Oil pump solenoids
Crazy and amazing that after all this time, such seemingly amazingly beneficial things are being discovered for these cars. I just wish the prices weren't increasing so much on all the AMGs, especially the W204 C63s so I could get one before it's too late lol.




I do feel like this could be an important point in M157 history. I hope someone has informed the M278 people (some of them are on here already).








also - what if my oil pump fails in the future and I have unplugged this solenoid. How will I know the pump is gone other than engine issues?
also will this shorten the life of my oil pump?
additionally I tried accessing it from the top and I can just touch it but can't see anything - it's all feel. Also my arm got stuck lol soooo will be dropping the pan.
gm based video discussing all the same things:
https://youtu.be/-1f1u960I-I
The sales pitch all sounds good, the reality is slightly different: disabled VVT and scored cylinders.
Do V8 engines benefit from less oiling to save gas??
The reality in this thread shows the poor implementation of low oiling feature. Engine hesitations are caused by poor mixtures and wrong timings - A clear departure from fuel efficiency.
Myth Busters would say...
Can reduced oiling increase efficiency ?
is officially BUSTED BOLONEY.

As long has nobody had connected the dots between poor performances and oil pressure everyone was all right with laggy pedal and wasted engines.
Now you have the evidence to recognize that.
There is most likely a pre-writen scenario about this well engineered struggle such as what was played out with the "Diesel-gate"... lawyers will extract
Give it sometime, you'll see how this game is played out

Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; Dec 20, 2023 at 06:04 PM. Reason: Bosch rules business
am I understanding that correctly?




This is known but kept hush-hush
As long as fuel injection is in closed-loop, cats are scrubing and monitors are completed: PASS!

Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; Dec 20, 2023 at 07:42 PM.
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
I had two repairs to get to on my M157, neither were fun but were necessary:
1. ABC pump damper - a major pain because the 17mm hex head popped off. I had to use a chisel to get it to turn. Lots of fun… highly recommended. Not really.
2. While I was there, I had to replace a coolant crankcase vent pipe. That wasn’t too bad with the damper off. I lost some coolant but shouldn’t have any issues with refilling. Guessing I lost twelve ounces, if that, and it should need bleeding. We’ll see.
While I was taking care of all this, I decided to get after the oil control solenoid connection. The connector was not coming off so I wiggled it. It then began to turn in the housing. And from there it started to pull out some and will not go back in. Looking at the control solenoid pictures, it seems that this is an only an extension to the connect the valve to the outside (and to the harness connector).
What the heck to I do now? Anyone seen anything like this? I’m not even sure how it could pull out.




Worst case your timing cover has to come off as far as I can tell.
But yes that's not the actual sensor. If it somehow doesn't leak oil, that's all that matters. I would expect it to, though, if I understand you correctly.




I think the correct orientation is for that plug to be straight up and down.
My understanding about my car is that the timing cover was serviced a couple years ago. Maybe someone forgot to do something when putting it back together?




I would clean up the area as best you can and study everything with a good light. Maybe take some close up shots.
The car was last serviced at RBM in Atlanta per the previous owner (a member on this site).
Amazing what you find.




Don't try to rearrange the orientation of all this seasoned plastics.
Make friends with comestic leaks, no problem.
They are totally expected with high crankcase pressure... now that's a NO GOOD PART.
Don't chase the consequences, deal with the root cause hence this thread where we deal with some essentials.

Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; Dec 20, 2023 at 07:56 PM.
When it came through, it seemed to have the feeling of it popping a little, then would not push back in. Maybe I accidentally “fixed” it?
One thing is for sure, I do not like how nasty it is under there. My vehicles are generally very clean underneath. This one will be too.
Don't try to rearrange the orientation of all this seasoned plastics.
Make friends with comestic leaks, no problem.
They are totally expected with high crankcase pressure... now that's a NO GOOD PART.
Don't chase the consequences, deal with the root cause hence this thread where we deal with some essentials.

I am looking forward to having this all behind me. Maybe tomorrow if I have some time to mess with it.
I need to wrap up Christmas shopping!
Will continue "testing", I'd like to eventually confirm faster engine warmup.




control solenoid - Internal harness - External connector
It's okay if you mess this up... This is what's been upsetting your whole engine since day-1

Within 1500.Mi you will get used to amazing performance then you can tackle battery chaos and disruptions.

Happy Holiday shopping.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; Dec 20, 2023 at 08:51 PM.





