Correct, 500E, 25.74" vs 400E, 24.98"
At 150 mph, using the specific tire size the 500E is turning 5530 rpm vs 4516 on the 400E with a 24.9" tire
Still, a 1000 rpm difference.
I was showing the difference in the same car just swapping gear ratio's
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500Eboard Management
Hanging up/Stumbling at 4000 RPM
- Thread starter emerydc8
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number 66
has been selected as best answered.
Correct, 500E, 25.74" vs 400E, 24.98"
At 150 mph, using the specific tire size the 500E is turning 5530 rpm vs 4516 on the 400E with a 24.9" tire
Still, a 1000 rpm difference.
I was showing the difference in the same car just swapping gear ratio's
Sure, I'm looking forward to getting a 2:82 rear axle
perfect for my driving style, local with very little highway.
I'd love to swap the 2:82's into my e420. I have never been over 100 MPH in it (and doubt I ever will be). I DO enjoy terrorizing overly-aggressive Scottsdale yuppies in Beemers by leaving them in my dust on the onramp tho....
Oh, these things "just" start pulling at 80 with the tall gearing.
I had to fly over to Tampa to buy my 400E, none worth a damn in the Ft Lauderdale / Miami area.
On my way back on Alligator alley I zipped it up to 135 in a very short distance. 80-135 feels strong.
I had to fly over to Tampa to buy my 400E, none worth a damn in the Ft Lauderdale / Miami area.
On my way back on Alligator alley I zipped it up to 135 in a very short distance. 80-135 feels strong.
I'd say this is pretty conclusive on the bad cats. Once again, Herr Honcho was correct. I tapped in right in front of the cats. I hose clamped a 10-foot hose to the gauge in the cockpit and it actually blew off at the exhaust end towards the end of the video. I had seen enough anyway.
This was really a learning (and frustrating) experience. Thanks to everyone who helped!
Now, to decide where to go from here. I saw in a blog that JW in Texas had welded these into his 500E and seemed to be really happy with them. Anyone have any opinions on this. Are our cats 2 1/4"? http://www.ebay.com/itm/310300540750?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
Here's the video. I didn't even get to 4000 RPM before reaching 10 psi:
http://youtu.be/yoYEgW-VlNQ
This was really a learning (and frustrating) experience. Thanks to everyone who helped!
Now, to decide where to go from here. I saw in a blog that JW in Texas had welded these into his 500E and seemed to be really happy with them. Anyone have any opinions on this. Are our cats 2 1/4"? http://www.ebay.com/itm/310300540750?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
Here's the video. I didn't even get to 4000 RPM before reaching 10 psi:
http://youtu.be/yoYEgW-VlNQ
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Ok, so you did not replaced the Overload protection switch?
Interesting find so far. 10PSI is stunning. And if its not the catalytic converters, then we know that the stock units do produce quite some backpressure.
Interesting find so far. 10PSI is stunning. And if its not the catalytic converters, then we know that the stock units do produce quite some backpressure.
They don't generally produce that much pressure, and that's just what the pressure rose to before the hose blew off like I told Jon it was going to do...
I don't have any appropriate cats and none of my friends do either I'm sorry to say...
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I'm glad you finally figured this out Jon, but can a Brother get some love??!! Please see post #3....
There it is
Thanks guys! 
I called a muffler shop and the owner said he could probably "find" a catalytic converter that would "fit," but he needed to see the car. The problem with that is I don't think it could make it all the way to the shop in the condition it's in. I definitely didn't want to drive it for 45 minutes through stop-and-go traffic in this heat.
Instead, I decided to gut one of the cats myself. I used a Dremmel and made the cut close to the seam so gluing it back together would be easy. It took about an hour and a dozen blades to cut. Once the cuts were made, I was able to pry the bottom of the cat down enough to drag out all the honeycomb insides. I wish I had a filter mask for this because I ended up tying an old shirt around my head.
After I gutted it, I used a vacuum to clean out the inside. I was about to glue it back together with PC-7 when I thought maybe I should try to start the car, just in case there were any pieces that worked their way into the forward connecting pipe. Sure enough, as soon as the engine started two chunks of honeycomb blew out. I decided to connect a rubber hose to a vacuum cleaner and go as far forward and backward as I could go. There were a few pieces that almost made their way to the resonator to the rear. Luckily the vacuum hose pulled them out and I was able to get well into the resonator, so I think the path is clear on both sides. I guess I'll find out.
I glued it back together with PC-7 and it's drying now. I have used PC-7 on exhaust systems before and it works very well. It definitely went up in price since I last used it--$24. I ended up mixing half a can which was way too much. I could have mixed half of that and still had some left over. I am waiting for the PC-7 to dry and I probably won't start the car until tomorrow.
Instead, I decided to gut one of the cats myself. I used a Dremmel and made the cut close to the seam so gluing it back together would be easy. It took about an hour and a dozen blades to cut. Once the cuts were made, I was able to pry the bottom of the cat down enough to drag out all the honeycomb insides. I wish I had a filter mask for this because I ended up tying an old shirt around my head.
After I gutted it, I used a vacuum to clean out the inside. I was about to glue it back together with PC-7 when I thought maybe I should try to start the car, just in case there were any pieces that worked their way into the forward connecting pipe. Sure enough, as soon as the engine started two chunks of honeycomb blew out. I decided to connect a rubber hose to a vacuum cleaner and go as far forward and backward as I could go. There were a few pieces that almost made their way to the resonator to the rear. Luckily the vacuum hose pulled them out and I was able to get well into the resonator, so I think the path is clear on both sides. I guess I'll find out.
I glued it back together with PC-7 and it's drying now. I have used PC-7 on exhaust systems before and it works very well. It definitely went up in price since I last used it--$24. I ended up mixing half a can which was way too much. I could have mixed half of that and still had some left over. I am waiting for the PC-7 to dry and I probably won't start the car until tomorrow.
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Love the homemade fix Jon. Way to think out of the box! Hope it works for you.
Reminds me of the motorcycle and car muffler guting ive done in the past.
Nice work
I took it out for a test drive today. This is the first time PC-7 let me down! At about 4000 RPM, the seam on the bottom of the cat blew out. With a surface area of 6" x 24" that would be 144 square inches. So if the pressure in that gutted cat even got up to 3 psi, I can see why it blew.
I'm going to pull off the whole assembly today and take it to a muffler shop this week to have them weld in two new cats. I'm just hoping the resonator isn't clogged.
I did notice after I started the engine that there was an annoying, hollow metallic rattle that was coming from the gutted cat. There is no way that I would have tolerated that sound, even if the PC-7 held; so I guess I would be taking it to the shop anyway.
I'm going to pull off the whole assembly today and take it to a muffler shop this week to have them weld in two new cats. I'm just hoping the resonator isn't clogged.
I did notice after I started the engine that there was an annoying, hollow metallic rattle that was coming from the gutted cat. There is no way that I would have tolerated that sound, even if the PC-7 held; so I guess I would be taking it to the shop anyway.
I'm pretty sure it would have gone past 4000, but I backed off because I wasn't sure what kind of damage it did to the exhaust.
I just pulled the exhaust off and I'll take it down this week to see if they can replace the cats with something that will fit and won't sound like a rattle can.
You guys with lifts are lucky. I almost couldn't get the flanged drop down pipe off where it mounts to the collector on the passenger side because it was obstructed by the idler arm assembly. I managed to jack the rear of the car up just high enough to slide it by. It would have helped to have more distance under the car to maneuver.
I just pulled the exhaust off and I'll take it down this week to see if they can replace the cats with something that will fit and won't sound like a rattle can.
You guys with lifts are lucky. I almost couldn't get the flanged drop down pipe off where it mounts to the collector on the passenger side because it was obstructed by the idler arm assembly. I managed to jack the rear of the car up just high enough to slide it by. It would have helped to have more distance under the car to maneuver.
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I feel like Wile E. Coyote on this project.
I took the exhaust to the muffler shop today to see if they could weld in new cats. They said they would do it for $150 each, but only with the exhaust system back on the car, because they wouldn't guarantee that they would fit. Since the car is not drivable now, I talked the guy into cutting out one of the cats and welding a straight pipe for me on the spot. It was strictly a cash/absolutely no-receipt transaction. $45 worked for me.
If it sounds and drives okay, I'll leave it and deal with emissions next year at this time, since it just went through a few weeks ago. I think I can rig the shell of the old cat to like like it's still there when they shove the mirror under the car to look for it.
UPDATE: I got the exhaust back on the car but ran out of time screwing around with the idler arm heat shield. That's an incredible piece of engineering by Mercedes. I'll have to test drive it later tonight. I hope this finally fixes the issue.
(pic)
I took the exhaust to the muffler shop today to see if they could weld in new cats. They said they would do it for $150 each, but only with the exhaust system back on the car, because they wouldn't guarantee that they would fit. Since the car is not drivable now, I talked the guy into cutting out one of the cats and welding a straight pipe for me on the spot. It was strictly a cash/absolutely no-receipt transaction. $45 worked for me.
If it sounds and drives okay, I'll leave it and deal with emissions next year at this time, since it just went through a few weeks ago. I think I can rig the shell of the old cat to like like it's still there when they shove the mirror under the car to look for it.
UPDATE: I got the exhaust back on the car but ran out of time screwing around with the idler arm heat shield. That's an incredible piece of engineering by Mercedes. I'll have to test drive it later tonight. I hope this finally fixes the issue.
(pic)
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You must be sick of crawling under your car by now Jon! I'd be fist deep in the Celebrex bottle but I'm going on 50 y/o...
Just to confirm, it obviously was clogged cats that restricted the RPM to 4000. This is with one cat bypassed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zrYTKYKzrc&feature=youtu.be
I changed the O2 sensor when I was in there today as a precaution, since I'm sure two clogged cats didn't do anything good for the old O2 sensor. I am noticing a slight hesitation at idle but it is minor and only every few seconds. Could it be that the car's computer is adjusting to the new configuration?
I'm not sure how the dynamics of air flow affect the engine now that most, if not all, of the exhaust gas is bypassing the one remaining cat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zrYTKYKzrc&feature=youtu.be
I changed the O2 sensor when I was in there today as a precaution, since I'm sure two clogged cats didn't do anything good for the old O2 sensor. I am noticing a slight hesitation at idle but it is minor and only every few seconds. Could it be that the car's computer is adjusting to the new configuration?
I'm not sure how the dynamics of air flow affect the engine now that most, if not all, of the exhaust gas is bypassing the one remaining cat.
Maybe Washington has more lenient codes. Who wants to send him a current copy of the NEC book, eh?
I assume that was not at 100% throttle, due to the early 1-2 upshift, right Jon? It should shift at 6k. But the good news is, it's going past 4k now.
I'd reset LH adaptation just in case the numbers are wonky. Might as well start fresh.
I didn't want to beat the car by doing a standing sprint.
It's still hesitating at idle but about half as much as before. While one cat is bypassed, I think there is some balance of airflow issue going on and the engine is having trouble dealing with. I'm not sure how clogged the other cat is, so there may actually be some airflow going through it, even if only part time. I'll reset the adaption later today and see if it helps.
It's still hesitating at idle but about half as much as before. While one cat is bypassed, I think there is some balance of airflow issue going on and the engine is having trouble dealing with. I'm not sure how clogged the other cat is, so there may actually be some airflow going through it, even if only part time. I'll reset the adaption later today and see if it helps.
Btw, just a tip here. Do not throw that old cat away. The right recycler will wet their pants when you bring in that thing. Most of them have never see a converter as big as the ones on these m119 cars. I took in my E320 cat when it plugged itself and they gave me $130. Online buyers offer up to $200 for our cats, but I'm always skeptical of those mail in sites.
The insides are the valuable part. They may still give you something for the pile of debris! Won't hurt to ask.
I was thinking the same thing...
Like I said, Jon made that exhaust system and switch his prison bitches!
It's in the trash can already. I'm afraid I inhaled enough of that stuff to give me lung cancer some day. I don't even want to read about what it's made of.
I reset the adaption on the LH module. Just to be sure I'm doing it right, I cleared all codes on pin 4, then I pressed the blink tester for three seconds to see one blink in return, held the button down for 8 seconds, turned the key off for 2 seconds, then on for 10 seconds, then started the car. Does that sound right?
I am not liking how the car drives with a straight pipe and one bad cat. If I didn't know better, I'd say the transmission was slipping as the car accelerates, but what I think is happening is I'm getting non-linear acceleration due to the variation in exhaust back pressure. Sometimes the air is going through the clogged cat and other times it's not. Under a load, it seems as if the acceleration varies. After replacing or verifying everything else related to the engine, that's the only explanation I can come up with. Any thoughts?
It sure is malarkey, but I sure learned a lot in the process.
I reset the adaption on the LH module. Just to be sure I'm doing it right, I cleared all codes on pin 4, then I pressed the blink tester for three seconds to see one blink in return, held the button down for 8 seconds, turned the key off for 2 seconds, then on for 10 seconds, then started the car. Does that sound right?
I am not liking how the car drives with a straight pipe and one bad cat. If I didn't know better, I'd say the transmission was slipping as the car accelerates, but what I think is happening is I'm getting non-linear acceleration due to the variation in exhaust back pressure. Sometimes the air is going through the clogged cat and other times it's not. Under a load, it seems as if the acceleration varies. After replacing or verifying everything else related to the engine, that's the only explanation I can come up with. Any thoughts?
It sure is malarkey, but I sure learned a lot in the process.
Actually if you want to get into that topic, it does not need to be "up to code". "Up to code" only applies if you are going to do any type of remodel that requires a building permit, then everything in the facility would need to be brought up to code to pass a inspection (post remodel). Its not uncommon to see houses built in the 40's still running screw in ckt breakers and cloth covered wiring (without GFCI outlets or other modern safeties).
But like many upgrades, these were probably done by a tenant or by a contractor (no permits and no inspections).
It was clogged catalytic converters--at least one for sure. I replaced them with MBS cats (from ebay) and it has been fine since. The good part is that I replaced almost everything that I eventually would have replaced during the last nine years. I think another member checked and the MBS cat is NLA.
I remember initially replacing the obviously collapsed cat with a straight pipe but it sounded raspy and vibrated. The failed cats were a result of someone hitting the car from the rear and hitting the exhaust hard enough to bend the over-axle pipe.
Found this on W124performance... the single resonator exit pipe / muffler inlet is 70mm ID.
