the smog checks.

 

The cities in Oregon most have smog checks like Portland etc,
Not sure about Eugene and Salem. Gas is about $1 or more a gallon less,
Electricity is waaaay cheaper (PGE is sooo F'dd!) which is a good thing since no gas lines here on the coast,
10 cents a Kilowatt flat rate!
It's a funny state, It's run by loonies in Portland who
have let that beautiful city turn to rot, and push policies on the whole state
that don't make much sense in the less populated rural areas. which is most of the state.
I mean you don't need a gun to protect you from people, you need them to protect yourself from
the bears and mountain lions! Lot of hunting and fishing. Very beautiful, LOTS of trees.
No droughts.Geographically it's mostly conservative and well, white as heck. like 85% I think.
But people are super nice. Only 4 millions people in whole state and
most live in the big cites. So most of the state is not very populated.
Some parts are trying to join Idaho, Where I'm at right on the Cali border, it;s a bit too quiet,
and while more expensive than many places, it's much more affordable than the Bay Area.
But you can hop a plane in Crescent City 30 minutes south that will take you to Oakland or LA where you can
can connect with anywhere in the world! Nice little airport, and free to park!
The coast is like Monterey cool not freezing cold and rarely above 75 degrees.
But inland is hot as hell. Health care on the coast is difficult. I have to drive to Medford sometimes
on windy roads through the mountains, It takes close to 3 hours each way, No work here except the
lumber mill or working from home as I do,
I miss the Bay Area for a lot of things, but not the traffic, rude people and the endless metroplois.
These days you need to make like $300k to live a normal life owning a house etc, How many jobs pay that?
But you can find anything and everything you need like Picknpull . We buy (and sell) al lot fo stuff online.
If you are thinking of starting your life in a different place check out some of the groups on facebook about
leaving California, If it's cold place you'lll go broke staying warm and itf it's a hot place staying cool,
As far as registering your car in Arizona that sounds like a no brainer, I mean you live there! Just get a one day pass and
hit the road! I doubt i could be as bad as dealing with CARB or as expensive, How much to register your car anyway?When I left in the mddle of Covid, I think it was like $220 in 2020. Sorry for the long message!

 

It sounds like Oregon is a really nice place to live, especially in the rural area.
Anything is cheaper than Cali, especially in the Bay Area.
If there are a lot of mountains, the winding roads must be excellent.
Hiking is also probably a blast over there.
But this is something to think about after I finish my education, so give it 3 - 4 more years before I make a decision lol.
The main thing about registering my car in Arizona would be that I should do it to a permanent address.
And I haven't brought my car down, so it wouldn't make too much sense to do it right before I leave back to Cali.
It looks like the price to register the coupey here would be $2.89 per $100 of the value of the car.
If the KBB is like $3000, then it would cost $86.70 to register it!

 

Well, the car still isn't 100% yet.
Replaced the battery, and the car starts fine.
Now I only have a P0243 CEL to worry about.
Main thing is the cars reg is expired and I gotta smog it but I need to get the code removed to be able to get the car smogged.
I do have an oil leak from the hose that goes from the supercharger to the crankcase ventilation hose that connects to the oil separator.
I ordered the replacement hose, and so I hope that fixes the CEL; otherwise, I don't know what to do.
The car sometimes has boost, and if I go past 4k in 4th gear, I feel some hesitation, and the car is naturally aspirated again.
I will let you all know if the coupey is 100% after I get that hose.
Here are some pics in the meantime:

 

I was tempted to buy a similar car in Davis for ~4K with ~100K miles.
Glad I held off though it's been on jack stands since I got back from Walnut creek.
Replacing Valeo radiator, fluid, filter and conductor plate,
So far I've only just not quite got the radiator out.
Such a PIA and when I get orders$$ to ship, that takes presedence over
doing car work. I picked up a Launch Creader Elite 2.0 for Mercedes $129 on Ebay.
I love this thing! It finally cleared my SRS error from when I did the steering wheel swap.
You really need something that reads Mercedes codes. OBD codes only tell you so much.
P2043. Hmmm....like I said get a Mercedes scanner. You might need a new recirc air valve or...not?
I paid $300 + on rockauto for a new one, and that was lowest price I could find, but in the end it was also bad MAF.
Before you do anything, check that all the hoses and that red gasket thingy in the oil catch that the recirc valve is attached it.
If you don't put some oil on it, it smooshes and causes alll kinds of sheet.
So what are the asian symbols on your trunk? Forgive my ignorance. Not sure what language that is.
C coupe is still so much prettier than VW or subaru. I've been looking at cars for like a year.
And what did I get? Another C coupe! LOL

 

Do a basic test with the recirculation flap: Close it by hand with your fingers and release it. It must snap right open. If it opens slower than removing your fingers, you must clean the flap. Disassemble the flap cover and take out the motor, clean and grease/oil the bearings. Delete the code.

Replacing the radiator is fun. I had to take out the supercharger cover because I was not able to release the lower radiator hose from the radiator. And the A/C condenser was stuck too, and you must remove the bumper cover to remove the intercooler....

 

I really wish I were able to meet up with you when you were in Walnut Creek, I just went there yesterday.
I have some hoses to replace that are leaking oil from the supercharger to the oil catch.
The red gasket was good sadly.
The asian symbols are Japanese, and it was a free sticker I got off Temu lol.
It translates to "hard shift".
I just thought it was cool since it was color matched with the silver.
The friend with the Golf R looked at me funny when I said I wanted another C coupe lmao.
He would never understand.
And that Subaru is fun, but I could not daily it, too loud and rough.
No reverse lockout, so if I try shifting to 6th in the 5-speed, the transmission goes kaboom.
Straight piped in Cali too, what a risky maneuver.

 

I think the recirc flap is dirty, because I remember it didn't snap right up and I had the issue of it not letting the coupe boost without leaving the key turned for 5 seconds.
So it probably needs a clean, and if that doesn't help I'll clean the MAF, then replace it, then replace recirc.
It is pretty funny that the code is basically gone until 4th gear 4k rpms.
Then it throws a light and then boom no more kompressor.

 

Sadly the red gasket is still good and all lubed up.
I am replacing some oil catch hoses that were cracked.
Asian symbols are japanese that says "hard shift".
Got it free from Temu and under some lighting it is paint matched to the car lol.
The friend with the Golf R called me crazy for wanting another C coupe lol.

 

Yeah, it's random at 1st and eventually doesn't work at all.
But be sure to check for any leaks 1st before buying a bunch of parts.

 

Was it the "overvoltage" code? I would think that is a MAF based fault, because the SIM 4LE doesn't use the boost value for driving.

 

I mean, on startup, I hear really loud wooshing from the supercharger/intake area. Could that be a leak?
I don't know what could cause it since all the hose clamps are tight.

But I have found a little sad workaround so I can smog the car.
I just drive it like a grandma and shift at 3k max.
I do get gapped by a Prius off the lights, but at least I can smog the car with no issue then.

 

I dunno.
It was a P0243 and I only have a basic scanner, nothing too fancy or for mercs specifically.
Technically, I had a P0638 and a P0120 when I first started the car after doing my headgasket, but unplugging and replugging in the TPS seemed to fix those.
Then I got the P0243.

 

Do you have compressed air? If yes, take a rubber glove, put it over the oval intake after the air filter and use e.g. the tiny hose at the TB to pump the system up. If the glove looses air only slow, you're good.

 

OK, so ask yourself this, did the car have these problems before you worked on it? Yes, than it was an existing problem.
No? Then it was likely caused during the repair. Which means, you just need to go back and check everything. Did you check that
red rubber gasket on the oil catch/SC intake? You need to lube it up with a little oil and make sure it doesn't get smooshed when putting that piece
back on. All hose are connected and good?
Whooshing sound: You know that this car uses the SC as an air pump to help heat the Cat on startup, vs. electric motor in other cars, right?
If you didn't know, thats likely your whooshing sound. I'd check all the gasket and hoses.
As fas driving like a granny to get past smog...uh, so what if you drive harder CEL comes on?
So you're clearing it, and then driving easy to smog?
If you clear it, you also clear all the readiness indicators and you will fail.
I've written about this frustration quite a bit in the past.
Take it to where your school is and register it there. Do they have smog? Doubt it's as much as PIA as California.