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PWNER - gerryvz

That's a whole different can of worms. Two of my favorite sounds in the world are the opening/closing of a G-wagen door, and a V126 (560SEL) door.
I'm partial to the pssssh-click of the closing assist on the 140. Yeah, I know the closing assist is problematic and complicated, but it's sooooo nice when working properly! Shame it was never available on the 124, so no chance of a reasonable-effort retrofit.

:klink3:
 
I'm partial to the pssssh-click of the closing assist on the 140. Yeah, I know the closing assist is problematic and complicated, but it's sooooo nice when working properly! Shame it was never available on the 124, so no chance of a reasonable-effort retrofit.

:klink3:

Pshaw. The closing assist on the W140 is a very simple system, and grossly maligned by those who don't understand it or have serviced it. And it is slick as snot, too!

Isn't there sort of a tinkling sound when G-wagen doors are shut from the rust particles falling off of the remains of the door bottoms? :teufel:

Dan
 
I replaced two fuel lines and the fuel filter on the G-wagen today. One of the hoses is NLA from MB, so I took another factory G-wagen fuel hose and had a "U" fitting put onto it by a local hose shop. Worked a charm.

The other hose is still available (with the banjo fitting into the filter). Standard filter as used on a bunch of W140 models; I used a Hengst.

Still have a few more fuel lines to replace, particularly the ones from the tank to the fuel pump and the fuel pump to the fuel filter. And a couple of tank vent lines. But this job fixed a fuel filter line that sprang a leak.

Change your hoses, folks. If your hoses are more than 20 years old, they are long overdue for replacement.

Note that the factory fuel lines are Cohline. I made a half-assed attempt at cleaning the fuel filter bracket. The four rubber hangers that suspend it from the body were all in good condition, surprisingly. This fuel filter bracket is shared with other chassis that require two fuel pumps in addition to the filter. The G320 has the fuel pump located in a different location, underneath the fuel tank but behind an armored protection plate under the tank.

Spent some time under the G-wagen. My exhaust system, including cat, is pretty spent and getting due for replacement. Sigh.

Cheers,
Gerry

:gwag:
 

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Today I started creation of my shop wall art project. I purchased a 4x4 sheet of plywood (half of a full sheet) and painted one side the first of two coats of semi-gloss black paint.

After the second coat tomorrow, I’ll start affixing the trunk logos to the plywood.

I plan to have an MB trunk star logo at or near the center, and have trunk logos radiating out from the round trunk logo “sun” as sun light rays emanating from the center.

As I get more logos over time, I’ll continue to add them until the entire sheet of plywood is covered with trunk logos.

More on this soon......
 
:update:

Started making my MB logo “wall art” piece. I got a few pieces mounted, but ran out of glue gun sticks. So, will get more of them tomorrow.

You can see from the second photo how many more logos I have yet to mount.

I offset the round MB “trunk Star” logo and then started arranging logos radiating out from it like rays of light.

I think it will turn out pretty nice, when done. It’s a lot of fun making it !! The 4’ square piece of plywood is going to be totally covered in logos when I’m all done !!

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Klink's favorite noise is the opening and closing of the G-wagon doors.

Well, that's not completely true. What I said that was that if I was rich I'd have a G-wagen in the garage just to open and close the doors when I was in a bad mood, and other than for this, I'd have no particular use for a G. Not exactly the same thing, but I can see how you would extrapolate to it being my favorite. My all time favorite for old school tactile feel and sound? The 116. There's been nothing quite as good before or since. A G-wagen door (not tailgate) is really close, and some may argue better, but It's the only thing currently on offer by anybody that is comparable.

Now, new school? Something that makes all these seem primitive? Yes, Dave and Dan have it. It's the precise yet nylon coating damped "click" of a 140 door pulling itself into register. The version in the 220 lost a little something in the haptics, and that's only if it's working at all. Still, if it wasn't for the 140, it'd be pretty good. Now, the 221 is similar but more "techy" in that it has the dull, deep expensive sounding click that the 140 has, yet it is immediately preceded by some fast electric drive whirring. It's fast, efficient, durable, and in it's own "modern" way sharply satisfying, but it doesn't just reek the obsessive, overdone, overpriced magnificence that the 140 latch action seems to exemplify.

Some may nominate the W100 chassis cars for this honor, but it's hydraulically(!) powered latches are abrupt and unrefined, like just about every thing else about those cars, frankly. It gets a huge "E" for effort, mind you. They were putting this on the street in 1963, but it is somehow so relentlessly mechanical that again, like everything else about the car, it produces more anxiety than comfort or sense of well-being.

The 140 is the current reigning power door champion. Just damn, it's exquisite...

:klink:
 
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I’ve had 116 doors (450SEL 6.9). They’re good. Different than anything before or since.

I prefer 126 SEL doors though, to be honest, to 116.

G-wagen is in a different class.

Never owned a 140, so I cannot compare.

I like 126 sedan doors so much that I have recordings of them opening and closing on my YouTube channel.
 
Finished product (for now).

I’ll add more logos as a batch in the future, as I get them.

I’ve been wanting to make this for a LONG time. I’ve been collecting logos since probably late 2014.

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Here’s the final product, mounted on my garage shop wall above the E500’s home.

Currently collecting another batch of trunk logos to add to the collection.

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As I’ve stated in the past, “Many Diesels died to bring us this information” ..... :gor-gor:
 
Here’s the final product, mounted on my garage shop wall above the E500’s home.

Currently collecting another batch of trunk logos to add to the collection.

As I’ve stated in the past, “Many Diesels died to bring us this information” ..... :gor-gor:



Nice. Its like a word cloud on the Intrawebz, circa 2012.
 
Made some additions to my wall art (about 10-12 new logos).
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But unfortunately I have more logos than room on the board, so I guess I’ll just keep collecting ‘em...
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And my .036 wall logo display.
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One thing’s for sure — all those 123s, 126s, 107s and 116s off the road makes GSXR a happy camper !!
 
I pulled codes on my E500 yesterday, after driving it around 1,200 miles since the last time I did it, which was prior to when I replaced the Neutral Safety Switch earlier this year.

The following codes came up:

Car SystemCode(s)Code InterpGVZ notes
LH (fuel injection)NoneNo codes / system normal
DM (diagnostic module)Codes 4, 5Code 4 - Air injection system inoperative
Code 5 - Exhaust gas recirculation system inoperative
I have been getting these codes for years, and they trip the CHECK ENGINE light. I believe I have a clogged EGR tube where it goes into the intake manifold at the ETA, and this is blocking air from being injected into the intake air. IMHO there is no performance issue in the actual running of the car from this, but I do need to pull everything off of the top end of the engine and fix it.
BM (basic module)NoneNo codes / system normal
DI (distributor ignition)Codes 2, 8, 11Code 2 - Max retard has been reached on at least one cylinder
Code 8 - Transmission overload protection switch does not close
Code 11 - Reference resistor defective
I believe these are bogus codes, through IIRC the Code 8 is a new code that I've not seen before. Code 11 is a code I've gotten forever, which I don't worry about, because my reference resistor on the EZL has been modified as part of the BergWerks NOS installation. This code goes away when I replace the modified resistor with a non-modified one.
EA/CC/ISC (electronic accelerator, cruise control, idle speed control)Codes 007, 096, 224Code 007 - N4/1 control module or ETA or neutral safety switch faulty
Code 096 - Starter lock-out/backup switch (NSS) faulty
Code 224 - S29/3 closed throttle position switch faulty
I believe all of these codes were caused by the bad NSS, before I replaced it earlier this year. All codes have been reset and I will watch to see if they come back.

Note that these are the "detailed" three-digit codes, not the simple codes also available via the "blink" reader.
EZL (ignition computer)NoneNo codes / system normal
SRS (supplemental restraint system)NoneNo codes / system normalGenerally I never see a code on this system unless I disconnect the airbag system elecrically when working on the steering wheel or such.
ACC (automatic climate control)NoneNo codes / system normal
ABS + ASR (brakes and traction control)NoneNo codes / system normal
 
EZL code 8 is common if the OL switch on the trans is defective. It usually does not appear unless there has been some full throttle upshifts. I've had to replace the OL switch on several cars. Easy/cheap to swap.

I"m curious what will happen with your E-GAS codes, now that you have a new NSS. Code 224 should not be related to the NSS at all. Code 007 is a bit of a mystery, and generally comes with limp mode. FSM docs are unclear on this one.
 
I've been making an effort to drive my E500 a fair bit this summer. I will drive another 1,000 miles and see what comes back. This will probably be around October/November.
 
I have ordered a new transmission overload switch, and associated o-rings, for replacement.

I have also ordered a new Wahler thermostat, to replace the Behr unit that is currently in my E500. I have a hunch that a bad thermostat "out of the box" is also causing issues, as my E500 temp is acting funny in the first 10 miles of running from a cold start, and I am not convinced that the fan clutch is the cause of the problem.
 
I am not convinced that the fan clutch is the cause of the problem.

I think I saw you mention somewhere that you never hear your fan roar and that as of today your car has replacement fan clutch installed :-)
 
I'm not quite ready to post the HOW-TO on fan clutch, but will add the appropriate text/photos to the existing HOW-TO.

I haven't driven the car yet so no observations on the new clutch.
 
This morning I got to enjoy some hot laps around Las Vegas racetrack in a race-prepped Lambo. It was quite fun.

I will post the movie from the cockpit cam when I get it off of the USB stick it was recorded on.

fun experience!!
 

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The cockpit cam video footage turned out pretty well. As I review it I see myself getting a bit more comfortable with the car, and the track, with every lap.

At about 1:40 remaining in the video, you can see my rear end start to drift out slightly, but I caught it (the instructor in the passenger seat started to reach out to grab the wheel) and self-corrected before I spun out. Several of the other participants spun full donuts and even off the track, but I didn't have anything that exciting.

Top speed I hit on the long straightaway was a touch over 170 MPH.


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Note that the video is about 950 MB in size, and just under eight minutes long, so it may take a bit to load and play. Probably easier to right-click on it and download it, if you want to view it.
 
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Today I took the E500 out for a fall drive of about 125 miles on the Maryland roads.

Here is a shot blasting down MD-32, as it cuts directly through the middle of National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters at Ft. Meade, MD.

Temp: perfect
Speed: perfect
 
On as scale of 1-10, how much paranoia about the police you've had during above 100 blasts? What was the fastest speed achieved?
Whenever I do this in VA, where 20 over is reckless driving, I mentally surrender to being caught which quashes down paranoia. Of course I'm all eyes forward, forwards sides, and rear view before and during the salvo
 
Perhaps a 2-3 on a 1-10 scale. Electronic countermeasures are legal in Maryland, unlike in the Wash DC "bubble" and the Commonwealth of Virginia. So that is always helpful backup.

Knocking on wood though — I find that most of the time the roads are so crowded in MD and VA and DC that it’s pretty difficult to speed. So when I drive at times when the roads are not crowded, I really enjoy it. And much of the time when I do see county police or Maryland state troopers, they tend to already have someone else pulled over.

Fastest speed here? Maybe 110-115 MPH. Fastest I’ve ever gone in my E500? 150MPH-plus during some late night runs on Interstate 84 back in the day, between Portland and Hood River, OR in the Columbia River Gorge. Probably around 2004-2005. I was a young buck of about 35-36 back then....

People here in MD and VA tend to drive slow anyway. It was much easier, more legal and you had much more ability to drive fast in Texas. Much more in the way of wide open roads, and speeds of 80-85 MPH were generally normal.

I do enjoy the straight, flat, 12+ mile long Dulles (Airport) Connector (VA-267) Road, for those occasions when I fly out of Dulles. Generally few cops, little traffic, and a long line of sight.
 
@gerryvz, it's nice that you are a wholesome human being and not an American version of a member of Komsomol (woke 24/7/365).

Electronic countermeasures are legal in Maryland

As I understand, highway patrol no longer uses radar, only laser, even in rural areas? Several years ago I did a road trip my wife from LA to Saltlake city. I've got a radar detector before the trip, and once outside of LA and then later outside of Las Vegas, I could see every trap - "trp-trp, KA band, trp, trp". And sure enough a few miles later there he was! After accurate detection of 3-4 traps, I've gotten so emboldened, I drove the rest of the way, as if I was on autobahn/autostrada. Mostly 100-120 mph, in the left lane, but often times hitting 135 mph, flashing cars to move to the right. Several times I topped out at 144 mph, which all my that car could do. It was during the daytime, of course, on the straights with not that much traffic. I was en even younger buck then you in 2004, by several years.

On the way back though, near Provo UT, I got a laser hit, (thankfully, only doing 95 in 70 speed zone). The patrolman was seating in the median, I pulled over right away on the right shoulder, ending up directly opposite of him. He only needed to drive across the road. He was so amused (and a light-hearted man too) he only wrote me 5 over, which I was able to dismiss with no points on my record via a Provo lawyer, once I got back to LA.

I drove very reasonably all the way back to LA and sold that devil device right away. I've had a few "panic attacks" afterwards, thinking what if I got caught doing 135, instead of 95.... But, now, several years later, it's good to remember the fun times :)
 
Driving back from Arizona to Houston one time, lo about 2011, I got nailed by a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper, while driving my ex-wife's (now @Dbreid's) white 1995 S124 wagon. I was in West Texas, about 3 hours' drive west of San Antonio, and crested a hill doing 92 MPH in an 80 MPH zone. The trooper issued me a ticket (I did not have my radar detector with me on that trip, as I keep them hard-wired on my SEC and E500) for ~$100. I was also nailed in Washington State I'd say about 2012 for driving too fast in a school zone during school hours, and I did get a non-speeding-related ticket in California back in 2012. Other than that, haven't had a ticket since.
 
Earlier this year, I found this badge mounted next to the license plate, on a late W126 model at the wrecking yard. It is a dealer badge that comes from the "old" MB dealership here in Annapolis, back when it was a family-owned business dba Benson Motorcars. Now the stealership is known as "Mercedes-Benz of Annapolis." I also came across an old metal "Benson Motors" license plate frame, which I am displaying on my garage wall.

The badge was very faded and had almost no color left. I took a very fine hair-brush and several colors of Testor's enamel model paint in the badge's original colors (or as close to them as I could buy the paint for), and "refurbished" the badge. This is how it turned out. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the badge before I started the project.

I am creating a garage-wall display of grill badges pertaining to MB dealerships and programs, and now have about 5-6 of them in my collection. I will probably unveil the display this spring sometime, when I get it done.

In any case, here's the "refurbished" badge. It is a nice flag-shaped design that evokes the very strong sailing/boating heritage of Annapolis, which is often referred to as "The Sailing Capital of the World" .... or in other circles as "A Drinking Town With a Sailing Problem."

 

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Starting to acquire quite a haul of badges for Virginia and Maryland-area MB dealerships, and other MB-related badges. I'm going to create a display for this growing collection.

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Here's a recent haul of additional trunk badges for further expansion of my garage wall art project...

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New slug of oil filters for the M119 and M104, to join those I have for the M117.

All Hengst.

All Made in Germany.

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Gerry, I know that all "made in Germany" oil filters by major brands are good, but, out of general curiosity, I'm wondering why not go with MB branded filters that are $9 something on mboemparts.com? Thanks
 
Because the Hengst filters are as good or better quality, and only $5-6 apiece. Remember that the MB filters are made by one of the three or four OEMs. There is no better filter out there than Hengst, unless you ever find a GUD filter. They are made in South Africa, but are almost impossible to find in the US.
 
During this time of "self quarantine," I've vowed to spend MUCH time on automotive projects.

This past weekend was a very productive one for me, and I was able to accomplish two medium-sized projects I've been meaning to do (one for three years; the other for the past few weeks).

The first project was FINALLY solving a highly annoying and LOUD squeak having to do with the sunroof area of Laura's 4Runner. It turns out, after tediously removing the headliner of the SUV, that a previous mechanic who she had service the sunroom several years back, had not tightened several of the bolts that hold the entire sunroof cartridge to the roof of the truck. This caused the squeaking. I diagnosed and found this, and easily remedied it. A test drive now shows a SILENT truck.

Secondly, the check valve for the windshield washer fluid system of my 1995 G-wagen gave out, and was visibly leaking underhood when I activated the windshield washer mechanism. I believe this was caused by a combination of age, and of not using "winterized" windshield washer fluid here in the cold Mid-Atlantic region. I think the water inside the valve probably expanded, and popped its two halves apart, causing a leak when the squirter is run.

Fortunately, this was very easy to get at under the rear edge of the hood. BUT, unfortunately, in true GVZ fashion, I decided I didn't like the "browned" look of the original windshield washer hoses, and dug out the coil of 30 meters (100 feet) of spare hose that I had stashed in my basement parts inventory. Removing the hose from the bad check valve, I "traced" the hose all the way to the windshield washer fluid tank.

Which was buried in the passenger side wheel well. Just forward of and below the battery. But inside the wheel well, NOT inside the engine compartment. Requiring removal of the inner fender liner (7 sheet metal screws), battery, and loosening some items in the passenger side of the engine compartment along the fender wall.

So what was a 15-minute project to replace a check valve, turned into a 3.5 hour removal of the entire windshield washer mechanism and tank, cleaning everything, removing the pump and rubber grommets, and washer level sender, and then re-assembling everything and re-attaching it to the inside fender wall by the three bolts.

Starting in my driveway about 3:30 PM, I finished just as the sun was going down. A test of the squirter system and observation of the new check valve confirmed proper operation and a very strong dual stream of squirter fluid on the windshield.

Because the level sender, and rubber grommets, and squirter pump were original, I decided to order new ones from MB. Of course, the pump is a different model and design from the "pedestrian" pumps found on sedan and coupe models, although it wasn't that much more expensive thankfully.

I broke a couple of common plastic clips in the process, so a bunch of those are also on order. I replaced the length of hose from the pump to the front washer check valve; I still have a very short length of hose to replace from the check valve to the actual nozzle. I did not bother to replace the length of hose that runs aft from the pump to the rear window nozzle.

Testing the capacity of the windshield washer tank in my kitchen sink, I found that it comfortably holds about 5 quarts (1.25 gallons) of washer fluid, although I think about a gallon is probably optimal.

I will remove the tank again in the future to replace the level sender and grommets proactively, and likely the pump too. And to replace the underhood clips that I broke.

All in all (and unfortunately I didn't take any photographs), it was an illuminating afternoon of discovery about how the mid-1990s G-wagen's windshield washer system is set up. It's just a super PITA to get at.

But hey ..... self-quarantine !!!!
 
This flyover was for the US Naval Academy's commencement, not the nationwide flyovers that they did a couple of weeks ago, jointly with the USAF Thunderbirds.

Today's flyover was un-announced, and was specific for the USNA.

This was my house's doorbell camera from the same USNA Graduation flyover, last year:

View attachment IMG_0924.mov
 
:update:

Started making my MB logo “wall art” piece. I got a few pieces mounted, but ran out of glue gun sticks. So, will get more of them tomorrow.

You can see from the second photo how many more logos I have yet to mount.

I offset the round MB “trunk Star” logo and then started arranging logos radiating out from it like rays of light.

I think it will turn out pretty nice, when done. It’s a lot of fun making it !! The 4’ square piece of plywood is going to be totally covered in logos when I’m all done !!

View attachment 101849 View attachment 101850
I don't see 1000sel on there!:nobmw:
 
USNA Graduation Day, COVID-19 style. This year they spread the graduation of the "Firsties" over several days, instead of doing it in one shot at the Navy/Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

My grandfather was USNA Class of 1925, and he lived in that building (Bancroft Hall) depicted in the video above. His USNA class ring is a prized possession of mine. It is inlaid with a white stone from his home state of Idaho.

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A little bit of update on the personal front.

You may have noticed that I've had no updates on my 500E Top-End Rebuild thread recently. This is because I was bitten by a highly venomous spider about two weeks ago while out hiking with my dog in the woods behind my house, and have been recovering. While I can function normally, and this week have been MUCH better overall, I am still suffering some significant effects from the bite. The bite resulted in major chest pressure (although respiratory function was 100%), chills, fever, loss of appetite, complete lethargy/loss of energy (for a couple of days, even going outside to get the mail at the mailbox was serious physical exertion), and more recently, headaches. Sleeping 12-18 hours per day until this week. I have had headaches for the past six days going straight. At first I thought I had COVID, but I did get a test straightaway and it came back negative (and also, I didn't have any of the respiratory problems, or taste/smell loss symptoms, of COVID). And of course Laura was completely unaffected by my illness -- another indicator that the problem was not viral (cold/COVID/flu/etc.).

I am hoping to be finally able to get out to the garage this comign weekend so that I can finalize the chain rail replacement (which I'll document).

In other notes, I ordered not only a second pair of factory W126 upper control arms this week, from my local MB Annapolis dealer (at a price of $167.50 tax included for both parts. I also ordered a pair of radiator rubber lower mounts, part number 129 504 01 12, to join the new Behr radiator that I ordered. These are cheap and after 25+ years, just another rubber piece that is a good idea to replace.
 

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