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Went for a third drive (30 minutes) today to try on settling things out. While I noticed an improvement in throttle response, boost, and steady temps the shifts are still working themselves out. Where I noticed a massive difference was in Comfort. Normally, it’s sluggish AF after my tune. There was never any response until there was loads of throttle applied. Not the case anymore. It’s so much more responsive and the shifts are SMOOTH! I’m planning a transmission fluid change soon so I’m hoping that’ll only make things better.
Thanks to all involved in figuring this out.
Nino
It's amazing how many attributes oiling can transform either way... Your improved setup lands you on a better path.
-- Now wait with time + patience for ECU to enable better "GDI timings"... The idle will sound different and the accelerator will become pressure sensitive with honestly-enriched mixtures for plenty torque at 900.RPM!
-- Such low range may well sounds miningless for raw power but is essential for driveability and predictable 1-2-3-4 shifts.
-- The fuel map and precise timings are a smooth continuum that built on solid balanced base trims. Strong performance is not built on laggy low end.
-- If you don't notice your brake pedal improving with blow-by reduction then check the small check valve on the vaccum pump and/or question your oil not sealing drafty rings.
> Virtuous Rewards include:
Experimenters are faced with a giant smile from all improvements besides the tranny can act confused by too great of changes. It's loaded with mismatched data. While engine is transforming... you get into an interesting situation - A sort of adventure between ECU/TCU agreeing on what to do when for perfect shifts.
Anyway here are things to celebrate with a road trip:
More power on tap without any lag
Normally cooled engine bay
Change into direct GDI power control
Temperature regulated oil viscosity
Homogenous performance map across RPM's
Accelerator violently kicks *** on demand (GDI)
Every extra 1kMi your ECU/TCU roll out more ownership satisfaction... enjoy the recovery journey and your Mercedes travels.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; 04-27-2024 at 05:17 PM.
Reason: unbelievable but true!
PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Originally Posted by JettaRed
Here's a pic on my M276 bi-turbo. While the connector is not directly behind the coolant hose, removing or disconnecting the hose will give you easier access.
What I did was I put the car on ramps and dropped both the splashguards, think that was two weekends ago when I first attempted this.
Last weekend, I figured that I need more clearance for both my tool and arm (especially for rotating my arm and tool), so I used the low profile jack and jacked the centre point then put jack stands on both sides. I never had a chance to put the vehicle on a hoist which might had made it way better, neither I have access to one.
Here is the disappointing news, the underbody of my car looks nothing like this, it is pretty much covered by the sub frame, I confirmed I removed both splash guards, the one hiding the oil pan and the one in front.
I wish I can take a picture to show you what I mean but my camera isn't able to capture it with the little amount of space I have, without putting the vehicle on a hoist. That is despite I am using the ultra wide camera view.
I will try to see if I can get the car higher and take a picture on my next attempt, I really appreciate all these pictures, I will try to look for the alternator this time. I didn't see it last time, at least I really don't think so as the alternator should stand out to me.
I will see if I can remove the steel cover you mentioned maybe that was why I don't see the alternator. What I remembered was, the subframe covered everything and there were no further covers after removing the two plastic splashguards, happy to revisit this again and hopefully I just missed it and can just take off the said steel cover.
I also appreciate the good luck, I desperately needed that.
Last edited by W205C43PFL; 04-28-2024 at 07:22 AM.
PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Originally Posted by ninobrn99
Went for a third drive (30 minutes) today to try on settling things out. While I noticed an improvement in throttle response, boost, and steady temps the shifts are still working themselves out. Where I noticed a massive difference was in Comfort. Normally, it’s sluggish AF after my tune. There was never any response until there was loads of throttle applied. Not the case anymore. It’s so much more responsive and the shifts are SMOOTH! I’m planning a transmission fluid change soon so I’m hoping that’ll only make things better.
Thanks to all involved in figuring this out.
Nino
That is music to my ears, glad to hear you started noticing the benefits. Hopefully you keep seeing improvements as the ECU and TCU started talking properly to each other. Forum member JettaRed had a stage 2 tune (or was it stage 3?) that was sluggish and jerky and stuff before the oil pump solenoid mod and they contacted the tuning company about it, then was shipped a less aggressive tune. Forum member JettaRed decided to put the tune back after the oil pump solenoid mod and the car is no longer sluggish and acting weird : )
Originally Posted by slobo
Today my wife is driving the CLS and she asked me, did you changed anything on the engine? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Now I'm sure I'm not imagining anything wrong. 😉
That is funny : ) and glad things are working out for you.
Last edited by W205C43PFL; 04-28-2024 at 07:27 AM.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
It is a Stage 2 tune which is supposed to deliver about 420 hp. (The tune is no longer listed on Vivid Racing's site.) There were real drivability issues and Vivid wrote a new tune that worked great, but with less output. I called it Stage 1.5 but I think they called it v.3. After disconnecting the solenoid, I loaded the Stage 2 again just to see if it made any difference. Amazingly, all the drivability issues went away and the more powerful tune works great.
If your car has electric power steering protection plate, you must remove that, or else it will block your hand access.
See below item D : Based on my E400 W212
On my car I got total 4 under carriage covers.
From front to rear of the car.
Cover A
Cover B, the heavy metal plate covering forward engine oil pan. You must remove this to work.
Cover C, the Batman Plastic cover, this one from middle of engine to 1/2 of tranny.
Cover D, the power steering protection plate
Let's try again......... Red zone below is where EPS protection steel plate is installed, hence you must first remove it to get to oil solenoid.
In green is oil solenoid wire
This is how my hand access the oil solenoid. I already re-installed my EPS. The blue tape is where EPS 3 connectors are.
EPS installed. RHD car is mine, I think on LHD car the wire connection to EPS would be on the left side of the car and not on the right like mine.
Okey dokey....go and try again.
NOTE : I have a 50cm working height QuickJack, so not too bad for me.
Cover B, the heavy metal plate covering forward engine oil pan. You must remove this to work.
Cover C, the Batman Plastic cover, this one from middle of engine to 1/2 of tranny.
Cover D, the power steering protection plate https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...cbc274405a.jpg
Let's try again......... Red zone below is where EPS protection steel plate is installed, hence you must first remove it to get to oil solenoid.
In green is oil solenoid wire https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...f859aef510.jpg
NOTE : I have a 50cm working height QuickJack, so not too bad for me.
Excellent! Very helpful, appreciate the pointers, thank you! Will look for the electric protection plate, hopefully it indeed looks like that : ) Time to try this again this week or next week.
Can be seen on xentry but does not illuminate cel or cause limp mode.
Originally Posted by WANTED!!
Try it. However, I suspect it will trigger a cell and put the car in diminished power mode to protect the motor because the ecu can't see it vs it getting in the stuck position and not throwing a code.
I'm of similar mindset as you in that oil pressure under no load is not a bad thing.
car runs noticeably better due to increased oil pressure to cam adjuster idols better. Less jerky when cold oil warms up way quicker then it use to.
I’m really blown away at the difference I’ve seen driving the car in Eco and Comfort modes! As I’ve mentioned before, after my time, those modes were so sluggish! I’m actually content driving in either mode now. Wish I knew about this mod sooner!
This might sound weird but I couldn't be happier to see a stored (DTC, diagnostic trouble code) like this in the ECU and I couldn't had done it without the countless pointers from forum members who helped.
Please allow me to express my greatest gratitude to forum members (order has no significance, you all are awesome!) JettaRed, CaliBenzDriver, S-Prihadi especially they did all this research, experiment on their own personal vehicle for the greater of the MBworld community to benefit them and to potentially prolong engines.
Thank you forum member S-Prihadi for starting the experiment in the first place and posting about it in the other thread back in 2022.
Thank you forum member CaliBenzDriver for all the documentations and explaining everything in depth and answering forum members' questions.
Thank you forum member JettaRed for all the pointers again the pictures, thank you for measuring the oil pressure using a gauge and posting your findings, thank you for the useful tools listed with the links, the steps and especially going under the car again and again to help clarify everything in great depth.
Thank you to all of them for taking high quality pictures, lots of encouragement, thank you so much for all the patience you all had with me on this challenge of unplugging this connector with the broken sliding lock, lots of recommendations, videos showing in detail the proper way to unplug.
Thank you those who posted YouTube videos with impressions, tutorials and other pointers.
Thank you OP for making this thread the longest thread on mbworld along with others I forgot names but contributed dearly to this project.
Thank you as well to forum member ninobrn99 for suggesting different things to try!
I really can't thank all of you enough.
Initial very positive impressions, this transformed my car:
Transmission is way smoother (this is despite how this transmission was very smooth ever since the forced adaptation performed by the dealership back in 2019 and ATF was performed in 2023).
On heavier throttle (but not WOT) lag is reduced to minimal and even none as the transmission downshifts several gears without jerking at all followed by RPM climbing.
The gas pedal as everyone mentioned is much firmer and the vehicle responds much quicker at low RPMs in both Comfort and even Eco which the latter I rarely use.
The vehicle is no longer a garage heater.
The oil temperature raises much quicker, the engine idles much smoother. The idle noise is greatly reduced.
Vehicle doesn't need to crank for more than half a second and starts up. While as before it cranks for 1 second or even 1.5, close to 2 seconds.
This wasn't mentioned but I wonder if it is a placebo as it sounds like the exhaust got louder too. There also seems to be more burbles.
Last and certainly not least, I am sure the other benefits like better oiling and better protection for the engine that everyone also experienced applies as well.
Time to answer the survey in the OP : )
All the best to those who are planning to unplug it as well!
PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Originally Posted by ninobrn99
I’m really blown away at the difference I’ve seen driving the car in Eco and Comfort modes! As I’ve mentioned before, after my time, those modes were so sluggish! I’m actually content driving in either mode now. Wish I knew about this mod sooner!
Glad to hear you finally had success! I think you’ll notice it more once you drive it casually and aren’t hyper focused on what immediate changes you notice. You’ll just realize it bit by bit how things are just different.
This might sound weird but I couldn't be happier to see a stored (DTC, diagnostic trouble code) like this in the ECU and I couldn't had done it without the countless pointers from forum members who helped.
Please allow me to express my greatest gratitude to forum members (order has no significance, you all are awesome!) JettaRed, CaliBenzDriver, S-Prihadi especially they did all this research, experiment on their own personal vehicle for the greater of the MBworld community to benefit them and to potentially prolong engines.
Thank you forum member S-Prihadi for starting the experiment in the first place and posting about it in the other thread back in 2022.
Thank you forum member CaliBenzDriver for all the documentations and explaining everything in depth and answering forum members' questions.
Thank you forum member JettaRed for all the pointers again the pictures, thank you for measuring the oil pressure using a gauge and posting your findings, thank you for the useful tools listed with the links, the steps and especially going under the car again and again to help clarify everything in great depth.
Thank you to all of them for taking high quality pictures, lots of encouragement, thank you so much for all the patience you all had with me on this challenge of unplugging this connector with the broken sliding lock, lots of recommendations, videos showing in detail the proper way to unplug.
Thank you those who posted YouTube videos with impressions, tutorials and other pointers.
Thank you OP for making this thread the longest thread on mbworld along with others I forgot names but contributed dearly to this project.
Thank you as well to forum member ninobrn99 for suggesting different things to try!
I really can't thank all of you enough.
Initial very positive impressions, this transformed my car:
Transmission is way smoother (this is despite how this transmission was very smooth ever since the forced adaptation performed by the dealership back in 2019 and ATF was performed in 2023).
On heavier throttle (but not WOT) lag is reduced to minimal and even none as the transmission downshifts several gears without jerking at all followed by RPM climbing.
The gas pedal as everyone mentioned is much firmer and the vehicle responds much quicker at low RPMs in both Comfort and even Eco which the latter I rarely use.
The vehicle is no longer a garage heater.
The oil temperature raises much quicker, the engine idles much smoother. The idle noise is greatly reduced.
Vehicle doesn't need to crank for more than half a second and starts up. While as before it cranks for 1 second or even 1.5, close to 2 seconds.
This wasn't mentioned but I wonder if it is a placebo as it sounds like the exhaust got louder too. There also seems to be more burbles.
Last and certainly not least, I am sure the other benefits like better oiling and better protection for the engine that everyone also experienced applies as well.
Time to answer the survey in the OP : )
All the best to those who are planning to unplug it as well!
PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Originally Posted by ninobrn99
Glad to hear you finally had success! I think you’ll notice it more once you drive it casually and aren’t hyper focused on what immediate changes you notice. You’ll just realize it bit by bit how things are just different.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
Originally Posted by AMG__POWER
So seems like the general consensus is any m278 and m157 needs this mod!
Actually, there are several "mods" discussed here, including disconnecting the oil pump solenoid and changing oil viscosity weights. But, yeah, the consensus is to make these changes, but not just on the M278 and M157. The M276, both turbo and NA, benefit, as well. Any Mercedes engine with the two-stage oil pump should convert to a single-stage pump.
Actually, there are several "mods" discussed here, including disconnecting the oil pump solenoid and changing oil viscosity weights. But, yeah, the consensus is to make these changes, but not just on the M278 and M157. The M276, both turbo and NA, benefit, as well. Any Mercedes engine with the two-stage oil pump should convert to a single-stage pump.
besides the oil pump solenoid, trans reset and 5w-40 oils what else is recommended
PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Originally Posted by JettaRed
Actually, there are several "mods" discussed here, including disconnecting the oil pump solenoid and changing oil viscosity weights. But, yeah, the consensus is to make these changes, but not just on the M278 and M157. The M276, both turbo and NA, benefit, as well. Any Mercedes engine with the two-stage oil pump should convert to a single-stage pump.
Honestly, most MB engines released post 2010? that has this solenoid with the 2-stage oil pump solenoid, benefits, like the four cylinders (M274, M264) might help mitigate cracking and scoring as well.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
Originally Posted by Siegmann
I would add injectors to that list!
Why? No one has discussed injectors. This thread is not about maintenance or repairs, though it does wander a bit. But all the suggested changes are focused on the oil pump related oil pressure.
not the hpfp, too. I’m still trying to find something between stock and the Spool performance ones. I need to find a shop that has a B58TU and a M276 to test fit it on.
Why? No one has discussed injectors. This thread is not about maintenance or repairs, though it does wander a bit. But all the suggested changes are focused on the oil pump related oil pressure.
The list I quoted contains items that most certainly do not affect oil pressure.