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In post # 11 it says - "On the fill side, bought a Lisle 24680 Spill-free Funnel kit and the fitting included fit perfectly inside the new tank and provided a tight seal." - I got the Lisle 24680 but did not find that there was a threaded cap with the funnel that fits the reservoir and hold down the adapter for the funnel.
Is there a threaded cap that fits this and the MB coolant reservoir?
Got two of the parts a couple of weeks ago, the new metal pipe and the reservoir tank. Still waiting for the new rubber hose to come in; I'm guessing it's got to come from Germany.
As for the threaded-cap question, I don't know if there's one that fits the MB coolant reservoir, but there is one that fits the original M275 parts. Open the stock cap, put this on, apply some coolant with a little air pressure, and let the air bleed out.
That new rubber hose is supposed to come in Tuesday (tomorrow). In the meantime, I put a generic coolant hose in there, and it works fine. Took some time to finish burp the system, but now that it's burped, I like this newer M279 system. That tank is a good indicator of the status of things. Fits just fine, too.
Wonderful idea and write-up! I have the parts coming for the conversion in the mail. Where, what description and what item numbers were the fittings for intercoolers? I have been to my local auto parts store and hardware store and they do not have anything.
You will still need to build my bleeding tool to get the air out
it's not going to do that automatically
but the new tank will prevent air to get into the system
After almost a month the parts finally came. Installation was going good until I realized the transmission filler tube and cap is in the way on the SL65 by just enough. Looking more carefully at some of the pictures above I do not see the transmission filler tube in the same location on the CL65. I wanted to show this fitment problem to the group to see what ideas you guys have to solve the problem. Bend the tube out of the way? Swapping it for a CL65 filler tube (I would thing the transmission would need to be dropped for this)? I do not know if a CL filler tube would have other fitment issues. Other ideas?
Last edited by Swamp_Fox; Feb 16, 2020 at 01:39 PM.
After almost a month the parts finally came. Installation was going good until I realized the transmission filler tube and cap is in the way on the SL65 by just enough. Looking more carefully at some of the pictures above I do not see the transmission filler tube in the same location on the CL65. I wanted to show this fitment problem to the group to see what ideas you guys have to solve the problem. Bend the tube out of the way? Swapping it for a CL65 filler tube (I would thing the transmission would need to be dropped for this)? I do not know if a CL filler tube would have other fitment issues. Other ideas?
What did you end up doing with this? Did you bend the pipe back a little? Did you have to buy any additional parts?
I am still thinking about it and have not done anything yet. Bending it seems like a bad idea for a couple of reasons: 1) there is not a lot of room to work and I can not get a traditional tube bender in there. 2) I am concerned the bending pressure may damage the fitting end of the tube by the transmission housing.
I have not tried any other parts but had the idea of trying a transmission fill tube from a 2013 or newer SL. However, I have not been able to find a picture of where the fill tube is routed on the newer models. If anyone has a picture that shows this it would be helpful. The big downside of replacing the transmission fill tube is I believe the transmission would have to be dropped to do this. The latest idea I had was heating the new coolant tank with a heat gun in this area and trying to remold it just enough for clearance. I am open to suggestions. Is anyone else trying to do this in an SL?
I am still thinking about it and have not done anything yet. Bending it seems like a bad idea for a couple of reasons: 1) there is not a lot of room to work and I can not get a traditional tube bender in there. 2) I am concerned the bending pressure may damage the fitting end of the tube by the transmission housing.
I have not tried any other parts but had the idea of trying a transmission fill tube from a 2013 or newer SL. However, I have not been able to find a picture of where the fill tube is routed on the newer models. If anyone has a picture that shows this it would be helpful. The big downside of replacing the transmission fill tube is I believe the transmission would have to be dropped to do this. The latest idea I had was heating the new coolant tank with a heat gun in this area and trying to remold it just enough for clearance. I am open to suggestions. Is anyone else trying to do this in an SL?
Hey !
What I would do is following, cut the pipe on the place where it should bend away, find a nice piece hose that fits perfect, put it around both cut parts to join them back together
you can pull the pipe out of the trans easy once 50 and 60 removed
Last edited by pmercury; Feb 27, 2020 at 04:04 AM.
I am still thinking about it and have not done anything yet. Bending it seems like a bad idea for a couple of reasons: 1) there is not a lot of room to work and I can not get a traditional tube bender in there. 2) I am concerned the bending pressure may damage the fitting end of the tube by the transmission housing.
I have not tried any other parts but had the idea of trying a transmission fill tube from a 2013 or newer SL. However, I have not been able to find a picture of where the fill tube is routed on the newer models. If anyone has a picture that shows this it would be helpful. The big downside of replacing the transmission fill tube is I believe the transmission would have to be dropped to do this. The latest idea I had was heating the new coolant tank with a heat gun in this area and trying to remold it just enough for clearance. I am open to suggestions. Is anyone else trying to do this in an SL?
Just did my 2008 S65 and it has the tranny filler but on the PS right behind the hose that goes up to the heat exchanger (that the tank fits around). The back part of the tank that sticks out is exactly where the filler is. Filler line is attached about 6 inches down from the top so I just put a big #4 phillips down inside the tube (fit inside almost perfectly) and pushed on it gently and it just bent back enough to get it out of the way. Didn't noticeably deform. If yours is connected closer to the top may be a bit harder or not doable. Pull the red tab up and then the cap pulls off.
Bending the fill tube may have been the way to do it but on the SL I elected to remove the fill tube to cut then reattach it with a hose and hose clamps as shown in the pictures. I then used a longer bolt and spacer to reattach it to the top anchor point. After that everything went together easily except several of the hoses are not holding pressure under a pressure test of less than 10 p.s.i. leaking under the clamps. Can someone confirm the MB pressure test values? I think I read where it is 1.5 bar or ~22 p.s.i.
I ordered new hoses (which is probably a good idea after 14 years) but they will take a couple of weeks to get here. Oddly, one of the new hoses on the conversion was also leaking during the pressure test as well. The Mercedes "specialist" on the phone from where I ordered the parts thought it could be the metal spring clips had lost some of their clamping force over the years and would not clamp the hoses enough after unseating them during the conversion. I am skeptical but ordered new metal spring clips as well. I hate to use worm drive hose clamps on the system but may consider that if nothing else works. Spacer
Bending the fill tube may have been the way to do it but on the SL I elected to remove the fill tube to cut then reattach it with a hose and hose clamps as shown in the pictures. I then used a longer bolt and spacer to reattach it to the top anchor point. After that everything went together easily except several of the hoses are not holding pressure under a pressure test of less than 10 p.s.i. leaking under the clamps. Can someone confirm the MB pressure test values? I think I read where it is 1.5 bar or ~22 p.s.i.
I ordered new hoses (which is probably a good idea after 14 years) but they will take a couple of weeks to get here. Oddly, one of the new hoses on the conversion was also leaking during the pressure test as well. The Mercedes "specialist" on the phone from where I ordered the parts thought it could be the metal spring clips had lost some of their clamping force over the years and would not clamp the hoses enough after unseating them during the conversion. I am skeptical but ordered new metal spring clips as well. I hate to use worm drive hose clamps on the system but may consider that if nothing else works.
Spacer
yes ! nice !
so you succeed copy the bleeder like I did
Bending the fill tube may have been the way to do it but on the SL I elected to remove the fill tube to cut then reattach it with a hose and hose clamps as shown in the pictures. I then used a longer bolt and spacer to reattach it to the top anchor point. After that everything went together easily except several of the hoses are not holding pressure under a pressure test of less than 10 p.s.i. leaking under the clamps. Can someone confirm the MB pressure test values? I think I read where it is 1.5 bar or ~22 p.s.i.
I ordered new hoses (which is probably a good idea after 14 years) but they will take a couple of weeks to get here. Oddly, one of the new hoses on the conversion was also leaking during the pressure test as well. The Mercedes "specialist" on the phone from where I ordered the parts thought it could be the metal spring clips had lost some of their clamping force over the years and would not clamp the hoses enough after unseating them during the conversion. I am skeptical but ordered new metal spring clips as well. I hate to use worm drive hose clamps on the system but may consider that if nothing else works.
What did you cut the fill tube with?
What was the diameter of the hose you used for the splice?
I cut the tube with a 5 inch cutting wheel but you can use whatever you have available. After the cut deburr the edges and make sure no metal flakes are inside the tube that could make their way to the transmission.
I think the hose size I used was 7/16 inch. It was a tight fit so I heated the hose up with a heat gun to get it on the tubing.
If I had to do it over again I would probably try to cut it higher up, possibly after the last bend in the tubing, if I thought there would still be enough room for the bend.
Finally, if I was to do it over again, I might try to heat the tube up with a torch enough to bend it and do away with the rubber hose entirely.
Last edited by Swamp_Fox; May 2, 2021 at 04:44 PM.
Did you have any trouble getting the torx bolt off that holds the tube in place (where you added the spacer)?
On my car the head of the bolt faces the firewall instead of the engine bay and it looks like it might be a pain to get access, even once I have the old intercooler cap and hoses removed.
I agree, it is a tight fit getting that torx bolt off. A ratcheting torx wrench works to loosen the bolt if you have it. It was nice to replace it with something that will be easier to remove in the future.
It will also be a reach to remove the middle bolt attaching the tube to the transmission but it is doable.
The final bolt to remove the tube is a standard 10mm bolt. It will need to be removed from underneath the car just above where the tube fits into the transmission. The way I reached it was using an extra long wrench such as a 10mm x 120mm (or more) flex head ratcheting wrench on one side and standard wrench on the other side.
Well I decided to push the tube back out of the way. I’ll report back if it gives me any trouble.
Great mod! Thanks to those of you who figured this out and shared with the group.
HI, Did you experience any problems with just bending the tube to the back? I will have the parts coming on on Wednesday and will be retrofitting it as well complete with a new Bosch Pump.
HI, Did you experience any problems with just bending the tube to the back? I will have the parts coming on on Wednesday and will be retrofitting it as well complete with a new Bosch Pump.
Thanks,
Eric
Still no issues. I even used the tube a few months ago when I changed the trans fluid and it worked fine and the dipstick went in it without any problems.
The bracket that’s about half way down the tube is not connected on my car, I’m not sure if that makes any difference. At some point a mechanic must have been working on the car and never reattached it and I’ve left it that way.
You absolutely need to vacuum bleed the system when you are finished. Good luck with the job!
also, these pliers make the job soooooo much easier
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