In the afternoon I went back and got the car. After work I left the Frankenheap there and drove this car home, bringing home a returned power tool in its (larger, and empty) trunk. It drove well, nice and strong. I did notice:
...I got the neighbors to run me back down to work after dinner, and we picked up the other car. (I rode in the back of the SEL on the way down, and he drove the Frankenheap back—he'd been wanting to see how it drove since he has a project car almost exactly like it.) Additional observations:
Change the fuel filters first. On an SDL, when the fuel filters are partially plugged, the first symptom is that upshifts don't happen unless you let off the pedal.
I cleaned the failed Gorilla Glue off the torn red-dot keyhead and re-glued it back together with something more suited for the purpose: Shoe Goo.
At lunch I tried to get the car licensed, but they say I can't until I get a stink test. (She did say that the BoS, signed Nevada title, and SoV form [above] were all I'd need to make the transfer, in addition to the State-mandated prostate exam.) OK, perhaps tomorrow. So in consolation, and because I wasn't too far away, I swung by the U-Pull and went shopping. They had a 123 manny-tranny 240D, so I grabbed its special cruise control amplifier for the parts pile. The 126 300SD supplied a rear-view mirror and a dome light, and the 201 190E supplied a too-small but better than nothing trunk carpet, a SRS-equipped seat belt assembly, and an EHA valve to sit in reserve. (There were no intact brake lamp housings or shifter knobs to be had.) The mirror and the seat belt are the biggies this car needed. It was sunny and fairly warm when I hit the yard, I debated leaving my coat in the car with my hat, but I didn't. Good idea, but bad idea leaving the hat: as I was working out there a huge lightning and hail storm blew in; I got pretty wet, and working out in a sea of metal was a bit disturbing. On the way back to work I passed several wrecks on the freeway, the accumulation of slush on the road was pretty significant and I'm sure visibility had been bad. Jill reported that as she was coming through town at around that time she was seeing 1" hailstones! (I think that's an exaggeration, but I'm sure they were large. I was seeing 1/4" stones where I was. The sheeple were probably regretting taking off the snow tires as State law mandates be done by the end of today (if studded). But it was snowing here recently, and the half inch of slush today seems to be a snow tire worthy event. The Law, as has been so ably noted before, is [at times] an Ass.)
Jill called me shortly after my return to work to let me know that she was home, and she seemed excited to see the big white car out in the driveway. My ruse worked! She thinks it's the SDL coming back to life. I wonder how long I can pull that off?
Regarding the possibility of eventually making an SDL out of an SEL I hit the State's web site on the vehicle emissions testing program, and was unable to find out anything so I sent in a query:
I see no information here on the ramifications of converting a vehicle to a different fuel type. (Gas to diesel, or vice-versa, or to/from propane, or even hybridization.) What are the regulations on such conversions?I got back this:
In order to legally replace an engine with another fuel type, the vehicle must have been certified by EPA for that fuel type and all emission system components are intact and operation[al]. If you are converting a vehicle to exclusively run on propane, you will need the state patrol to inspect the vehicle first before licensing the vehicle. If the vehicle is dual powered, then you will need to pass an emission test every other year as regulations mandate.Tom Olsen, Unit Manager
NWRO Emission Check Program
When I got home I checked, and the new seat belt tongue latched into the buckle so it's looking pretty good as a replacement so far.
Since I was back there I had a look at the reading lights. They both worked for me then, I think the one just had a dirty switch contact. They didn't fit right, though. I had a closer look, and removed them both and swapped them over to their correct sides. They fit much better that way!
Next was the wonky switch panel on the driver's-side rear door. It just wouldn't stay in. After removing it and playing around for awhile, I figured out that the problem is that it's a right-side panel jammed into the left side! (Part #126 766 08 91, should be #126 766 07 91.) I'll have to get a new one, that's probably going to be a dealership item. While I was there I corrected the switch positions on the left and right sides. The loose panel will just have to stay loose until I get a replacement, I'm not going to try gluing it back in place like one of the PO's did!
Still in the back, I replaced the missing cigar lighter element on the driver's side with one from the junkbox. Its illuminating bulb was burnt out, so I replaced it with the one I bought yesterday.
Moving up front I replaced the burnt-out 9004 passenger-side headlight with the one from my spares pile. (I'll try to get another one today.) I also replaced the passenger-side fog lamp rear hatch cover, which I found in the glovebox. I replaced a couple of burnt-out fuses, and restocked the spares in the fuse box. (I blew one this morning trying to run the wipers with them frozen to the glass.)
The ruse continues to work. Not only did Jill pass it this morning on her way out, with me in it and working on the seat belt, but when she came back I was still in it. I invited her to sit inside with me. It was even running. She still thinks it's the SDL. She: "Did you remember what was wrong with it?" Me: "Oh, I'm figuring it out." She even walked by the open garage, where the SDL was certainly visible. I'm a-gonna pay for this one! :-)
...At lunch I went and got the stink test done, which passed. I then went and got it licensed, $255 with tax and plates. (Ouch.) I then went back to the U-Pull. I grabbed the 126's non-SRS seat belt, which has the special mounting hardware at the shoulder point, I might be able to combine it with the one I put in today. I got its taillights too, to lay in as spares for the two 126's we now have. (That was $30, let's hope we never need them.) I got the hump's plastic bolt covers, but they're a different style. We'll see if they'll work or not. I also stopped at the liquidation outlet and got two 9004's and an H3. 70% off today.
...After work it was snowing again and I hit the wipers. Skreeeeeeech! Oops, one of the blades was working out of its socket. I put it back, it seems to stay now—I'm guessing it wasn't snapped in all the way last time it was replaced. I tested the fanfare horn (loud and soft horn settings), it works. The fourth seat warmer also works, I turned it on and felt the seat later.
As it was starting to snow harder I scraped around and found the extra new antenna grommet for the 190D that I'd somehow ended up with, and fit it into the hole in the fender. I then poked the antenna up through it. That'll keep out the worst of the moisture. I have some work to do to actually install this thing correctly.
...The SRS and ABS lights don't come on with the key, so after work I pulled the OVP relay to check out it and its fuses. There are two fuses on top of this vintage relay, it looks like a triple circuit: one pair (87E & 87L, two contacts each) relayed and another one (30a, two contacts) continuously powered. This is the 9-pole variation in the ETM. The relay is stamped with 091203, and has a Bosch (?) logo and a printed part number 89 7236 000 on one side, and printed legends of 10A, 12V, and "made in Hungary". There is a schematic on the other side, and a pin layout legend on the front. The back has two mounting ears spot-welded to it. I was unable to open it up to check its internal solder joints, but I did buff its contacts, and those of the (intact) fuses. The thin (think paper clip wire) rubber O-ring seal for the fuse hatch fell apart when the hatch was opened, we'll do without it I guess. There was something weird about the socket in the car, it seemed oddly attached to the car, but it was a little too dark for me to see what was going on. I'll know more in the morning, when I reinstall it.
I checked the online NADA blue book, and according to them I paid just about what the car was worth. That's a pleasant change.
I put back the OVP relay. With light I could see that this relay's electrical socket, unlike what I've seen before in this area, is loose on a pigtail and the relay's mounting ears snap into a retaining clip. I could also see that its two 87L contacts, and one of the 30a contacts, are not used in this car.
I pulled the driver's-side B-pillar cover and re-glued its skin using contact cement. Leaving it open for reference I then took apart the passenger-side B-pillar and swapped mounting hardware from the belt I got Wednesday. With the correct hollow bolt head and the metal spacer it is again possible to slide the belt shoulder height adjuster. Though it's still not quite right it'll do until (if ever) I run across the proper belt. I then put the pillar covers back. I replaced the missing driver's door courtesy light, but that was my last spare. I'll have to get more sometime.
I then swapped the plastic seat belt track bolt-head covers (that I got from that older donor 126) for the missing/broken ones in this car. Though they're black rather than color-matched, and more pokey/square than what belongs there, I think it looks better anyway. Again, at least until/unless I get a better match somewhere else.
On the way to work I thought the cold lockout on the HVAC was broken because the fan started up immediately, but after work I checked further and found that the LOW fan button also overrides the lockout. When on AUTO the HVAC was off until the engine warmed up. Interesting. The blower fan is a bit noisy, sounds like brush noise. On the way home I checked the ABS on the gravel road, it doesn't work. I also checked the ATF level after I got home, and decided that perhaps it was a bit low, so I put in 1/2 quart. We'll see if that makes any difference on its shifting.
...The ruse is over. Daniel threw up in the Chicken Wagon today, and we needed to go to a rehearsal at church. Since the CW's carpet was drying she asked if we could take the white car. "OK," sez I. (My preference would have been to hold off letting her travel in it for another week or so.)
So she gets in. "When did this shift knob get all messed up?" "I dunno," I reply. "Huh." We got all the way to the church, then she noticed the center console storage tray. "I don't remember this." "You wouldn't," I say. "Why not?"
I just couldn't hold off any longer. "Because this isn't the same car." It took a few seconds for that to sink in. I don't think she's entirely happy, imagine that. I'm sure that had I intended to I could have kept the ruse going much longer than this. But the danger is that she'd put diesel in it the first time she took it out.
Oh, and its shifting is unchanged.
I then threw all the tools and work clothes in the trunk and went off to the U-Pull to see if I could get a steering box for the Chicken Wagon.
...When I got back, and it had been parked for awhile, I noticed a green puddle of antifreeze under it. Oh-oh! (Probably the water pump, I'll have to check that.)
Costco no longer carries the good heavy rubber floor mats we like, so I stole the ones out of the SDL since we're not driving it.
No sign of antifreeze leaking.
...Cancel that! At lunch time there was a green puddle under the car, and I could see it dripping from the water pump. Time to order a new one!
I popped the hood and started digging down in a bit in preparation for the water pump replacement and suspension pump re-sealing. I found torn-off rubber mounts on the air cleaner and the idle control solenoid, so I cleaned them with carburetor cleaner and glued them back on with Shoe Goo. The idle air hose was also cracking badly, so I cleaned and glued it too. It ended up nearly potted in the stuff, but I don't think it leaks now.
All the wires under the hood have hand-numbered masking-tape flags hanging off of them. This suggests that the engine was pulled at some time, presumably not at a dealership.
There is a four-way vacuum splitter at the front firewall with one open leg and nothing nearby that looks like it came from it. Looks like it may be plugged, though, I'll have to look into that. Maybe somebody didn't have a three-way on hand?
This sucks. I'm at 4.5 hours on this job and I haven't even got the bad pump out yet. A good idea from the mailing list:
Cut the bolt, and replace it with a narrow-head internal-hex (Allen) type that can be removed through the notch in the future?That'd be good for next time!
I then power-washed the area and flushed the engine block.
I then removed the suspension pump from the engine. That takes a 17mm flare wrench to remove the low-pressure line, and a 17mm socket to remove the banjo bolt on the high. An Allen wrench removes the four long bolts from the face of the pump, liberating it. You need a 13mm socket to loosen the clamp on the low-pressure line, else you don't have enough slack to remove the pump. With the pump out you need to cork the low-pressure line else the suspension oil reservoir will empty onto the ground. I lost quite a bit of oil before I got this done.
With the pump out you can remove the remaining two Allen bolts (the short ones) and pry the lid off the pump. The shaft and cam can then be pushed out from behind with your thumb. I cleaned everything with brake cleaner, it was very grimy. I took pains to keep the four pistons from getting dirty during this. (The pump is a small radial design, similar in configuration to the R4 air conditioning pump that Mercedes [and GM] used to use.) The three old seals (of diverse sorts) can now be removed: scrape off the paper body seal (114 236 00 80), chisel out the large-diameter (but small cross-section) O-ring body seal (010 997 43 45) being careful not to damage the channel or the face, and pry out the shaft seal (004 997 01 47). The O-ring was very hard, I couldn't even tell that it had been an O-ring in the beginning, and was most likely the source of the leak.
I then cleaned everything again and tapped the new shaft seal in gently with a hammer. The shaft may then be lubed and twisted back into place. (You need to gently pry the piston drive ring into place to let the cam go into it while you do this. With the shaft in place you can then pry again to slip the brass bushing between the drive collar and the cam, it doesn't really work to try to install it all in one shot, tolerances are very tight.) Then I put the O-ring in the channel and bolted the cover back on with the two small bolts. The trickiest part is getting the body of the pump installed back on the engine with the drive ears mating with the distributor drive while keeping the new paper body seal in place. (You need to put the low-pressure line back on the pump first, though not tightened down yet, then twist and wiggle until it drops into place.) That's not too difficult, though. I then bolted everything back down and reinstalled and tightened the hoses and their braces, then sprayed everything off again with cleaner. Done.
The large-diameter O-ring keeps suspension oil from leaking out of the head of the pump. The shaft seal keeps it from leaking into the engine crankcase, and the paper seal keeps the engine oil (and any vagrant suspension oil) from leaking out behind the body of the pump.
...In another session in the evening I scraped off the gasket surfaces and installed the water pump. That took a long time, due to the tenacity of the old gasket. I tried to be careful with the razor blade not to damage the metal surfaces. Once done I transferred the thermostat to the new pump, but used the new O-ring seal that came with the pump. (I made sure to install the jiggle valve up.) The two slightly-longer pump mounting bolts must go in where they came out, at the bottom and bottom-right of the water pump where the thicker bosses on the pump are else they'll bottom out in the holes and not clamp. I wire-brushed the rust off of the one very long bolt that goes through the body before reinstalling it. The new gasket had a small tear most of the way through at one point, that was very distressing to find. At least it was at the top and not the bottom, so any leak will be very visible. I used Permatex anaerobic sealer to goop the torn area before reassembly, it should be fine. I got the pump and thermostat housings assembled, and the radiator feed fitting partially installed before I had to quit again.
This job is turning out to be very slow!
...Later I went back to it, and got the radiator installed. I washed out the fins on both it and the condenser with the hose, they were both pretty clean (not like some I've seen). I left off the fan and shroud, since the glue was still drying. I bolted the fan pulley on and started the car. It started right up. I moved it just to show Jill that progress was being made. (Sort of a Mother's Day present.)
...I drove the car to work, etc. It worked fine. No sign of leaks, though the new water-clear suspension oil turned all dark. Needed more flushing, I guess! I stopped and bought a jug of Zerex G-05 antifreeze. I'll put that in after another flush cycle or two over the next few days to get out all the green.
...In the evening we took the car to a concert. The low-oil light started coming on, and we could smell burning oil when we got out. Some kind of leak thing going on?
I checked, and the engine oil level was fine. The level sensor must be lying, I may well need a new one.
...While driving to work today the brake boost failed suddenly. When I got to work I popped the hood, and found that the fitting on the check valve had snapped off, making for a rather large vacuum leak!
The ATF change made no difference in the car's shifting characteristics.
...When I got home after work I dumped the coolant, it looked pretty clear so it's time to use the Zerex. I removed the brake vacuum line and cleaned it with brake cleaner. I tacked the fitting back on with cyanoacrylate glue, then potted the whole thing in Shoe Goo. It should be ready to use by morning. The rubber boot through the mid firewall is torn, I'll glue that too once the potting sets up a bit.
...After a couple of hours I turned it over, cleaned, and potted the tear in the rubber boot.
While in the area, at the suggestion of a lister, I loosened the pull of the shift cable by about 1/8". We'll see if that makes any positive difference. The thing looked unmolested and otherwise as it should, so I don't hold out much hope for this. I thought that a maladjusted shift cable resulted in skewed shifts across the board, not just a problem with 1→2.
I also put in the Zerex G-05 and topped it off with water. So's not to wash away any coolant I was gentle with the refill, I may have not gotten it all the way full. So I filled the empty jug with water and put it in the trunk for topping off purposes.
...No, I lost the brake boost again on the way to work. The webbed glue holed, I'll have to re-do the job properly when I get home. I also note that the tranny cable adjustment has made it a little more palatable for regular driving, but if you romp on it at all it'll still go up and bounce off the rev limiter unless you back off the throttle to let it shift.
...When I got home I loosened the engine-side fitting and spun the hose around to match the bend of the other hose, thus closing up the crack, then I put a wad of glue over it. After it set up some I smeared a wad around the bottom too, and connected the hose to hold it in its final position, but loosely so as to minimize stress on the glue joint.
The Shoe Goo is just too soft for underhood use like this, plus I wasn't ever waiting for a full cure. Today at the U-Pull I nabbed some items from their latest 126 organ donor: a good shifter knob, a stiffer rear-view mirror, a trunk carpet, a clip to replace the missing fan shroud clip, a warning triangle, and a brake vacuum hose. I also got some dirty and bent grille trim strips from the car's broken grille. When I got home I tried out the new hose, but it was about 1" too short! Nuts. I pulled the failing glue off the original and tacked it back together with cyanoacrylate glue, this time making sure it was oriented the right way. I mixed up some 5-minute epoxy and coated it with that instead of the Shoe Goo. It wanted to run, so I kept it spinning slowly by hand until it started to firm up, then set it aside to dry.
I also got a factory sparkplug wrench (that'll probably go into Ethelred since it unfortunately has need), and a factory lug wrench which I can use in this car. I got the spark wires too, which I'll probably try in place of the existing ones to try to see if there's a problem there that is responsible for the intermittently rough idle.
I got out the warning triangle I got yesterday and wire-brushed off the rust. Then I painted the metal again, mostly I used a brush since I had to avoid messing up the 'printing' on the face or the plastic reflector surfaces. While that dried I glued the retaining tab on the triangle's mounting clamp that I had to break yesterday in order to get it out of the car. These were set aside to dry. I then removed the console surround, switches, etc., and removed the shifter knob. That's when I found that the new one was subtly different, and not likely to end up pointing right if I were to install it. I tried hand-sanding the scabrous top of the old one in order to clean it up for painting, that's when I found that it was actually leather-wrapped. (I think the original leather surface was ruined by hand lotion and/or DEET insect repellant.) I ended up pulling the top cap of leather completely off, exposing a pretty nice plastic surface. I lightly sanded it and then painted it (and the remaining leather) with black vinyl paint. It doesn't look too bad now. I cleaned up the PRNDS2 window and the rubber boot, then reassembled the shifter once it was all dry. That took a bit of fiddling.
The coin tray was really chewed at the bottom, through the color and into the substrate, so I mixed up a little paint to get a vaguely close color (that didn't really work) and brush painted the bottom. I then put the console back together, replacing the one missing ashtray screw. I left the Becker BE 1480, serial A 9532117, out as I need to get its security code input in order for it to work again. I then attached the now-dry (enough) warning triangle to the trunk lid.
I also replaced the passenger-side courtesy light fixture, since its mounting ear was broken off and it wouldn't stay in place. And I installed the new trunk carpet, and threw the lug wrench I got yesterday into the trunk after I wire-brushed off the rust. Then I replaced the rear-view mirror (again) with the better (stiffer) one I got yesterday. Even at 2× the price ($4) it is a good deal.
Not quite done for the day, I tried to install the $2 worth of spark plug wires I got yesterday, and found that they didn't fit. The distributor end sockets were too small. (This discovered only after I reworked one pulled-off socket to get it back together again.) Too bad, I had been hoping to diagnose the rough idle as being due to old spark plug wiring. There is a mess of glue on the driver's side valve cover where the wires are, not sure just why this would have been done but it's highly suspicious.
I then got out the salvaged grille trim strips from yesterday and had a look. Two were the right length for the missing pieces, and in about the same condition except for some mild bends, but most of the mounting tabs molded into the grille itself were broken off. So I used screwdrivers and my hands to straighten the strips, then glued them into place. Twist-ties served to hold them in place until the glue dried. They look pretty good now. Consistent with the rest, anyway.
She'd also left another window down some, a front one, so I pulled open the console and used the battery charger to run that one up too.
I checked, and I have enough juice to charge the AC. Can't, of course, without the key.
...At lunch I bought a window motor/regulator at the U-Pull. $17, that's a profit center piece obviously. The 'new' regulator is bent, as nearly all are. Junk pot-metal design. The nylon slider is also broken, though it's all there. That's not so good. Maybe with this I'll have enough pieces to throw together something that will work. I should order a new slider, but that'll take time.
So I called Rusty and ordered two sliders, so that I'd have a spare for next time one of those POS's breaks.
...At lunch I returned the unneeded window motor/regulator to the U-Pull and got my $17 back. (But not the $2 entrance fee, of course, nor my lunch break.) My fault for jumping the gun and buying parts in advance of diagnosis.
The center brake light fell apart on the test drive, the glue let loose in the oven heat of the closed car. The weatherstrip cement I used is apparently not that good in high temperature environments, or perhaps I didn't use enough. Anyway, I had recently found that I had another, mostly intact brake light assembly in a parts box, so I used that instead of frankenstein's monster that I'd pieced together earlier. (The rear cap retaining snaps were gone, of course, but otherwise it was in good shape.) I used more weatherstrip glue this time to hold the end cap on, and set it aside to dry.
I looked at the radio's wiring harness and labeled the radio's contacts with a Sharpie. (This so I can connect power to it on the bench. It needs 24 hours of power to snap out of its code-wait state.) I found a spare Becker plug in the parts pile, so it was even easy to hook up on the bench, which I did. Now it says to WAIT. Well OK then, see you tomorrow perhaps.
...Today I surfed and got some radio serial number decoder
applications, and after work I threw them at Virtual PC. The Becker
4-digit decoder becker4digit.exe suggested the code was
4140. The becker.exe program suggested 34141, as did
becker2.exe. All of these crapplications only accepted
the last four digits of the radio's serial number: 2117.
The becker9preset.exe suggested 24141, and also would
only accept four digits of the serial number. (The most likely code
is the first one.) Our office computer cluster[f**k] claimed there
were viruses in becker.exe
and becker4digit.exe, but I ran them anyway since they're
locked in a VPC box that I don't care much about.
I also finished putting the car back together except, of course, for the radio. That didn't take too long.
I then put the radio in the car, which was a lot of fun since there are so many wires to hook up and wad behind it. It CODE-ed again, but that's no longer a problem. The radio worked, even without an operable antenna. The front/rear fader is scratchy and noisy, and cuts out the right channel at the least excuse. Obviously it needs a good cleaning. The rear speakers make almost no noise at all except for a scratchy little whine, they're probably sun-rotted and blown. The door speakers work, as do the dash speakers. Success! I programmed the local FM stations into the presets.
...This evening we drove the car to an event. It worked well, and the radio was nice, as was the AC. Coming home at night I shut off the AC and radio and opened the sunroof. Nice.
In celebration I got out the touch-up paint and covered the worst spots I could find on a quick walkaround.
The ashtray in the LR door rattles horribly on the road, so I took it out and tacked its loose metal trim piece down with cyanoacrylate glue. We'll see if that improves anything too.
I pulled out the driver's under-dash panel, which was difficult as the plastic trims covering the screw heads were very sticky, they were close to breaking when they finally popped out. (These pry out starting from the outsides! That is, the extreme left and right edges when seated. If you pry from the wrong edge you'll break off the piece's retaining hook.) I'll need to lube those with teflon spray before reinstallation so that they don't break in future. The ABS plastic footrest, 126 688 11 06, was all broken up so I pulled it out (it's part of the outside carpet side panel) for gluing. (There's a hook on the side panel part, it pulls toward the rear of the car, and then away from the side wall and out. I broke it further figuring that out.) With the carpets out I vacuumed, there was a lot of dirt under there. Anyway, with that all out of the way I could then pull the cruise control amplifier, which shares a bracket with the Hella 004 545 07 32 8-pin warning module, also removed. (Disabling the interior courtesy lights as well.) It's all held in with only one 10mm nut.
It's your typical VDO 14-pin servo amplifier package, with customization plug. The ink-stamped (date?) code of 518 20/90 implies that it's the original unit. Scrawled on it in red grease pencil is a big 218 (maybe). Stamped into the case metal is:
20/90
12V
412 212/1/1
* Mercedes-Benz
005 545 05 32
The customization plug is labeled 19 90, a date code, along with
005 545 07 32 and VDO 519201/1/01.
I opened up the amplifier and found a change: instead of the usual digital or analog discrete circuitry there was a 40-pin DIP, possibly a microprocessor of some sort. (It could also be an ASIC. There's still plenty of discrete circuitry to go wrong though, including an LM2901 quad comparitor and several transistors, including an H-bridge for the servomotor.) The big DIP was labeled:
ITT V 8001-501 GermanyIt also had 32 and 0045: labels on it, sideways to the main markings. The board was (as is usual) conformally coated. It was hard to tell for sure through the coating, but many of the solder joints looked suspect. The board, while double-sided, has traces only on one side; the component side is a shielding ground plane. Zero-ohm resistors are used where necessary to route signals on the component side, I counted eleven. I ran out of time to proceed further today.
...This evening we drove to dinner in this car, my first time in it since the noise treatment, and I could tell that all the odd creaking was gone. Yay, Vaseline! The noisy ashtray handle was also quiet. Makes quite a difference in driving enjoyment.
Oops. There was a surge when I turned it on, then it seemed to act weird. Then I smelled magic smoke. I stopped the car and opened up the case, and smoke poured out. One of the motor drive transistors fried, ruining one of the PCB mounting pads. That's not good. I pulled out the coupled TO-126 pair, and found both transistors completely shorted. One is a BD-438, the other (unknown) was cooked into slag. The other similar physically-coupled pair on the board are an NPN-PNP complementary pair, I didn't pull them out to check the markings but I expect them to be the other leg of the H-bridge and exactly the same. The BD-438 is a PNP 4 A 45 V power transistor. The slagger is probably the complementary NPN device, BD-437. I replaced the BD-438 with a 2N4918, and the other one with a 2N5190, both from the junk box. These are not exact matches, but perhaps they will work. I had them on hand, anyway. I used heat-sink grease on them to help couple heat to the little metal clip. The PCB pad, though fried, still made enough contact to the Emitter of the NPN that I didn't have to use a jumper wire. The Fluke's diode test range showed the two devices acting appropriately in-circuit.
Obviously, however, a bit more care is called for in testing this. I need to resurrect the bench test harness, and fire it up with a current limiter first. These H-drive circuits are highly susceptible to frying if anything bad happens to the inverting base drives. Bad solder could certainly do this, so I resoldered this circuitry again.
On the bench the amplifier drew approximately 400 mA on average while driving the motor, and seemed to work correctly. No smoke, no excess heat. I'll need to check that there isn't anything in the car's wiring harness that'll cause a problem, but so far it's looking good.
The 'processor' takes a 4.19430 MHz (222 Hz) crystal, driven by pin 29 of the part and fed back in on pin 28. Probing around shows that the processor uses a 5 V supply, I think via a Zener diode somewhere on the board; there is no sign of a regulator. A strategically-located bypass capacitor implies that it takes 5 V power on pin 1, and ground on pin 21. Perhaps this can be of aid sometime in identifying the part, not that this would be of any use in finding a replacement since it's probably a masked ROM device. (If it's actually an ASIC there's equally little chance of ever getting a replacement.) With that pinout it's not an 8051 processor, I know that. While poking around on the board I did find a case-split 1N4005 diode, which I replaced with a brand-new identical part from my parts bin. (That's kind of unusual for me. The really odd thing was that the split part seemed to still be working.) The diode was probably ruined by excess current going through the H-bridge.
I opened up the customization module and found five resistors inside, one of them a zero-ohm job. Roughly what I would have expected.
I checked the wiring harness connections to the servomotor to make sure there was no power or ground fault, and it passed so I took it for a test drive. It worked perfectly, and held my 35 MPH set speed up hill and down. (Downhill it sped up some, but that's because of the sloppiness inherent in the torque converter.) I then hammered the aluminum case ears back down and reinstalled it in the car. I was short on time so I left the panel work for later. (Plus I have some gluing to do on the footrest.)
To get the gluing started I cleaned off a couple of the breaks and then tacked them together with cyanoacrylate glue, then bolstered one of the more fragile breaks (the floor mounting ear) with a piece of sheet metal and Shoe Goo.
...When I got home from work I did some more cleaning and gluing. I got the panel/footrest all glued together with cyanoacrylate glue, and I got some more Shoe Goo laid over some of the non-critical cracks. I'll use sheet-metal backing plates for the higher-stressed areas.
...After dinner I did some more cleaning and Shoe-Gooing. Two more sheet-metal backing plates across some stress breaks.
...And before bed I did one last cleaning and Shoe-Gooing. I found some more sheet metal (leftovers from one of the Frankenheap's preheater attempts) and made backing plates for the rest of the stress breaks. That used up just about all of that tube of Shoe Goo, so I guess I'd better be done. Tomorrow (or better yet, the next day) I could reinstall this thing.
Then I went out and removed the passenger-side under-dash panel, it was time to take a stab at the noisy aspirator motor. (The screw-hiding trim panel pries out from the outside edge [extreme right] first! If you pry from the wrong edge you'll break off the piece's retaining hook.) The panel came off easily enough, but the knee bolster was a bit recalcitrant. Eventually I figured out the problem, it was just caught on something. The passenger airbag is held in with one long bolt through a plastic-lined recess in the bolster, and comes out very easily. I didn't really need to take it out, however, but I didn't know that until I'd already done it. (The airbag bolt can be removed even with all the trim and panels in place.) One of the plastic ears on the air outlet that goes to the door was broken off so I cleaned it off and tacked it back on with cyanoacrylate glue, then I used pliers and a small screwdriver to dig enough Shoe Goo out of the 'empty' tube to glue it back, along with a small piece of reinforcing metal. I also used weatherstrip cement to reattach the foam collar (for the air outlet) to the knee bolster.
The aspirator motor (000 830 96 08) didn't want to come out very easily, it was wedged into a soft foam block. Eventually I got it out and lubricated it. (It wasn't easy to get open, and I don't know how successful the lubrication attempt really was.) The cover for the main blower was loose, one of the screws had fallen out. (It seemed to be the wrong size anyway.) I dumped the leaves and dirt out of the porcupine (blower speed regulator) that's in the air path, then I removed the blower motor to see if it could be serviced.
It looked OK, so I dripped a little oil into the bearings. Putting it back was interesting, it seems that it had been taken apart before and not put together correctly: the plastic was a little deformed and things didn't want to slot into their correct channels. (The blower housing fits very snugly, there are a lot of tongue and lip joints to mate.) Perhaps this is a replacement motor, installed carelessly? With a bit of fiddling I got the motor and the cover back on correctly and found that part of its problem was that a retaining clip for the rear corner was missing. I fabricated a new one out of some springy metal banding. That took awhile, but should help keep the housing airtight and quiet. I put the aspirator motor back in. When I fired everything up the aspirator was noisier than it should be, but I hope that the intermittent shrieking is gone. I really should get a new aspirator, but I hate to if it's not completely necessary. We'll see how it goes, now that I've R&R'd it once it would be easy to do again: you only have to remove the underneath panel and the knee bolster.
I checked under the floorboard and the airbag system is plugged in, so if it's non-functional that's not the reason. While I was there I vacuumed. I then put back the knee bolster, but I left out the rest until the glue can dry on the air outlet.
...In the afternoon I got impatient and put the car back together. I could have waited longer for the glue to dry but I think it'll be OK. We won't be driving it today so that'll keep most of the worst stress off of it anyway. I used spray teflon lube on the clips for the plastic trim strips that cover the screw heads. That should help them to come out next time. (Half of one center clip on the long passenger-side piece is missing, but so far hasn't seemed to cause any bowing.)
I made a small mistake and overtightened one of the hood release screws and cracked the tip off of the plastic body. Oops. I glued it back on with cyanoacrylate glue, we'll see if it stays together. (It's only cosmetic.)
While looking in the trunk for the panel mounting screws what should I find but two radio code cards! That would certainly have simplified things last month...
I checked again, and the coolant level is down a little more as is the suspension oil level. Engine oil level is up. No sign of any external leaks, however. Not good. I can blame the oil levels on a botched shaft seal on the suspension pump, but where's the coolant going?
After breakfast the sun was up enough to shine down into the engine compartment, and then I could see the sender: It's to the rear of the oil filter housing, and hard to reach behind an engine shock absorber. I pulled the connector off the sender with pliers and it popped right off the wire when I did so. It might have been that the wire was merely broken, so I took it apart to fix it. Unfortunately the connector shell (014 545 07 28) broke apart too, and its rubber boot (008 997 07 81) tore. Criminy. I checked the sender itself and it was grounded, which is as it should be. (The light comes on when it's open-circuited.)
I scraped and cleaned the area, then resoldered the connector back on. I did a pretty crappy job, but it's hard to do on your back underneath a car! I used some cyanoacrylate glue to patch the shell, and dregs of Shoe Goo dug out of the tube to patch the rubber cover. It'll have to do, and it did seem to seat securely back on the sender. When I tried the key the low-oil light was out, so perhaps this has cured the problem.
The cruise control worked flawlessly. The radio was fine, but at times would emit an intermittent very loud BRRRRR-AAAPPPPP sound that wasn't source-related, nor did it respond to the volume control. Post-preamp problem in the head unit? Rear-mounted amplifiers? Regardless, Jill wants a CD player so it'll get swapped out sometime.
I wonder if the single molded valve block traps too much heat around the coils for reliable long-term service? I've never seen a bad individual switchover valve. Also possible are internal soldering problems, since it looks as if the thing is built with a PCB inside, and banging on one can open/close some of the bad connections. If I had a third broken unit I'd cut into one to see what was up, but as I'll need two in order to accomplish my plan I'd better not risk damaging one of these further.
While I was at it I disconnected the amplifier connection to the radio. I told Jill to drive with it on (but of course non-functional) for sufficient time to prove whether or not the intermittent nasty noise was coming from the head unit (now isolated) or the amplifiers.
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Pins 4, 5, 6 & 7 (Center, Diverter and both Defrosts) were open and/or intermittent on the original valve block. Pins 1 & 5 (Short Fresh and Long Defrost) were open on the junkyard unit. If I install the junkyard unit, and flange up valves 2 & 3 from the original in place of 1 & 5, that should get it functioning again with the minimum amount of work. (I picked 2 & 3 specifically because they were both good in both valve blocks, possibly indicative of light use and thus the most likely to last.)
So that's what I did. There was plenty of room to lay the second valve block near the first one so that I didn't need to extend any lines. Careful reassignment of rubber bits from both valve blocks is all that was necessary. That, and a large rubber 'Y' fitting that I also grabbed from the donor car. I teed into the electrical lines and soldered the extra connector onto the required lines going to the original connector, and I corked off the now-unused valves in case they should try to actuate due to vibration, or general cussedness. I got sidetracked at about that time and didn't get a chance to test it, or to button things back up.
ZC93769CPa LM2904 dual op-amp, and a heat-sunk L9307 dual driver (the L9309's big brother), probably for the monovalve and the auxiliary coolant pump motor. On the X2 (input) side of the panel there are two 74HC4051 8-input analog multiplexers and another L9309. Three transistors and a LM2940T 5 V regulator complete the complement of active devices. There are two thermistors on the board, one near the heat sink and one at the other side. These are probably used differentially to keep tabs on the high-current driver's state. All in all, it looks like a nice little design.
MKCS0006DH
JH8
QLDR9006
Anyway, I put it back in the car and tried it out again. This time I got normal center vent behavior. I'm not a-gonna look too closely at this, just call it fixed. The car went back together pretty easily after that, even the side carpet. We'll see if this makes Jill happy.
At least the AC was working correctly.
I then jacked up the car and had a look underneath. The rear suspension components are dry, and look like they're hooked up. The valve is in good shape, visibly. That's good. There was a missing rubber exhaust hanger on one of the resonators, so I replaced that. I checked and topped off the transmission fluid, I can see that its leak could well be from the pan so I should have what I need for that. Since I was underneath I used the MityVac on the shift modulator. It leaks down, so I'll need a new one of those too. The input shaft of the steering box is really messy, I need a new seal kit for it, too. I saw no significant signs of any other fluid leakage. I put one of the quarts of Royco oil in the suspension tank, it was long past time to get some more oil into the system.
The rear suspension looks 'down'. I really need to address this.
...Jill reported that the car was shimmying quite a bit. I drove it today, and she's right. The tires took quite a 'set' during the two years (or so) that they'd been sitting on the other car. We'll see if they straighten out, or whether they're ruined.
When she got home I checked the air, and the two rears were low. (Didn't get to them this morning, but they looked OK.) I also noticed that the rear was sagging, we left some bags of dog food in the back for weight, and the suspension fluid was all gone. I put in another quart of the Royco, then I went for a test drive. No real change. I did notice sounds of tire rubbing from the RR on left-hand turns, and when I jacked up that side I could see where it had been rubbing on the interior of the wheelwell, trunk side, but it seemed to me that it looked like it was protruding a bit much there. Yanking on the wheel didn't show any obvious looseness. The rear end was raised again, anyhow.
| Qty | Item | Cost |
| 1 | BAS-1253 Harness | $18.99 |
| 1 | 1319-108 Preout cable ( TP ) | $24.99 |
| Subtotal: | $43.98 | |
| Shipping and handling: | $12.00 | |
| Total: | $55.98 |
I also stopped at the U-Pull and got two wiper blade assemblies from a 126. Sadly, it didn't have the right kind of seat belt.
Schwab was deserted, they swapped my tire immediately, no waiting. No charge either, since I didn't bother getting it balanced. (Not yet, anyway.)
...Still a bit wobbly up front, but I think it's better. Will try another wheel swap tomorrow.
The cables for the Becker came today. One connector block looks fine, but the other I don't quite see how it hooks up. The antenna connector is still wrong, too. I had a closer look behind the faceplate, it appears that there's a CD in it. The navigation maps? Let's hope so!
...Better yet, though not quite perfect. The LF tire was low on air, however, and I stopped at Schwab's for a quick shot of air. I'm going to try swapping it back tomorrow in order to get an A/B/A+B set of wobble data. Then I'll decide what to do, exactly.
I got both new connectors plugged into the Becker. The preamp-out connector was very odd: it's a small connector that plugs into a large sea of pins, but it really can only go in one way. Not something to try to do in the dark!
...Still fine. That fingers the RF tire.
I then got out the Becker 7881 and took it to the car. Just as I thought, the connectors don't match up with what's in the car. That'll be fun.
Regarding the connector mismatch on the pre-out cable, Becker is checking the invoice. The ordered/invoiced part number 1319-108, which matches (partially) the tag on the cable. Its full number is 1319.108-276, and also has Zeichnungsstand 20.10.98, Fertigungsdatum 31/05, and Prüfnummer 973/108 on it. I've also asked for the security code.
...Becker says that the wrong pre-out cable was ordered or shipped, and to send it back and they'll substitute the correct one, part number BAS-1185.640, which has the three-pin plug on it. They also state that the decoding will be $20. Great. I mailed back the incorrect cable today. $1.56 that cost me. I asked them to bill me for the code. The costs (in pain and dollars) are mounting up!
The stereo cable came today, and looks to be the correct one. The paperwork had BAS-1185-640 scrawled on it, and the part itself reads: 5000-469, and also has Zeichnungsstand 15.01.96, Fertigungsdatum 39/06, and Prüfnummer 5000-469c on it. "Made in Tschechische Republik". There was no sign of the asked-for security code.
I moved to the other side and took off the bad wheel and put it (and the last replacement) in the Frankenheap to take in for the swap. I grabbed Daniel and we went in, they were able to do it right away. No charge for this one, either. When we returned home I put it on the car and let it down. Ready for action again!
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM ← Mpingo (wood) body
= = ========____MM + MM
= = ======== MM___, | MM
↑ MMMMMMMMMMMMMM| | MM
| MMMMMMMMMMMMMM| | MM
| .
| Antenna . ,_____,
Plug . | V | ← Protruding antenna jack
. | | |
- - ---------------- - -
7881 Radio
The two 14-gauge wires are pinched against the antenna plug by the
holes in the wood; the shield wire is similarly pinched against the
antenna jack shell. The signal wire plunges freely into the antenna
jack, some glue in the open space helps keep it oriented.
Sounds like a plan, I wonder if it would work? Six precision holes using what are essentially hand tools is not really a recipe for success. This'd sure be a lot easier if I just had a female Motorola antenna socket that I could use, I wonder if the junkpile has one? I should look harder.
The metal piece unscrewed easily from the Delco, and I cut the wires going to the socket. I ground off the metal bracket, the socket that remained snapped easily into the plastic clip on the back of the Traffic Pro. I cut a piece of 10-gauge copper wire to serve as the center plug, and a piece of 14-gauge copper to wrap around the outer shell. (10-gauge is what fit snugly into the center socket.) I soldered both to the antenna socket and attached the assembly to the radio. Looks cruddy, but is secure enough.
I slipped the unit into the car and hooked up the blue antenna control lead, which needed a crimp-on spade lug and some electrical tape, and turned it on. Re-entering the code I could then run the radio, which identified the stations by call sign and started playing. I'm only getting sound out on the left front speaker, but I'll dig into that later. I tried a CD and it seemed OK, and a whack at the navigation system showed it reading the CD and then asking me to select a destination. I removed the original Becker retaining clips and put them in the radio box in the trunk, and pushed the unit most of the way home in the dash. I think it's going to work.
Let's hope Jill likes this thing, it was certainly enough expense and trouble!
| HC (PPM) | CO | CO+ CO2 | O2 | RPM | |
| Cruise Limit: | 150 | 1% | 6% | N/A | N/A |
| Cruise Emissions: | 51 | 0.1% | 15.3% | 0.09% | N/A |
| Cruise Result: | PASS | PASS | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Idle Limit: | 220 | 1.2% | 6% | N/A | N/A |
| Idle Emissions: | 20 | 0% | 12.2% | 3.62% | 780 |
| Idle Result: | PASS | PASS | N/A | N/A | N/A |
I have no idea what the CO+CO2 'limit' is supposed to mean given that CO2 (along with H2O) is the ideal engine exhaust. Engine too big? Lame.
I removed the N30 (?) from the car. Two spring clips held the unit into its nest, and one rather strong spring clip held the connector onto the unit. (The connector does look just like the CIS-E controller I found in the 380 SL.) I took a plastic bag and tied the connector in it, for protection, as this may well be a 'permanent' condition.
The controller bears the following labels on a blue sticker:
| (B) | BOSCH | 0 265 101 018 (085) | |
| Made in Germany | |||
| (MB) | 005 545 21 32 | 06424473 |
The plastic cover shell was held on with four self-tapping coarse thread Philips-head screws, and had a rubber gasket between it and the pot-metal casting that carries the 35-pin connector and the circuit board. The circuit board had been dipped in a very soft clear conformal coating, much like RTV. It seems like it might scrub off mechanically, if necessary. There were two big 40-pin DIP AMS-brand (?) IC's on it, they looked identical and were labeled:
| 8950GAL |
| BB 33 208 |
| C14445 |
| AUSTRIA |
There was also a 16-pin DIP: Siemens 30008, 9002, and a 21-pin ZIP IC clamped to the casting. (Markings hidden by the clamp.) There were two hybrid modules mounted at right angles to the main board, and three large inductor-fed power transistors clamped to the casting, markings also obscured by the clamps. There were two aluminum electrolytic capacitors and a tantalum, and a 4.194304 MHz crystal. There were seven diodes of various sorts, and the usual crowd of resistors and capacitors filling out the complement. All date codes are '89 or '90.
The solder joints didn't look all that bad, but as I've found out plenty of times already that doesn't necessarily mean much. However, today I'm not trying to repair it, only disable it. I put the cover back on and bagged the controller (for protection of the now-exposed connector) and put it back in its nest for safekeeping.
I topped off the windshield washer fluid with water and checked the brake fluid level, which was OK.
I really need to look into that.
Jill's been noting that the engine temperature is too high, and that the power steering is groaning again. I checked the steering fluid, and it was low. That was easy to correct. When she got back from an errand I checked the radiator, and it was pretty cool behind the cooling fan, yet fairly hot along the sides. Not a good sign. I used the hose to spray it out, hoping to remove any gunk that was cutting the airflow. (There was a lot of mud along the bottom.) Better that than reduced fluid flow, which is what I most suspect. We'll see if it's any better after this. I may need to do an acid flush.
I did this, but I first had to replenish the hydraulic fluid in the jack in order to get the full height out of it. (I used power steering fluid.) Once up and on jack stands I removed the fan and drained the coolant. I was only able to get a gallon out of it. That doesn't bode well for reusing it, there's at least another gallon trapped in there. I dug out the bag of flushing thermostats and swapped in the correct one.
I also had a look at the transmission leak. It really looks like it could be the pan that's leaking, so I should be able to fix it. I already have a new filter and gasket kit, I just need to check the pan's flatness. Overtightening the bolts bends the pan, but it can be bent back. I'll use the saw table (ground cast-iron) as a flatness gauge.
I tested the thermostat in a Pyrex cup using boiling water and a meat thermometer. I filled the cup with hot water and then added boiling water to bring the temperature up. I'd spill out water to cut the thermal mass, raising the proportion of boiling water to not as I went. The thermostat started to crack open at around 77 °C (the thermostat was marked 80 °C), by about 90 °C it looked pretty far open: maybe 1/4" or so. When left to cool on its own it was pretty much closed again by 77 °C.
I dug in the garage until I found the 38-oz (2.5#) bags of powdered citric acid that I'd bought with a neighbor. (We'd split an order.) I don't remember what I paid, but I think it was about $5 a bag. I ran out of time to perform the acid flush today, but I gathered everything I'll need for tomorrow. (Or perhaps even tonight.)
...Yes, tonight. I followed the procedure I used before on the SDL. (This is essentially Job 20-015 in the service manual.) I let it idle about a half an hour with the acid sealed inside, that gave it about 15 minutes at operating temperature. While it was idling (with the heater on full) I kept feeling the back of the radiator. Eventually it got to a more-or-less even temperature, which was not the case initially. Hard to say whether or not that's a significant test, what with no airflow through it. While it was hot I started putting PB Blaster on the transmission cooler fittings.
I also let the car idle during the water flush to remove the hot acid. I pushed water into the filler neck and let it perk out of the special upper radiator flushing hose's fitting. When the hot water coming out no longer tasted sour I shut off the engine, then let it flush more until the water coming out was cool. The whole procedure took about half an hour. That should have gotten most of it. While I waited I dug out the spare monovalve I'd gotten at the junkyard some time ago and checked its rubber bits. It looked good. Next session I'll pull the car's monovalve insert and see how it looks, and swap inserts if the junkyard one looks better.
I tried to remove the suspension pump, but two of the 5mm Allen bolt heads stripped out. (Fucking things, whomever thought that those pieces of shit would be better than regular 10mm hex bolt heads needs a blanket party.) One of the bolts is a short one (of two) that only holds the head to the pump body, the other is a long one (of four) that's holding the pump (head and all) to the block. I'm not sure what I'm going to do there. When I do get those bolts out, all of them will need replacing.
...After I got home from work I tried again, this time using some hammer-in left-hand twist bolt extracters. One of them was just the right size to hammer tightly into the dead Allen sockets, and they cracked loose and came right out when I turned the wrench. So I'm back on track again, I'll just need new bolts for sure. (I knew this already!) I'll get those tomorrow.
I then reinstalled the thermostat, there was a lot of gray sludge behind the flushing thermostat. Not sure what's up with that, but I wiped it out. I then drained the transmission pan. I loosened its six retaining bolts, and some of them were very tight. No wonder it leaks. I'll tackle this next. So far things are on schedule, which means I have all of tomorrow to finish it!
...At lunch I bought the new M6-1×60 and M6-1×20 bolts at the hardware store. They only had lengths that were a bit too short or a bit too long, so I went with long. About $6 for all six bolts, highway robbery!
...When I got home I installed them, using some flat washers from my Harbor Freight hardware assortment. They all fit well in spite of being a bit longer than before. The suspension pump's back in place now, let's hope it worked.
I then moved on to the transmission pan. I scrubbed off the worst of the dirt, then removed the pan. It was filthy, I tried it first in the solvent tank, which wasn't working well, and then I got smart: I got out the pressure washer, which made short work of the mess. There was a gray-black film on the inside of the pan, the washer made short work of that too. After I dried the pan somewhat I took it to the wood shaper to use its cast-iron table as a flatness gauge. It was difficult to do because of the pan's 'ears', but I could see that the pan rocked in the middle. I took a straight-edge out to the transmission and its gasket surface was flat, so the pan was definitely deformed, obviously letting the back end lift away from its mating surface and thus leaking. In fact, the highest point on the pan had cut entirely through the gasket, though it was interesting that this wasn't the point that was leaking. I used a hammer and a rubber mallet to bang away on the pan until I got its sealing surface nearly flat. I test-fit it to the transmission, sans gasket, and it didn't rock anymore, so I cleaned up the mating surfaces and attached the gasket to the pan. I then removed the filter, and installed the new one. (At 222150 miles.) The old filter had the gray film on its upper surface too. I looked at the vacuum modulator as it really needs replacement, but I don't have another one, nor do I see exactly how to replace it. The job looks tricky, it might be that the valve body has to be removed. Another time! I reinstalled the pan, being careful not to overtighten the bolts. I made sure to tighten them in stages, to keep the pan flat.
Time for breakfast!
...Tummy full, I'm ready to recommission the car! I emptied the oil drain pan into an empty gallon oil jug, paying attention to the amount. About three quarts. That told me to put in four quarts of ATF, as a start anyway. I poured the salvaged coolant back into the car and topped it off with water. (A gallon of Zerex G-05 will be put in later.) I put another quart of the Royco 756 in the suspension tank. (There's only one can left on the shelf, then things start to get more expensive. I sure hope this takes care of that leak.) Ready to go? I started the car and watched it idle for awhile, looking for leaks. Things looked good, no dripping.
I then lowered the car and took it for a spin, it passed. Seemed to drive as before, and I didn't see any dripping. The coolant level had dropped a bit so I put in a little more water. Ready for the road! I put another quart of ATF in the trunk, in case we need to add more on the road. (Getting that level right is very difficult for me.) Then I cleaned up the mess I'd made.
...After a test drive I found some seepage of suspension fluid on the bottom of the pump. It's probably the head gasket, but might be one of the fittings. I lack the time to do anything about it, however.
The hot engine idle speed is much too high, around 1500 RPM. Not as high as it goes when you unplug the idle actuator, so it's at least trying to work a little, but it's definitely not right. Perhaps it is unhappy about the hot coolant and acid fountains it was sitting under during the flushing? I need to look at it.
Well, why not today? I popped the hood and pulled off the air cleaner for easier access. This thing sure seems light...WTF??? There's no air filter in it! Never has been, I can't believe I never noticed this before. What an idiot, and we live on a gravel road! The air horn was caked with oily dirt, as was the air metering plate. I used carb cleaner to remove all the dirt, then decided to go for it and so I removed the backfire stop and the air plate itself. I cleaned everything I could, as far down into the air chamber as I could reach with the solvent and a rag. I got a lot of it out, certainly the upper reaches were clean. I put the air plate back, and using a magnet (for grip) and a wrench got it centered so that it didn't rub anymore through its travels. It had seemed a bit rough before I started the cleaning, perhaps this will help the rough idle? I know the plate is sensitive at the idle positions. If it drags at all the idle mixture will be wrong.
I went to the garage and retrieved the surplus air cleaner housing I'd gotten for Jill's 560 SL, it had an air filter still in it. After cleaning the dirt out of the car's housing I put the used filter in it, it looked clean enough. (Better than nothing!) The spare housing also had the fitting/filter for the smog pump that this car was missing, so I moved that over too. That'll be better.
Anyway, on to the official project. I looked at the idle air valve, and when I tested it with a battery charger it worked perfectly. The Shoe-Goo'd rubber pipe was split again, that was probably the problem. I cleaned it and re-Goo'd it, this time cutting a ring of inner tube rubber to slip around the outside of the repair. That'll cork off any future splits that develop. I really should get a new rubber pipe, it can't be that much money!
I also tried re-centering the air plate, Jill reports that it now has trouble starting, it wants to die unless she gooses it. If this drags at all on the close-fit walls there will be problems at idle.
According to the ETM (page 208), the Idle Speed control unit (N8) is "Front passenger footwell, behind right kick panel." The photograph, page 229 Figure 1, shows it next to the airbag switching power supply and capacitor block.
(MB) 006 545 85 32and ink-stamped with 501 and 19/90. It has 11 pins in a 12-pin site, labeled (facing the pins):
Leerlaufdrehzahrlregelung LR 0005
Idle Speed Control 8 Zyl.
412.214/001/004 12V
/ /
+---------------------------+
| -31 15 87B C KL V |
| |
| O O O O O O |
| * * |
| O O O O O |
| |
| 50* TD 87A LL TF |/
+---------------------------+
The black plastic shell popped off of the pin carrier with a bit of careful prying. Inside it's considerably different than the usual vintage electronics I've come to expect in these cars. Progress, I guess! There's a daughter card soldered on standoffs to the main card. The daughter card is all surface-mount and conformally-coated, and single-sided like a hybrid module, and has an exposed IC die clear-potted to the board along with two LM2902 quad op-amps and a 4.194304 MHz crystal. There are also surface-mount resistors, capacitors, diodes, and transistors. It looks to be in great condition, which is good because this kind of thing is next to non-repairable. The 'main' board is traditional through-hole construction, and has relatively few parts: four diodes, some resistors, two power resistors, three small electrolytic capacitors, and two small power transistors (BD437 and BD438, a NPN/PNP pair). This board is not coated, and some of the solder joints looked a little suspect, so I resoldered it.
It was raining today anyway (not convertible weather), so I threw the IR temperature gear in the car for testing the cooling system temperatures later. I put the 'repaired' idle controller back and drove it to work.
...Idle speed was unchanged, about 1400 RPM when warm and in neutral. Only a little above normal when in gear and stopped, but the car's pulling against the brakes more than it should, and it doesn't really slow down when you let off the gas—you need the brakes more than you should. It really must be the actuator and its hot acid bath, but it's an odd failure mode since it seems to work right on the bench. I really need to find my spare so I can try it in its place. I don't want to purchase a new one on speculation, as they're fairly expensive.
Engine temperature was rock-solid right where it needed to be, but it was only about 60 °F today. I felt the radiator after I stopped and it had an even temperature gradient, even behind the fan. That's an improvement, at least.
I opened up the trunk to dry out, water had gotten in.
Anyway, a 17mm offset box wrench cracked loose the hydraulic fitting. I removed the two washers and the banjo fitting and wrapped the open bits with aluminum foil to keep out dirt. I got the two 17mm bolts on the bottom removed, but the 17mm nut on top didn't want to crack loose. I should have tried the penetrant first, because I managed to badly twist the 8mm flat that's on the top of the strut. Oops! I put penetrant on and left it to soak. A little red heat would cure the problem, but applying said heat would be unwise as the gas tank is right next to the nut.
After a couple of hours of soaking I got out a rubber mallet and a stick of wood. I wedged the wood through the keyhole shaped body hole and spun the strut with the wrench until the hydraulic fitting wedged up against the wood. I then put the vise grips on the twisted flat on top the strut and struck the wrench with the mallet. Between the penetrant and the shock transmitted against the vise grips and the stick the nut popped loose. It was then a simple matter to raise the tire a bit with the jack, to release the tension on the strut and then remove it bodily from the car. The strut seemed to be in very good shape, apart from the leaking. MB P/N 126 320 46 13, Sachs P/N 012400 102 178 R.J (According to the EPC, this is used in 1988+ cars.) The ruined accordion boot looks like MB P/N 448 006 10 0?, the last digit (and a half, really) is obscured by a vent hole. This part number doesn't seem to be in the EPC. There's also a 53932 and a 1–2 molded into it, and a mystery logo that looks a bit like a hand giving the 'OK' sign.
I cleaned it off some and pulled back the damaged accordion boot. I could see a circular snap ring inside the strut body, so I got out a bar clamp and used it between the protruding shoulder of the plug and the shoulder at the top of the strut. Modest pressure caused the plug to push in fractionally, releasing the tension on the snap ring. Unfortunately I was out of time to proceed further. It is clear that this strut isn't much like the one I found the rebuild article on.
The ball joint feels good, and its boot is good too. Only the accordion boot and the rod seal appear to be bad.
Seems to me that the auxiliary spring pressure of the strut is set by the diameter of the rod versus the pressure in the strut, and that the amount of damping is determined by the larger piston diameter (and the size of the valved leak holes in it) as it plunges back and forth through the fluid that fills the cylinder. (A lesser amount of damping is due to the smaller amount of fluid flowing to the accumulator spheres on compression. [Determined by the rod size.] The ratio of the piston to rod size no doubt sets one of the characteristics of the suspension.) The seal plug is responsible for keeping in all the fluid, of course, sealing the piston rod against the pressure inside the strut. It's a rather elegant design.
...I called around town to hydraulic shops, and most didn't want anything to do with it. The gal at American Seal Company, an affiliate of American West Chrome, said to bring it in and they'd have a look at it. They weren't too sanguine initially, but once I picked the seals out of the plug things started looking up. They looked pretty normal to her and she got out the calipers for a bit of measurement and then ran upstairs. When she came back down she said that I should get a lottery ticket today! She plopped a seal on the counter that looked just like what I'd pulled out, except that the plastic was brown. The two parts I bought were this MKR-22X29.5X3 Metric Buffer (Date code 12/21/06, SKU 146886), at $7.36, and a MOR38X4 Metric O-Ring for the outside of the plug, at $0.80. The total bill came to $8.87, a far cry from the pushing $400 that a new strut would run to. It remains to be seen, however, whether I can get it back together in a leak-free state. The big problem is the hard plastic pressure seal, which I believe went in before the pieces of the plug were staked together. Perhaps if I heat the ring in boiling water it'll be soft enough to put in place the same way I took the old one out, but without deforming in any permanent way. She said that if I ruined that one another was more than a week away, as the one I bought was the last one on the shelf.
I also hear that www.activesuspensionsystems.com might rebuild these struts. Probably not.
I cleaned the accordion boot in a pan of hot TSP, which worked pretty well, and it looks bad enough that I doubt gluing it back together will be worth the effort. More holes than not. I really need a new one.
...As I'd missed my chance to call to try to order an accordion boot today, and because I could find no mention of them in the online parts ordering systems or my copy of the EPC, I began gluing up this one. Shoe Goo, of course. If I can't get another boot this'll be better than nothing.
More gluing, I guess...
It might be possible to find something from a place like Gardan Mfg., but their off-the-shelf selection didn't look that promising. The boot needs an extension range of 1.75"–6.5" (overall length), an outside diameter of no more than 2.25", and a clamping flange of 1.5" on one end, and 7/8" on the other.
I contacted them with these specifications, and they quoted $72 each. Too rich for my blood, I think.
Somebody on the mailing list suggested:
Wonder if the Astoria Flexx boot for rack and pinion units would work?http://www.astoria2000.com/fb4000info.html
I used their CV boots on my 300D and they are holding up fine so far.
That looks pretty interesting!
...I stopped at Les Schwab this afternoon and had the tire pressures checked. He said they all were a bit low. I put in a quart of ATF because it was shifting poorly. That helped a lot. Stupid leak.
Obviously the car lost its coolant, somehow, and gotten low to the point that radiator flow was disrupted. Enough was left to carry heat to the washer tank, which was boiling off, and coolant was boiling in the heater core. Very much not good. Perhaps the engine was not damaged, or perhaps it was already damaged and that's what started all this?
At least the suspension was still OK.
The design looks weak to me, it relies upon the eight little heat-staked plastic pins to hold the ring on against coolant pressure, and the action of the spring-loaded wax cartridge. It was probably fatigue failure, the thermovalve may or may not be reclaimable.
I tested the low-level sensor and it was fine, once it had been cleaned out a bit. (Got a bit gunky during the boiling coolant episode.) I ordered (Rusty, 1-800-741-5252) a new thermostat, it's easier than trying to figure out how to hold the old one back together, and fussing with it to see if it works. I also ordered new rubber tank seals (4) to replace the dead/dying ones, and a couple of quarts of suspension oil.
The washer tank was pretty slimy inside, and full of nooks and crannies, so I ran it through the dishwasher. That worked well because the access hole is so large; the slime was gone.
...Today at the junkyard I got a replacement driver's-side seat belt. (From a 300E, about $5. They also had a nice 126 280SE in Euro trim, a tidy little package with manual cloth seats, crank windows, no airbag, and manual dual-zone HVAC. It did have AC and a sunroof, and central locking. The 2.8 I6 in the engine compartment was a very nice fit, belying the 500SE badge on the trunk. Looked like it had once been a nice little ride. Far gone, now.) I can now move the passenger's-side belt that's on the driver's side over to where it belongs, and put this one in its place. That should get both seat belts working with correct-vintage and correctly-oriented swinging shoulder mounts.
...The washer thermostat came today, as did the tank lid grommets (MB P/N 010 997 13 81) for its plumbing, I can begin reassembly tomorrow. (I can't finish, I didn't get the pump to tank grommets yet.)
I then swapped out the driver's seat belt, the new 124 assembly seems to be symmetrical and can swing both ways. Regardless, it fits and works better. I then moved the old belt to the other side, for which it had always been destined. I don't think it fits as well, even though it swings the correct way. No worse, though, than the one that was there, so we will call it good for now. While I was there I hid the cell phone amplifier's antenna wire behind the B pillar cover. That's a lot tidier.
Oh, and the one tire is definitely bad, removing it from the car seems to have cured the problem.
Next I drained the radiator and put in the gallon of Zerex G-05, then topped it off with water. I had to jack up the car to do this, to fit a bucket under there to capture the drainage. I would have liked to have done another full flush to ensure that all the windshield washer crud was out, but that's far too involved.
Next was the leaking suspension pump. I removed the fan and the AC idler pulley, then the pump. I removed the old high-pressure O-ring and cleaned its channel, scraping off the tiny adhered rubber bits with a jeweler's screwdriver. I went over the sealing surfaces pretty well and cleaned them with brake cleaner. There is one small imperfection in the channel, but I think the O-ring should seal it nonetheless. I then attached the head to the pump body with the two short bolts, being very careful to get it together cleanly. I then used grease to stick the block gasket and drive spider to the pump, and put the pump back on the engine. As always, this is harder to do than you'd like. You do have to get the low-pressure fitting threads started a bit before and/or as you attach the pump to the block; you'll never get them started after you attach the pump. It went easier than some of the times I've done this.
I then reassembled everything. The AC idler pulley bearing was getting 'dry' again, so I oiled it with M1 gear oil. A 24mm wrench is used to tension the belt before tightening the 17mm retaining bolt, but it doesn't really fit well because of interference with the power steering pump. What should have been an easy task was much harder as a result.
I then topped off the engine oil, power steering fluid, the radiator (again), and poured another quart of suspension oil ($12) into the reservoir, and started the engine. Everything ran fine, but after I stopped it I could feel suspension oil on the bottom of the pump again. Damn! I felt around and determined that it seemed to be the high-pressure fitting leaking. I'd reused (of course) the aluminum sealing washers on the banjo bolt, and I think they're leaking. It's possible that this was the original source of the leak, but I thought I'd checked for that in the first place. (If it was, oh well. Due to an order mix-up I'd ended up with an extra high pressure O-ring seal anyway, and it only cost me the time to install it.) I may need to try re-annealing these washers. I tried loosening the banjo bolt and wiggling it back and forth, then retightening it; we'll see if that helps any.
Suggestions from the list:
What if it is woefully 'out of tune', but switches from open loop to closed loop mode at a certain temperature, checks the O2 sensor and adjusts itself?
I think your car has a WUR? Maybe it's sticking a bit. I believe it has a bi-metal strip and an electrical connection.
Daughter's 380SL ran fast at idle and variable speeds. We found the timing way off, and fuel turned up high.
There is ATF everywhere back at the pan. On everything, especially the exhaust pipes. And dripping. It's so messy I can't even tell from where it's originating.
Power steering fluid, of course. But that's the normal bad seal weeping. The least of the problems I'd say.
And something clear-browny and runny dripping from the ATF cooler line where it straps to the oil pan. But it's not red, I think this is suspension oil running down from above and picking up a lot of dirt/grime along the way. I can't really see where it is coming from, but the two fittings on the pump seem dry enough, though the bottom of the body is wet with suspension oil. I've re-sealed that twice, I probably need to get another pump. (I did note a flaw in the sealing surface of the pump body.) That won't be easy. That may not be the only leak in the area, the suction line looks like it joins a rubber hose, it looks pretty wet there.
I also noted that the idle jumped up from what it ought to be once the engine had warmed up. It was sudden, like one of the warmup sensors is somehow being misapplied. That'll bear investigation.
I drove the 380 SL over, and swapped cars with him. (He'll be looking into its plug fouling problem.)
I returned to Spokane and tried to get it licensed, but its intermittent too-high hot idle speed made an appearance and prevented it passing its mandatory stink test. (They wouldn't even try, but at least there was no charge.) Crap.
The list of things that might cause a high idle are legion:
The idle air valve seems to work fine. On the bench it responds nicely to voltage, about 6 V is enough to cork it off completely. It does respond linearly, to a degree. Seems fine. However, on the advice of counsel I pried the plastic cap out of the end and found the screw threads that are supposed to be there. I am, however, finding it difficult to fit a bolt into it. It's 5mm, apparently, but the thread is a finer pitch than anything I've tried so far. I managed to find a bolt that threaded in far enough that I could pull the plug out some with pliers, this reduces the internal spring tension making the valve easier to close. The plug came out to flush with the housing, which is slightly farther than I intended, the plastic cap now sticks out a bit. I measured the valve on the bench and it now corks off with about 3.5 V, so we'll see if that helps any. I can always push it back in if I have to.
I removed the fan and the upper radiator hose and reinstalled the fan shroud, which has been laying next to the garage for a year or so. With the new motor mounts there now appears to be plenty of clearance.
I did start the engine with the adjusted idle valve, and it was able to idle. The idle speed was somewhat variable, but never too high. This doesn't mean much until the engine is warm, however.
I opened up the OVP relay, it is glued together with RTV unlike the older models. You pretty much have to destroy a lot of the red plastic cap in order to peel it off, from there you can peel/pry enough to pry the guts out of the aluminum shell. With that done I could see that the OVP relay looked pretty good inside. The glue job has kept everything clean and bright.
I also found my pile of salvaged air cleaner mounts and replaced the other one, whose glue job had also failed. That's better.
I aired the tires and added some coolant to bring it up to the correct level. Might take a try or two before it stabilizes.
On the way to work the car performed normally again. At lunch, quite
a bit warmer, Jill and I took it out, and it was still fine, even with
the AC on. Fixed? I think so, at least for now. We swapped cars
again, since she'd much prefer driving this to the
...Jill called me today and said the car was hissing and emitting
steam from the hood. By the time we could switch cars it wasn't doing
it again. The (hot) coolant level was still OK.
...Today was warm and I was driving around town at lunchtime, and I
again observed it leaking coolant. This time I was able to see it
apparently welling up around a large (19mm) bolt head on the rear of
the righthand head, just inboard of the valve cover and right next to
the coolant pipe to the heater system.
I also noted that the front door creaking was entirely gone.
Sigh. I retrieved the cap, washed the green off of the engine
compartment with the hose and lowered the hood in shame.
I decided not to drive the car, I might as well take advantage of the
low coolant situation and leave it emptied until the hose is replaced.
No sense in losing even more coolant to this problem!
So as not to waste the session I jacked up the rear of the car from
under the springs and put a jackstand under the differential, then
lowered the wheels to their full extension to reduce the pressure in
the system to its minimum, and to take as much fluid as possible into
the struts. I used ramps and blocks to put under the tires as a
fail-safe. I then wire-brushed off the mounts and pipes of the
accumulator spheres, at least so far as I could given the tight
layout, and then sprayed PB Blaster on them and left it to soak.
I hit the (nasty) EPC myself, in Group 83 for the 126.039, and found a
diagram of the HVAC water connections, and chose Item 59 from
Sub-Group 180 (Diagram 10) as what looked like the correct hose for
the right side of the engine. The EPC says this is a
126 832 12 94. (The hose I have is Item 158, from
Diagram 12.)
I also checked the service manual regarding the accumulator
replacement, and it says that the pressure in the suspension system
should be relieved at the drain nipple on the level controller valve,
and that the oil released there, if caught cleanly, can be reused.
The other steps are all obvious, and they do caution to use flare
wrenches in order to avoid damaging the fittings.
I had a look at the RR side marker light that was out, and it was not
the bulb. I used a battery charger to test all the lamps in the
housing, and it's on Pin #1 of the connector, with a green/white wire.
In-housing it worked just fine. A voltmeter showed that the harness
was only supplying about 8 V, into the high impedance of the
meter that is not too impressive. (The other marker light connection
showed battery voltage.) I opened the connector and the connection
looked good, so it's either the wire in the harness or the lamp-out
module that is faulty here. Will take a more involved session than
this one to chase this down.
I then tackle the oily nasty job of replacing the suspension
accumulators (spheres). The penetrant, at least, had worked. The
11mm and 17mm crow's-foot flare wrenches were necessary, as was a 17mm
backing wrench. A 13mm socket did for the three mounting bolts. I
cracked one pipe fitting and then caught oil in the jug until it
stopped streaming. Even relieved of pressure like that there was
still a lot of leakage when I removed it. What a mess! I dumped the
sphere into the jug, it seemed pretty full. I probed it with a
screwdriver and there was no sign of the diaphragm, the new Febi
sphere (123 320 02 15) had a prominent
something-or-other right in the main fitting. The old sphere was
obviously shot. It was fairly easy to replace, the secret there is to
get both fittings' threads started before mounting the sphere
to the car. You also have to first move the large compression fitting
from the old sphere to the new, and don't lose the copper sealing
washer! After that I tightened it all down, then moved to other side
to repeat the operation. The only hitch there was that the mounting
ear had gotten bent in storage on the new sphere, I had to remove it
from the car to bend it back to where it belonged. All in all I
recovered about 500 ml of oil, which I am supposed to be able to
reuse.
Last was the (123 320 09 89) sway-bar links. The hard
part there is getting the bolt started back into the brake backing
plate. Other than the tediousness of that job it's quite easy, all
you need is a 17mm socket and a 17mm open-end wrench. I then cleaned
things up and came inside for lunch. Starting and leak-checking can
wait 'til after that.
...Lunch accomplished I started the car and watched for leaks, nothing
obvious showed up so I took it off the jacks and out for a spin. It
drove properly, quietly, and I noticed nothing weird. (There were no
significant bumps upon which to test the rear suspension,
unfortunately.) When I got back I again looked for leaks, and saw
nothing, so I buttoned things up.
Now, the car had been leaking ATF while parked, so I checked
the level when I got back and found it a bit low, so I added 1/2
quart. The suspension tank level had dropped as the new accumulators
had charged, so I folded a piece of new shop towel into a clean funnel
and poured the recovered oil through it and back into the tank. Now
the level is a bit high, as might be expected under the circumstances,
but it should be OK.
I checked and topped off the AC charge. Seems fine, but couldn't get
it to drop below about 60 °F, and it wasn't all that hot out.
Odd. The center vent still seems to have a mind of its own.
...The transmission is definitely happier than it was. Worth
doing—so far, anyway.
The car's a lot quieter now.
I also removed the scratchy fader and washed it out with soap and
water, since it looked like it was full of dried coke/coffee, then I
blew it dry. I used a dab of white paint to refresh the center stripe
on it, let it dry, then used Deoxit fader spray on it.
I decided to try something I've been thinking about for years, I took
a surplus flat red illumination LED (from one of my son's destroyed
toys, in fact), and soldered its cathode lead to one of the ground
pins on the top of the DEF switch, positioned and aimed so it'll shoot
into the switch cap. (Lying right on top of the spring, just slightly
proud of the edge of the PCB where the switch cap won't quite bump
into it.) I wired the anode through a 680 Ohm resistor to the
X1-9 pin that goes to the monovalve. (The LED needs a bit over 2
volts, and I aimed to keep it at 20 mA or less, which would call
for a 500 Ohm resistor. 680 is what I had plenty of in the junk
box.) If this works there will be a detectable red glow behind the
DEF switch whenever the monovalve is unpowered, which means that heat
is applied. The LED will be powered through the monovalve, but at
only about 20 mA, not enough to affect the valve (I hope).
Energizing the monovalve, cutting off the hot water, will thus also
result in the anode of the LED being at cathode (ground) potential,
and no light. We'll see if this works. (I had hoped that I could use
the blue side [it was a dual] to tie to the AC compressor output, but
the LED had a common anode lead, and that won't work here. No real
problem, I was running out of time and needed the car, and I'm not
sure of what circuitry I would need for that anyway.)
Sadly, I managed to break the temperature control dial's housing while
taking things apart. I had to glue it back into place, which
I hate to do. I used some light dabs of Shoe Goo, hoping
that it'll hold yet be reversible if necessary.
The ashtray lamp was burned out, I replaced that while I was in there.
The secret to removing the 126 console panel (fader) is to pry out the
trim ring on the shifter first, it pins the console panel in place,
preventing it from sliding forwards and releasing from the rest of the
center console.
Driving off in the afternoon I could just see a dim red glow behind
the switch in the daylight, once up to temperature it started blinking
as expected. In the dark it was plenty prominent but not too bright,
we'll see if the blinking becomes a problem in time or not. The
heater was working perfectly, as it has not for the last year
or more. The monovalve is in the clear, assuming no further troubles.
Also today I experienced something new. The heater was off as it was
a mild evening, and then I heard a 'chunk' behind the dash, and I
started smelling, then feeling, heat. When I looked the monovalve LED
was on steadily and the recirculation LED was blinking. The ACC would
not respond to any control. After a bit I killed the engine
at a stop and restarted, and all was normal again. Obviously the ACC
had shut itself down and reverted to failsafe defrosting on ram air
alone, but that's sure a new one on me. The thing is, it didn't just
stop working, it knew that it had stopped working, and was
flashing the LED to call attention to itself. So what was so dire
that it thought it wasn't even worth trying to operate?
It's also been acting weird at cold-start, like it's not warmed up
enough and running with retarded timing for too long. So I tried to
clean up the connections to the other temperature sensors on the
engine. It was so cold, though, that I had real trouble with cracking
of vacuum lines, wiring insulation, etc. These things, fragile during
warm weather, were really bad. I don't know if I helped or not, I'll
be lucky if it still runs!
I did break off the EZL engine temperature connector shell, P/N
012 545 24 28 (internal #34611). I should get a new
one.
Today on the way home from work it completely cut out, at speed,
twice. (That's new.) I was able to pull out of traffic on momentum
and get it started again, then I made it home, with only the usual
amount of pissy behavior, bucking and snorting.
I'm thinking bad connection in the ignition system. Somewhere. That
covers a lot of ground, including the ignition switch, fuses, common
ground points. Also a whole lot of the innards of things like the
ignition module, coil, etc. (I recently put in
new plugs and spark wires.)
I hate gas cars.
I definitely need a new RH valve cover gasket, the old one is
rock-hard and leaking.
I put back everything I messed with yesterday. Yesterday's driving
did not show sufficient improvement, and in many ways it was worse.
It died a lot more than I'm used to.
While I was there I pushed on the air metering plate, and I felt a bit
of a scrape as it went down. Not good, the plate was not centered
properly. This has been a persistent problem, which I last worked
on three years ago. I removed the plate, and
cleaned it. The area is just a bit too dirty for my taste, I wonder
if there's something wrong with the air filter? Anyway, I fiddled
with the plate by hand to get it centered, using a bit of sticky clay
as a handle for shifting the plate while I used the wrench to loosen
and tighten the bolt. This is a very fussy operation. Once I got it
to a point where it doesn't seem to hang at all, and looked as
centered as I could make it, I tightened it down. It seemed to move
freely, without any scraping. I started the car, and it started and
ran well, so I guess we'll see. I put it all back together, ready to
go to work.
Eventually it started and ran for a couple of seconds, then died out.
It kept that up for awhile, then finally ran and took us home.
This intermittent crap is very annoying.
The temperature sensor was easy to replace, one 22mm wrench and done.
Fifteen minutes, tops, including removing the air cleaner and getting
out tools. The monovalve insert was a pain: for starters the
monovalve itself is a bit hard to reach between the firewalls of the
126, I had to move the diagnostic socket out of the way to gain enough
access. Worse, though, was that the new insert's body didn't fit down
into the coil! While tapping on it with a small hammer to drive it in
(and which was not working) I managed to break loose the retaining
clip at the end, which flew away. Oh, man... So I moved the new
rubber-equipped assemblage to the old valve insert, reusing its E-clip
retainer and spacer. That actually seemed to work out just fine.
(The new and old inserts looked identical in construction.) I guess
we'll see if it works afterwards... This took maybe a half hour. The
old monovalve insert diaphragm was torn completely free from the
insert. That's the worst one I've ever seen.
I then pulled the valve covers, the old gaskets were rock-hard and
cracking. (Hence, I hope, the smell of burning oil.) The job went
smoothly, but took about an hour, including picking cruft out of the
valve galleries where it fell in while removing the covers. I used
new copper crush washers.
...The car started readily and ran well enough. I don't think it's
running any better, but the heat was working correctly. Also I
believe that the engine temperature sensor is a bit more accurate as
to its operating point, so that is an improvement even though the
crappy running is not yet cured.
I tried to use the Harbor Freight fuel pressure test kit, but it's
wonky, not well documented, and the fittings leak. Looks like many
were only assembled hand-tight. It'll take more time than I have
today. I did get an 85–90PSI reading off of it,
once. While I was there I noticed a fuel line that was starting to
come loose, it wanted to leak when disturbed. I secured it better.
...After it had dried most of the day I slipped it back into place.
With all the mounting ears working, I suspect it'll stay in place now.
I made a diagnostic appointment today at a nearby Euro-centric shop.
It'll be Monday, June 6, 2015, at
8 AM. I need to make them a list:
Symptoms:
Runs ratty, seems to be 'misfiring' a lot. Or equivalent. Often will
die while idling at a light, sometimes when giving it throttle to take
off. Occasionally when running down the road the engine cuts off like
the ignition switch was flipped. (This is actually pretty rare, but
highly disturbing when it does happen.) Usually it'll start running
again on its own in a second or so, before significant forward speed
is lost. (I.e. push-started on momentum, which does work on
these cars, if you're going fast enough.) Not always, then I have to
re-start it. Sometimes it doesn't want to, but if I'm patient I can
get it going again. Weak acceleration, surge-y. Worst just off idle.
Usually have to feather the throttle off of idle, else it can die.
(It's possible that dying at idle is caused when the misfire [?]
causes the RPM to drop too low, the idle actuator tries too hard in
reaction, and the thing dies just as it might if I goosed the throttle
too hard. But this is an uncertain conclusion.) Seems to be getting
slowly worse with time.
Used to be that heavy acceleration felt normal, now it rarely does.
Fuel economy is 'normal'. Behavior is worst in cold weather, when the
car is warmed up. Cold starts are generally pretty reliable, though
prolonged cranking and a reluctant firing is the norm. Fuel pump
sounds normal. Was completely unable to be started at all in mid
winter, ether was useless. Cold-started in warm weather it's on its
best behavior. Such as it is. Running is actually at its worst just
before the engine temperature gets high enough to engage normal spark
timing, especially when it's colder out. Behavior is generally
variable, not consistent. There are no codes thrown on the pulse
reader under the hood. Spraying carb cleaner around is inconclusive.
Sometimes it seems to react, but then it'll act just the same on its
own. And sometimes it does not seem to react. Maddening.
Things I've done (and did it help or not):
Plugs recently checked, they still look great. So there's not an
oil-fouling problem like I've had on other cars.
So, what I'm looking for is a diagnosis of what definitely needs
addressing, so that I don't waste time and money shotgunning. I may
or may not want to be doing the repairs myself, depending on what
is found, and the estimates.
Parts like the ignition module are very pricey, so I'd first
be looking at good used for that.
...Big surprise, it was not done at the end of the day. Had to call
my wife for a ride home.
...On the way to and from work the car certainly seems to be running
better. More time will tell.
It is possible that the light and everything else is just in reaction
to the sub-par RPM being detected. That could be misfire, etc.
I ordered a new Beru ZLE 121 from Kinsgsborne, about $10. They still
had a few in the back, apparently these aren't commonly used anymore.
I tried to charge the AC, but the compressor would never start.
The oil smoke seems to be coming from the valley of the engine, not
off the exhaust manifolds. It's hard to be sure, though. The big leak
at the chain tensioner seems to be cured.
...
The new aspirator seems to work. A couple of good driving sessions
with the AC on today showed that the fan speed dropped to pretty low
once the setpoint had been reached. I can finish putting the car
back together now.
This is so not a winter car!
I then cleaned off and removed the neutral safety switch, which has
been intermittently bad for a long time. With luck I can clean it up
and not need to buy a new one.
To try to protect the new driver's-side mount from oil I cut a square
of a heavy aluminum sheet (from the corner of a Costco lasagne pan) to
make a 'hat' for the mount. I formed it over the new mount while it
was on the ground, and poked a hole in the center for the bolt with a
big screwdriver. Before lowering the engine back onto the new mounts
I slipped the hat over the mount. This may or may not help, but it
was free and didn't take much time.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Jill reports the car is still dying at idle, but much less frequently.
I drove, at lunch, and it died a couple of times on me when we started
out. (But not thereafter.) Yeah, there's still something going on,
though it's a lot better than it was.
Friday, April 27, 2012
I checked the plate's position again, and I thought I heard a faint
'ping' as I pushed it down. I loosened the bridge and I didn't seem
to hear it anymore, so I wonder if there was some distortion of the
air horn that caused a small catch? I left the bridge screws only
slightly tight, we'll see if that makes any difference. I also aired
the tires on the left side, which seem to have leaks, probably rim
leaks, and I topped up the coolant level.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Another quart of coolant. (Water, this time.) Still going down?
That's not good.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Still mostly behaving. The tranny was slipping on corners and I found
it a bit low so I put in 1/2 quart. I wonder if it's still leaking?
This is the first time I have checked the level since the
operation. It's possible that it's being sucked out the vacuum
modulator.
Friday, May 11, 2012
I stopped at Les Schwab this afternoon and had the leaking LF tire
dealt with. Bad chrome listed as the cause.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Yesterday I bought some fluorescent dye for the cooling system at
NAPA, about $2, and this morning I poured it in and washed it in with
a bit of water. (I also bought another jug of G-05.)
Friday, June 1, 2012
The front doors have been creaking, so I thought I'd try something
that is occasionally successful: I washed the door with Simple Green
where it meets the heating duct and the sill trim, then smeared on a
very light coating of Vaseline.
Monday, June 11, 2012
The car vomited a great gout of coolant underneath itself today at
work. Green tint was all over that rear corner of the engine, but
still no obvious source. Spray? Vaporization? When I got home after
work there was no sign of leakage, and I pried on the hose that is
there, engine running, but no drips or sprays. The 19mm bolt head in
that corner was also tight. Very puzzling!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Good news and bad news. I finally caught it leaking coolant when I
got home from work. I popped the hood and was staring down at the
(dry) back of the engine, wondering what to do about this intermittent
problem, when "Psssst" a pencil-lead-sized stream started spraying out
the side of the rubber hose that connects the back of the engine to
the HVAC stuff between the firewalls, onto the engine! So it's that
hose, and not the head, etc., that has been the problem. The bad news
was that my attempt to relieve the pressure in the cooling system to
prevent further coolant loss went awry when my fingers slipped and the
cap shot off and down next to the hot engine where I couldn't retrieve
it easily. I had to watch an expensive coolant geyser pretty much
empty the cooling system over the next half minute or so, vomiting
gouts of bright fluorescent green all over the place.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Ordered parts. Coolant hose, suspension spheres, one jug of the oil,
plastic drag links. Also plastic connector shells for the idle air
actuator and coolant temperature sensor to replace the broken ones.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
The parts came Thursday, all but the oil, and today I went to install
the hose. 126 832 28 94. After I removed the
obscuring ABS controller I could see immediately that this was the
wrong hose! This hose is for the left side of the engine,
the faulty one is on the right side. Crap. I removed the
faulty hose and could see the pinhole in it, it would ooze green
coolant when squeezed, like a pinprick. I will have to order the
correct hose, now that I know exactly what it's supposed to look like
maybe I'll get it right. I haven't decided whether to return the
wrong one or not, the other hose might not be far behind failure-wise.
(This is a harsh environment, there at the back of the engine.)
Monday, June 25, 2012
I ordered the correct hose. It's only about a $6 item, a far cry from
the other (more complicated) hose!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
I relieved the pressure on the suspension system this morning, an
11 mm wrench and my clutch bleeder hose was all that was
necessary. About 150 ml of fluid came out before it reached the
drip stage, I used one of the empty fluid bottles to catch it.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Yesterday the hose came, so I installed it this morning. I used
Simple Green to lubricate the rubber so it went on easily, and it was
a fairly straightforward process except, of course, that you can't get
a screwdriver or a socket onto the inboard hose clamp. A 7 mm
open-end wrench did the job, though slowly. I then poured the
remainder of the jug of G-05 into the reservoir, maybe 3/4 of a
gallon, and then a similar amount of water. Only a little water went
into the reservoir, I poured the remainder down into the upper
radiator hose. Once that started spilling out, of both the hose and
the radiator neck where I held them mostly together, I closed the hose
back up. That's the easiest way to eliminate the air bubble in the
head. I did not run the engine to check for leaks, because I
don't want to repressurize the suspension system yet.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
I installed the new connector shells on the idle air valve and the
temperature sensor. As I found the car they were not the same kind of
shells at all, but the ordered replacements both turned out to be
011 545 71 28, which fit and work. The idle valve's
connector had been one of these, before leprosy set in, but the other
one had been (incorrectly?) a Kindermann 9656. The new connector fits
better, it latches on correctly.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
The RR tire was very low today, I need to have that one looked at.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Jill has been reporting that the car will now die while on the road
lately (not just while starting out or stopped at a light), probably
when the throttle is let off. I checked the fit of the air metering
plate, and it seems fine, both hot and 'cold'. Theorizing that the
idle air valve (solenoid) might be biased too much towards 'slow'
(when I adjusted it) I removed it and tapped
the plug inwards a tetch. It still responds well on the bench, and in
the car it was still able to idle at an appropriate speed. We'll see
if this improves things, it may be that there's something else wrong,
such as standard tune-up measures or the like.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
We haven't been driving this car, but we wanted it today and so
I resurrected it. The tranny had leaked down, I ended up putting
in 2 quarts of ATF before it started moving around normally. Not
too cool, actually.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Today I noticed that the temperature gauge was stuck on the bottom
peg. When I hit a bump, or stopped quickly it popped back up. Sender
connection problem? In the evening the heat cut off, matching the
gauge. (It's been intermittently weak lately.) I figured it was just
the used monovalve joining the party, but as it
could also be a highly destructive low coolant issue I stopped to
check that. It wasn't, but it's best to be sure.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
I put the battery on charge, it was thirsty.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Spring is basically here, and it's long past time to deal with that
pesky RF tire that goes flat in a couple of days. I've been airing it
all winter, and I'd even gone so far as to put the jack under it to
save the tire from getting squashed. Today I took it off, and fought
with the crappy HF tire changer until I got the tire off the wheel. I
chalked the valve stem location on the tire before I removed it. The
weird thing was that there was a 1/4" BB rolling around inside the
tire. The leakage problem was, of course, the classic flaking of the
chrome on the wheel, so I used the wire brush to clean the mounting
flanges, painted them, and put the wheel in the shop oven to dry.
(14" wheels will let the door close, 15" wheels will not.
Sucky. I used some sheet metal strips to block the worst of the gap
at the top of the door, maybe cut the power bill a little bit.)
Friday, April 19, 2013
The paint was dry and I reinstalled the tire. That was
harder than taking it off had been! I got it back on, though, and
clocked back where it had come off, and with the wheel weight
installed back in the same place. It aired up fine, and I put it back
on the car. We'll see how/if it holds up. I also put the car on
charge, maybe tomorrow I can start driving it.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
The tire held air well, and so I aired the others and started the car.
No problems. It didn't want to move, however, and a quart of ATF did
the trick there. Definitely need a rebuilt transmission, maybe soon?
It's also long past time to change the oil. Anyway, the car is ready
to go except for license tags, which I can pick up Monday.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
I was surprised to see that I hadn't changed the oil in 11kmi! The
low-oil indicator was on, but I knew that the oil needed changing so I
hadn't topped it off. Urgh. I changed the oil today, though I was
bad and did not change the filter too.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
I put in a bottle of Trans-X (by K&W) tranny snake oil, it's
supposed to clean and swell seals, which I think is more what this
transmission is needing rather than a viscosity modifier like Lucas.
We'll see. ($8.14. The guy at NAPA said it's what the tranny rebuild
guys put in if the rebuilt was expected to sit unused on the shelf for
awhile.) I put in a bit more ATF too, it's been acting low.
Friday, May 17, 2013
The last few days, and especially yesterday, the rear brakes have been
making some horrid intermittent screeching as we roll along. Rock?
Seemed worse than that, and it hung on for two days with some freeway
trips thrown in, so it's time to take a look. I jacked it up and
removed the wheel, and found what appears to be The World's Hardest
Rock™: a little piece of half-flat pea gravel caught between
the disc and the backing plate. Who knows how much longer it would
have held on before finally disintegrating.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Yesterday, on my road trip back from Spencer's memorial service, the
engine sounded noisy, like the air pump was running. When I stopped
and checked it looked like it was running, so I disconnected
the plug to it which made no difference. Today I checked, and the
clutch is all messed up. Air pumps (a.k.a. smog pumps) aren't rated
for very many operating hours since they're only run for a minute or
so at cold start, so I just removed the belt and called it good.
While I was there I noticed that the top shock mounts were loose, the
rubber mounts had collapsed and the nuts were out of travel on the
shaft. I rustled up a second set of collapsed mounts and put them on
too, which tightened things up.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Back from a week's vacation, and the car didn't want to really move
forwards or backwards. I checked the fluid level and it was OK, and
after that it started moving a bit. Once moving normally there were
no more problems in that it acted the same as before. Weird!
Saturday, September 28, 2013
The heater's still not very functional, and lately I've been hearing
clicking behind the dash when it's acting up. I've been relying on
the seat heaters for comfort. But enough is enough, it's resoldering
time! (It's also possible that the used monovalve insert has finally
failed, too.) I removed the ACC controller and resoldered it. I
first used the Dremel wire brush to remove what oxidation and crud
that I could from the PCB. The secret here, as usual on these, is to
scrape the reluctant leads with the hot iron until the solder sticks
better. The two-lead components seem to be the worst for this, the
IC's are all usually fine.
Friday, October 4, 2013
The heater's been working pretty well, certainly better than it did,
but I wonder if it's completely right yet. At times the heat seems
weak, yet the monovalve is being cycled. The fan speed is higher than
it ought to be at those times, probably because the core temperature
is lower than it should be. Could the monovalve itself be a bit bad,
too, and not always letting through the gush of heat it should?
Friday, November 22, 2013
The engine temperature gauge has been flaking out a lot lately, so I
popped the hood and had a look. The wire pulled right out of the
connector, it had corroded through. I cut off a bit and removed some
insulation, scraped it off with a knife, and soldered the connector
back on. I was very careful when taking apart the plastic shell not
to break it. It was in the teens outside, rather cold, so I used the
hot 85W iron to do the work, I don't think the regular size could have
managed it. The insulation on the wire was very brittle, I slipped an
inch or so of heat-shrink over it before putting it all back together.
I also used a dot of Deoxit on the pin.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Finally we've had a conjunction of cold and wet; snow and ice
are here. Time to retire this car in favor of the Frankenheap. I'll miss the seat heaters!
It's been running so poorly when it's cold, though, that I might not
miss it much.
Friday, January 31, 2014
With the wreck of the Frankenheap I needed to drive another car.
I tried to get this one started, but it would do naught but cough,
even with ether. Must be a spark problem. Too bad I wasted all
that time shoveling it out and getting the snow off of it. It never
did like the cold.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Time to put away the Frankenheap for the
year, and time to get this one going again. I put the battery on
charge, jacked up the passenger side very high, then aimed the
kerosene-fired torpedo heater under there at the engine. I let it
cook for 20 minutes, and it started right up. No problems. It
was low on ATF again, said the puddle under it, so I put in a quart.
After that it would move again. I replaced the one bad windshield
wiper with one of my NOS Trico spares, and buttoned everything up.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Car's running pretty ratty, so when I got home I left it running 'til
I could pop the hood and assemble the tools. I then killed the motor
and pulled all the spark plugs while it was hot. (I had tried this
last year, cold, but they seemed pretty seriously stuck and I didn't
want to risk stripping out the holes.) Some of them came out tough,
but they all came out. I sprayed each one with PB Blaster before
putting the (cold) wrench on them. I guess it helped, because they
all came out without damage. I didn't look at them too closely, but
#8 was pretty sooty.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
As #8 was fouled, and the EGR seems to feed back around there, I
checked it. Seems to pass my .410 gauge test now. I sandblasted the
worst two plugs and put them back in, with a bit of anti-sieze this
time, and went for a drive. (I note that these were all resistor
plugs, and should not be.) No difference, still running like crap. I
parked and left it idling, and momentarily pulled off the wires on the
1–4 side, each reacted. When I pulled off #8 there was no
difference, so I shut it down and got out the multimeter. Its plug
wire was open-circuit. Others were equally bad on the meter, but I
know that at least some spark was getting through some of
them. It's time for new plugs and wires! I pulled them all out of
the car. I had a junkyard set, Bosch, but they didn't fit right, and
if anything were worse on the meter.
Friday, April 18, 2014
An uexpected day off, and all the parts are here, time to fix! First
was tbe new non-resistor spark plugs. NOS Bosch W9DC0's, apparently
NLA. $28. There are alternatives, but these are the 'real deal'. #2
was a problem, it wouldn't seat all the way. I think the PO had not
seated it fully, and the threads are all clogged. I took one of the
old plugs and ground a slot in it with the Dremel, then used it as a
tap to clean it out, with PB Blaster as a lube. Quite a number of
insertions, twisting in against scary resistance, and then removal and
cleaning finally got the thing to seat, then I put in the new plug.
Next were the new Beru wires, $159. The original wires had # labels,
but they are non-transferrable. They also were sleeved, and more
customized as to length. I installed the new wires, and used
inner-tube rubber and tie-wraps to make protective sleeves. Getting
access to the coil to replace that wire was difficult, but I
eventually prevailed. Next was the four dead rubber air hoses (two on
the valve covers and two on the idle air valve) and the mount for the
idle air valve. They were no real problem. #116-094-07-91 $14.50,
#117-094-08-82 $5.75, #117-094-09-82 $11.50, and #117-094-12-82 $7,
all OE. The standoff was aftermarket, $4.50. After this I hit the
key and the car started right up, and idled fairly well, much
better than before. I had to put in some more ATF before the car
would move, but that's not unusual. All this took about three hours.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
In the last few weeks I've been noticing a slight squeal from the
right side of the car, perhaps from the rear. In the last couple of
days it started making a scraping noise, brakey in nature, and so
today I got a chance to jack it up and have a look. The bad noise was
easy, there was a nicely glazed half-rock lodged in the caliper. The
more subtle noise is worse: the wheel bearing is going out. This is
distressing, because I'd had it replaced
approximately five years and 23,000 miles ago. I suppose it's long
past the warrantee, but still.... I had expected it to last the
remaining life of the car.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Dropped the car off at the shop. Needs another new RR wheel bearing,
and tranny rebuild. Fernando does his own rebuilds, let's hope it's
good. (Says he was factory trained in Germany.) Here are the
symptoms as I recall them:
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
The shop called, he's put a used transmission in, from a donor with
about 130,000 miles on it, and says it's working great. He suspects
that the wheel bearing may only be loose, so he's going to check into
that. Still waiting for a seal of some sort, otherwise.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
I picked up the car. $1500 for a used transmission and the rear wheel
bearing tightened. Maybe not a great deal, but it's the one I had.
The car seems to drive normally again. I did have to reset the clock
and apply the radio code, apparently they had to disconnect the
battery at some point.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
The car has been running worse and worse lately. Intermittently.
Feels like a misfire at low RPM's, it's pretty much fine when revved
up. It's back to dying at times when trying to start out. I believe
I smell gas when it's acting up. Frustrating, especially after just
putting a transmission in it.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
I finally had an opportunity to dig into the car a little bit. With
the air cleaner removed I found that the EHA valve is leaking. I went
to my used stash and got another one, along with two used O-rings for
it. I also unplugged the 4-pin temperature sensor and the cold-start
valve, I've been thinking the sensor might be malfunctioning, causing
intermittent timing degredation. We'll see if all this makes any
difference on the next trip out. The CEL light is now coming on,
methinks it is not happy! Plugging the sensor back in while it's
running results in a lower, lumpy idle RPM.
Monday, November 10, 2014
It snowed a bit last night, and this morning it was 30°F out there.
I believe our unseasonably-warm Fall is over!
nMonday, November 17, 2014
Car wouldn't start in the morning. It was 18°F, not as cold as
other times when it started fine. Came back at noon, when it had
moved up to around freezing, and still no go. Starting fluid made no
difference. Would cough occasionally, but no real fire. Sigh...
I really want to be driving the Frankenheap,
but I haven't had the time to get it ready to go again. I used the
truck instead.
Monday, February 9, 2015
I started driving this car again. It started OK now that the cold
winter weather seems to be over. It doesn't run very well at times,
and it smells very gassy.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
I ordered a new EHA fuel valve from AutohausAZ. $266.04, ouch!
The one that's on there is leaking gasoline onto the top of the
engine, so it definitely needs replacing. Used valves from the
junkyard aren't a particularly good value!
Friday, March 13, 2015
The parts came yesterday, so today I installed the EHA valve. Bosch
part number F 026 T03 002, with associated numbers 453
and 250. It fit nicely, and matched in size and shape. I used the
new O-rings that came with it, but kept the old slotted screws instead
of using the new Torx screws that came with it. It didn't seem to
leak any when I ran up the fuel pressure, so that's good. Let's hope
that this cures the gassy smell, and the fire hazard.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Today the car wouldn't start to take us back home from the restaurant.
Somebody stopped to help, we poked at the engine for awhile. He had a
screwdriver, and so we could see we had spark. Fuel pump was running,
could hear it. Air metering flap was definitely springy, so there was
fuel pressure. Once in awhile the car would cough, but that was it.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
My parts order from Autohaus AZ came yesterday. Two new Elring valve
cover gaskets, 116 016 05 21 and
116 016 06 21, $5.62 each, 8 copper crush gaskets for
the valve covers, $2, a Beru 008 542008 32008 170E
4-wire CIS/fan coolant temperature sensor, $26.97, and a nasty MTC
monovalve insert, $15.35.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
The neighbors told me that a taillight was out. I have been in the
habit of disregarding the lamp-out warning indicator because there is
an intermittent in the RR side marker, but that doesn't mean that
there are not other problems! I found the 10W bulb burnt out on the
RR, though oddly that pesky side marker was working again. While I
was there I noticed that the LR bulb seemed dim, and it turned out
that it was not the correct 10W bulb, so I replaced it too. One of
the license lamps was also out, that was a 5W cartridge lamp. There,
all better! (All three replaced from the junk box.)
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
The wretched lamp-out warning system has annoyed me for the last time,
it again was warning me of the RR side marker light being
out. (Which it was.) I looked it up, and the part
(126 542 01 32) is easily reachable as it is located
within the fuse box. It just unplugs. I opened it up with a couple
of screwdrivers, prying the plastic shell away from the plug assembly,
and exposed the two coupled circuit boards. It was readily apparent
that the solder joints to the connectors were degrading, so I
resoldered all of them. When reinstalled into the car the pesky
marker lamp was working again. This is like a 1/2-hour job, soup to
nuts. Time will tell if this is truly fixed, and with no bad
side-effects, but I am confident that this has cured the problem for
now.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
I reattached the driver's door speaker cover that had started to come
loose. It has a broken plastic clip or two that let it be pulled
loose, but it seems intact enough to mostly stay in place.
Friday, May 22, 2015
The speaker cover popped loose again within the first day, so I
removed it again and used Shoe Goo to try to patch some of the cracks
in the plastic that seem to be allowing it to deform under the stress
of slamming the door. I also found the broken-off ear inside the
door, so I'm trying to glue that back too.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
I'm thinking of having a professional engine diagnosis done, but
before that I need to check the plugs. They're still good, excellent
even. So I don't have a fouling problem. While I was there I lubed
the throttle linkage, it was starting to get a bit sticky.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
The oil was very low. I checked, and it wasn't time to change it,
so I added 2 quarts. There's a slow leak, somewhere.
Monday, June 8, 2015
I dropped the car off for diagnosis, and rode my bike (stowed in the
trunk) to work from there.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
I picked up the car. The charge was $154.79, for 1.6 hours of time.
They said that the fuel pressure was fine, at
90–93PSI, but it is noteworthy that they did not
check the delivery rate. The intake system smoke test showed leaks
from the injector seals and the intake gaskets. The ignition voltage
was 6–7kV, but #5 was 7–16kV. This reading followed the
plug wire when they moved it to #6, so one of my new plug wires is bad.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Acting on a hunch, I cut apart the bad wire's plug end. That was
tedious, and I found that the 1kOhm resistor inside was open-circuit.
I rigged a piece of iron wire in its place and taped it back up. That
should hold until I can find a replacement. (Beru ZLE 121.) I
moved it back to #5. While running the engine I heard clicking on the
passenger-side fender whenever the RPM dropped, and there was a vacuum
switch there that was operating under those conditions. When I tried
to pull off the hoses to see how it liked that the aged rubber joints
fell apart, so I replaced them with some good ones from the junkbox.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
The car definitely is running better, but has a new symptom: The RPM
drops, almost dies, and the CEL flashes on then off. It acts like the
idle actuator kicks in and the engine surges up and then back to idle,
and then everything's back to normal. If your foot is only lightly on
the brake the car will lurch forward a bit, too. The flickering light
can happen more than once per second, and no codes are thrown. This
is weird.
Friday, June 19, 2015
I re-resoldered the OVP, and used Deoxit on every contact, internal
and external. No difference. Worth a shot, anyway!
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
The plug end came yesterday. I installed it this morning, it seems to
work. It went on with more difficulty than I'd like, the rubber
sleeve is tight.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Went to drive the car today, it was colder and the thing didn't really
want to start. (It has always been cold-blooded.) Naturally it
smelled a bit gassy at the start. But it kept smelling
gassy, enough that I finally stopped and popped the hood before I got
on the freeway. The engine backfired a bit as I opened the hood, and
it smelled very gassy. Up goes the hood. Yikes! There was
a gasoline fountain inside the engine compartment, arching back over
to the brake booster. The fuel supply line had split at the engine
end. I killed the engine, and used the tools in the trunk to remove
the hose clamp, then I cut off a couple inches of hose and reinstalled
it. (It was overlong, really.) That hose did not look bad when I
last looked it over, but it was clearly not up to the job.
Fortunately disaster was averted and there was no fire, and we weren't
even delayed very long.
Friday, March 25, 2016
On the cross-state drive Tuesday the car was pulling quite a bit. The
worn tires were seriously chewed. I took it to Les Schwab, and they
determined that 3 of 4 tie-rod ends were bad. I had them repair that
and align it, which was about $300, and then new tires were about
another $400. Sure drove nicely afterwards, though.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
The AC wasn't working, and I checked the charge. Zero residual
pressure. I vacuumed it and it seemed OK, but a test pressurization
with propane showed that it leaks down some from around
100 PSI in minutes. I sprayed soapy water around
what was easily reachable, with no results. My last record of charge
was in 2012, so I tried to charge it, but
the compressor wouldn't start. ACC panel? (It's been acting up
lately.) Klima? Will definitely take more digging.
Monday, September 5, 2016
Long past time for some maintenance, I changed the oil and filter.
Sludge! The suspension oil tank was empty, I put in my last quart of
Febi. I only have one 560 oil filter left, I'll need to get more.
I noticed that the oil pressure gauge pegs on key-on, I suspect that
it is not working right. I'll have to look into that. Short?
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Driving to work today and all the dash lamps came on. Uh-oh! When I
got to work and popped the hood I found the alternator belt laying on
the inner fender. I left work early enough to have light, and stopped
at NAPA to buy a new belt. A little over $5. But, I wasn't able to go
even a block after that, the car wouldn't stay running. I pushed it into
the Les Schwab store right there, and they were kind enough to install
it. Gratis, but they suggested I bring donuts. No problem!
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
I went to take the car in to have it worked on, and found the battery
exploded! (Split down the side, all the caps blown off, etc.) I
guess I left it on charge too long. A Die-Hard, so it's been in there
since I got the car. I stole the battery out of the
Frankenheap so that I could drive it in
to Fernando at Motortech.
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Yesterday he called. Said that he tried swapping out the fuel
distributor, but no joy. He tried a coil swap, and said it cured it.
He strongly suggested a new fuel pump relay, as that is
almost always responsible for the sudden death symptom and was cheap.
I've seen photos of these, it looks like a good resoldering is likely
to bear fruit. I'll try that first. We picked up the car today, it
started and drove well. Started easily, idled smoothly and didn't
misfire, and didn't die if you stepped on it too hard. $278.60. When
I got it home I pulled out the fuel pump relay, which is located
between the firewalls. P/N 003 545 25 05, also marked
"[02] KR0002 KPR" and "05 3702 40". The RTV seal around the
shell was decomposing, I was able to rub it all away with my thumb.
Prying it open revealed pretty much what I expected: two relays, two
power transistors, a Microchip PIC16C54-10, and a LM2903N, plus the
usual small transistors, diodes, and other components. Several of the
solder joints were looking a bit grainy, so I resoldered the entire
board. When reinstalled in the car, it ran, so I guess I did no harm,
at least.
Friday, May 12, 2017
Yesterday I pulled the broken passenger-side sunvisor clip out,
cleaned it with brake cleaner, and glued it back together with Shoe
Goo. I put it back in this morning, and it works. The electrical
connections for the mirror light are a bit flakey, but otherwise it's
an improvement. The other side's clip is cracked, but still holding.
Saturday, May 27, 2017
I pulled the oily/dirty chain tensioner off and cleaned it. It looks
to me like there is no oil seal inside the big cap screw. I threw an
R20 from my Harbor Freight kit in there and put it back together.
We'll see if that makes any difference on the oil leaking out in the
area.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
I resoldered the Klima relay. It's a long shot, and it really looked
pretty good inside. The problem likely lies elsewhere, probably in
the PBU.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
I pulled the Klima again, and used a hot iron to touch up the
few large pins that looked less than perfect, then I vacuumed the
system and tried again to charge the AC. I think the problem is that
the low-pressure fitting doesn't open properly. I cranked it down
very hard with vise-grips, and was finally able to get it to open
enough to take a charge. After a lot of fooling around I was able to
get vent temperatures down to 47°F, which while not great ought to
be acceptable.
Thursday, July 20, 2017
I was pretty sure the aspirator motor wasn't running anymore, which
will definitely lead to HVAC control problems, so I pulled it. Yep,
it's spastic and doesn't want to spin. The resistor inside looks all
burned. It's only been six years since I last
worked on it. I ordered a new (used) one off eBay, about $23.
P/N 000 830 96 08.
Monday, July 24, 2017
The 'new' aspirator showed up. It's clearly used, and has a different
part number than what I ordered. The plug is different, and would not
mate correctly. I tested it, and it does run, quietly, and pulls
0.10" of water according to my Magnahelic gauge. It did come with
its mating plug, so I should be able to fabricate something out of the
old motor and that plug so that this fan can go into the car. I'm not
pleased, though!
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
I cut the connector out of the old aspirator and soldered it to the
plug wires on the replacement, then installed the mess into the car.
I put the knee bolster back too, that's safer for any passenger.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Put the car back together. Somehow I ended up missing a screw, and
I had to scrounge in the parts bucket to find a suitable one.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Some time ago the lamp-out warning lit, and it was a brake lamp. On
the road I swapped bulbs with the reverse lamp. Today I finally got
around to replacing the bad bulb.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
The heat control has been flaky for some time, and as things cool down
it's getting more critical. Just the lightest touch on the control
wheel would make it cut in and out. (The monovalve LED I added some time ago is really crucial for
this kind of diagnostic.) Today I finally made some time and removed
the ACC panel. I removed the potentiometer from the PCB and opened it
up. It's custom, no way to come up with a replacement, except out of
another unit. I cleaned it out, and used DeOxIt fader spray on it,
and did a very light wire-brushing of the circular tracks and the
sliding metal fingers. According to my meter, the resistance change
is smooth, with no intermittency. We'll see if this works any better.
While I was there I added another LED, this one for showing AC
energization, behind the center button. I used the other LED from the
same toy, but used the blue side for this function. I used another
680 Ohm resistor from the junk box, and hooked the series
combination between the X1-7 (Klima) pin and power. Also, one of the
two illumination lamps was intermittent, so I replaced it with a new
one. All this took a little over two hours. On the test drive today
it behaved well, but as it was a warm day nothing much was proven. The
next cold morning drive should be more definitive.
Monday, February 19, 2018
Oops! A moment of inattention and a sunny patch on the mashed
12°F snow drifts in the corners and all of a sudden I'm into the
guard rail. Well, the car used to be pretty. Gouged up the
passenger side front and back fenders, both doors, and broke out the
sides of both the front and back lights. Had to get Jill to come with
the X5 and a rope to pull me out of there.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
I removed the broken front turn signal amd gathered up my bag of
shards and some glue, and reconstructed it as best I could. I used
clear packing tape to cover the holes. Looks.... tolerable.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
The front lens turned out well enough, so I did the rear too. As
before, looks.... tolerable.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
I bought new headlight doors, URO. The old ones had looked bad for
years, and recently chunks started falling out. About $96 shipped,
took about an hour to install. You don't need to remove the
headlights, but you do need to remove the turn signals. They are
clearly much more cheaply made than the Bosch originals, but look
good enough, and a lot better than the old ones did!
Sunday, May 6, 2018
The rear end had been getting noiser in recent months, I finally had a
chance to jack it up and check the oil level. Perhaps a bit low, but
not scary low. I had some M1 gear oil I'd bought on clearance, I shot
some in until it started running out, then capped it. It definitely
seems quieter now.
Monday, May 21, 2018
I was at the U-Pull looking for a bolt for the truck's tailgate, and
ran across a 300SE, white. I grabbed the side lights I'd glued
together ($20), the front fender ($36), and the rear deck speaker
grilles and center stop light. These were about $17, and
are not broken, though they are grey and not cream beige. I
wonder if the FLAPS has a reasonably-close plastic paint match?
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
I bought the front door too, $46. The rear door would have been nice
to have too, but it's too short.
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Charged the AC, was only getting about a 10°F cooling effect. It
took forever, I think the low-side Schrader valve is sub-optimal.
Afterwards we got 48°F vent temperatures on a 90-degree day. The
last recorded charge was in 2009, so that's not
an unreasonable leak rate.
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Tried to move the car down below and out of sight, for political
reasons, but I couldn't get it started. I was getting close when the
starter decided to stop engaging, and now only whirs ineffectually.
Sunday, January 10, 2021
It still wouldn't start, even after I dragged/pushed the car in front
of the garage where I could jack it up to gain good access to the
starter, and banged on it good with the BFH. All it would do was
whir. Pisses me off that I'm going to have to buy a starter to put
into a car I want to turn around and sell, but I don't see any other
reasonable option.
Saturday, April 17, 2021
I got the starter removed, took about 1.5 hours. What a messy,
greasy, PITA. At least the weather was nice. NAPA had one,
remanufactured and not Bosch, for $117.99 with an $82.50 core charge.
Not in town, it had to be ordered.
Thursday, May 6, 2021
I installed the new starter today. It was, as usual, a greasy PITA,
but was fairly straightforward. The car started instantly, with under
one second of cranking. (It was a warm day.)
Friday, May 7, 2021
I drilled out the rivets and opened up the NSS. I cleaned it out,
cleaned the contacts with DeOxIt, and lubed the cam surfaces with
grease. I used small machine screws to put it back together, and
reinstalled it on the car. Seems to work fine. I moved the car down
below out of sight for now.
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
I put the battery on charge, it was flat, flat, flat. Due to
the 190D breakdown, we might be
needing this car, temporarily.
[Through March 12.]
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
I started it and brought it up top. I put it on charge again, as it
wasn't done, and cleaned off the windblown mud and pine needles. The
two rear rubber exhaust donuts were gone, so I grabbed a couple of
used ones from the pile and put them on.
Thursday, March 3, 2022
Licensed. Drove it to pick up Daniel.
Friday, September 8, 2023
I stopped by the U-Pull, and
picked up a taillight ($14.18) and a fan assembly ($18.90 for clutch
and blade) from a W126 380SE. (Fee-free, as I was actually there to
get something else.)
Sunday, September 10, 2023
I ordered two new Lemforder motor mounts and a crappy aftermarket
neutral safety switch (NSS), from Pelican Parts.
(The earlier NSS repair didn't 'take'.) If I
put all this recently-collected stuff on the car it should be fully
driveable again.
Monday, October 9, 2023
I installed the new $16.50 NSS today, which is predicted to be the
last good-weather day. Giant PITA, simply because you can't quite
reach anything except with fingertips, and it's all very oily. But,
it seems to work. The cheapie switch looks just like the old one,
except the electrical contacts are much cruder looking, and one of
them wanted to push into the switch body unless great care was taken.
Thursday, October 19, 2023
A beautiful day, I installed the new $41.74 Febi motor mounts. (What
came off were Meyle, what I'd ordered were Lemforder, what I got were
Febi.) What a greasy PITA! Here are the steps:
This took me a solid 2 hours. It shouldn't take that long. The
driver's-side mount was extremely oily, and falling apart. It was
completely collapsed. The passenger-side mount was also completely
collapsed, but still intact. The engine sits at least ½" higher
than it did.
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Put it in storage, and put a Battery MINDer on it.