OWNER Rich.Benzer (400E)

[Rich.Benzer]

Took a look at it yesterday, it is running very badly but the body and interior are pretty nice. Interior is actually very nice aside from a saggy headliner (what old Benz does not have this?) and still smells like a new Benz! That leather! Body has a few small dings and someone tried to pry open the trunk at some point but it is not badly damaged so nothing critical at this point. One fixed rear door window has a plexiglass panel in it. Engine issues seem to be related to the throttle body and wiring but will await more investigation. Does not seem like any fatal issues engine-wise as it did start right up but would not idle and ran very rough with throttle. Some few junkyard parts for some other small things. Tires are like 15yo but still hold air, mostly, so those will need replacing once I get it running well.

The seller bought it at an estate sale, the car had sat for 6 years, did a bit of work on it but I think got tired of it and bought 79 300SD to work on so passing this one along.

Got it for what I think is a reasonable price recognizing what it will likely need. I guess I will find out!

These are pics from the CL posting, I will get more at some point.

[Edit:] I hooked up the fancy computer to it, HHT-WIN came alive and it actually talked to some of the modules. Found some fault codes but I'm not sure if they are current or old, will dig more into that aspect later too.

[Edit2:] 170kmi when the odo quit working right after the seller got it from the estate sale, so not crazy miles as far as a 30yo car goes. Yes it does have ASR which I guess is an added complication!

Seller's walk-around vid he sent me, I took a longer more detailed vid yesterday I will upload when it finishes getting off my phone

Model Year 1992​

Model 420 E​

Engine 119975 12 004033​

Transmission 722354 03 726388​

Order Number 0 2 704 02763​

Order Location UNITED STATES (USA)​

Interior LEATHER - PALOMINO (264)​

Paint 1 BLACK (040U)​

Paint 5 64​

Approx. Build Date 1992-05​

Code Description​

240 OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE INDICATOR​

241 FRONT SEAT LH ELECTRIC ADJUSTABLE WITH MEMORY​

280 LEATHER STEERING WHEEL AND LEATHER GEAR SHIFT KNOB​

291 AIRBAG FOR FRONT PASSENGER​

300 STORAGE BOX IN FRONT TRAY​

340 ADDITIONAL 3RD STOP LAMP​

412 ELECTRIC SLIDING ROOF WITH TILTING DEVICE​

430 HEADREST IN THE REAR, LEFT AND RIGHT​

441 STEERING COLUMN, ELECTRICALLY ADJUSTABLE​

461 INSTRUMENT WITH MILES IND. AND ENGLISH LEGEND​

471 ACCELERATION SKID CONTROL (ASR)​

491 U.S. VERSION​

524 PAINTWORK - PRESERVATION​

543 SUN VISOR WITH VANITY MIRROR, ILLUMINATED, LEFT AND RIGHT​

551 ANTI-THEFT/ANTI-BREAK-IN WARNING SYSTEM​

570 FOLDING ARMREST, FRONT​

588 AUTOMATIC CLIMATE CONTROL AND ELECTRIC WINDOW LIFTERS (FRONT AND REAR DOORS)​

593 HEAT-INSULATING GLASS, ALL-AROUND, HEATED REAR WINDOW PANE (SINGLE-SHEET SAFETY GLASS), BAND FILTER​

600 HEADLAMP WIPER/WASHER​

611 COURTESY LAMPS FOR FRONT AND REAR DOORS, WITH V124 ALSO FOR CENTRAL DOORS​

639 ELIMINATION OF FIRST-AID BOX AND WARNING TRIANGLE​

652 8-HOLE LIGHT ALLOY RIMS​

664 20 LITERS OF FUEL AND MODE OF PACKING VE III​

731 WOOD TRIM, BURRED WALNUT ROOT​

757 BECKER RADIO GRAND PRIX 2000 - USA​

802 CHANGE OF MODEL YEAR, THE LAST FIGURE SHOWING THE NEW MODEL YEAR​

810 SOUND SYSTEM​

 

[gsxr]

Congrats on the purchase! Looks like a nice project car. Appears to have optional ASR (traction control) as well, a nice feature on wet or slippery surfaces. How badly is it running? If not firing on all cylinders, it may be related to secondary ignition (caps, rotors, insulators - search the forum for details). Note that ignition misfires will not appear on the computer fault codes, but if you have DAS / HHT-Win you can view live data and determine which cylinders are the culprits.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[sheward]

Welcome, nice find. Love an 040 400E. What does the odometer show?

 

[LWB250]

He's got DAS/HHT-WIN and a list 'o' codes. I've advised him to change all of the fuses in the coffin first and then clear codes. I suspect most of them are legacy codes.

Welcome!

Dan

 

[Rich.Benzer]

See edits on my post above with more info

 

[gsxr]

If the odometer is still dead, search the forum, it's usually an easy fix by replacing the failed plastic gears. Not expensive either.

Looks like ABS+ASR lights are on in the video, indicating limp mode on startup. First triple-check the throttle linkage adjustment, it is extremely picky about being set correctly. Click here for the online FSM, see job # 30-1010EA for linkage adjustment. ETA must be on the idle stop when the pedal is not pressed; also you cannot rev the engine from the engine compartment by tugging on the linkage behind the airbox - this will immediately trigger limp mode, and store fault codes. The system expects the pedal switch and ETA switch to change positions simultaneously and complains if either operates separately.

Having fun yet?

 

[Rich.Benzer]

If the odometer is still dead, search the forum, it's usually an easy fix by replacing the failed plastic gears. Not expensive either.

Looks like ABS+ASR lights are on in the video, indicating limp mode on startup. First triple-check the throttle linkage adjustment, it is extremely picky about being set correctly. Click here for the online FSM, see job # 30-1010EA for linkage adjustment. ETA must be on the idle stop when the pedal is not pressed; also you cannot rev the engine from the engine compartment by tugging on the linkage behind the airbox - this will immediately trigger limp mode, and store fault codes. The system expects the pedal switch and ETA switch to change positions simultaneously and complains if either operates separately.

Having fun yet?

I'll start having fun after I get the car! Oh, and the throttle cable is broken at the engine end, it is kinda floppy there, so that will need to be replaced too, that might have something to do with what you suggest. All the funs!

 

[gsxr]

Oh yeah - looks like the visor clips are broken too? These are still available new in Palomino color, p/n is 126-810-00-12-8326, about $25 each from discount dealers:

Bracket, Sun-visor, Plastic 126-810-00-12-8326 | MB of Covington

Bracket, Sun-visor, Plastic 126-810-00-12-8326

parts.mbofcovington.com

Throttle cable is 124-300-66-30, also around $25 discount, buy it quick before it goes NLA or the price shoots up.

Genuine OEM Throttle Cable Part# 124-300-66-30 Fits 1992-1995 Mercedes-Benz: Up To 35% Off On Every Order And Guaranteed Fit When You Enter Your VIN | MB Parts Source

1992-1995 Mercedes-Benz OEM Part # 124-300-66-30 - Throttle Cable

www.mbpartsource.com

Throttle cable should come with the plastic rectangle piece at the end, which is also sold separately.

 

[LWB250]

I worked with Rich on the inspection of the car, and while there are a number of items to be addressed, none of them appear to be substantial.

Having resurrected more than one of these cars, I think it was a great deal and will end up being a fun car for him when everything gets sorted. I warned him about the "smiles per mile" you get in an M119 powered W124.

Dan

 

[TerryA]

Welcome aboard Rich, You’ll find plenty of help here. I love the 040 color w/ the Palamino interior.

Good Luck w/ the restoration.

Take Care

 

[Rich.Benzer]

I ordered a new accelerator cable and got it put on yesterday. It seems to work better than the old one with the 1/2" lock washer that was on the cable to keep it from pulling through the lever on the engine end. It was surprisingly easy to do, I had expected it to be worse. The pedal end of the cable went right into the proper place on the pedal lever and the clip popped right back in once I got my hand up in there.

I discovered that the dash piece around the ignition switch was torn up and the aluminum backing behind the dash padding there was all bent up, that and the pry marks on the trunk make me wonder if someone tried to steal the car at some point by prying on the switch and trying to get into the trunk and that is why it has a salvage title. Who knows.

Went to do the adjustment and discovered that this car, supposedly with ASR (and the light is on the dash) 471 ACCELERATION SKID CONTROL (ASR) does not appear to have the ASR bits ("fulcrum lever" #13 in the image) attached to the throttle lever. The "roller" #15 is on the throttle lever, and I can feel a hole where the fulcrum lever would attach and pivot, but nothing is there. Can't really tell from the image what it would attach to anyway or how it would work.

So, anyway that is kinda weird. Not sure what to do about that at this point, if the lack of it is causing the idiot light and maybe limp mode. If anyone has thoughts on that I would love to hear.

I ordered all the hoses and connectors for the plumbing on the intake manifold, if a Benz stealer and FCPEuro ever find it all I can get that to replace the hack job that is there now and maybe the car will run right.

 

[Rich.Benzer]

I replaced the intake hoses (minus that one that goes down under the manifold and ETA, that will have to wait until later but the hose on there seems OK even though it's a bodge job) on the car with new Benz and Febi parts but alas it did not cure the bad running.

Car won't idle but will run sorta OK at 1500-2000rpm but has some miss and still seems to be running rich. I need to clear the codes it was showing when I got it and see if I can watch any data in real time on the car.

I sliced open the wiring loom and check the wires to the ETA and they looked great, so I'm thinking the harness might have been replaced at some point. So now I guess that I need to get the rebuilt ETA rebuilt again. And the hood release cable popped off the handle under the dash, need to see what that's about. Ugh, always something with old cars...

And still the missing ASR bits on the throttle linkage (as above) so maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[gsxr]

Car won't idle but will run sorta OK at 1500-2000rpm but has some miss and still seems to be running rich. I need to clear the codes it was showing when I got it and see if I can watch any data in real time on the car.

Get it warmed up and compare the live data to my video below. Everything should be reasonably close to what you see in the video.

I sliced open the wiring loom and check the wires to the ETA and they looked great, so I'm thinking the harness might have been replaced at some point. So now I guess that I need to get the rebuilt ETA rebuilt again.

Are you certain the ETA was rebuilt? Is there an invoice with date/miles? If the ETA is the culprit, you should have recurring fault codes indicting it.

And still the missing ASR bits on the throttle linkage (as above) so maybe that has something to do with it.

I'm not sure what ASR bits you are missing. It looks ok in your photos. I know you posted a diagram from the manual but if any of those pieces were missing, the throttle cable would not actuate the ETA lever. Make sure you aren't chasing a ghost here.

 

[Rich.Benzer]

Get it warmed up and compare the live data to my video below. Everything should be reasonably close to what you see in the video.



Are you certain the ETA was rebuilt? Is there an invoice with date/miles? If the ETA is the culprit, you should have recurring fault codes indicting it.



I'm not sure what ASR bits you are missing. It looks ok in your photos. I know you posted a diagram from the manual but if any of those pieces were missing, the throttle cable would not actuate the ETA lever. Make sure you aren't chasing a ghost here.

Thanks for the reply. I’ll look at it in more detail tomorrow. The ETA has this sticker on it but no indication when it was rebuilt.

 

[Kridre]

This is not ETA, this is MAF. ETA is under it, cable is going to the plug near the computer box on the right site of the engine.

 

[gerryvz]

Correct. The ETA is going to have a white rectangular sticker on it that will have the date. Possibly also a date stamped on the outside of the ETA in ink, inside of a shield-shaped imprint (often this is worn off, however).

As an example, in the image below, the date code is "07M08" -- which translates to 2007, Month 08 (August).



You can see the two bolt holes in the upper left and upper center of the photo, above the sticker, where the MAF attaches to the ETA.

If your ETA is original (and plenty if not most folks' still are), it should immediately be rebuilt, or at minimum replaced with a newer one without the biodegradable wiring inside. You would want a replacement (used) with a date code of say 1998 or 1999 or later. To get rebuilt, there is an expert fellow in Alabama, Don Roden, who rebuilds these for a living. He offers a three-year warranty, and very very fast service. All rebuilds are tested and all internal components (including wiring) that is worn, are replaced. It's not just the wiring and cable that goes bad on these - they have internal electromechanical components such as potentiometers and gears, that also go bad with age and use.

Don's information can be found here: FYI - Electronic Throttle Actuator (ETA) Rebuild | M119 Engine

Call him on the phone or e-mail him - he is about the friendliest guy you'll ever meet. He's a former MB technician.

P.S. I would be VERY nervous about using all of those Febi Chinese-made air hoses on top of the engine. Much better to go with the "real" rubber hoses made by MB. Chinese rubber tends not to last.