The $500 500SL Offroadster

[Beater400E]

Just got limp mode. Stopped at the next exit and restarted the car and we're back in business. The car has a brand new overload switch.

Oh, and I have a couple spare headlights at home, so no worries there.

 

[gsxr]

Brand new OL switch! Maybe it's an old code? Otherwise, it's back to checking the wires... or less likely, a flaky/faulty EZL.

The OL switch code should not appear unless there's been a WOT upshift, btw. If you never hit WOT the code would never show up.

 

[Beater400E]

Made it to Reno. Did the last 40 miles in limp mode. Not sure what to do now.

 

[Beater400E]

17-8 OL switch again.

 

[gsxr]

What codes from E-GAS? Need to figure out what's causing limp mode.

You can re-start in motion by shifting to neutral, restarting, then back to Drive. Just make sure there's room to coast safely to a stop if for some reason it won't re-start.

 

[Beater400E]

When I stopped in Reno I cleared all the codes, yanked and reseated all the connectors on the EZL, and then checked the connector on the OL switch. The OL switch was a little loose and had some water in the connector. I doubt the water would have hurt it, but I dried it out and reconnected it nice and tight. The car seems happy now.

There's a lot more traffic now, so I haven't been able to hit triple digit speeds, but I think I might be good.

 

[TerryA]

Oh yeah, and I barely made it out of town when a car kicked up a piece of lumber on the freeway and did this.

View attachment 223105

Ouch! My greatest fear is this happening to my perfect E- Code Hellas. I’m not sure the 20mm film would save them from this.

 

[Beater400E]

Finally made it home. 1600 miles, many adventures, and one trophy later.









The car did pretty well. Still having that surging issue. I've noticed that it's directly linked to load/power demand.

That usually means wide open throttle, high speed stuff, but it was also happening at 3/4 throttle at 40 mph when I was climbing a 26% grade up Sonora pass.

I got some video of it on my way home. If I can get it to upload I'll share it here.

 

[Beater400E]

View attachment 20250915_121903(1).mp4

Ok, I had to chop it down, crop at and potatofy it to get it small enough to be uploaded, but here's a video of the surging in action. Lots of wind noise even with the top up, but you can hear the surging and even see it with my camera bobbing up and down with each cycle.

I think fuel starvation is a possibility. This car is much heavier than stock with all the modifications and all the gear I carry. It's also less aerodynamic than stock. That would all add load and when I step down to pass someone, or accelerate hard up a hill, it's conceivably possible that the car needs more fuel than it's getting.

The fuel pumps and filter are new, and I can't imagine that I'm anywhere near the limit of fuel delivery there. I'm not sure how close to capacity the stock injectors are. I suppose it's possible that the injectors are a little dirty or restricted, causing a reduction in flow.

I can rig up a fuel pressure gauge that I can monitor while driving, but I did that once before and everything was fine. Fuel pressure would not tell me if my injectors were delivering less fuel than they should though.

I'm leaving for Las Vegas in just a few days so not sure how much time I'll have for diagnostic work this week. The car is due for an oil change and some other basic maintenance at this point, so that will probably be my priority for now.

I'll run some fuel system cleaner through it, change the oil, replace the broken headlight and probably look over the ignition system and call it good for this week. I doubt any of that will help the situation, but we'll see.

 

[gsxr]

The stock fuel system can support your additional loads no problem... only side effect would be slower acceleration.

If the current surging is IDENTICAL to previously where you rigged up the external fuel pressure gauge, then it's a long shot, but might be worth ruling out.

If it's not fuel pressure, I'm suspicious of something else with mixture or throttle control, but it will be tough to pinpoint without live data from HHT-Win.

For grins, have you tried disconnecting the MAF to see if that makes the problem better or worse? The computers go into a fixed operating mode when there's no MAF signal.

 

[Beater400E]

If the current surging is IDENTICAL to previously where you rigged up the external fuel pressure gauge, then it's a long shot, but might be worth ruling out.

It does seem pretty much identical. The severity sometimes differs, but the symptom is pretty much the same. Weirdly, this is the same symptom is had with the 400E that only went away when I swapped out my 4.2L EZL for a 5.0L EZL. Not suggesting that's necessarily related, but the symptom is the same and it never came back after that. I also previously cleared up the issue on this car by resetting LH adaptation, but now it doesn't seem to help.

It seems like this symptom is somewhat common, but the cause is... variable? Cosmic rays? Unknowable? I have no idea.

For grins, have you tried disconnecting the MAF to see if that makes the problem better or worse? The computers go into a fixed operating mode when there's no MAF signal.

That's a thought. I haven't tried that. I can try it.

If it's not fuel pressure, I'm suspicious of something else with mixture or throttle control, but it will be tough to pinpoint without live data from HHT-Win.

I am probably going to have to bite the bullet and just get HHT-Win. I'll have to do some research on the best option for that. I don't really know what I need.

 

[R129 UK]

I am probably going to have to bite the bullet and just get HHT-Win. I'll have to do some research on the best option for that. I don't really know what I need.

There is plenty of info on here, I would avoid the M6+ which is proving unreliable with HHT-WIN.

Ideally, I would go for a C4 with a laptop running XP native off an SSD.

Some systems don’t always have the latest Xentry software if you have other later Mercs you might want to use it in so just watch out for that.

Also, make sure any 38 pin cable you buy is fully populated with end to end connections. Some cables have connectors with contactor inserts but no cable strand between them.

 

[Beater400E]

Finally got the car on the lift to inspect after the California trip. I'm leaving tomorrow for Las Vegas, so not too much time to fiddle with it.

The rear main seal leak is getting worse. At this point the flex plate is slinging oil all over. I lost less than a quart over 1600 miles on the California trip, so it could certainly be worse. I have the Vegas trip this weekend, and then I'm going up to the Olympics in Washington next weekend, so I won't have time to mess with that until October.

I haven't done a rear main seal on one of these yet, but it looks pretty simple. Pull the trans and just swap the seal I guess. Should be able to do it in an afternoon.

I replaced my broken headlight, as well as the headlight "door" which had been broken since I got the car. I got a decent headlight door from the same car that I got the roof from.

I noticed when I got home that I was missing a center cap from my right front wheel. On the trip there were a few times that I heard some kind of weird noise from the right front. I'm hoping it was just some wind noise from that missing center cap. I have spares in hand, so I replaced it.

I pulled the distributor caps off to inspect and discovered some new schmoo. I had these apart just a few thousand miles ago. I'm not sure where this crud is coming from.



You can see black crusty deposits on those two contacts. You can also see dark oily looking residue around each of those two contacts.

I would assume I'm either getting water inside the cap from all my offroading, or maybe there's some oil vapor getting into the cap. It's generally pretty clean in there, and my cam seals are new, but the cam magnets are seeping oil again, even though I'd previously gone through them and resealed them.

I cleaned up the contacts in that cap. I haven't had a chance to get the car out and test. I might not have time before the Vegas trip. I'll have plenty of time to test on the trip though. I'm heading to the Hot Wheels Legends tour stop in Las Vegas. I was invited to display the car there. There's a VERY slim chance that my car could be chosen to be made into an actual Hot Wheels toy.

On the way back I plan to go through and visit a bunch of the Area 51/UFO/nuclear testing tourist stops throughout central Nevada. This trip will be around 1400 miles.

If I don't come back, avenge my death.

 

[gsxr]

If I don't come back, avenge my death.

 

[Beater400E]

The distributor cap cleanup didn't change anything. Still getting that surging. I cleared codes before my test drive and I'm now getting:

4-23 purge valve
7-6 starter lockout/backup lamp switch
19-21 purge valve

That's it.

I removed the purge valve to eliminate a possible vacuum leak, so that explains those. I assume 7-6 is NSS. I went through that recently, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a problem still. That said, I think it's kind of a meaningless code. First time I've seen it with this issue.

It was suggested to unplug the MAF and see if the behavior changes. I can try that. Any modules I should be suspicious of? I have spares of everything.

 

[Beater400E]

I might be done test driving for tonight.

I unplugged the MAF and hit the freeway. The issue seemed to be mostly gone. It would still do a single hesitation right after the WOT downshift, but that was it. After that it pulled cleanly.

At least I'm pretty sure it did. I got pulled over and ticketed for doing 89 in a 65. I showed the cop the tools and modules in my car for the testing I was doing and explained that I was trying to resolve an issue that only occurs at freeway passing speed. He told me I can talk to the judge.

Before I pulled away from the stop I got out and opened the hood and plugged the MAF back in just to make the point. Since this happened in town, I'll probably take my chances in court.

So, what does the unplugged MAF test tell me? Does that indicate a bad or dirty MAF? Dirty wouldnt surprise me one bit given how I use the car.

 

[gsxr]

There's a chance the MAF could be reading incorrectly. This is where HHT-Win is handy to view live data. IME, the MAF's either work right or they are dead... I've found there's rarely anything in between. Cleaning generally won't do anything. Got a spare MAF you can swap in? Also reset adaptation at the same time. If the MAF readings were way off, the LH adaptation could have been pegged either full lean, or full rich (again, live data would show the values, alerting you that something is wrong - should never be maxed in either direction).

Bummer about the ticket, btw. Ugh. Where did you get pulled over, and was it ISP or CCSO? The excessive revenue generation, aka "traffic enforcement", is one of the reasons we moved out of Idaho. I had to use cruise control constantly and wouldn't leave home without the Valentine-1. And, that doesn't help when they're hiding near stop signs to catch anyone who doesn't put their car in park at the stop sign.

 

[Beater400E]

Bummer about the ticket, btw. Ugh. Where did you get pulled over, and was it ISP or CCSO? The excessive revenue generation, aka "traffic enforcement", is one of the reasons we moved out of Idaho. I had to use cruise control constantly and wouldn't leave home without the Valentine-1. And, that doesn't help when they're hiding near stop signs to catch anyone who doesn't put their car in park at the stop sign.

Eastbound I-84 near the flying wye. It was Boise PD. I believe Idaho law permits exceeding the speed limit in order to safely complete a passing maneuver, which us exactly what I was trying to recreate in my testing. I had my tools and spare modules in my passenger seat during the test, which supported my explanation of things. This was a motorcycle cop though, so his whole job is revenue generation. He didn't care. Unfortunately that also means he's very likely to show up to court.

I'll do a bit more research before I see the judge. Hopefully they will be lenient.

Got a spare MAF you can swap in? Also reset adaptation at the same time. If the MAF readings were way off, the LH adaptation could have been pegged either full lean, or full rich (again, live data would show the values, alerting you that something is wrong - should never be maxed in either direction).

I have a few spare MAFs. I pulled my existing one out and cleaned it last night. I'll reset adaptation before I hit the road here in a couple hours. Maybe I'll clean up another one and bring it along. I can try swapping it on the road, and I'll reset adaptation when I do.

 

[gsxr]

Don't expect things to go well in traffic court. They're all about the money. No traffic school option either, like in some other states (CA lets you do this every 18 months!). In general I'd recommend testing only on deserted back roads which are rarely patrolled. And even then, have your V-1 powered up.

Definitely bring a spare MAF with you, and the tools needed to swap it on the fly.

 

[Beater400E]

Don't expect things to go well in traffic court. They're all about the money. No traffic school option either, like in some other states (CA lets you do this every 18 months!). In general I'd recommend testing only on deserted back roads which are rarely patrolled. And even then, have your V-1 powered up.

Definitely bring a spare MAF with you, and the tools needed to swap it on the fly.

Yeah, I don't EXPECT to beat the ticket, but there's no reason not to try.

V-1 is a little rich for my blood, but I might grab a Uniden R3 or R4 on my way out of town today.

I'll definitely bring a MAF and tools.

 

[gsxr]

Absolutely give it a try. You have nothing to lose. Remember that you can mail in the not-guilty plea, which will then set up a court date months in the future. Don't bother going in person for the not-guilty plea.

V1 isn't cheap, but it's worth it. The Escort 360 models with rear-facing antennas are also supposed to be pretty good. Anything else varies between false sense of security, and a "ticket announcer". Add a hardwire power supply and mount above the rearview mirror. With a visor tint strip, it will be invisible from the outside.

 

[Beater400E]

Add a hardwire power supply and mount above the rearview mirror. With a visor tint strip, it will be invisible from the outside.

I wonder if it would work from behind my windshield vinyl visor. Not transparent at all.

 

[gsxr]

I wonder if it would work from behind my windshield vinyl visor. Not transparent at all.

Depends if that blocks microwave signals. Which reminds me, metalized window tint film can block signals... need dye-based tint like 3M ColorStable, or ceramic-based. There's a shop in Caldwell that carries the 3M ColorStable, that's where I got mine tinted.

EDIT: The shop is Auto Shades, behind Sound Hound on the boulevard, directly across the street from the Caldwell Jungle.

Auto Shades Window Tint and Paint Protection

Auto Shades is a locally owned business specializing in Window Tint for your Auto, Home , or Business and Paint Protection Film.

www.autoshadesidaho.com

 

[Beater400E]

I reset adaptation before hitting the road. It was a little better at first, but after a few miles it settled back into surging. Ran a couple hundred miles like that. At my next stop I swapped the MAF and reset adaptation again. We'll see how it does on this next leg.

 

[Beater400E]

The new MAF behaves just like the original. No luck there.

 

[Beater400E]

Made it to the Hot Wheels event in Las Vegas. I love all the dirty looks this car gets from the Brw Balance crowd.

 

[Beater400E]

Well now this is strange. Today on the way home the car is behaving perfectly. No surging at all.

 

[Beater400E]

Naturally, I stop to fuel up and SAY something about the surging being gone, and it returns. Maybe I'll try shotgunning some parts at it before I finish my journey to see if anything changes.

 

[Beater400E]

Forget science. I swapped the EZL, LH, ASR CARB, and Base modules. Clearing all prior codes now and then I'll try it.

 

[Beater400E]

And... now it doesn't run. I'm a genius.

 

[Beater400E]

Not sure what I did, but I've swapped the original parts back one by one and it still doesn't run. The blink light on the LH module is fully lit at all times. That's not normal.

 

[Beater400E]

Best guess is that is have 2 bad base modules. The spare I had was untested. Pulled from the junk yard a week ago.

That seems so insanely unlikely, but all my modules are unresponsive, which I believe points to no power from the base module. I have 12v power TO the base module, so I assume my issue must be there.

I have a friend loading up a trailer and heading my way, but he's a few hours out. I'd love to fix this stupid thing where it sits, but I'm out of ideas.

 

[Beater400E]

Oof. It was one bad base module, and a not fully seated ASR module. I eventually got it running and got home.

Interestingly, while I was dealing with that I discovered a cracked fuse in my fuse box. I replaced that fuse and once I got it running, it ran great again. No more surging all the way home. I'll have to do some more testing to see if it's actually any better.

 

[Beater400E]

 

[Beater400E]

Took the car out for another little test run yesterday, and all my issues have returned. It's bizarre. Sometimes it will run great and the surging will not be present for the entire drive cycle. I could drive for hours without issue, but as soon as I shut it off and restart, the issue will be present.

I said "all my issues" because I'm also getting some noises from somewhere in the drivetrain or suspension. It sounds like gear whine. Sometimes I hear it from the right front, and other times I seem to hear it from the differential. Granted, I could be wrong about the location of the noise. I mostly hear it on deceleration, usually when the car is cold. It's not always present, so its a tough one to isolate.

I found the right front brake backing plate was cracked yesterday. I thought it might be some vibration noise from that, but I welded the crack up as a quick fix yesterday and the noise remains. I may tear the knuckle down and inspect/grease the bearings just to rule that out. They feel fine, when I spin things by hand, but I can't say for sure they're not the cause.

The rear main seal leak is not magically self-healing, so I may end up yanking the transmission out to replace that soon. I might pull the diff and pop the cover open to inspect while I have things apart. I did so much work to get that 3.69 diff and locker together. It's possible that there are parts chewing on each other in there.

So yeah. Lots of little issues remaining. The plan was to go up to Washington this weekend for an event, but I'm not sure if I'll do that or not. I've done almost 4000 miles so far this month. The whole month has been either working, fixing the car, or traveling. Some rest sounds nice.

 

[Beater400E]

A while back I picked up a laptop with a multiplexer and cables and such. It has carsoft diagnostic software, which is worthless for OBD-I cars.

Is it possible that this hardware is compatible with (insert diagnostic software technobabble here Xentry/SDS/HHT-WIN/Magic make-it-go-ware)?

I see SSDs on ebay that are supposedly loaded with Xentry software. It would be super cool if I could just use that and the hardware I already have.

SSD Mercedes BENZ with 2023.09 Xentry DAS WIS EPC for C4/C5/C6 SDS Multiplexer | eBay

MB Xentry / Star Diagnosis System (Version 2023.09) SOFTWARE installed on a solid state drive.

ebay.us

 

[gsxr]

Depends on the MUX you have. Got a photo of it?

I have a feeling the Carsoft MUX won't work with SDS (DAS/Xentry).

 

[Beater400E]

It looks like this.

 

[gsxr]

View attachment 223689

It looks like this.

Sorry... what you have only works with Carsoft.

You'll need a completely different hardware/software package for SDS.

 

[Beater400E]

Dang. I just pulled the Offroadster into the shop to give it a once over in preparation for a gambler run next weekend. I'd noticed on the last couple runs what sounded like a noisy bearing in the drivetrain somewhere. With it on the lift I just discovered the left rear wheel bearing appears to be loose.

I'm just starting to pull it apart now. I think I recall reading that the rear wheel bearings are a nightmare. What makes them so difficult? I could probably pull the entire knuckle out of my parts SL if needed, but that sounds like more of a hassle than replacing the bearing unless the bearing really is that bad.

 

[gsxr]

Rear wheel bearings just aren't fun. Pulling the axles isn't fun, etc. If the hub will come off with a slide hammer, that's great - but sometimes it refuses, which complicates the job quite a bit. With the hub off, the bearing R&R is straightforward with the special tool.

HOW-TO thread linked below has most of what you need to know:

S

Thread 'HOW TO: Rear wheel bearing replacement'

Jul 9, 2012

ADMIN EDIT: This thread was copied to the "How To" section and edited to improve the S/N ratio. Original thread is at this link.

OK, I'll add to the forum. This will be edited several times with updated pictures as I get a chance. I had a bad wheel bearing which was a good roar- I quickly replaced it b/c I didn't want the bearing inner race to spin on the hub and up the expense and time.

Diagnosis: When you are driving @ 40 mph or so, make the bearing roar. Then do a lane change left and right. When you turn left- the RHS rear bearing is loaded. So...

• samiam44
• Replies: 13
• Forum: "HOW-TO" Tutorial Articles

• 

 

[Beater400E]

That wasn't too bad. I didn't bother trying to track down any special tools. I made some appropriately sized drivers on the lathe and used a big 3/4 inch bolt and nut. The new bearing is in. Tomorrow I'll take it out on the highway and make sure the noise is gone.