RHW

Stealth, LOL, yea they are.

These are real world, daily drivers.

Good luck Monday, hope the gremlins finally expose themselves.

Saijin_Naib

Thanks Hoping for the best, mentally prepared for the worst.
Financially? Better be tiny, harmless gremlins

bsmuwk

well, monday was yesterday.


whats the news?

Saijin_Naib

Still in the shop :\

Engine temp sensor, cam position sensor, and crank diagnostic sensors all went over fine.

They couldn't find the real crank position sensor however, so they called and I gave them your instructions on how to get to it so hopefully by tomorrow it'll be done with.

Saijin_Naib

Update:
One oil change and one each of engine temp, crank position, cam position senors, the car still feels the exact same as it had before. Granted, all these items WERE broken, so if nothing else I fixed things that needed fixing. However, Bucky is still about 100hp or so slow.

I'll try to get solid 0-60 numbers for comparison once there is a patch of dry tarmac, but its not looking good.

What else could it be? Back to the drawing board.

Thanks guys, appreciate the help thus far.

chlippo

if all those things were broken and they got changed...its pretty much impossible that the car is still feeling the same as before. or im wrong?

RHW

I fear for Bucky. Hobbies must yield rewards and he better soon or ...
dibs on the grill.

RBYCC

Brett

Wasn't your compression low in one or more cylinders?

Ed A.

Saijin_Naib

Yeah it was, but the general consensus is that it wasn't low enough to cut engine power in half. Its still on the list, but I'm going to have to wait a bit before I can afford to do another compression/leak down test and drop the exhaust to verify no blockages there.

Saijin_Naib

I wish you were correct. I can't verify with hard 0-60 numbers due to a large amount of snow, but as soon as its dry I'll get some numbers.

I drove it a bit last night in the snow and it wasn't feeling any more powerful than it had prior to the repairs. Same as always.

Saijin_Naib

The painted one or Justin's nice s600/Avantgarde one? If this thing keeps breaking my ***** I might just have to part it out. Only thing is, only cars I'd switch to would be a 94/95 e320 coupe, a 98-2002 CLK55 coupe, or c230k/C320 sports coupe.

ronmiller609

A CLK55 sure would give you the power you are currently missing... and then some. Drove one last year. The owner and I thought it would be a fun switch to test drive each others car. Definitely a fast and smooth car. Really makes me miss overdrive on mine.

semis1

Brett,
if what you changed has gained your power back, I would bet a quarter it is the compression issue. If I were you, I would stop spending money on the car until you have done the compression/leak down test. If the results are bad, you are just throwing money away. I have mentioned this before and I will until you do it!!! Do not resist on this matter, it is vital!

teezer

you can sorta test the exhaust by not dropping it ~~~ feel the pressure/discharge out of the tailpipe at idle and then feel it at partial or full throttle

with a clogged cat, the pressure/discharge won't change much

Saijin_Naib

Yeah, its a beautiful car. Would you have kept it over your w124?

Alright, alright, you & Ed and everyone else win I'm saving up for a full compression/leak-down test after this. I was confident I had picked the right parts that were causing the issue, but clearly I was mistaken. However, these parts all needed replacing eventually so nothing lost (except a month's worth of rent!) If it comes down to seized rings, then I'll have to start tracking down what I need for the 3.5l build because I might as well if the engine needs to be torn apart.

Ah, thanks for that teezer. I'll be looking to test that after I get my exhaust back together. One of the gaskets let go haha.

Saijin_Naib

300ce Open Exhaust


Bucky has an open gasket right before the catalyst. The exhaust sounds... surprisingly not bad.
Cabin noise is a bit high however. The m104 is a pretty awesome sounding engine IMO.
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Video Source: JVC GR-D270 US
Audio Source: JVC GR-D270 US (Noise Removal - Audacity)
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bsmuwk

O.o
ufo video right there.


maybe it sounds like my car does right now. raspy, backfiring, in your face exhaust note ftw. don't mind the shovel strapped to the roof... haters gunna hate lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gas_0BVh_ro
fyi, i didn't rev over 5.5k rpm at any point in the video - i play with the cis system all the time so i can make this m104 do crazy things
...and i didnt upload the video, my friend put those comments -__-
buddy runs with his HID's on all day so those blue clouds aren't me burning oil, just awkward lighting since he's crouched right in front of his car. the whole engine's rebuilt from the ground up oil burning is where its supposed to be.



and did the leaking exhaust help out your performance or no?

Saijin_Naib

Yeah, its got some nice burble and pop, but no real back-fire.

The shovel is okay provided you go slowly :P What roof-rack are you running? I think that is my next mod to be perfectly honest.

I like the sound, maybe a bit too loud/aggressive though. I want some grumble without losing comfort. Hard compromise to meet :L

Well, if we assume that the repairs I made would have helped my engine performance, then it is safe to say this has a detrimental effect as the car feels exactly as weak/limp as it had before the repairs

bsmuwk

i have the OEM oris roof bars. rare and $$ for the coupes- attachments are a pain to find, but thule attachments are the best fit when modified to fit. i'm making my own wood basket type rack for it that i've seen on a vdub and it looks amazing. im looking for a thule fairing and whatnot to reduce wind noise since it does get a little ridiculous at highway speeds. i have the racks off unless i'm bound to carry something .... aside from the shovel i've had a bumper for a 88 ford f250 strapped up there, a christmas tree (no scratches on the car dont worry), couple 2x4's...would never imagine a coupe to be so versatile

better fix your car before doing anymore mods to a car that might be a moot point.

my exhaust is only loud when i give it beans. otherwise its as if i never had it straight piped. quiet with an amazing low rumble at idle and though the gears (stickshift over here, must be foreign to you lol). i dont understand what you mean by comfort though - if its vibration a real exhaust wont give you cabin vibrating vibrations.

i do admit though, my exhaust is only temporary until i find a muffler that i like. my factory muffler is still in decent shape so i'll blow through it until i find a magnaflow or something that would appreciate being attached to an old POS m104. the factory muffler muffles the exhaust enough to where you can actually hear the air flowing through it. imagine blowing out of your mouth, thats how the muffler sounds apart from the rasp, gurgling and backfiring


what exactly did you do to the exhaust to determine whether or not it was plugged? having a little hole in the exhaust isn't going to do all that much, it just acts like a little blow off valve.

Saijin_Naib

True, true. I was trying to figure out of the later model CLK ones were compatible as they're a bit more common to find. No luck thus far. Yeah, I guess I have to be smart about how I fix things up and in what order.

By comfort, I mean auditory comfort. I can't stand droning exhausts.

Whats wrong with the factory one? Too restrictive?

I didn't do a thing, I went out to the car one day and found that there was a large gap between the down pipe and before the cat (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch). So, big breach right there. I'll tighten it up as soon as I can be arsed to lay down in the snow under the car.

chlippo

hey my 300E M103 isnt getting a good idle (rpm between 15-20) and it happens randomly. And it also suffers from a lack of power. I never investigate it since i dont drive it so often. Monday my brother took it to our garage (we own it, but its rented to a very nice guy that do bodywork) and after inspection (the guy is used to work on my car since he got the same) he called and said, fuel pump are getting really weak, ecu seems faulty, and the voltage getting to the fuel regulator aint correct.
ill probably change the ecu and the fuel pump, and hope performance will get back.
If not ill be doing a compression test when time allows.

bsmuwk

i see what you're getting at with the drone - what i've done isn't droney at all. i'm a highway warrior so if i can cruise without getting pissed off at something (like my roof bar noise) i won't do it. the exhaust isn't bad

factory muffler is fine - it just isn't giving me the exhaust note that i want. i get a nice sound, but i can hear air being pushed out of the tips. when i can hear that, that means that all that air isn't being "muffled" per say. i need a muffler that muffles all the air, retains me some backpressure (like the factory muffler) and get a nice note all throughout the rpm range.

Saijin_Naib

My exhaust has gotten so loud that I had to take my 5.5hr trip today with earplugs in, BUT there is a silver lining on this cloud. I averaged 28.3MPG

My father has the gaskets, we're going to close the breach There goes the awesome sound of this engine. I'll miss it ever so much. I wish I didn't have to fix it, but I can't drive for 5 hours with that noise level.

I've also got an appointment with my father's mechanic friend for some srs bsns diagnostics on Bucky, so perhaps I'll finally have my answers.

Its mixed feelings, but I'm hopeful.

Oh, the Mosselman thread got removed & I served an infraction for soliciting a "group-buy". I'm in talks with the admins to get it approved, but it may not happen. No worries, I'm setting up a series of polls on my personal page.

So far, I've got interest from Mosselman for a TT kit, Remus for a full block-back exhaust (headers, everything), and Maganflow for the same.

Mosselman wants 10 proofs of interest, Remus 35, and Magnaflow 150.

Remember, this is not a group-buy but simply a poll of interest/market research.

chlippo

were was that thread about mosselman? never saw it!

Saijin_Naib

It got taken down right quick. I'll not re-post it until given permission so I don't get more infractions. However, as soon as I'm allowed, I'll share further info.