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Great news, I ended up selling the old dust covers and bump stops on my original shocks. I went on eBay and didn't see anyone selling them so figured why not, I took them apart and cleaned them up nicely. Posted them for $20 + shipping. So I brought the cost of the replacements shocks down to $87.
I couldnt do the other shock today due to some flooding. The tides have been pretty high here the past few days. The ocean bay in in my backyard. My neighbors weren't paying attention and there cars are flooded now. This is why I'm always washing and working on my car, the salt air isn't kind to it.
Thats some crazy flooding, You over in Gloucester or down the Cape?
Do you find that your front tires wear out twice as fast as the rear ones? I had a crazy idea to put a set of the rear wheels, which I can get a set for $200 with rims, on the front so the C300 wouldn't be staggered anymore. Fronts are 225/45/17 and rears are 245/40/17. I was quotes %550 just to replace the front tires with the Michelin I have now. Do you think that would work?
I recently had my tires replaced. The old tires were all cracked everywhere but the tread itself was still good. No signs of uneven wear at all, they all looked the same. The ride became horrible though, felt like the car was bouncing down the road. I went cheap and got some off Amazon for $409 + installation. But so far they are great, zero complaints but ill see how they wear and how long they last. The last tires were around 5yrs old.
Saved some more money by doing the 2yr brake fluid flush and I replaced the power steering fluid.
Having a fluid pump for the brake fluid makes the job extremely simple. I'm sure everyone has seen how to bleed the brakes so wont go into detail. Before i started i marked the brake fluid level in the reservoir with tape so when im done I know what the level should be at. I use a big meat injecting syringe to suck out the old fluid and fill with the new fluid. Hook up the pump and pressurize to 10-15psi. make sure it stays pressurized, i had to really crank down on the pumps fill cap with the supplied tool to get it to hold pressure. Then just go to each wheel, open the bleeder with an 11mm wrench and collect the old fluid in a bottle watching for new fluid to show. Close the bleeder and torque to 7nm/62inlbs. The 2yr old fluid looks like iced tea and the new fluid looks like vegetable oil. I drew marks on my catch bottle just to get an idea how much fluid is in line. When done depressurize the fluid pump and carefully remove the fill cap since some fluid may spill out. In my case the reservoir was full so i sucked a little fluid out to bring it to the previous mark I had. Manual says the system holds 0.5l and i ended up with a little over. So 1 tin of the fluid is plenty for the job. This is a great time to wash your rims while they are off the car.
I replaced the power steering fluid. I never did this before in any of my previous vehicles. The manual says to use a Chevron Texaco PSF 109 which I couldnt find anywhere so I bought Pentosin CHF 11S. Amazon happen to have it on sale for 50% off so it was $13.67 2 weeks ago. Its back to regular price but maybe they will have it on sale again who knows. Just have to remove the drivers side air duct to access the cap. I read the way to flush the system is to disconnect the return hose going to the reservoir and do it that way, I didnt want to deal with disconnecting the hose or possibly getting air in the system so I just sucked as much of the old fluid out as I could, filled it with the new fluid, started the car and slowly turned the wheels right and left 2 x's, shut the car off then repeat. The old fluid looks dark brown and the new fluid looks clear-blue-green. Can really tell the old from the new. Looks like the new fluid is lighter and floats on top of the old fluid, at least thats what I noticed. Went thru the liter tin and the fluid now looks pretty close to new. The manual says the system holds 0.8l. Cant say i notice any difference in steering but there wasnt anything wrong before. Hopefully the new fluid keeps it working well.
Performed the yearly air filter inspection and cleaning. Air filters were replaced back on 11/21 and they still look good to keep in another year. Manual says replace them every 40,000 miles/4yrs. I like doing this in spring/summer once the pollen stops blowing around, give them a good cleaning. i had replaced the rubber gasket last year and noticed a difference when putting the air box back on, that metal clip in the back used to fit loose and now it snaps on tight.
Forgot to add some info I came across on reinstalling the air box. It says to lubricate the rubber gasket and the mounting points with Mercedes lubricant 0009890367. I've also seen Liquid Lubricant Naphtolen 009890160 listed on other M272 engines. The stuff is pretty expensive at the deal at $40-$100. From searching around I guess its used for installing bushings and bearings also. Its called slide lube also I guess.
If anyone knows a good alternative for it i'd love to know. I used silicone lube in a spray can, spray a microfiber towel then wipe the gasket with it so theres no excess.
I'm sure there is a good reason for doing this. I know that gasket does wear. When i first got the car i noticed that wire clip that snaps over the top corner of the air box hardly snapped into place, could just easily flick it off with my finger. After replacing the gasket it now snaps in nice and tight, im thinking the gasket was worn and the air box sat lower onto the maf.
Never knew it was official, just always did it since it made sense and made it easy, with a tactile "click" and you know it engaged. I use dielectric grease, just a little smeared on my fingers and then the rubber studs and gasket, just enough to get some sheen. I chose silicone because it is physiologically inert to rubber.
02-10-2024, 04:16 PM
