Mercedes W124 E300D estate - progress, or not...
Discussion
Right. So.
Rear screen is cleaned, and a new Aerotwin wiper installed (previous wipers were Bosch, which I think is a good sign). Front screen has been cleaned, clayed & waxed - time will tell whether that was a good idea. Couldn't fit the front wiper, because the one supplied by ECP against the reg number isn't right for the hook end wiper arm (AP24U no good; AR24U looks like it's the right thing).
I've done a little bit of TCutting on the bonnet, which had the most lacquer damage. Not sure it's much improved, but I'll try again as and when. Plenty of work to be done on stone chips & small paintwork damage - I'll ignore the holed wing until the time comes to sort it.
Annoyingly, the front armrest snapped off at the bracket while I was cleaning the windscreen. Looks like either the entire armrest needs replacing, or (if it's removable), the swivel bracket itself. I like the armrest. Boo!
Rear screen is cleaned, and a new Aerotwin wiper installed (previous wipers were Bosch, which I think is a good sign). Front screen has been cleaned, clayed & waxed - time will tell whether that was a good idea. Couldn't fit the front wiper, because the one supplied by ECP against the reg number isn't right for the hook end wiper arm (AP24U no good; AR24U looks like it's the right thing).
I've done a little bit of TCutting on the bonnet, which had the most lacquer damage. Not sure it's much improved, but I'll try again as and when. Plenty of work to be done on stone chips & small paintwork damage - I'll ignore the holed wing until the time comes to sort it.
Annoyingly, the front armrest snapped off at the bracket while I was cleaning the windscreen. Looks like either the entire armrest needs replacing, or (if it's removable), the swivel bracket itself. I like the armrest. Boo!
PS line - replaced.
Snapped wheel bolt - removed.
Duo valve - wrong one sent to garage, so innards removed & now putting out hot air. Ironically, I had one from a breaker arrive last night, but I decided not to bother taking it with me.
Squealing aux belt - not squealing (not sure how it's been fixed).
Wing mirror - decided to expire since Sunday. Apparently it'll need a new unit: does anyone know whether I can just replace the adjustment unit within the casing? It's an electric adjust, heated unit.
Armrest - being looked at now.
Bill - don't know yet!
Snapped wheel bolt - removed.
Duo valve - wrong one sent to garage, so innards removed & now putting out hot air. Ironically, I had one from a breaker arrive last night, but I decided not to bother taking it with me.
Squealing aux belt - not squealing (not sure how it's been fixed).
Wing mirror - decided to expire since Sunday. Apparently it'll need a new unit: does anyone know whether I can just replace the adjustment unit within the casing? It's an electric adjust, heated unit.
Armrest - being looked at now.
Bill - don't know yet!
Not yet! I've bunged some spray grease into the headrest slots - the garage couldn't move the headrest out or seat backs down either (but the boot trim release is now fixed) so more heavy-handedness will be needed.
Nice to have some heat in the car, and it seems to be pulling better. Might be wishful thinking, but the takeup seems more immediate.
Mirror is the next important thing. Armrest is a nice-to-have.
After I've swapped the front wiper for one that will fit - it was a bit awkward today.
Nice to have some heat in the car, and it seems to be pulling better. Might be wishful thinking, but the takeup seems more immediate.
Mirror is the next important thing. Armrest is a nice-to-have.
After I've swapped the front wiper for one that will fit - it was a bit awkward today.
It's some years ago, but I couldn't figure out where the seats released from to fold down, and nothing I did would budge them. Then I stopped at a Merc specialist forecourt just for a nose around and the owner came over to complement me on the 220te. I said how great it was apart from the fact I couldn't lower the seats, he opened the boot and after some considerable persuasion ( more than I would have dared use) they were down, and never gave any more trouble.
I don't know if the way they lower changed over the year though.
I don't know if the way they lower changed over the year though.
To get the seats down, open the back doors, raise the seat bases, get in boot and kick very hard first the right hand seat then the left hand seat. The seat backs are locked by vacuum; the switches are in the door shuts. They stick if not used frequently. You can really belt the seat back. You won't harm it.
Hopefully I'll get to kick the seats soon.
The shiny things have started to arrive... Can't do anything with them yet, but they're ready to go - nothing garish or non-OEMish; just some renewal-type bits on the visual front.
I've been running the car almost daily this week - 350 miles in, the car seems to be running better, although since the garage visit on Tuesday it seems to have lost the rev flare between changes, but is starting off in first. Not sure whether I think that tradeoff is worthwhile - I think (but haven't yet researched) that sounds like a disturbed vacuum line?
Anyway, hopefully tomorrow and the weekend will see some more incremental improvements made.
The shiny things have started to arrive... Can't do anything with them yet, but they're ready to go - nothing garish or non-OEMish; just some renewal-type bits on the visual front.
I've been running the car almost daily this week - 350 miles in, the car seems to be running better, although since the garage visit on Tuesday it seems to have lost the rev flare between changes, but is starting off in first. Not sure whether I think that tradeoff is worthwhile - I think (but haven't yet researched) that sounds like a disturbed vacuum line?
Anyway, hopefully tomorrow and the weekend will see some more incremental improvements made.
Good to know on the gearbox - thanks.
You mention something I've been looking back through your thread at, r129sl: sound. The bonnet pad on my car has seen better days and, although most of it is still fit for purpose, about a quarter of the pad is having performance anxiety. I think you've ended up with Dynamat Extreme on the bonnet, overlaid with a Febi pad: any good?
I managed a couple of things in my lunch break yesterday, despite the rain: new 2-piece aerial grommet collected from the dealer, door and boot seals treated with some gummi pflege (to hopefully reduce the instances of them freezing shut - I pulled off some under-bonnet seals when I opened that).
Most satisfyingly, I replaced the metal trim pieces of the door sill trims, using a kit from ebay. The trim on the trim was tatty at the least, and the driver's door trim had missing metal sections and curly pieces. The new kit came well-packed from Germany, cut to exactly the right sizes (two widths, two lengths) and after removing the old stuff & drying/cleaning the trims, ready to peel off the adhesive backing and stick. Metal even seems thicker than what was on there - a nice satisfying result for £30ish.
You mention something I've been looking back through your thread at, r129sl: sound. The bonnet pad on my car has seen better days and, although most of it is still fit for purpose, about a quarter of the pad is having performance anxiety. I think you've ended up with Dynamat Extreme on the bonnet, overlaid with a Febi pad: any good?
I managed a couple of things in my lunch break yesterday, despite the rain: new 2-piece aerial grommet collected from the dealer, door and boot seals treated with some gummi pflege (to hopefully reduce the instances of them freezing shut - I pulled off some under-bonnet seals when I opened that).
Most satisfyingly, I replaced the metal trim pieces of the door sill trims, using a kit from ebay. The trim on the trim was tatty at the least, and the driver's door trim had missing metal sections and curly pieces. The new kit came well-packed from Germany, cut to exactly the right sizes (two widths, two lengths) and after removing the old stuff & drying/cleaning the trims, ready to peel off the adhesive backing and stick. Metal even seems thicker than what was on there - a nice satisfying result for £30ish.
Northbrook said:
You mention something I've been looking back through your thread at, r129sl: sound. The bonnet pad on my car has seen better days and, although most of it is still fit for purpose, about a quarter of the pad is having performance anxiety. I think you've ended up with Dynamat Extreme on the bonnet, overlaid with a Febi pad: any good?
It's actually Silent Coat topped by a Febi pad but it amounts to the same thing. Yes, I am happy with it. It definitely attenuates engine noise but it also gives the bonnet a more "thunk"-ish sound when slamming it shut.I've worked out that a lot of noise comes through the boot. While I have the seats and trim out for the subframe repair, I am going to add some Silent Coat and also some closed cell foam, all across the floor of the car from the boot door to the rear seats. I am hoping the closed cell foam will make a difference.
On gearbox issues, there is a big gap in the ratios between third and fourth and it is quite easy when motoring uphill to fall between two stools. Third runs out of puff at 75mph but fourth isn't at its strongest until about 80. Change into fourth at 75 and if you're going uphill the speed starts to bleed off. When running hard across northern France, nothing irritates me more than coming up against a back marker at the foot of a long incline!
Good to know - thanks.
So, it's not been either an unmitigated success or disaster...
Wheel centre caps are on. They're shinier than the wheels (and the rest of the car!) and the blue ties in to the body colour.... but I'm not yet convinced.
Aerial grommet I decided not to do. The aerial isn't a Hirschmann one and has been put in at some stage (along with some non-standard wiring). Wasn't quite sure how to take it off, so decided not to fiddle with it just yet. I did put some silicone sealant around (under) the existing cracked grommet, as there has been water ingress from there. The window sill seems to be in decent condition on that side.
Rear seats have demonstrated that they're willing to fold. Headrests move better than they did... but I can't yet get them out. I should be pressing down on the black button, correct?
Then I took the spare wheel out. It's a Continental in good condition, but it's 15 years old, so I guess it'll need changing. There's a set of shorter wheel bolts in the spare wheel well, but they look rusty beyond usability, so will have to be replaced too.
Opening the spare wheel well demonstrated that that area seems to be in reasonable condition, but there was an old towel betwixt wheel & rear lap inner which was dripping wet. That's been chucked, and I couldn't specifically see where the water may be coming in. In my efforts to fault find, though, I removed and dropped the rear lamp. Arse. That's now both sides that need replacing.
Is there a cold start feature/circuit on these cars? Mine does not like starting up after being left overnight and needs throttle for about 3 mins before idling well enough to risk pulling away, but after that it's fine all day. Or is that likely to be a fuel line symptom?
So, it's not been either an unmitigated success or disaster...
Wheel centre caps are on. They're shinier than the wheels (and the rest of the car!) and the blue ties in to the body colour.... but I'm not yet convinced.
Aerial grommet I decided not to do. The aerial isn't a Hirschmann one and has been put in at some stage (along with some non-standard wiring). Wasn't quite sure how to take it off, so decided not to fiddle with it just yet. I did put some silicone sealant around (under) the existing cracked grommet, as there has been water ingress from there. The window sill seems to be in decent condition on that side.
Rear seats have demonstrated that they're willing to fold. Headrests move better than they did... but I can't yet get them out. I should be pressing down on the black button, correct?
Then I took the spare wheel out. It's a Continental in good condition, but it's 15 years old, so I guess it'll need changing. There's a set of shorter wheel bolts in the spare wheel well, but they look rusty beyond usability, so will have to be replaced too.
Opening the spare wheel well demonstrated that that area seems to be in reasonable condition, but there was an old towel betwixt wheel & rear lap inner which was dripping wet. That's been chucked, and I couldn't specifically see where the water may be coming in. In my efforts to fault find, though, I removed and dropped the rear lamp. Arse. That's now both sides that need replacing.
Is there a cold start feature/circuit on these cars? Mine does not like starting up after being left overnight and needs throttle for about 3 mins before idling well enough to risk pulling away, but after that it's fine all day. Or is that likely to be a fuel line symptom?
[quote=Northbrook]
Then I took the spare wheel out. It's a Continental in good condition, but it's 15 years old, so I guess it'll need changing. There's a set of shorter wheel bolts in the spare wheel well, but they look rusty beyond usability, so will have to be replaced too.
If you'r spare is a steel wheel, which I'm assuming it is as you mention different wheel bolts, then look for a single alloy wheel to match yours, hopefully with good tyre on eBay or Facebook sales.
Then I took the spare wheel out. It's a Continental in good condition, but it's 15 years old, so I guess it'll need changing. There's a set of shorter wheel bolts in the spare wheel well, but they look rusty beyond usability, so will have to be replaced too.
If you'r spare is a steel wheel, which I'm assuming it is as you mention different wheel bolts, then look for a single alloy wheel to match yours, hopefully with good tyre on eBay or Facebook sales.
Good point. I was thinking of just changing the tyre on the steel (it's the right kind for the estate, so the rim is probably original) but the cost of the extra bolts could be rolled in to the cost of a new rim. Hmm...
In other news, I've started to touch up some of the many stone chips around the car. Primer is on the ones I've started, so hopefully I can get the colour on next weekend. Haven't done it before, so it's good practice.
I made a start of changing over the key innards yesterday, but need to drift out the retaining pin on the key blades as the key headers (or whatever I should call the flippy bits) are slightly different shapes. Then new batteries, as the reconstituted original key then wouldn't open the remote locks. Spring is changed over, though, so I have a flip key, albeit the casing isn't secure at the moment.
In other news, I've started to touch up some of the many stone chips around the car. Primer is on the ones I've started, so hopefully I can get the colour on next weekend. Haven't done it before, so it's good practice.
I made a start of changing over the key innards yesterday, but need to drift out the retaining pin on the key blades as the key headers (or whatever I should call the flippy bits) are slightly different shapes. Then new batteries, as the reconstituted original key then wouldn't open the remote locks. Spring is changed over, though, so I have a flip key, albeit the casing isn't secure at the moment.
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