OWNER Surf Blau (Norsker)

[Surf Blau]

Yes! Actually that should boost power on your 1993 to low 330ps range. Details here.

It almost certainly will need new capacitors installed though... if you have the ability, replace those before installing in your car.

Nice, that should definitely make it worthwhile! And thanks for the link - I love the trademarked ButtDyno , that's what really matters!

I want to be able to see live data from the engine before I swap it into my car though, which leaves me some time to do the capacitors - is there a How-to for this, or is it apparent enough what I need when I open the unit? I have played around enough with arduinos and hobby electronics to feel confident in performing such a procedure.

 

[gsxr]

There's not a how-to as it's standard electronics / soldering, but this thread has more info. I use the automotive-rated Nichicon UBT's like Alphasud. I've found the factory solder to require ridiculous amounts of heat before it liqifies, need to have my Weller soldering station pegged at 850°F and that barely does the job. You don't need to remove all the old goopy conformal coating, just around the 6 (or sometimes 7) capacitor leads underneath. If possible, practice on a spare/junk/low-value LH module before attempting it on your good one. Plan on it taking 1-2 hours the first time.

 

[Surf Blau]

Yikes, hefty temperatures for some tiny components! Thanks for the link, I'll see if I can source them locally as well

 

[Surf Blau]

I had an issue with the outside temperature gauge in my car, which acted all crazy and never showed anything meaningful:

The PO told me that some (self proclaimed) experts he had discussed the matter with, diagnosed it to a faulty temperature sensor and thus he had bought a new one that I got with the car. I tested this briefly, not expecting anything as I couldn't see this effect from a faulty signal, and as expected nothing changed.

Last week I found a cheap, used replacement display from an early 90s S124, and decided to test it today. Unfortunately the display had started leaking, so I couldn't read the values it showed clearly, but at least the display appeared to be on in a stabile fashion and not crazy like the original one. I bought this damaged display planning to combine the two into one working one, so I began taking them apart and noticed that the colours of the wiring inside them were completely different:



From what I have found so far, grey is lighting, white+brown is power+ground, green is temperature signal and yellow is speed sensor. I assume this color usage is the same for all model years, but as I started looking closer I noticed that the one that was installed in my car had a date marking indicating 02/1994, which is almost a full year after my car was manufactured. Someone has been in here before - confirmed by the fact that some of the screws (6 in total) were in the wrong place..

This date marking awoke a distant memory from the website of Marcel Deijkers, where he sells new LCD screens for these display units - in his listings he makes a point of selling displays before 1988, and between 1988 and 93/94. I don't know if this is related, nor have I been able to find any documentation confirming a change of this in the last facelift of the 124s..

Anyway, I made one working unit from the two I had, and installed it in the car quite hopeful at this point. However, it seems to be showing a way too low temperature - I mean, it's still pretty cold here (we still have night frost ), but not this cold!



After covering the sensor with my fingers for a minute or so, the indicated temperature goes up, so the functionality of it is there, it's just not very well calibrated



Soo, I fixed one problem and found another one I guess.. My working theory is that a PO noticed that the temperature was off, and tried to remedy it with a new display - which didn't work due to incompatibility between years - opened it up to see if there was an easy fix, and then gave up on it - or yanked out the cable for the speed signal, which I tried soldering back in without any change. But then again, this could also just be part of a bigger issue - the sensor is not installed correctly either, so who know what might have happened over the years.



Oh well, at least my instrument cluster looks like it's working correctly now (ignore the ASR-light please):

 

[Surf Blau]

After replacing both tie rods, center link, pitman arm bushings and steering damper, I decided to adjust the tracking myself using a kit from TrackAce. This is a simple kit that merely shows the angle of two tires in correlation to each other. For it to be exact (enough) both wheels need to be adjusted straight in relation to the car, and the steering wheel needs to be locked. It was a bit of a faff to use, but after a few attempts I understood its possibilites and limitations better, and thus ended up with a result I can live with until I'll have the car professionally aligned.

First the laser and measuring gauge is placed on the right side of the car in front of the right front wheel, after which it is adjusted to zero position based on its laser being reflected from the mirror on the accompanying rod which is placed onto the left front wheel. Then you move said rod with mirror to the right front wheel, and the scale gives you a total value between the two wheels.



After a bit of adjusting and testing, this is what I ended up with. Keep in mind the value is a total value, meaning that it should be split in two to get the value per wheel. In my case it's about 20' (minutes) toe-in, which is about within spec and - based on my experience - an ok result to maintain stability in the car and reduce excessive tire wear.



Everything was done after locking the wheel in the centre position using a seemingly flimsy, but amazingly sturdy, little butler placed between the steering wheel and seat.




Now, I mentioned this having limitations and possibilities, and the latter is easy enough; Being able to adjust your wheels at home is a major convenience for anyone who works on their own car (or just care about their car). One limitation though, is the fact that everything pretty much has to be squared up before you begin adjusting; The first attempt I made resulted in a crooked steering wheel, meaning that both wheels pointed slightly towards one direction and thus my measurements were fine when you considered the two wheels alone, but not in relation to the rest of the car. This limitation can only happen on a fairly small scale though, as you will not be able to align the laser and mirror to each other if the wheels are too much off centre.

Test-driving the car in the end confirmed that I had been able to straighten the steering wheel as wheel as the wheels themselves; With the steering wheel straight the car goes dead ahead (and not towards the ditch as it did the first time). However, throwing parts at the steering setup has not fixed my initial problem, which is a slight vibration, noises while turning (at standstill or at low speed) as well as visible slack in the steering. The latter is very visible with both wheels in the air, where especially the right side wheel can be moved quite a bit when jerking from side to side at 9 and 3. I put my '66 250SE on the lift an hour later and did the same, and compared to this 60 year old soft-as-a-spunge car the 500E feels noticeably looser. It's difficult to see where it's coming from, but even with the steering position locked dead center there is movement in the arm coming from the steering gear box.

With the wheels on the ground I'm also able to push the "front" or "rear" of the tire in/out quite a bit on the right side in particular, enough to affect the aforementioned alignment noticeably (for now it's set to "neutral" position, ie where the tire is at after rolling to a stop).

I still haven't had a chance to thoroughly inspect the LCA(s), but as far as I can understand it must be either those or the steering gear box - there aren't that many components in this setup after all

 

[Surf Blau]

Is my car missing a panel here?



It looks so...naked, almost indecent..

 

[gsxr]

Is my car missing a panel here?

It looks so...naked, almost indecent..

That is normal. I believe it allows airflow for the engine oil cooler (not present on USA/Japan models).

 

[Surf Blau]

That is normal. I believe it allows airflow for the engine oil cooler (not present on USA/Japan models).

Yeah, that might be - glad nothing is missing at least. I've never understood why cars destined for the US and Japan never got this cooler - do you have any info on that?

 

[gsxr]

Yeah, that might be - glad nothing is missing at least. I've never understood why cars destined for the US and Japan never got this cooler - do you have any info on that?

I believe it was due to the the low speed limits in both countries... MB felt the oil cooler was unnecessary, and deleted it to boost profit margin. Similar deal with the brake upgrade as of around 03/1993, USA and Japan did not get the fancy switching master cylinder and other components of that system.

 

[Surf Blau]

I believe it was due to the the low speed limits in both countries... MB felt the oil cooler was unnecessary, and deleted it to boost profit margin. Similar deal with the brake upgrade as of around 03/1993, USA and Japan did not get the fancy switching master cylinder and other components of that system.

Aah, that might be - although, with the amount of heat this engine generates, I would be surprised if the external oil cooler is only needed at prolonged higher speeds

Tell me more about the brake upgrades you mention - I thought it was only a matter of front rotor sizing? According to LastVIN mine is made right smack in the middle of those changes...

 

[gsxr]

Aah, that might be - although, with the amount of heat this engine generates, I would be surprised if the external oil cooler is only needed at prolonged higher speeds

Oil temperature is more related to engine load, than coolant temperature. IIRC the oil cooler thermostat doesn't open until the oil is at 110°C.

Tell me more about the brake upgrades you mention - I thought it was only a matter of front rotor sizing? According to LastVIN mine is made right smack in the middle of those changes...

It's in the FSM. The Euro/RW .036, in addition to the larger brakes all around (320mm front, 300mm rear) also got a switching MC, different brake booster, different ASR/ABS module, and another electronic module under the rear seat. See section G at this link (FSM).

USA/Japan only upgraded the fronts to 320mm but retained the 278mm rears, and the "standard" MC/booster/etc.

 

[Surf Blau]

It's in the FSM. The Euro/RW .036, in addition to the larger brakes all around (320mm front, 300mm rear) also got a switching MC, different brake booster, different ASR/ABS module, and another electronic module under the rear seat. See section G at this link (FSM).

USA/Japan only upgraded the fronts to 320mm but retained the 278mm rears, and the "standard" MC/booster/etc.

Wow, cool - maybe ze Germans considered US roads too straight to ever have issues with the added braking in the rear

 

[Lowman]

After replacing both tie rods, center link, pitman arm bushings and steering damper, I decided to adjust the tracking myself using a kit from TrackAce. This is a simple kit that merely shows the angle of two tires in correlation to each other. For it to be exact (enough) both wheels need to be adjusted straight in relation to the car, and the steering wheel needs to be locked. It was a bit of a faff to use, but after a few attempts I understood its possibilites and limitations better, and thus ended up with a result I can live with until I'll have the car professionally aligned.

First the laser and measuring gauge is placed on the right side of the car in front of the right front wheel, after which it is adjusted to zero position based on its laser being reflected from the mirror on the accompanying rod which is placed onto the left front wheel. Then you move said rod with mirror to the right front wheel, and the scale gives you a total value between the two wheels.

View attachment 237152

After a bit of adjusting and testing, this is what I ended up with. Keep in mind the value is a total value, meaning that it should be split in two to get the value per wheel. In my case it's about 20' (minutes) toe-in, which is about within spec and - based on my experience - an ok result to maintain stability in the car and reduce excessive tire wear.

View attachment 237151

Everything was done after locking the wheel in the centre position using a seemingly flimsy, but amazingly sturdy, little butler placed between the steering wheel and seat.

View attachment 237153


Now, I mentioned this having limitations and possibilities, and the latter is easy enough; Being able to adjust your wheels at home is a major convenience for anyone who works on their own car (or just care about their car). One limitation though, is the fact that everything pretty much has to be squared up before you begin adjusting; The first attempt I made resulted in a crooked steering wheel, meaning that both wheels pointed slightly towards one direction and thus my measurements were fine when you considered the two wheels alone, but not in relation to the rest of the car. This limitation can only happen on a fairly small scale though, as you will not be able to align the laser and mirror to each other if the wheels are too much off centre.

Test-driving the car in the end confirmed that I had been able to straighten the steering wheel as wheel as the wheels themselves; With the steering wheel straight the car goes dead ahead (and not towards the ditch as it did the first time). However, throwing parts at the steering setup has not fixed my initial problem, which is a slight vibration, noises while turning (at standstill or at low speed) as well as visible slack in the steering. The latter is very visible with both wheels in the air, where especially the right side wheel can be moved quite a bit when jerking from side to side at 9 and 3. I put my '66 250SE on the lift an hour later and did the same, and compared to this 60 year old soft-as-a-spunge car the 500E feels noticeably looser. It's difficult to see where it's coming from, but even with the steering position locked dead center there is movement in the arm coming from the steering gear box.

With the wheels on the ground I'm also able to push the "front" or "rear" of the tire in/out quite a bit on the right side in particular, enough to affect the aforementioned alignment noticeably (for now it's set to "neutral" position, ie where the tire is at after rolling to a stop).

I still haven't had a chance to thoroughly inspect the LCA(s), but as far as I can understand it must be either those or the steering gear box - there aren't that many components in this setup after all

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