Mercedes W124 E300D estate - progress, or not...
Discussion
Sileck reports that the starter harness isn't reworked as part of the glow plus harness job, unless requested. Which I didn't. But it's £45 plus VAT and postage to do it. So it'll likely get done, particularly if I have to take the starter motor off to find out which replacement is needed.
Thanks. Maybe I'll start with checking over my own (recent) work, and looking at the cables & earths.
I haven't yet figured out how I can work on a car at the new house (there's a driveway, but it's on a hill, and I can't drive the car onto the lifting ramps I have), but it seems like that's coming up.
I'm not 100% on where the starter is on this car, but I'll work on that when I have time.
By the way, I enjoy the threads on your cars. Good stuff.
I haven't yet figured out how I can work on a car at the new house (there's a driveway, but it's on a hill, and I can't drive the car onto the lifting ramps I have), but it seems like that's coming up.
I'm not 100% on where the starter is on this car, but I'll work on that when I have time.
By the way, I enjoy the threads on your cars. Good stuff.
Hmm. I wonder.....
So I've had an occasional phantom oil level light when I've been driving the car (a few months ago, when the doors all worked and the engine started).
The oil level sensor cable appears to be part of the same loom as the starter circuit.
I wonder whether that seemingly-random light was caused by the well-known dodgy wiring insulation issue.
No progress on getting the issue sorted out yet. Life, plus weather, plus not being able to get the car high enough to get underneath it, plus dodgy access to get it out and to a garage.
To be continued... Although, if someone knows whether there's a connection point up top that I can connect some 12v to to test the starter operation (assuming the state of the wiring would let me do it), I'm all ears. I've heard about the middle pin of a three pin plug...?
So I've had an occasional phantom oil level light when I've been driving the car (a few months ago, when the doors all worked and the engine started).
The oil level sensor cable appears to be part of the same loom as the starter circuit.
I wonder whether that seemingly-random light was caused by the well-known dodgy wiring insulation issue.
No progress on getting the issue sorted out yet. Life, plus weather, plus not being able to get the car high enough to get underneath it, plus dodgy access to get it out and to a garage.
To be continued... Although, if someone knows whether there's a connection point up top that I can connect some 12v to to test the starter operation (assuming the state of the wiring would let me do it), I'm all ears. I've heard about the middle pin of a three pin plug...?
We have some progress.
The starter motor's knackered.
My bank-provided Green Flag membership was called into play today, and the breakdown man got the car going again with some strategic tapping.
I think I've been lucky with how the motor has ended up failing - it's been fine until recently, and now it appears to be fairly comprehensively worn out.
Still - new starters aren't ridiculously expensive and, although I don't have a tame The Man locally yet, I got on well with the breakdown man and he runs his own garage. So I maybe now have a new The Man and, albeit not in this town, they're only 10 miles away down the estuary cycle path.
Hopefully I can get booked in and fitted this coming week, and they can do the door check strap so the car can go back into service.
I've been out for a few miles, before parking the car on-street to avoid recovery problems, and it's a joy to drive.
The starter motor's knackered.
My bank-provided Green Flag membership was called into play today, and the breakdown man got the car going again with some strategic tapping.
I think I've been lucky with how the motor has ended up failing - it's been fine until recently, and now it appears to be fairly comprehensively worn out.
Still - new starters aren't ridiculously expensive and, although I don't have a tame The Man locally yet, I got on well with the breakdown man and he runs his own garage. So I maybe now have a new The Man and, albeit not in this town, they're only 10 miles away down the estuary cycle path.
Hopefully I can get booked in and fitted this coming week, and they can do the door check strap so the car can go back into service.
I've been out for a few miles, before parking the car on-street to avoid recovery problems, and it's a joy to drive.
New starter motor fitted, and I got the garage to replace the door check strap while it was there, and we're back on the road!
Still lots to do - I want to change the driver's door check strap as it's the only one not changed, plus there's some rust bubbling to attend to, and clearly the water ingress thing isn't solved as the driver's footwell is soaked again, and and. But I'm off for a longer trip tomorrow, for work, and looking forward to setting off.
Still lots to do - I want to change the driver's door check strap as it's the only one not changed, plus there's some rust bubbling to attend to, and clearly the water ingress thing isn't solved as the driver's footwell is soaked again, and and. But I'm off for a longer trip tomorrow, for work, and looking forward to setting off.
Not a lot, except for a lot of spring tension.
I think the coil has basically just snapped in the middle, and the bit on the road is two-thirds of the whole length.
It's taken out the additional wheel arch liner I put in, and that corner of the car has dropped several inches. Thankfully when parked!
It's possible that something else has let go - it's impossible to tell right now - but certainly the spring has had it. No idea how long it's been on the car, though, and the car has done 325k miles, so likely the spring has had a good innings.
Two new springs ordered from Autodoc for a little under £100 delivered. Part number A1243212204, which is hopefully the correct choice out of the six (!) options.
Now I just need to wait for the delivery, and wait for my Man to have space to do the work. I've got the spring compressor kit, but I don't fancy doing it myself.
I think the coil has basically just snapped in the middle, and the bit on the road is two-thirds of the whole length.
It's taken out the additional wheel arch liner I put in, and that corner of the car has dropped several inches. Thankfully when parked!
It's possible that something else has let go - it's impossible to tell right now - but certainly the spring has had it. No idea how long it's been on the car, though, and the car has done 325k miles, so likely the spring has had a good innings.
Two new springs ordered from Autodoc for a little under £100 delivered. Part number A1243212204, which is hopefully the correct choice out of the six (!) options.
Now I just need to wait for the delivery, and wait for my Man to have space to do the work. I've got the spring compressor kit, but I don't fancy doing it myself.
I think you're jumping the gun with the "the right spring" comment - let's hope so 
I found a spring chart somewhere online for the 124.193 model variant, which this one isn't (124.191), but it seems similar enough. I think the 193 variant is the turbo diesel estate variant somewhere, where this is NA. Seems likely close enough, though. So I went through that lost and added the points up. Having had off-the-shelf rear springs a while back (from my southerly The Man) which were too short but sorted via new-new springs through the points method, that's the route I went down again for these, albeit with a different chart.
For anyone's future reference, this is an OM606 car with air conditioning and front airbags.
I'm pondering getting a pair of the top rubber shim mount thingies - the points chart suggests A2013211184 or 1284, with the difference being 18mm and 23mm thickness respectively. While the ones on the car might be fine, and could be changed later, and I might (or might not) be able to feel the nubs in the passenger side one...... for £14ish I'll likely just get a pair of the 18mm ones and see how it looks after that.
Oh, and a pic of the spring. I hadn't thought to drag it out, but it's a measure of how far the car has settled that it was nearly jammed between car and road.
I agree that these are great cars for the countryside. Granted they don't have the ground clearance of something built for that, but in my limited experience the ride makes up for it.
By the way: MOT pass in December, with advisories on one wheel bearing, rear pads & hoses, and a minor oil leak from the diff. Lots of things I'd like to improve on the car this year, most notably the coolant leak if parked facing downhill and the usual water ingress around window seals, but getting back mobile first is the priority!
I found a spring chart somewhere online for the 124.193 model variant, which this one isn't (124.191), but it seems similar enough. I think the 193 variant is the turbo diesel estate variant somewhere, where this is NA. Seems likely close enough, though. So I went through that lost and added the points up. Having had off-the-shelf rear springs a while back (from my southerly The Man) which were too short but sorted via new-new springs through the points method, that's the route I went down again for these, albeit with a different chart.
For anyone's future reference, this is an OM606 car with air conditioning and front airbags.
I'm pondering getting a pair of the top rubber shim mount thingies - the points chart suggests A2013211184 or 1284, with the difference being 18mm and 23mm thickness respectively. While the ones on the car might be fine, and could be changed later, and I might (or might not) be able to feel the nubs in the passenger side one...... for £14ish I'll likely just get a pair of the 18mm ones and see how it looks after that.
Oh, and a pic of the spring. I hadn't thought to drag it out, but it's a measure of how far the car has settled that it was nearly jammed between car and road.
I agree that these are great cars for the countryside. Granted they don't have the ground clearance of something built for that, but in my limited experience the ride makes up for it.
By the way: MOT pass in December, with advisories on one wheel bearing, rear pads & hoses, and a minor oil leak from the diff. Lots of things I'd like to improve on the car this year, most notably the coolant leak if parked facing downhill and the usual water ingress around window seals, but getting back mobile first is the priority!
Personally, I'd be more confident in my workings-out than someone who doesn't have the same interest as me in getting it right...
I won't be able to speak to their accuracy yet, but this time I've used the spring charts from https://www.w124performance.com/docs/mb/W124/sprin...
I've opened the chart for the most-appropriate version of my car (124.193 as mentioned above), looked at the points for the car - 53 - then added on the points as appropriate for the things my car has:
AC - 7 points
Auto box with diesel engine - 5
Sunroof - 3
Air bag - 1
Radio - 1
Adding those together gives me 70 points, which I then looked at below to give me the spring part number, and the spring pad part number options. Looking at it again, I should perhaps have gone for the thicker spring pad rather than the 18mm I've ordered, but I think it'll be fine.
Sportline has its own section, under "sports undercarriage", presumably because they're lower and stiffer than standard.
While it was a different document I used for the rear springs, what I worked out last time worked out correctly so I'm there or thereabouts.
I hope that helps...?
I won't be able to speak to their accuracy yet, but this time I've used the spring charts from https://www.w124performance.com/docs/mb/W124/sprin...
I've opened the chart for the most-appropriate version of my car (124.193 as mentioned above), looked at the points for the car - 53 - then added on the points as appropriate for the things my car has:
AC - 7 points
Auto box with diesel engine - 5
Sunroof - 3
Air bag - 1
Radio - 1
Adding those together gives me 70 points, which I then looked at below to give me the spring part number, and the spring pad part number options. Looking at it again, I should perhaps have gone for the thicker spring pad rather than the 18mm I've ordered, but I think it'll be fine.
Sportline has its own section, under "sports undercarriage", presumably because they're lower and stiffer than standard.
While it was a different document I used for the rear springs, what I worked out last time worked out correctly so I'm there or thereabouts.
I hope that helps...?
Well. Some progress, albeit not fixed yet. Which is expected.
After conversation with my The Man, I tried moving the car on Friday to limp down the hill to his workshop. And stopped that nonsense very quickly! While the car did move, something metallic was dragging on the road. And then something was making horrible noises at idle. Hmm. It then took about ten mins to very very gently & gradually move the four feet back into place at the kerb.
Next plan. Sion (my new Man) met me at the car yesterday morning. I had the unusual sight of the wheel lifting off the road very early in the jacking process, presumably because there was no spring in place to push it downwards.
Anyway, the other portion of spring had come out of the arm, and had finagled itself under the lower arm on the other side (!) hence the nasty noises. Once removed, the car went up the ramps onto Sion's trailer, and was whisked away to be worked on when he has time. The correct type (albeit cheap knock-off) spring compressor kit was greeted with much relief.
It looks like the spring pads I bought are likely too thick, and the old ones will likely be reused, but I'll leave that to Sion. There wasn't the space to furtle in the arches to try and feel the number of dots, but it looks like they are one-dot pads, so likely either 5 or 10mm thinner, and probably OEM MB.
Spring looks like it lost a small portion a while back, from the tail end, so all in all hopefully it's a relatively convenient time to get things changed over.
After conversation with my The Man, I tried moving the car on Friday to limp down the hill to his workshop. And stopped that nonsense very quickly! While the car did move, something metallic was dragging on the road. And then something was making horrible noises at idle. Hmm. It then took about ten mins to very very gently & gradually move the four feet back into place at the kerb.
Next plan. Sion (my new Man) met me at the car yesterday morning. I had the unusual sight of the wheel lifting off the road very early in the jacking process, presumably because there was no spring in place to push it downwards.
Anyway, the other portion of spring had come out of the arm, and had finagled itself under the lower arm on the other side (!) hence the nasty noises. Once removed, the car went up the ramps onto Sion's trailer, and was whisked away to be worked on when he has time. The correct type (albeit cheap knock-off) spring compressor kit was greeted with much relief.
It looks like the spring pads I bought are likely too thick, and the old ones will likely be reused, but I'll leave that to Sion. There wasn't the space to furtle in the arches to try and feel the number of dots, but it looks like they are one-dot pads, so likely either 5 or 10mm thinner, and probably OEM MB.
Spring looks like it lost a small portion a while back, from the tail end, so all in all hopefully it's a relatively convenient time to get things changed over.
I suspect it's been broken for longer than that!
I only had chance for a brief look at what Sion was talking about. I did notice that the new spring seemed a little longer than the (parts of) the old one, and Sion then pointed out the bottom of the coil, which had also fractured at some point (surface rust on the end). So I think it lost the bit which sat against the lower arm, but that probably had minimal impact on the ride height. There might have been as much as one coil broken off, but it may have been less than that. Certainly it was older than the recent break, and wasn't noticed on the MOT (which Sion did about six weeks ago).
I only had chance for a brief look at what Sion was talking about. I did notice that the new spring seemed a little longer than the (parts of) the old one, and Sion then pointed out the bottom of the coil, which had also fractured at some point (surface rust on the end). So I think it lost the bit which sat against the lower arm, but that probably had minimal impact on the ride height. There might have been as much as one coil broken off, but it may have been less than that. Certainly it was older than the recent break, and wasn't noticed on the MOT (which Sion did about six weeks ago).
Sorry for the slow reply. Sounds entirely like an O ring in the fuel system is letting air in. Fine when warm likely just means it hasn't had time to drain back to the tank yet. It could be the strainer in the fuel tank, which isn't an impossibly difficult one to DIY if you felt like changing it (I've done is somewhere upthread) but most likely a seal under the bonnet (which I've also done upthread).
I will have to update more fully, but the car is still thrumming away and gently adding miles. Today I clicked onto 325k miles on my drive.
This was as I got home from picking up some new (to me) wheels from a confirmed Merc-head. Not sure what I'll do with them, or whether they'll even fit (they're 16 x 7.5, and were on a nice two-tone blue W140) but.... they were free.
Other than that, the car has been a fantastic road chariot for a bargainous kayak I bought recently. The paintwork sadly has some more scuffs now, but that'll get done eventually.
Other than that, the infra red central locking isn't unlocking the car, but then not is the inside method, so I think there's an issue with the central locking gubbins and the IR aspect is a side effect. Mildly inconvenient to jungle gym through the car, but....manana.
This was as I got home from picking up some new (to me) wheels from a confirmed Merc-head. Not sure what I'll do with them, or whether they'll even fit (they're 16 x 7.5, and were on a nice two-tone blue W140) but.... they were free.
Other than that, the car has been a fantastic road chariot for a bargainous kayak I bought recently. The paintwork sadly has some more scuffs now, but that'll get done eventually.
Other than that, the infra red central locking isn't unlocking the car, but then not is the inside method, so I think there's an issue with the central locking gubbins and the IR aspect is a side effect. Mildly inconvenient to jungle gym through the car, but....manana.
Thanks! Hopefully I'll be able to talk through in the morning what bits of the underside have turned to cornflakes, and we can go from there.
The welding bit of the fail sheet is:
"Nearside Front Lower Cab or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of a cab mounting Inner part of the floor (6.2.2 (d) (i))
Offside Front Lower Cab or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of a cab mounting Inner part of the floor (6.2.2 (d) (i))"
So I'm not really sure what that entails, but it sounds a bit front floor to me.
Looks like there are replacement panels available.....in theory. Possibly even genuine Mercedes ones, for a price, otherwise aftermarket does exist, or at least used to exist.
I don't want to throw good money after bad, but it's a very practical car that I'm very fond of and enjoy driving.
Equally, though, if I don't sort out the water ingress issue, it'll just happen all over again!
The welding bit of the fail sheet is:
"Nearside Front Lower Cab or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of a cab mounting Inner part of the floor (6.2.2 (d) (i))
Offside Front Lower Cab or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of a cab mounting Inner part of the floor (6.2.2 (d) (i))"
So I'm not really sure what that entails, but it sounds a bit front floor to me.
Looks like there are replacement panels available.....in theory. Possibly even genuine Mercedes ones, for a price, otherwise aftermarket does exist, or at least used to exist.
I don't want to throw good money after bad, but it's a very practical car that I'm very fond of and enjoy driving.
Equally, though, if I don't sort out the water ingress issue, it'll just happen all over again!
Edited by Northbrook on Thursday 11th January 23:14
I'll see what I can do - thanks. I was feeling quite down about it, but I don't really want my time with the car to end because of it. Thanks for the suggestion.
I've got the car back now - my Man doesn't want to tackle it, because he thinks it would need A Proper Job rather than patching. I'm inclined to agree....except a patch job might help to keep things going for now while I get together the means to restore properly.
He did also say the rest of the underside is in pretty good nick (which is a little nicer than he said for the 14p Lexus!) and he's since said that he's working to find someone who could do the welding. So there's hope! Car is under a cover at the moment as the reason the floors are dodgy is water ingress, and I think that's scuttle panel related, so keeping the rain off for now is the short term plan.
BP - that sounds like it's worth a try. It's a big spanner or socket you'll need, though - thirty-something if I remember rightly, or it's a big hex bit. I have changed the filter, so the side of jobbie should be mentioned up-thread. I think I tackled it about 4 years ago and I've moved house since then otherwise I'd gladly lend you the tool, but I have no clue where it is!
I've got the car back now - my Man doesn't want to tackle it, because he thinks it would need A Proper Job rather than patching. I'm inclined to agree....except a patch job might help to keep things going for now while I get together the means to restore properly.
He did also say the rest of the underside is in pretty good nick (which is a little nicer than he said for the 14p Lexus!) and he's since said that he's working to find someone who could do the welding. So there's hope! Car is under a cover at the moment as the reason the floors are dodgy is water ingress, and I think that's scuttle panel related, so keeping the rain off for now is the short term plan.
BP - that sounds like it's worth a try. It's a big spanner or socket you'll need, though - thirty-something if I remember rightly, or it's a big hex bit. I have changed the filter, so the side of jobbie should be mentioned up-thread. I think I tackled it about 4 years ago and I've moved house since then otherwise I'd gladly lend you the tool, but I have no clue where it is!
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