OWNER bclifton (300D)

[bclifton]

Today, I drove the 300D down to the Pull N Save in Tucson, Arizona


Weather here is great! A little cloudy, but it was about 70F the whole time. I came for a 1988 300CE and got a lot of goodies

One of the parts I wanted specifically... it's hard to put a name on it. And it's almost impossible to find the part number!
It's a brake line... isolator? damper? guide? I'm not sure of the name. But mine on the 300D are melted into pieces.

Basically, it's a rubber piece that is under the car (on the left side) that holds each of the brake lines. There's a portion in the middle with a circle hole where a stud from the body goes through. Then you can fit each brake line in snugly with the closed part on top. There's a form fitting metal cover "clamp" which goes under the rubber and keeping it all together, there's a plastic screw with a Phillips interface that you put into that middle part which has the stud. This pulls the guide snug against the body.

Here are mine. The first picture is the best shape one I had. The others were just falling to bits.


When I try to find the part number for this, I can't seem to find it. I'm going to keep looking - but maybe @gsxr has some tips. I was looking in group 42 (brakes) and then there's a sub group for brake lines. EPC doesn't show it (unless it's in another group).

Back to the junkyard. I got these parts from the 300CE and they're a bit different. Picture one shows the individual pieces and picture 2 shows it together. When it's on the car, it's upside down (screw down).


This is a bit different... The 300D had spaces for 3 lines and a thinner uneven clamp. The 300CE has spaces for 4 lines and an wider and evenly spaced clamp. This part is close enough - I replaced 3 of the 4 melted ones on the 300D.

As far as I can tell, this one from the 300CE is part number 129-476-03-84. I didn't find that in any parts system - I found that part on TheSLshop.com after a ton of searching.

At this point, I don't think it matters - these should do the trick. But I know many of us (myself included) are pedantic and like to find the exact part number I am really curious if it's in stock!

The other parts I got were also good - but nothing too exciting. 2x front ABS sensors (left/right), 3 sets of left/right brake wiring clips (124-546-14-43 and 124-546-15-43), a Becker BE780 radio in great shape, and a few other items - all for $28 after tax

 

[bclifton]

Quick update!

I just couldn't let it go I did end up finding the part numbers via the "brute force" method.

Basically open a paper copy of the parts catalog and find the part


Here, you'll see it's under group 47 which is interesting. The rubber dampener has 3 cut outs - I think 2 are for fuel, 1 is for brakes.
It was my mistake to assume they were brake lines.

Looking this up in the microfiche, I found the part numbers. Interestingly, they messed up the pictures.

• The plastic nuts I have work but aren't perfect cosmetically - those are 201-992-00-30
• The rubber that has 3 spaces is 201-476-04-84
• The clamps are 201-476-07-40 - these can be cleaned and reused so they shouldn't be needed. I seem to be missing one though - the stud on the body has broken off

A few more updates:

• CVJ Axles, Inc finished the rebuild in 2 days. I paid the tab and the rebuilt parts should arrive tomorrow!
• I ordered a GAHH replacement headliner and received it on Friday. I'll have to take some pictures of what you get - it's folded up neatly into a box. This might only be for older W124 - I think the newer ones have a solid piece. The older ones like mine have loops sewn into the canvas where you put metal rods in (not included; you have to transfer yours over). I was surprised to see the part from GAHH already had those loops sewn in though, that's great! I suspect it's not fully plug and play though. Stay tuned for that.

 

[gsxr]

You beat me to it... yes, Group 47. Also, the EPC shows slightly different info vs the 'fiche:

 

[Surf Blau]

Quick update!

I just couldn't let it go I did end up finding the part numbers via the "brute force" method.

Basically open a paper copy of the parts catalog and find the part
View attachment 232973View attachment 232974

Here, you'll see it's under group 47 which is interesting. The rubber dampener has 3 cut outs - I think 2 are for fuel, 1 is for brakes.
It was my mistake to assume they were brake lines.

Looking this up in the microfiche, I found the part numbers. Interestingly, they messed up the pictures.
View attachment 232975View attachment 232976

• The plastic nuts I have work but aren't perfect cosmetically - those are 201-992-00-30
• The rubber that has 3 spaces is 201-476-04-84
• The clamps are 201-476-07-40 - these can be cleaned and reused so they shouldn't be needed. I seem to be missing one though - the stud on the body has broken off

A few more updates:

• CVJ Axles, Inc finished the rebuild in 2 days. I paid the tab and the rebuilt parts should arrive tomorrow!
• I ordered a GAHH replacement headliner and received it on Friday. I'll have to take some pictures of what you get - it's folded up neatly into a box. This might only be for older W124 - I think the newer ones have a solid piece. The older ones like mine have loops sewn into the canvas where you put metal rods in (not included; you have to transfer yours over). I was surprised to see the part from GAHH already had those loops sewn in though, that's great! I suspect it's not fully plug and play though. Stay tuned for that.

Do these rubber holders/dampers come with different cutouts, or just used differently? On my 500E there are six tubes, and the outer ones look like they are held in place differently than the inner ones. On your diesel I presume there will two for fuel (supply and return) and one for brakes? I seem to remember that’s what it’s like on my 190D at least..

Disregard the straw, there’s no cutout for that:

 

[bclifton]

@Surf Blau definitely there are different sized cut outs! The ones I found on the 88 300CE had 4 (201-476-01-84) and was NOT the 129 part number I had thought in post 301... Yours definitely have 6 which seems to be 129-476-03-84. And just to throw more permutations into the mix : looks like there's a 5 line one with part number 124-476-01-84

My diesel is only supposed to have 3 (201-476-04-84) like you noted. And you're right - supply, return, and must be rear brakes is the 3rd one. I'll have to check the other side of the car to see if there's a brake line ran on that side or if it's tee'ing off this one. Next time the car is on a lift I'll take some pictures to better remember

 

[gsxr]

From memory... ABS-only cars have a single brake line that feeds both rear calipers. There's a junction / T-block at the rear which splits to the two rear calipers.

Cars with ASR have a separate brake line from the ASR unit to each rear caliper, because the ASR system is capable of braking each rear caliper separately.

 

[bclifton]

In post 299, I mentioned that I pulled a set of axles and boxed them up for CVJ Axles, Inc. They were able to service these completely in ~3 days and then mailed them back. I should have taken pictures - but they turned out great. Their website shows the comprehensive set of things they do - I was extremely pleased with the job they did! $798 USD for both axles, and that's after tax, etc. Not includes in that was shipping - which was $27 each way (I provided them the labels).

Over the weekend, I tackled that job with my friend Bud who owns a shop locally. We got it on the lift and the axles were a piece of cake. One note-worthy thing was needing to drop the exhaust just a bit for the left side. We slid the exhaust out of the mid hanger and took the donuts at the back off and used a longer cord to hang that giving more clearance. Another note: you need to replace the collar nuts on the end of the axle (001-990-38-50). After the job is finished, you drop the car back on the ground, torque it up (240nm if I remember correctly), then you can remove the wheel and use a punch to crimp the edge of the collar nut in.

We also did the rear flex disc (between the differential and the drive shaft). Mine had some cracks. I ordered the Febi-Bilstein part (126-410-04-15) from AutohausAZ and of course it's the SGF made in Germany one Very good quality and includes the attachment hardware. With the car on a lift, that was a fairly easy job! HUGE pry bar helps as you separate the driveshaft from the diff!

Wish I took pictures - but I was in the zone and very grateful to be able to use my friends shop Tried to focus on knocking out the work.

I did take some pictures of recent junk yard hauls. A European delivery program 1987 190D 2.5 came into the yard a few weeks ago and I've been getting a good stream of parts from it since it has an OM602 diesel engine!


Pictured above - the letter from MBNA included in the car documentation for when US dealer receives it after arriving from Europe.


Parts I got on the first haul include:

• All 5 injectors (115 bar - non-turbo) / collar nuts, prechambers
• 5 of the plastic "shims" that go between the collar and the top of the injector. This is for the later heads which use a special tool for the collar nut and have the injectors slightly angled. The car I pulled had a #16 head and I do have a spare #20 head but was missing these plastic bits!
• 5 fuel lines. Even though these are for OM602, I believe they are the same as the ones on my OM603.
• Block heater cable. I've never had one - and won't likely need it, being in Arizona
• Glow plug harness and relay
• Third brake light
• The correct rubber bits that I needed for securing the fuel and brake lines!
• Correct dipstick (Black;603-010-02-72). For some reason, I had the wrong one (Red; says 60214;602-010-14-72) which is shorter by roughly 8mm. With correct dipstick, I saw my oil was overfilled. I drained and left it at halfway mark.

This haul was just under $150 which I'm happy with. I have a pop tester and will be figuring out how to rebuild and test the injectors.

I went back for a second haul yesterday and got the following

• 5 cylinder injection pump with all the attachment hardware! Cleaned it up and will be reselling it. My first time ever removing an injection pump. Remember, the front bolt is left handed thread!
• All the hard plastic fuel hoses which I'll have my friend Al rebuild
• Fuel thermostat assembly - I had just rebuilt mine, good to have an extra.
• Original Mercedes/BEHR fan clutch assembly in great shape
• Ballast resistor used for the electric fan
• OEM (Mercedes/Pierburg) Vacuum pump in great shape

This haul was $93 which I'm very happy with.

Thanks for reading!

 

[nocfn]

So intoxicating to stand under the car rather than lay under it. Great stuff!!

 

[bclifton]

So intoxicating to stand under the car rather than lay under it. Great stuff!!

Absolutely! It's great to get that different point of view. Even just to clean things underneath.

I'm not exactly sure what's next - nothing pressing that I know about. Car is riding great, AC is working perfectly. Just a super enjoyable car.

I might take the car to a proper body shop and have them inspect the drivers door which definitely had an impact. This is causing some wind noise, even with a perfectly adjusted striker. I'll keep an eye open for 040 black 124's in the junkyard in case there's a full drivers door that I can just grab.

There is the headliner which I could potentially tackle, which I'm dreading a bit. I'll have to take / share pics, as a local interior person may need to transfer over some pieces before it can be installed. There's a special liner around each of the doors that the trim tucks over which doesn't seem to be on the GAHH part. I do have all new parts for the sunroof and could completely rebuild the sunroof when that time comes. But damn- that's a LOT of work! Big can of worms to open before a hot Arizona summer

 

[gsxr]

I might take the car to a proper body shop and have them inspect the drivers door which definitely had an impact. This is causing some wind noise, even with a perfectly adjusted striker. I'll keep an eye open for 040 black 124's in the junkyard in case there's a full drivers door that I can just grab.

For the wind noise, assuming it's not from the glass seal, check the gap between the door frame and body, and the rubber gasket. I had to bend the window frame slightly to get the frame sealing properly, to eliminate wind noise, after the striker and door body were aligned correctly.