1998 Mercedes-Benz CL420 (C140)

[tobinen]

No issue with the sensors and it's all working fine. I think I had a replacement a few years ago but I'd have to scroll back a fair bit.

The headlamp bulb issue was resolved with a pair of new bulbs so I assume my spares were shot as well.

Otherwise not much to report. I haven't driven it anywhere for ages though I am in Cambridge next week so I'll use it then.

[gregorek82]

Hi all,
For a long time I’ve been looking for a floor mats for my cl420, unfortunately the OEM are no more available. Can someone recommend the good quality aftermarket floor mats?
Thanks

[tobinen]

I can't help with mats but it might be worth asking in the barge thread.

Another year has passed and today it passed the MoT with a couple of advisories - ball joint and drop link dust covers. Phew.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Good news tobinen. Funny how MOTs take on such importance, both symbolically and potentially financially.

[nullogik]

gregorek82 said:

Hi all,
For a long time I’ve been looking for a floor mats for my cl420, unfortunately the OEM are no more available. Can someone recommend the good quality aftermarket floor mats?
Thanks

Try http://classicmercedesmats.co.uk/

Others have had good experience with Legenfelder AutoTeppich: https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/lengenfelderautoteppich...
For example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124027559393?hash=item1...
Contact them if RHD mats in your colour scheme is not listed and they will make them for you

[tobinen]

A bit of a pre-Scramble clean today. Regular readers will recall how the Romanian valeters' door jumped out and scraped my front bumper. Using Lidl's finest acetone nail varnish remover (thanks W00DY), I achieved a decent result

Before



After



Fallen star. My sponge was too much for the boot badge



But it looks pretty OK now.

[bolidemichael]

It always feels like a re-baptism getting a new badge.

[TR4man]

That nail varnish remover has done a great job!

I’ll have to remember that tip.

[Max M4X WW]

Good work!

Unfortunately I won't be able to right my wrongs of the comment regarding the scuff following the last Scramble as I'm still testing positive on day 7/8 even though I was negative yesterday! Highly annoyed but there you go..

[Betts88]

tobinen said:

A bit of a pre-Scramble clean today. Regular readers will recall how the Romanian valeters' door jumped out and scraped my front bumper. Using Lidl's finest acetone nail varnish remover (thanks W00DY), I achieved a decent result

Before



After



Fallen star. My sponge was too much for the boot badge



But it looks pretty OK now.

Wish you had mentioned this yesterday as I had some Bilt Hamber clay bar (lubricated with water instead of quick detailer) so I'd have had those last bits off for you! I'll read this thread with interest.

[tobinen]

I had nothing better to do one day so I decided to have a look inside my spare vacuum pump, which failed and was replaced with a used one from W140 spares (which has also since failed). I was curious to see how it worked.

Over on the YouTube channel vsandvs, Viktor can renew the motor though with what I am uncertain. There is a Chinese eBay seller of a new motor for £40-odd which may be an option.

However, this is not worth doing until checks for leaks in the vacuum hoses have been carried out as if the motor has to work too hard to compensate for a leak, it will fail again. This is what I suspect has happened to mine.

Remove some screws and the cover comes off. The motor/pump is the round thing. The year code is assumed to be '98 ad not '86, though my car rolled off the line late December 1997.



The motor just rests on some rubber feet with the cover keeping it in place. Looking at the numbers on it, brief interweb search suggests that this spins at 6,900 RPM and is 855W but don't hold me to that.



Three screws hold the end cap cover of the stator to the motor body.



There are 4 'wedges' which freely slide into slots in the concentric (possibly the incorrect word) wheel. As it spins the centrifugal force throws the wedges against the edge and as the spindle is offcentre, it creates airflow (picture a wankel engine rotating). I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the cap which would have helped.



Make sure you don't forget to put them all back in otherwise it rattles



I would like to buy a 12V bench power supply and test it as per Viktor, see video example

Edited by tobinen on Friday 1st April 15:31

Edited by tobinen on Friday 1st April 15:32

[gregorek82]

Hi #tobinen,
Believe or not I was also playing with my spare pump this weekend. It seems your pump had been modified by someone. And the date 86 seems to be right. Mine is 96 and impeller is different compared to yours I mean has 6 “blades” instead of 4 in yours. Please see pictures.
I’m also wondering where did you find this Chinese replacement?

[gregorek82]

[tobinen]

It might be possible the motor has been swapped out before. The 140 was launched in 1993 so it's unlikey to be 1986 I would say, unless it's come from something else and transplanted? It's definitely been opened before I took a look. Perhaps a 126 but I am not familiar with that.

Yours also has the hose connecting at the top. One day I will have a look at the replacement fitted in the car and open it up as that has failed too.

Here's a typical Chinese motor on eBay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383310379521?_trkparms=...

[gregorek82]

Thanks for letting me know. If I’ll open my second pump before you I’ll send you a picture to save you the hassle 👍

[tobinen]

Flat battery woes and no access to the boot after removing the battery - d'oh! The boot barrel doesn't turn but I will try the spare key and some WD40. I found a YouTube video where there is a battery jump point under the passenger footwell (presumably left side on RHD), but I don't have any jump leads. What fun!

[tobinen]

NSF carpet pulled back and I removed the footplate. Nothing obvious here.



Behind the black box on the right is this: the red wire is fairly chunky but space is limited. My main concern is if I fry something.

[Polly Grigora]

Enjoyed the read about the pump motor

Have you seen this - https://www.mbcaseattle.org/single-post/2016/07/18...

Looks like a Mabuchi RS-545SH motor does the job

Here's a link to the motor data (link opens a pdf file) https://www.benzworld.org/attachments/mabuchi-rs-5...

The size of the motor cables in the above images points to the motor being of low wattage, perhaps 85 watt, 7 amps? Cables do look like being of 10 to 15 amps max rating but am guessing


https://www.ebay.com/itm/283852781893?epid=1101747...

[tobinen]

Thanks for that.

Happily it's all now resolved. I called my the garage and he lent me his battery pack with the fag lighter lead. It made some odd noises but the boot opened once the button was pressed. The charged battery was installed (fortunately the cables were not touching the chassis) and normal operation can resume.

Bizarrely the soft close on the doors is now working - no idea on that one. I am not expecting it to last for long.

[BigBen]

tobinen said:

Thanks for that.

Happily it's all now resolved. I called my the garage and he lent me his battery pack with the fag lighter lead. It made some odd noises but the boot opened once the button was pressed. The charged battery was installed (fortunately the cables were not touching the chassis) and normal operation can resume.

Bizarrely the soft close on the doors is now working - no idea on that one. I am not expecting it to last for long.

The vacuum pump has a leak detect circuit where it will shut down after a certain number of failed attempts, removing power to the pump resets this counter. So expect it to fail again soon. You can reset it using the fuse below the rear passenger seat.

Ben