OWNER seangbadee (1995 E320)

[Seangbadee]

Today because the weather was so beautiful in the Atl, I decided to embark on replacing my valve cover gasket. Last week, while changing my spark plugs, I noticed quite a bit of oil in the plugs wells.
The entire job took me about 1 hour because I decided to 'detail' the valve cover before replacing the gasket.
I used Elring brand of gaskets, and changed all the rubber grommets as well (12 of them).
The moon -shaped gasket did not give any problems with installation.
I made sure the surfaces of the cylinder which the gasket would come in contact with were thoroughly cleaned and dry prior to putting back the valve cover.
I tightened to10Nm or 7.4 ft lbs (I'd like to think I did).
No leakages. I'm so glad that I spent quality time on this forum reading the "how to" articles.
I don't know what size my alternator is but intend to "upgrade' it using a 143 amp alternator from a 1996 S600.
This will be my next project

 

[Jlaa]

Nice job. What is the impetus to upgrading your alternator?

 

[Seangbadee]

I had a 1991 300E which came with a 70amp alternator, and after 3 days of not starting the car, the battery would be dead. I actually went through 3 batteries in less than 6 months
After reading through some blogs, i discovered that I could swap out the alternator with a 143 amp one from a 1996 s500 alternator. All that was required was to swap out a bracket on each alternator, and change the guage of the positive cable. I installed a brand new Bosch voltage regulator and never had any more problems with my battery.
The main reason why I did the upgrade was because I had so much extre electronic gear i fitted into my 300E, and I believe it caused a major drain. The drain was there before the modifications but I assumed it was the battery. I never checked the voltage regulator in the 70amp alternator.
Now the 1995 E320 is still as it came from the factory. Nothing has been added or removed, however I intend to install a Nakamichi headunit and might do some minor modifications. I got the 143 amp alternator at a very reasonable cost, and will 'upgrade' the one in the car, if needed.

 

[gsxr]

The alternator upgrade is really nice. Main improvement is in the current output at idle, especially if you have any additional / non-stock electrical loads. The 143A-150A alternators from late 90's V8 models are a bolt-up, but may require using the original pulley, AND may require re-clocking the alternator to get the terminals in the correct location.

More details here, from the original installation on my 1987 300D, nearly 17 years ago:

Installed a 143A alternator in my W124 (86-95 E-class) - with photos - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Hi all, This is not a question post, this is just a summary of what I did to my car, and thought it might help others as well. Due to large bulbs in

www.peachparts.com

 

[Seangbadee]

Awesome. You are absolutely correct. I had to exchange the pulleys but did not have to reclock the alternator terminals.
Yes it did improve the idle especially with the load I had.

 

[Jlaa]

The main reason why I did the upgrade was because I had so much extre electronic gear i fitted into my 300E, and I believe it caused a major drain.

Awesome. You are absolutely correct. I had to exchange the pulleys but did not have to reclock the alternator terminals.
Yes it did improve the idle especially with the load I had.

Out of curiosity, if I may ask, what kind of electronic load did you present to your alternator? Running some actively scanned high power radar system or something?

 

[Seangbadee]

Out of curiosity, if I may ask, what kind of electronic load did you present to your alternator? Running some actively scanned high power radar system or something?

I had an aftermarket head unit, a sub, an amplifier and I changed out all the speakers. I had a combination of Rockford fosgate and Memphis Audio speakers. I also went 'old school' and added an eqaulizer, an iPod interface and an AC DC inverter.

 

[Seangbadee]

I had an aftermarket head unit, a sub, an amplifier and I changed out all the speakers. I had a combination of Rockford fosgate and Memphis Audio speakers. I also went 'old school' and added an eqaulizer, an iPod interface and an AC DC inverter.

All of this was in my '91 300E
I intend to keep my 1995 E320 as clean as possible. It's so beautiful that I don't want to do an 'overkill' on it.

 

[Seangbadee]

The alternator upgrade is really nice. Main improvement is in the current output at idle, especially if you have any additional / non-stock electrical loads. The 143A-150A alternators from late 90's V8 models are a bolt-up, but may require using the original pulley, AND may require re-clocking the alternator to get the terminals in the correct location.

More details here, from the original installation on my 1987 300D, nearly 17 years ago:

Installed a 143A alternator in my W124 (86-95 E-class) - with photos - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Hi all, This is not a question post, this is just a summary of what I did to my car, and thought it might help others as well. Due to large bulbs in

www.peachparts.com

Thank you