juanmor40

TomZVB

This is why it pulled through… the housing broke on the inside. No going back now…



I’m running up to Napa to grab an adjustable expansion plug and call it done.

AMGandS1K

Must have been some rough techs, otherwise I don't know how that'd get that damaged. Hmm. Glad you got it squared away though!

kevm14

Rubber won't hold up to oil. You can use it as a temporary solution but you'll want to upgrade to a better material. I am not sure what that is. EPDM or ideally Viton would work much better. I have no idea what products are available as a plug. You could also JB Weld over the entire thing which while ugly, would be more reliable than anything else.

TomZVB

Yep, EPDM. They’re for automotive cooling systems and oil. Dorman has a whole line of them.

kevm14

They were R&R'ing the timing cover on an M157. I'm sure they were in good spirits.

AMGandS1K

Do you have a specific Part Number in mind? I'm going to do the mod this Saturday and I'd rather not have to get back under there to cap it off nicely again.

TomZVB

My opinion is that it’s heat as well as oil-bath related. Plastic parts shouldn’t be bathing in high heat petroleum exposed environments like that. I barely did anything to pull the connector off - it just turned and that was it. I didn’t feel a break or anything. So maybe a combination of rough technicians and heat/oil? Regardless, it’s toast now.

PS - the solenoid was working. I did not have any codes indicating a failure of that system prior to this.

5soko

Yes, pretty much every modern engine does, along with BMW M cars. We may be the first platform to ever try to disable it. Good or bad thing

TomZVB

I’ll post what I pickup from NAPA.

Keep in mind, this is a rather extreme case. You should be able to get the harness connector off, tie it up, and go about things as normal, albeit with a better running engine.

ImolaSix

M156 does not apparently, but the dry sump M159 does, strange.

The video posted from Tasos in the first post where he is talking about a stuck solenoid is from an M159. In the comments he states M156 does not.

TomZVB

All set.

I used the following, cut down to an uncompressed diameter of 15 mm. I had to grind down the bolt head that’s the pulled on side of the plug. I rough-cut the EPDM rubber with a compact hand saw and then finished it on my bench grinder. It fit like a glove. The following is the part number and a pic of the plug (the one pictured is the same size but compressed from another project).






And then finally we have this:



Temps came up the same as usual but then again it is 42 degrees here.

I just finished exercising the ABC post replacement of the pulsation damper… heading out to take her for a ride now. Wish me luck!

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

Good luck! By the way, your garage looks like mine -- bench vice, air compressor, and stickers on the tool chest.

TomZVB

Let’s try this again…. I logon with Google and half the time I get kicked out when I try to post.

Five mile drive to get a Xmas gift and grab a bite and so far so good.

First observations:

1. The idle is indeed smoother and the throttle response appears to be/sounds snappier.

2. The engine also feels looser now. Like it’s not trying to fight itself in the lower rev range. Driving at low rpm is responsive and has a feel similar to my Hellcat. Definitely a change there!

3. The MCT is smoother especially starting out in second gear (Comfort drive mode).

4. Oil temps seem to be higher, but I’d been sitting at idle in the parking lot here for a bit. 216F idling for five minutes. 207-210F driving. Oil over 212 is good for boiling out moisture so I’m not really concerned there. I cannot quite recall what they were before the modification. I did let the car idle a lot this evening so I think the warmer temps are an anomaly.

5. Distronic was on coming into the parking lot here. It got confused when I applied the brake and tried to apply throttle. There’s a lot of construction here so maybe that was part of it. Best to let the car adapt to its new parameters though before having these active. ** might have been my boot.

So far so good!

TomZVB

More driving tonight and definitely different. The rumbly low speed ‘putt putt sound is gone - she’s very smooth at low rpm cruise now; markedly different. Pickup is also strong and moves along without trying to upshift to compensate for the low-speed cam timing issues caused by the lower oil pressure.

Another observation - after being warm, the engine starts with serious authority!

TomZVB

Like minds!

Mines a mess though!



If it isn’t obvious, I buy a lot from Jeg’s.

CaliBenzDriver

EXACTLY! Isn't that unbelievable to experience this, to write about it and now to read a matching account from someone else? no way right?

This uncommon experience is unheard of outside this experimental group. What these engines are able to do with precise GDI sounds as much unbelievable now as the day I wrote about this the first time, right? It's like the very first time you see a rainbow, wondering if that's for real ??
..../....
This funy valve is like Stuttgart decided our engines would be stuck IN VALET PARKING mode.

Now experimenters have a perfectly self-tuned Bosch direct injection system.

Remember... let this beast indulge with all the slick oil it was missing.
Now we are re-polishing scored surfaces, relaxing the HPFP shafts to ease stress on the bank1 VVT, tensioner chain. There's a very precisely self adjusted timing right there to be in exact synch with pump 3\4 lobes. Solid tensioners are a must!

Variable camshaft help the intake plenum flow better now that it works. The trics we'had never met before are based on the multi-spray and multi sparks to extract more torque from burning best mixtures. ECU only plays fidle when in the mood.


CHASSIS REBOOT:
Today I got treated again to another unusual behaviors of steerings and magneto-fluid suspensions. You get in your car and it drives as if it was different.
I've had this before but glad to be graced: steering wheel responsiveness is unreal and suspensions smooth the road unevenness as if on a flying carpet. This is a facelift suspensions, not an Airmatic.

The same one that kick sideways when it emphasizes bumps instead of flatening them. That's caused by timing latency perhaps, 100uSecs.

-- I don't quite know which VIP modules control this feature: ESP/ ECU /FSAM likely a Bosch well guarded intellectual property.
-- ​​​​​I do know th8s feature is another showcase for poor performance.
Bosch introduced a "fast bus" over cheap twisted pairs like telephones wires 40 years. For some reason they want to ignore managing it so it sucks and ppl left with chaos should rejoice.

In a luxury vehicle built with distributed features, the network is the essential backbone such as CAN-C. The reality proves that unfortunately performance are used against us without visibility: oil sensor!
....
Great repairs like PUMP SOLENOID research project don't start like clean-cuts. We don't know where the research can lead us.

CaliBenzDriver

Distronic controls gas pedal while the DistroPlus adds brakes. With both becoming super responsive well Distronic operates with more gentle outputs.

Distro used have to deal with mushy accelerator/brakes and couldn't do without jerking the car.

Distance radar works reliably without bugchecking despite internal issues logged. A pretty robust feature

WRC-LVR

Please post your experience up if you try this change. Post the before and after driving experience along with any specific noticable features that have improved. IIRC TomZVB posted about several good things similar to what CaliBenzdriver and Kevm14 have experienced. It would be good to repost over time too to get a better idea of what adaptions become evident over time and how long it took. Any negative should also be documented and posted up for discussion.

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

I think everyone who has done this has posted already. I know I have several times. You just need to read through the bazillion posts again and hope your head doesn't explode. You should maybe start a new thread as a poll or add a poll to the first post, if that is possible.

AMGandS1K

I think a feedback thread would be awesome. Maybe require posters to submit their Model Year, Engine, Mileage, any mods/tune, and their personal experience.

Also a stickied thread with the mod instructions and maybe a link to kenney's video too would be great instead of having folks dig through the now 17 pages.

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

Is there a tutorial or does someone know how to set up a poll. I just tried and didn't get very far. Here are the datapoints I was going to try to use.

1. Have you disconnected the oil pump solenoid? Yes/No
2. What engine do you have? 157, 158, 276, 278, etc.
3. What model and year is your car?
4. Is it tuned? Yes/No
5. What is your experience after unplugging the solenoid? Good/Neutral/Bad

Anything else to capture? We should figure that out before creating the poll.

WRC-LVR

Well for me, I'm gonna do the "mod" to my son's car. We had to have the entire engine rebuilt ($14K) in 2019 due to low oil pressure affecting the check valves, tensioners and the bottom end of my M276 V6 NA on my E350 A207. No MB would not stand behind with good will or extended warranty, or TSB for the check valve failure despite it being in the engine #' range.....

So since this appears to disable a switch to low oil volume post start and at lower load when driving. its a no brainer for me. Having rebuilt once, not gonna happen again due to S%$^#$ ecu program and trying to save 1 -2 mpg.

YMMV but I'd think very carefully about allowing something that critical to be on your car. Ask your self...Will MB own up and cover it with goodwill if the same happens to your car ? Will lack of oil to the piston squirters cause the dreaded cylinder scoring? Will the lack of pressure cause the HPFP driven off the camshaft to cause poor drivability and failure of sensors and cats? Not a chance in a very warm place of MB covering it ...its endemic to most of the engines they build these days...

I would encourage anyone that does this to invest in an oil pressure sensor and gauge and install it before the mod .See earlier in this thread for info on that. Get Oil pressure data before and after the solenoid disable change. If the oil pressure is low before and after the change then the solenoid may already be stuck in the low volume position and I would say it needs to be diagnosed and replaced along with possibly the oil pump ( if necessary )

YMMV

juanmor40

Wonder if the poll should be at the W212 platform level, or across all recent models. This solenoid is used in 180+ MB gasoline models from I4, V6, and V8. The 4 pots are having a hell of a nightmare breaking pistons, wrist pin issues, etc, are they related?

TomZVB

Regarding oil pressure monitoring, it is a little bit of an uneasy feeling not having a gauge to monitor pressure but an even bigger indicator (as long as it’s fairly accurate) is oil temperature.

In the offshore go-fast boat world, oil temp and water temp/pressure are actually more critical than oil pressure. Oil temp gives you a direct link to heat build/dissipation at the bearings - if something begins to heat up, then you know you have an issue to deal with. You also know when to shut it down - oil pressure can lie - next thing you know, you’ve wiped out the crank and rods (for my 509 CID Chevy’s, that’s a potential easy 3k dollar plus loss). Worse if you cook the mains and hurt the block!

AMG cars have the oil temperature monitor so that’s a win there. Using that as well as an infrared gun pointed at the sump, you can get a good idea of where things are.

Lastly, there are Bluetooth-capable pressure and temperature monitors available. They’re not cheap, but they are available to those that want to avoid hacking up the car to add gauges. About $500 for a 100 psi sensor.