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Now it was time to finally do the same thing to our W210 2001 E430 with about 152K miles. Other than the fact it is slightly older, and a V8, the repair is virtually identical to the W211 so I won't repeat the info other than some interesting issues I ran into. There were noticeable leaks from the vent hoses, the vent covers, and places around the gaskets on each cover. Drivers cover was leaking from one of the long vent cover bolts.
First issue was the air pipe retainer screw. This is a 6mm E10 bolt holding the air pipe to the back end of the passenger side valve cover. The front of this air pipe has the MAF and the back end loops around to the throttle body. That screw was totally stripped out (and I have known about it since shortly after we got the car but never took the time to dealt with it given it was sort of snug). My hypothesis was - there is very little clearance to remove the screw depending on the transmission fill tube bracket and clamp orientation. And if someone does not have a 1/4" swivel E10 socket, you won't have the room to properly loosen and more importantly, properly torque it. Bet it went in sideways and then was over-torqued (9NM is the spec). During installation I replace the trans tube holder to the real MB vibration clamp and bolt from the whatever hack job was there before - some wield bolt and self made clamp.
Once the cover was off, the fix was easy - I used a TimeSet insert: https://www.timesert.com/ Here it is after the repair - I did use a drill press since I have one to drill out the hole for the insert, but if you have a steady hand you can use a hand drill. I have used Helicoil before but I like these better. In any case, this is an easy DIY for anyone with the most basic tools.
Nothing else on the passenger side was different than the report I wrote above.
Drivers side. Now this was interesting. I was leaking from one of the long vent cover bolts. Strange. And the normal leaks from the old cracking vent hoses which were all to be replaced. After taking the drivers side off, getting the vent cover off, the post that was leaking did not look right - rough, not very cylindrical in nature. Spend a lot of time with a nylon brush - lots of cleaner - lots of flacking black/gray specs - no idea what was going on.
Switched to a pick to scrape off whatever all this crap on the post was, and before I knew it - a huge chunk of grey matter fell off and finally I could see this:
Not shown in the picture but the back side is just as bad with another hole and I could see the right side was another covered hole where it bulges. It appeared that at least 3/4 of this post was only held on with what is starting to look like JB Weld!
I have no idea how this happen. Maybe someone had it off way in the past and dropped it on a concrete floor? Maybe a tool accident cleaning it? Welder accident when the cover was off? Who knows. But all of this flacking gray crap was all over the bottom inside that vent area.
Cost a tad under $300 to get a new MB cover online.
New covers come with the vent cover already installed, so you have to install the oil fill assembly from the outside. I have only installed them with the vent cover off - super simple then. Turns out it rather easy. Just clean it up really good (the oil filler assembly), screw the screw in all the way so its nice and tight holding the spring (it is screwing into plastic so don't go insane tight or you will strip that and have to buy another assembly), and put it on, and twist clockwise so the locking tab rises over the bump and locks on the outside while the spring bar locks on the inside. Having the old cover made it easy to visualize it first until it just makes sense, Don't forget to use a new gasket - its the same one inside the cap. Here is the new cover in place ready for bolts:
When I ordered the cover, given that I have seen some really janky things here, I decided to get all new bolts for both sides. Mostly likely not necessary but I now have little confidence they were torqued properly. Here are the bolts for the drivers side. I did not add any Loctite to them.
Torque is 9NM and go around in a crisscross pattern. Naturally new gasket and remember - there are v8 and v6 versions so get the correct one. And make sure the matting surface is clean and dry (just repeating from the W211 write-up I posted).
And replace all those hoses. There are a total of 4 hoses, 3 connectors and a special looking one. And different part numbers depending on V8 vs V6 so lookup the correct part numbers via EPC for your VIN. I myself always use some spray silicon on the hose ends, makes installing them easier - just wait for it to dry.
Like the other car, I added 2.5 oz of florescent dye to the oil change. So far no leaks, and on the next change I will look at everything underneath with the UV light to see if if the there are other leaks (oil pan, rear seal, etc.).
10-26-2023, 05:23 PM
