Super B

If I turn the climate control to off for a while then turn it back on or right at start up ill get a pretty good amount of condensation/water vapor blow up on the windows. Has a hint of anti freeze smell to it so I'm thinking the worse and the core needs replaced. I'm curious how many of you guys had to replace yours already and what kind of job I'm looking at.

Thanks

Super B

Check out what I found... Holy monkey **** better wait till motorcycle weather cuz car is going to be down for a few days.

nd4spd13

Holy hell man....... I guess just keep in mind how much $$$ you're not paying the dealer to do it all for you?

503C43 ////AMG

Looks like I will be going without a heater when mine goes out, you have to take apart the entire car to replace that thing

Super B

Yeah pretty hard core. I'm going to pull the feed and return lines cap all but one and pull a vacuum on the core. Make 100% sure that sucker is leaking before digging in. How much would that suck? get it that far apart and find out its a leaky weather seal letting moisture into the heater box or something..

As far as the shop I was searching around and read one link that said the book time for the shop is 15 hours for this job. So maybe is not as bad as it looks. just blows me away that a car that's as easy to work on as the 202 Mercedes that they would throw this as a fella.

vinceC

I've done the evaporator on my W210, which is about the same procedure, and done most of that job on my 1995 C280 (had to move the HVAC unit off the firewall to replace the outside air recirc door spring),. It isn't that bad. Just set aside some time, take photos as you go and be methodical. Good idea to pressure test the core first though.

Super B

Hey I'm curious what fails with the evaporator? I'm wondering if I should change that too while I'm in there. If in fact my core has sprung a leak. I'd hate to do this twice. Also what did you find to be the hardest part?

vinceC

The evaporator develops a leak and the refrigerant leaks out. It is an expensive part and, to my knowledge, the W202's do not have many problems with the evap. Of course, neither do the W210's, at least compared to the W124 and W140, but I was just lucky I suppose.

The most difficult part of the job on the W202 is removing the water collector (the plastic tray that spans the area between the firewalls). It isn't technically difficult; it is a bit of a wrestling match to get it out and reinstall it. The official procedure calls for removing the steering column, but I just lower it onto a support placed on the floor.

Other than that I don't find the job hard and no special tools required. Just a lot of parts to keep track of. You need space to lay them all out. I recommend subscribing to Startekinfo for a day ($19) and print out all the pertinent sections. The video is pretty good, but awfully grainy and I don't know if I would depend on it.

mbsickness

Wow this is the stuff that nightmares are made of.

Super B

Your the man Vince. I didn't know about that site. Ill have to check it out. Thanks for the heads up on the water collecter as well. it's good to hear it doesn't take any special tools so far the Mercedes has been been pretty good that way. Seemed like every time I popped the hood on the 540 I had to buy something special. (Great car though.)

vinceC

Here's the link:

http://www.startekinfo.com/StarTek/index.jsp

You need to launch into the WIS (Workshop Information System). This is M-B's official source of technical info. Don't be intimidated by the site. The is a huge amount of info there, but with a little time you can figure it out.