w4sim

Hello all

The car was beginning to get very annoying to drive with a constant humming, hard suspension and general vibrations.

Just changed the Pulsation Damper a few days ago and what a difference that has made. The humming has gone and the suspension is feeling soft again. But the vibrations are still there.

Had it checked and sure enough the motor mounts seem to have failed. Was looking at replacing these but theres very very little information on how to go about changing them, just that the left one seems to be harder than the right one.

Has anyone got any clearer information on how to go about doing it?

Im a DIY mechanic and my friend is a full time mechanic so we're sure we can do this, but just need a few pointers. Will also replace the tranny mount at the same time i think.

Any help would be mostly appreciated.

merc79

Did you ever change out your Motor Mounts and Tranny mount as well? I'm stuck in a dilemma as well, whether to tackle this job with a help of my friend or just find a reliable indy shop to do it for me. I found some info on the benzworld.org website..................

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...ement-diy.html

Did you do yours the same way as it was described? Also how long did it take for your to complete it?
Thanks in advance for your input.

w4sim

Yeah we managed to do this in the end, took me and 2 full time mechanics about 4 hours to do all 3 mounts. About an hour or so was lost on talking, planning, cups of tea, smoke breaks etc etc. All in all it was a minor headache, but could easily be done by a competent mechanic, just depends how competent and confident you are. Also, it depends on what tools ou have access to. We had access to most tools you would find in a good garage, a pit to put the car over and sliding ramps and jacks.

The guide in your link is a basic guide but seems to be overly complicated. There was no need to remove anything for the steering rack on the S55 or the subframe, his S430 may be a different design.

But basically lift the engine up a couple of inches using a jack and a piece of wood. The mount on the left (American drivers side) was pretty straight forward and did not require the removal of any other part.

The mount on the right (American passenger side) was a little more complicated as the space is a little tight. But we found that to get to the top mount bolt its easier to remove the rear 2 coilpacks on this side and get your hand in from the top, preferably with a wobbly extension. Again, nothing else had to be removed to access this mount.

I may make this out to be quite simple, and in a way it is, but it does require some skill and knowledge before you end up moving the engine too far up and breaking something else instead, which was one of my biggest fears. Its quite a fiddly job and does require getting in and out of tight spaces but nothing too major.

I think if we had to do it again we could probably do them in about 2.5 hours max. (which will probably include all of the 10 minutes to do the gearbox mount).

merc79

Thank you soo much for such a detailed write up. For sure this is my main priority on my to do list The way you described it sounds soo easy but I'm sure when you go at it gets very tricky and tight as you mentioned. Nonetheless thanks again. I'll update you once its done.

By the way your S55 looks Gorgeous!! , I'm assuming you lowered it with the lowering links? I just ordered mine a few days ago from Airmatic lowering links over there in U.K, can't wait to get those on her. You have the perfect ride height, did it take you long to get it the way you wanted it to be?
Cheers!!

w4sim

I hope thats not sarcasm, that wasnt exactly an award-winning write up,

There is one more thing though, on your passenger side you most likely will have to remove the Pulsation Damper assembly out of the way. That is not to say that the Pulsation Damper has to come off, or any of the pipes has to be removed, but once you look at it from underneath you will see the pipes and the cannon ball on the end all held up by a bracket with a couple of bolts. Just remove these bolts and the whole thing will move out of the way. Your only looking at a couple of centimeters of movement, but thats enough to get your hands in there. And that basically is the theme for the rest of the procedure aswell, most things will only need to be moved slightly out of the way.

w4sim

Thank you very much sir, i think it terms of looks iv pretty much got it to where i want it. Sporty yet Stock.

Mine is lowered on the very same lowering links you have ordered from Airmatic. I installed them myself and it took me a couple of hours. But i was by myself and very scared to break any of the plastic bits

I originally lowered it on the original 18" alloys, and it think i got it right on about the 3rd attempt. But when i put these current 19's on it actually sat more perfectly by itself. I havnt touched it since.

Im thinking about putting the same wheels on but in 20" this time but then its definitely going to have to get raised a little or its going to catch the rear arches.

w4sim

Oh yeah, please make sure you read ALL the instructions before you decide to install these. I only read the instructions for the front, installed them and the front end went down. Then basically did the same thing with the rear and while the front end went down the rear went UP.

The car looked utterly stupid. Front bumper nearly touching the floor and the rear bumper was where the top of the trunk once used to be.

Turns out the front links have to be made SHORTER to drop the front end, but the rear links have to be made LONGER to drop the rear end. oops

merc79

Hey buddy thanks again for all the valuable info. I wasnt being sarcastic when I mentioned you took time out to reply back in length about the Engine and tranny mounts replacement. YOu know I have 20's on my S55 but the front end wheel well gap is too much still, I wanted to drop her down a 1.5" and the rear 1". TAke a look at for yourself.

https://mbworld.org/forums/s55-amg-s...uired-amg.html

Thanks for the early pointer on keeping the rear links longer than the front to drop it down, I read that for every 5mm shorter or longer you keep the link it drops down 1" is that true?

*Hopefully this week I should have my mounts replaced out, a friend of mine has a indy shop so he'll be doing it on the lift.

merc79

I forgot to ask previously, how did you jack up the motor? Did you do it from the oil pan and like did you place a piece of thick cutout wood placing it underneath the oil pan. I'm just assuming since its Aluminum made OIl pan wont all that stress crack it etc.... Its just my assumption, I seen on other cars ppl do it that way wasn't sure if thats how you done it or others when jacking up the motor.
Thanks again.

w4sim

Yeah thats correct, a big piece of wood under the oil pan will suffice. Remember, your only lifting it by an inch or so.

It wont put any stress on the pan.

The other way of doing it is to lift the engine up from the top, but thats usually too impracticle to be honest.

Remember to replace the engine mounts and THEN the tranny mount, or vice versa. Dont try to do all 3 at once with everything loosened off, that might start putting too much stress in places where you really dont want it.

merc79

Bro im in jam. I got the passengerside motor mount out and replaced but stuck on how to get access to the drivers dide. Any tips for access etccc...? Hope u get this in time im here doing it as I type to you with my mechanic friend.

w4sim

Right, look at the Pulsation dampener and then the subframe.

In-line with the Pulsation Dampener through the subframe you should be able to get access to the bottom of the mount with a 16mm socket and/or a spanner.

See if that works for you?

merc79

First off I want to give a big THANK YOU to W4SIM , without his tips and help I couldn't complete the Engine mounts and Tranny mount replacement. I completed all 3 in 3 1/2 hours. I didnt take any breaks apart from drinking water in btw, but I went straight at it with the help of my mechanic friend who we used his hydraulic lift to jack it up. All what you said was true and access was veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy tight, I almost gave up in the middle, I followed everything what you advised, the passenger side for me personally was easier than the drivers side, lolz... I had to remove the lower end of the steering column attachment to get proper access to remove the drivers side, it was a pain the *** to remove. As you can you see from the pics, MY motor mounts were completely shot. Oil was leaking all over the place on removal and tranny mounts rubber inside was mostly eating up as you can see. I replaced all 3 with LEmfordor brand(OEM GErman made product).
Once the job finished I went out for a test run. The true feeling of owning a MErc and that too a AMG has finally been felt . Since last two months of owning this Merc I was soo disappointed and didn't even want to drive the dam thing because of the vibrations and what not . Totally hated driving it. Now its like silky smoooth I can hear the whine from the SuperCharger finally and the exhaust also, lOlz before I could only hear the fckn engine noise, felt like I was sitting in a Monster Truck
I'm still getting some hesitation from the throttle body, so on Wednesday hopefully I'm getting the Throttle Body and REcirculated Air Flap Actuator cleaned out by Air Induction cleaning with SEafoam. The mechanic will hook it up to his machine and induce the seafoam thru the throttle body and hopefully it will reach down to the main culprit of the problem " The REcirculated Air Flap Actuator code M16/7 and fix the flap allowing it to close completely, its like partially stuck open so I'm not producing enough boost from the SuperCharger. Fingers crossed that solves the problem

Thanks again for all your help W4sim without you I wouldnt have had the inspiration to tackle this job with the help of my friend whose a mechanic that works mostly on jap cars not mercs, but at the end of the day he told me "German cars don't seem that complicated to work on as compared to Jap cars when it comes down to non electrical related work that is"

w4sim

Right, let me send you my PayPal address and you can send me the $200 for the advice and tips . . . . .

Only kidding mate, very glad i could be of help and very glad you actually got it done in the end. Give yourself a pat on the back.

And now that its done, and you say its completely transformed the car i suggest you drive it for a couple of weeks to really decide wether you need to change the Pulsation Dampener aswell or not. You might not feel the need to do it now.

If theres any more vibrations you need to start checking the rest of the bushes, especially the big ones at the rear end, like the subframe bushes.

merc79

Knock on wood still I feel no vibrations anywhere. When you come down to Orlando I'll take you out for lunch what you say
There's one thing that was kind of baffling me, the American drivers side motor mount didnt have any shields on it not even that rubber cover, but the passenger side does. Should I be concerned about the Drivers side not having any rubber cover around it? Did both your mounts have the rubber covers?

w4sim

Yeah both mine had the rubber covers on, i dont think its too drastic if there wasnt a cover on it.

Did you put the new ones in with the rubber covers on? If you did then theres no need to worry anymore.

w4sim

I say that might happen somewhere in the next 10 years, so keep that invitation open.

merc79

I only put the rubber cover on the passenger side since it already had one on before, but the drivers side didn't even have one on it originally, so I just placed the new one on without getting a rubber for it I called up the dealership, to ask if they sell those rubber covers they said no, only in their system they have showing a small half circle metal plate on one side of each mount, and the rest is exposed. I'm guessing the suppliers of the Engine mounts gave those rubber covers apart from shielding from heat; the oil inside the mounts won't spill all over the place it will be contained in just one area, just my 2 cents on its purpose

P.S 10 years I can still hold that offer for lunch for ya, Np

w4sim

il start paddling across the big pond now shall i