OWNER nocfn

[gerryvz]

That greenish gummy stuff in there is interesting. Never seen that before. Not a surprise on the liquid gasket stuff, though it is not specified nor needed. Only the paper gasket for that top water pump housing is really needed.

Make sure you install the new thermostat with the nipple in the 12 o'clock position. Did you buy a new short-hose to the intake manifold? Those are MUCH cheaper than the M117 equivalents !!!

You should consider getting a spare lower radiator hose, if you don't have one. Though they don't fail very often, it is a very specialized hose that is specific to the .034 and .036. The last one I got and installed was August, 2019 production. It's one of those items that I don't know how much longer it will be produced. I have MB spares of the upper hose and the 90-degree thermostat housing hose.

In the 4-5 drives that I've taken in my car since I finished the top-end job, I have not seen any difference between the Behr thermostat I had previously installed, and the new Wahler unit that I installed on my car.

 

[nocfn]

I have all the hoses and spares of each since I will have the E420 at some point. I only plan to use the paper gaskets. I am on the fence about changing the lower hose. It isnt original - none of them are, but are all MB. I have the heater hoses as well and they look to be original. Specifically, yes I am changing the upper, the 90 and the short intake hose as well as the heater hoses in the engine bay. My self-mixed 50/50 Zerex has been ready since I prepared them when I did the C126 last year.

I will be installing the Tstat properly by the way, I have not completed the project yet. The car is up on the lift for the next month so that I can do 20-40 minutes at a time quick as time frees up sporadically.

 

[gerryvz]

Don't bother to change out the bottom hose, even if it is original, unless it has significant visual degradation or leaking. Otherwise, just keep your lower-hose powder dry and change it when it needs it.

The heater hoses on the W124 are somewhat easier to change than on the C126. I did that proactively, after I had the M119 intake manifold out, though it can be done with the manifold in place. IMHO that is a good proactive item to do, and an absolute no-brainer to do if the intake manifold comes out. Again, IIRC those are hoses that would be good to have in one's parts stock. They are not horribly expensive.

By the way, your HOW-TO on the lower wiring harness and your fishtape-process was invaluable when I did my lower harness. I thank you for that.

 

[7delta]

Ahh I made edits to reflect the chassis. This is on the W124.036, and I may obtain the cladding piece since the trailing edge was epoxied to join the clips. It is solid, but should it come off again I want to be prepared - and I have found that the skirts and cladding take a lot of road abuse and will need repainting.

As for the C126, I have a spare set of cladding to repaint 199 to match the body if I ever get around to doing so. All of this was planned prior to the E500 acquisition. I do have a set of AMG skirts to install if my friend ever ships them to me . Perhaps it is then they will be painted 199 with the skirts to be monochromatic.

I haven't forgot about the skirts.. they're boxed up. Life gets in the way.

 

[nocfn]

Was able to finish my block drain, tstat and housing, ps heater hose and upper radiator. intake and 90 degree hoses. Self mixed zerex and distilled water along with some water wetter. I filled the block first then the radiator until the expansion tank was almost full. Turned the car on and as expected, the tstat opened at 80C, so I turned the defrost on to circulate the new coolant mix. After it cooled I added the additional coolant to the expansion tank. After allowing a pretty good drive this morning, with no leaking in the hoses I washed her up and placed her back for use again around the Christmas holiday period.

 

[nocfn]

129,519

So the past few days I decided to work on the replacement of cam magnets, armatures and bolts. First I started to tighten my short hose clamps and one of the new style 7mm clamps broke. So I had to remove everything and start over. 53.3mm does the trick for me. I did not use 4 clamps.

The installs are well documented here so I will post what was replaced. I previously used anaerobic orange on my cam magnets but the one on the PS leaking out of the two halves and the plug. The DS was slowly weeping a touch out the plug.

The DS cam seal was hard as a rock but not leaking. The PS cam seal was also hard as a rock, both could not be crushed in my fingers. The PS CAM SEAL was protruding proudly about .5 mm and there was a lot of oil on the cover and the insulator. I had no trouble with the new seals. I used brad penn and a shop Q-tip to lube up the cam edges, and the cover. Then the seal was slathered with 20w50. A few taps with the 30mm socket and a ball peen hammer made for quick wok of it. When I removed the PS seal, oil dribbled out. I have no doubt the seal is the culprit for the occasional misfire.

Pics below. EDIT - the holes and cracks in the seals are a result of removal, they appeared in pristine OE brown visually, prior to their extraction. They were actually Reinz, not OE.

 

[gsxr]

Your old cam sprocket seals were not original... someone already replaced them. OE are made by Bruss and will have an MB part number on them. Yours were Reinz aftermarket. Need pics of your shiny new ones installed!

 

[gerryvz]

Elring FTW !!!

 

[nocfn]

Not Going to open it up for portraits but GVZ is right - Elring black

 

[gerryvz]

You did good replacing those crap Reinz seals with better quality Elring units. The Elring is going to be equivalent quality to OE/MB/Bruss seals. I really try to avoid Reinz wherever / whenever possible, particularly if there are Elring or other OEM brands available for the same seal.

Yes, I know that Reinz is an OEM for MB for some select seals and gaskets. As is Elring Klinger.

Did you see the difference between the old cam solenoid + armature profile, and the new cam solenoid + armature profile? Glad you ordered that new set of armatures ?

 

[nocfn]

I noticed the very slight difference, but I had to look a few different ways.

 

[nocfn]

Since I did the repair work to ignition and cam seal, I noticed the blasted PS reservoir short hose was wet from SITTING, not running. I wanted to wait until the Koala-Claw set up for a few days before I started it up. I removed the reservoir (becoming my least favorite thing to do) and replaced the aluminum seal on the pipe. It was reused twice and wasn't sealing. I found that the top of the hose was wet, and the small space where the pipe was visible glistened in the light. Wrapping a strip of shop towel around the upper-most section above the clamp to the under side of the mating surface revealed overnight that my leaking was indeed a bad seal of the threaded 12mm pipe to the casting. Upon completion of that task. I replaced the filter and assembled the rest of it all. First crank she started right up and after the initial warm up and the smog pump shut off, the engine ran better than before the issues of weekly misfires. (note that the FSM says 6 Nm torque on the threaded pipe. I went to 6 with my torque wrench, then to 9 Nm after it set for a minute or two)

So the next time you have this issue, take the extra steps to replace cam seals if you have any evidence of oily traces on your insulators. While you are there, replace the armatures with the new style to support the 119 Part number along with the new armature screw. Proper factory caps and rotors (or the aftermarket OE rebox if you can get them).

 

[gerryvz]

MMS?

Have you not seen the forum’s definition of “Lowmania” — ?
View attachment 103736

OWNER - lowman (Norge) | Owners and Their Cars

Just had to post these pics from one of the last drives of the year with my 500e.Bring on spring time i say :)

www.500eboard.co

@captruff-itis is a similar affliction, though it is more related to the purpose of public showing and judging of motorcars. The goal of captruffitis is an extreme dopamine release by the winning of highly competitive concours-type competitions.

I wonder how @captruff has been handling things this year, given that there have been very few "live" types of car shows, Monterey weekend being canceled, and so forth.

 

[nocfn]

124.036

12x,xxx mi

Adjusted my shift points to get them more aggressive. When I removed the linkage to replace the heater hoses last project I removed the cable assembly. Back then I eyeballed where it should be but it was a previous, grandfatherly location. Now she shifts with authority, not choppy but with cajones!

 

[szvook]

^^^ , it makes all the difference in the “youthful” way of having those shifts crisp and quick.

 

[nocfn]

Other tidbits while I get brief breaks in the work day - correcting the RS door card as one of the speaker box tabs didn't make its intended insertion in the door. Since I just love this type of thing, testing fate of the triangle on the mirror and the clips on the door card, I checked the DS door and indeed, I must do this again on that door. (this is one time I will not be a lube party since that was done when I replaced rubber and cladding clips recently. MEH, baby its cold outside!

 

[Jlaa]

Other tidbits while I get brief breaks in the work day - correcting the RS door card as on of the speaker box tabs didnt make its intended insertion in the door. Since I just love this type of thing, testing fate of the triangle on the mirror and the clips on the door card, I checked the DS door and indeed, I must do this again on that door. (this is one time I will not be a lube party since that was done when I replaced rubber and cladding clips recently. MEH, baby its cold outside!

Which version? I like Dean Martin's version

 

[nocfn]

Yes, Dean Martin's version but it is really cold outside, wet and rainy which reminds me: A poorly remembered quote, but
"...the coldest winter I ever spent was A summer in San Francisco"

 

[Bogeyman]

+1 on Deano!

 

[Jlaa]

Yes, Dean Martin's version but it is really cold outside, wet and rainy which reminds me: A poorly remembered quote, but
"...the coldest winter I ever spent was A summer in San Francisco"

HAHAHAHA Certainly a popular sentiment. It gets quite chilly here in the summer with the fog that rolls in, and one can always tell who is a tourist and who is not, because the tourists will be wearing shorts/t-shirts and the locals will be wearing jeans and fleeces.

That said, I did look up monthly temperature averages vs. natural gas use (for heat) and the data doesn't actually support this popular sentiment.

 

[nocfn]

It is cold and rainy here in Houston. The other day we had a front blast thru with 25-45 mph gusts. We had a south east texas snowfall. It consists of an entire forest of leaves raining down for 12 hours and a 3" layer of orange pine needles. Needless to say my pool is all season, meaning the neighbor's crepe myrtle drops its flowers all summer in my pool, and now all of her leaves. I am tempted to bill her for the 55 gallon bags of debris I fill every 2 days for the last 9 months. Problem is I cannot get 18 feet in the air to cut the branches as they cross my aerial easement. Perhaps I should do the best I can, like she does maintaining her 25 foot encroachment over my pool.
Who needs politics, I can rant this way.

 

[gsxr]

It is cold and rainy here in Houston. The other day we had a front blast thru with 25-45 mph gusts.

25-45mph gusts? In Idaho, we call that 'Wednesday'...

 

[nocfn]

We is the coastal plains here, no mountainous downdrafts to accelerate erosion here.... Just towering Pines that make paper and houses.

 

[nocfn]

Dad's 94E420

Spent a day up in Ohio working on Dads car, fixing some fuse box issues but most importantly was his rough and ready missing - you guessed it, caps rotors moisture. His was rather easy, petrified oil seals that were so bad, oil ran out of the caps when the were removed. On the PS, the seal shrunk so much that it wasn't touching.

Beru caps and Rotors were purchased, but were already installed just prior to my ownership. The OE insulator on the DS was broken in two places - two holes and for some reason, left on the car when the Beru caps/rotors were installed. Perhaps it was because the rotor bracket bolt to the cam was too tight and needed some penetrate and several sharp blows with a smaller hex and hammer. Either way, a stubby for more torque got it out after that.
A thought as to why this was left on is that the hex cap head bolt for the distributor cap sheared off and thus gave me clues. The bolt shaft there was easily removed, however I sent Dad to tractor supply to obtain new 5mm hex bolts in the proper length just in case more heads snapped. We ended up needing 3 total from Tractor Supply (may want to get other metric bolts there as they were black hardened steel and very tight on the hex tool). The DS cam magnet was dry, and that's good as we were not prepared to remove the PS reservoir this trip. (last 2 summers ago I refreshed the PS pump gaskets and hoses and no leaks)

PS cam magnet was badly leaking and was removed, cleaned and fresh anaerobic sealant applied. Same scenario on the PS with badly leaking cam seal. Replaced the seal, the insulator on both sides and kept both Beru caps and Rotors. Blue loctite used for protection and just in time for dinner, we were ready to fire it up! SUCCESS as we idled at 500 rpm smooth and true. Made some short hops and she still fired up first try with no burping or farting! Pics are below.

To summarize here:

both cam seals replaced @gvz
both insulators replaced
Both beru caps and rotors were cleaned and reused (3 new 5mm hex bolts required)
PS Cam advance solenoid removed, cleaned and fresh anaerobic sealant applied - DS showed no evidence of leak (not prepared in short trip to r/r PS reservoir (still dry after replacements almost 2 years)

I think the broken OE insulator is in the box of tools I have in the UPS system for delivery later today. Will post up a pic if I did.

:Update: UPS delivered my box with my tools and my new Beru Caps/Rotors. The black, OE insulator the had 2 big holes in it was not in the box as I had thought.

 

[gerryvz]

I generally advise wholesale replacement of cam solenoids, because they often leak from between the riveted halves, as well as even more commonly from the electrical connector. I believe that solenoids with more than about 125-150K miles are GOING to have these problems.

Both cam seals definitely need replacement. Get that reservoir off and that remaining seal replaced !!

 

[nocfn]

No time this trip, perhaps next spring for the cam/armature replacements. The ps system sealing I did 2 Years ago next spring was dry as toast!

 

[nocfn]

Well no real harm with the Texas cold here. All 3 MB performed as expected. I have ordered 0129970348, which is the seal for the level indicator. Seems that bugger leaks, even though it is less than 10 years old since I put in a new expansion tank and level float on the C126.. I guess it either wants heat or cold, not both. I suspect when the engine is hot and the and or the ambient temps are over 20, this O ring will seal just fine, I will order a few, since they come in handy on a few models

 

[TerryA]

Well no real harm with the Texas cold here. All 3 MB performed as expected. I have ordered 0129970348, which is the seal for the level indicator. Seems that bugger leaks, even though it is less than 10 years old since I put in a new expansion tank and level float on the C126.. I guess it either wants heat or cold, not both. I suspect when the engine is hot and the and or the ambient temps are over 20, this O ring will seal just fine, I will order a few, since they come in handy on a few models

Have you got your SNOW CHAINS INSTALLED?

Seriously, I'm glad your OK

Take Care

 

[nocfn]

Yep we just are fine, a bit inconvenient but natural calamity seems to reduce us all, regardless of the blessings of riches or lack there of, to 89 cents worth of salt. I drained the house again last night of water and will re-pressurize again after temps are at 32. As I write this we are sunny and clear, 27F and expect to be 38F by 1100 local with a high of 46. Rinse and repeat the same for tonight but a high of 57F. Next week we begin the normal 40-75F range for winter here.

Also - do not believe all the "news" being spewed for political gains. The good stories of people helping people are completely true, so are the darwin award winners who sadly die from carbon monoxide, every where. The difference here and now is the cost of a sensational story, most of which is gross distortions from the truth and who is telling you who is responsible for it. Truth is not a consideration during a crisis, and without writing about them, nobody really cares in the first place. Now where are my fuzzy slippers, my office desk is on an outside wall and my toes are cold.

 

[gerryvz]

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner was on NBC Nightly News last night in a short interview by Lester Holt. Didn't sound too good.

I've seen the county & MDOT snow-plows four times times already this morning passing in front of my house, and we've only had 1/2" of snow yesterday and perhaps 1/4" of freezing rain this morning. They are ON TOP of things here in Maryland.

 

[nocfn]

Silly gave millions to his college buddy in city contracts to remediate and rebuild several flooded Harvey homes in the inner city, mostly the poor sections. No problems there for the most part, those homes were abandoned for the most part and never completed a majority of them. Crony politics is alive and well in the city everywhere in the USA. Texas is a huge land mass and I would surmise that Austin aka East Silicon Plateau is the worst. To be fair, I am not there to properly talk about it. I have business relationships with many who live and work in the Greater Austin Area and it has not been a good stretch of time with the cold and the massive population expansion.

It will get better but just know that the never let a good crisis go to waste is making the headline where the reality is quite different.

 

[nocfn]

here is a sensational headline case in point from NBC: (AKA no body cares)

Some Texans use 2021 Ford F-150 hybrid pickup trucks to power homes amid winter storm​

The article implies this novel and lucky approach is the last resort. During hurricanes Ike and Harvey decades ago, I used my Toyota Tacoma to do the very same thing for lights, fans fridge and cooking. I used my heavy duty generator to run the AC system in the house.

Not all people in texas own Ford Trucks, or pick ups for that matter. 13 people actually own a cowboy hat and nobody wears western boots unless it is western day or their vocation calls for it. But NBC thinks the little people here who live and work for a living all have boots hats and trucks. I bet they think chicken fried steak is actually chicken.

 

[sheward]

"nobody cares"... love it.

To be fair, every body always has blame to assign when these freak winter storms hit the south. Just a few years back it was Atlanta. There is VERY little reason for these large southern cities to have infrastructure in place for these rare obscure events. It's tragic, just like the flooding some years back. It happens. I'm not referring to any mismanagement of the electric grid in Texas which I know little about. People should never ignore some degree of self sufficiency. We humans will never tame or understand the climate completely. I'm glad you fared well.

drew

 

[gsxr]

We humans will never tame or understand the climate completely.

You're one of the few who seem to grasp this concept, Drew. Seems to be an awful lot of folks who genuinely believe we can control the weather, if enough trillions of Other People's Money are spent.

 

[TerryA]

here is a sensational headline case in point from NBC: (AKA no body cares)

Some Texans use 2021 Ford F-150 hybrid pickup trucks to power homes amid winter storm​

The article implies this novel and lucky approach is the last resort. During hurricanes Ike and Harvey decades ago, I used my Toyota Tacoma to do the very same thing for lights, fans fridge and cooking. I used my heavy duty generator to run the AC system in the house.

Not all people in texas own Ford Trucks, or pick ups for that matter. 13 people actually own a cowboy hat and nobody wears western boots unless it is western day or their vocation calls for it. But NBC thinks the little people here who live and work for a living all have boots hats and trucks. I bet they think chicken fried steak is actually chicken.

IT'S NOT CHICKEN? DAMN!!!!

 

[TerryA]

You're one of the few who seem to grasp this concept, Drew. Seems to be an awful lot of folks who genuinely believe we can control the weather, if enough trillions of Other People's Money are spent.

CLIMATE CHANGE IS BS. The climate is always changing. It has for millions of years.

Climate change was invented to sell us on EVs and Solar Crap and to influence the population to start spending their $$$ on new businesses and to abandon the fossil fuels.

The Paris Climate Accord will again be financed by the US when all of the pollution is created by China, India and most of the Third World Countries. It's Insane that we support this fiasco.

Sorry for the Rant

 

[nocfn]

I'd like to know how John Kerry managed to get his face on the side of the Patriots Football helmet!

 

[gerryvz]

CLIMATE CHANGE IS BS. The climate is always changing. It has for millions of years.

Climate change was invented to sell us on EVs and Solar Crap and to influence the population to start spending their $$$ on new businesses and to abandon the fossil fuels.

The Paris Climate Accord will again be financed by the US when all of the pollution is created by China, India and most of the Third World Countries. It's Insane that we support this fiasco.

Sorry for the Rant

@TerryA .... are you one of the 1.5M Californians who signed the recall petitiion for your Governor?!?

 

[Kyiv]

Not all people in texas own Ford Trucks, or pick ups for that matter. 13 people actually own a cowboy hat and nobody wears western boots unless it is western day or their vocation calls for it.

When was the last time Texas was, at least to some extent, Texa-sy that way?

 

[gerryvz]

When was the last time Texas was, at least to some extent, Texa-sy that way?

It depends on how many miles you want to go outside of official large city limit boundaries. I don't think that @nocfn gets outside of the Houston Beltway or Grand Parkway too often......

 

[Kyiv]

It depends on how many miles you want to go outside of official large city limit boundaries. I don't think that @nocfn gets outside of the Houston Beltway or Grand Parkway too often......

But what about 60s or as late as 70s? Was some of now-cliche Texas image present, to some extent, in larger cities?

 

[TerryA]

@TerryA .... are you one of the 1.5M Californians who signed the recall petitiion for your Governor?!?

You know I did. I’ll sign it again if they ask me. YOUR OUT OF THERE!

 

[nocfn]

There are pockets of ranches and ranch communities all over Texas. So, in fairness boots are just another shoe option for many suit and tie types too. I have a pair of $800 Lucchese boots myself I wear to the largest rodeo in the world, once a year. Huge landmass, Texas is. Most of eastern Europe fits inside of it.

 

[nocfn]

Cleaned up all the provisions and protections applied to my foliage, and all the layers of wrappings to the pipes. Started up my frozen C126 and yep, she turned over on the first crank. Once at temp I took her for the block - about a 5 mile trek with some good straight away action. Anyway, classic radio jammed a Van Halen set so it got its deserved volume. Rounded out the ride with some scorpions and alas, I was back at home. A good ride after being house bound for a few days.

 

[nocfn]

C126

180,813

Today I changed out all my drive belts, the 2016 versions were a bit worn and some had serious cracks. I also swapped out my Hydraulic Pump with a rebuilt spare from my parts stash. Last winter I resealed the OE pump with new O-rings from our buddy Roy. Sadly, I botched the rear shaft seal and lost about 1/2 of a reservoir into the oil supply. I knew this as I had no leaks visible at any of the hoses or components, and my oil level was pushing the max line. So then the next step is to order some BP 20w50 and drain the oil and change the filter. My now OE spare was sent to Roy for his engineering magic to diagnose what I hope to be just a bad seal job! I also changed out the original transmission cooler lines out of general age related wisdom.





Place holder for additional updates to this set of tasks.

 

[nocfn]

C126

180,813

Today I changed out all my drive belts, the 2016 versions were a bit worn and some had serious cracks. I also swapped out my Hydraulic Pump with a rebuilt spare from my parts stash. Last winter I resealed the OE pump with new O-rings from our buddy Roy. Sadly, I botched the rear shaft seal and lost about 1/2 of a reservoir into the oil supply. I knew this as I had no leaks visible at any of the hoses or components, and my oil level was pushing the max line. So then the next step is to order some BP 20w50 and drain the oil and change the filter. My now OE spare was sent to Roy for his engineering magic to diagnose what I hope to be just a bad seal job! I also changed out the original transmission cooler lines out of general age related wisdom.

View attachment 126720



Place holder for additional updates to this set of tasks.

 

[nocfn]

Finally got my oil delivered after weather backups last week. Not many miles driven since my last change. The mighty vac oil extractor was almost full before I drained half of the contents and finished the job. The hydraulic fluid must have really de-varnished things as the used oil was dark Dark DARK like never before. The Mann filter was in tact and the media showed no signs of falling apart as I went thru each pleat looking for debris visually and with a magnet and found nothing. I also stuck the magnet into the residual oil left in the filter housing and did not come up with any bits at all. I was pleased with that for sure. The Hengst filters I prefer did not get deliver by our "brown" service again so I went with a metal encased Wix from the local store and will have the Hengst for next time.

 

[nocfn]

After a few heat cycles I checked the oil level and added 1/2 qt to bring me right to the center line of the two marks. I also took a moment to give each connection point on the SLS pump and the transmission cooler lines 1/8-1/4 turn as needed to cinch them up. The SLS pump inlet was a little wet so that gave me pause.

A side issue was to check for fuel leak evidence on the M117. I was smelling some, so I first removed my EHA on the cold engine to replace the O rings. I had reused them when I adjusted my NIB EHA several years ago. Not taking any chances of problem, I ordered new and replaced. None of my fuel hoses were leaking, but I did torque each line to and from the FD to the injectors along with the Fuel Pressure Regulator. Some of them needed a bit of tightening, especially the pressure regulator. After a drive, the smell of fuel was cured to my nose when sniffing about the engine bay. Lets hope that is the end of this issue.

 

[nocfn]

To kick off summer, I brought the E500 out of storage, what fun! Every time I do this it is exciting. No fluid leaks while stored. Started right up, no issues. Got a bottle of Techron and added 18 gallons of $3.25 (thanks Joe) premium. Someone made a post about the air temp sensor so I had one inventoried so I made the change. We have a loop here that we call the Texas Autobahn - often we go as fast as we want. I had another couple with us but still managed to gracefully pass some Audi with an eazy 80-100 acceleration with grace. Pretty cool. Here is the OE sensor - pretty browned out. I did not notice any difference in
performance function by making the change to a new sensor.

 

[nocfn]

Found a genuine MB wiper refill in my stash. My after market Bosch lasted 2 years. For giggles, just stay with standard MB for stuff like this.

For search reasons:

WIPER REFILL 000 824 36 27 01