The 2015 Mercedes Gen in Review Book – PDF Download

Mercedes Gen-In Review 2015 Introduction:

Sprinter T1N Faulty Injector Electrical Connector – Intermittent Limp Home May 10th, 2014

Welcome to The Mercedes Gen-In Review 2015, this book is a resource of tech tips, guidance and general useful data for the MB Marques worked on, maintained and serviced by the site owner, Steve Ball of Allmerc.uk in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire UK. Allmerc.uk - Mercedes Benz Specialist Automotive Engineering, has its own website here: www.allmerc.uk Based on actual ownership and hands on real-world practical experience this book is a useful source of information and reference for anyone who owns or wishes to repair the models covered in this publication. Expect to find detailed accounts of procedures and tasks carried out, complimented with descriptive photographs videos and drawings. Donâ t expect to find everything in this book! - what can be promised is that what content is covered the information and tips will be useful and entertaining! Models to be covered: Mercedes Sprinter (T1N and NCV3 Models) Mercedes Vito W639 Mercedes E Class W210 Mercedes SL (R129) Mercedes C200 (W203) and much more..... (even a few useful tips for other makes and models!)

Many of the documented tips and modifications are applicable to other Mercedes Benz models. If you need specific information or help drop me an email and I will see what I can do. steve@mercedes.gen.in or visit the site at www.mercedes.gen.in You may be interested in my associated website covering Porsche vehicle maintenance and repair. You can find it here: www.porsche.gen.in Site Copyright Note The textual content and the photographic images on in this publication are the sole property of Mercedes Gen-In and carry a digital watermark. Should you require to use any of the text or images either in part or otherwise please contact me for permission. If required non-watermarked photographic images can be supplied on request. Please do get in touch if you have any questions or require further help. Steve Ball steve@mercedes.gen.in

I was called to a friends Mercedes Sprinter 311 MWB that had an intermittent Limp Home problem. I took with me, along with my tools, the video camera and the Autel diagnostic code reader. Within only a few minutes had I diagnosed the fault and rectified the problem. In the short video below you will see how a quick read of the fault codes goes a long way to detecting and rectifying problems that occur intermittently.

In this case there were several fault codes flagged, the ones relating to ‘faulty glow plugs’ were ignored as the vehicle was known to have issues here before. Historically with Sprinters in the UK the fact the glow plugs do not function correctly does not cause a problem, indeed most vehicles I deal with do not run with them connected at all – as the risk of head damage during replacement is disproportionate to the trouble-free running without them! There was No EDC light showing at the time of restart, so stored codes were to tell us what we needed.

Once the ECU was read, there was a ‘cam and crank synchronisation’ fault logged – this is often bought up when there are starting issues, and this vehicle had been reported as having problems starting on two occasions, so these were ignored as red-herrings.

I decided the most obvious culprit in the list would be the ‘injector 2 disconnected’ fault. Once I had lifted the bonnet and inspected the connectors I found that several had broken retaining clips on the injector plug cable bodies. Obviously with vibration these were likely to give connection problems and sure enough No.2 was loose. I fitted nylon ty-wraps to retain all the connectors to the injector towers.

I cleared the faults using the Autel Maxi-Diag and road tested the vehicle. No faults have since been logged or reoccurred. This once more goes to prove that some times the faults logged and displayed on the code reader are often as a result of the problem and not always an indicator of the cause. In this case several codes were flagged because of one main issue – the ‘injector 2 disconnected’ Intermittent connection.

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At almost a quarter of a million miles under its belt, apart from some leaking diesel on the fuel rail bleed off pipework this Sprinter is fit for a few more journeys yet!

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Mercedes Sprinter Turbo – Limp Home – Diagnosis and Fault Finding October 6th, 2013

Mercedes Sprinter Turbo – Limp Home (LHM) Diagnostics.

You will probably read a great deal on the internet regarding the issues surrounding your Sprinter lapsing into limp-home mode without showing any EML (Engine Management Warning Lamp). I have also read these web entries with interest and have concluded that there is a lot of confusion around what exactly is going on so I have decided to add my own input so that hopefully you can sort out this irritating and troublesome issue.

The early Sprinters with vac controlled turbo actuators are quite basic in operation and there are only a few elements to the control loop. These can all be checked out systematically and the faulty element identified and replaced/repaired.

Let me try and explain in basic terms how the turbo control system works so that you may get a better understanding of what is going on: VNT Turbo and Vacuum Actuator

Sprinter Vacuum Boost Actuator The turbo itself is a Garrett VNT variable vane turbo, the details of which you will find elsewhere on this site. ( http://www.mercedes.gen.in/WP35/dieselmercedes-sprinter-turbo-rebuild/ ) It is controlled by a vacuum actuator that moves a set of mechanical vanes within the turbo to vary the turbo charge rate – there is no conventional dump valve on these turbos and many times you will wrongly read people refer to it as the ‘dump valve actuator’. The charge actuator resides bolted to the turbo body on an extended bracket, its push rod connects to a small lever that enters into the turbo body casting, moving a small lever shaped rather like a dog-bone. This lever engages in an annular ring that in turn interlaces with a set of similar levers attached to each variable vane. A single action of pushing or pulling the actuator rod moves all the vanes inside the turbo in unison, developing more or less turbo charge dependant on its position. Inspect the external lever that the actuator push rod attaches to, ensure this moves smoothly as you accelerate / rev the engine. Look for any misalignment of the lever throughout its stroke as it passes through the turbo body, as the bearing surfaces on this shaft can wear or oval allowing the internal lever to ride over the annular ring inside resultantly not moving any of the vanes. A quick and

dirty test to indicate any problems with the variable vanes is to remove the air box or air filter housing and listen as the engine is revved. Once the engine is started, the vac actuator rod should move down slowly as vac builds, this in turn should apply force to the lever moving the vanes into a fully charged position. As you rev the engine you should hear a very loud and strong tornado type howl from the air box, if you do not, and the actuator has moved pulling the lever downward there is a chance that the turbo itself is faulty. Normal operation is as follows. Stationary engine, rod fully extended, vanes in no charge position. Start engine, rod pulls lever downward slowly, vanes full charge position.

Rev engine, rod moves in and out during the rev cycle, vanes apply variable charge through rev cycle – Audible howl from air box.

Turbo Actuator Electric Vacuum Control Valve

Sprinter Boost Actuator Valve If the vacuum actuator is not pulling down once the engine is started check for vac at the pipe, if vac is present, the actuator could be seized or faulty (internal diaphragm split) rectify this. If you follow the vac pipe back from the turbo you will see that it goes to an actuator that is bracket mounted on the inner wing below the air box at the back of the off side headlamp (UK Vehicles) This can be pulled upward off its bracket mounting rubber and moved to a better place for visual inspection. This electrical valve actuator is popularly at fault with the Mercedes Sprinter model and your dealer will have sold hundreds of this item over time. It has a single two wire electrical plug connected to it and three rubber pipes; in some cases its pipe locations are even marked: IN – OUT – VENT. Check vac supply to this device observing and rectifying any split or leaking pipework. Once good vacuum supply has been determined, with the ignition off (no power to the valve and no vacuum present) the route of vacuum should be blocked by the valve to the turbo actuator. The turbo actuator supply pipe should be vented to atmosphere via the electric control valve to a small filter (looks like inline fuel filter) mounted above the engine and sitting by the side of the brake servo.

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exists clean up both the pin and connectors as best you can.

Importantly – reseat the bulkhead grommet.

Charge Pressure Sensor / Intake Air Temperature Sensor

Turning on the ignition places a constant 12v to the electrical controlled vac actuator valve, (This voltage pulses during normal engine operation) vac should now be routed from actuator valve inlet to the turbo actuator (outlet) and the vent should now be blocked.

Vacuum switching can be verified by using a hand vac pump (Mytivac or similar) Simply sucking on the pipes will not prove anything, as there is an internally sprung pressure control diaphragm inside the electronic valve so that operation will not occur until sufficient vac is present – the only thing you will achieve by sucking with your mouth – is a red face!

An old Mercedes engineer once shared that there are two versions of the electric vacuum valve available, one with a blue cap and the other with a black cap, only the matching type should be used as a replacement. I cannot verify this information as I have only ever seen the black cap type, but best practice would suggest replacing the unit only with the correct version to be 100% on the safe side.

Relevant Service Manual Extract View Here ECU Control The ECU control loop circuit is quite simple for turbo actuation. The electric vac valve is controlled by simply switching the 12v supply on and off by the ECU, this is called PWM or Pulse Width Modulation – it’s easy to test this control voltage is present with a volt meter at the valve electrical plug/connector with ignition on. If no control voltage is present look for a break in the wiring from the valve to the ECU. Trace back the wires to the ECU connector and prove continuity exists from the ECU connector to the valve. Pin outs and wire colours are given in the included diagrams. There has been commonly reported breaks in the valve supply wiring as it is routed in front of the intercooler behind the grille and also in the area of the near side headlamp where the loom kinks back into the engine bay around the radiator. The wire colours to look for here are white and blue (on my model) but please check the included diagram/chart for correct model notation.

Relevant Service Manual Extract View Wiring Identification at ECU – Turbo Boost

Here

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ECU General Remove the ECU from its slide tray under the passenger dash area beneath the glove box area. It is quite common for the bulkhead grommet to displace where the main ECU loom is routed to the engine bay allowing water to enter and run down onto the ECU connectors. Remove all the connector attachments to the ECU and check for pin corrosion, if this

Sprinter Boost Pressure Sensor Location There are two sensors in the control loop, a pressure sensor and an air temperature sensor. They are identified as one having three or sometimes four wires (commonly three) this is the charge pressure sensor. The second is intake air temperature sensor having two wires. They are both located in the upper section of the intercooler discharge hose, on the near side of the vehicle (UK versions) on the hard moulded plastic section of ductwork before the final supply hose to the inlet manifold, just to the side of the radiator. The pressure sensor is attached to the housing with two small bolts. The connections to this device are again simple to understand and test. One of the three wires is ground, the second is 5v+ve supply and the other connection gives an approximate variable voltage output +0.2v to +5v referenced to ground dependant on charge pressure. The other sensor (air temperature) is found slightly lower down the plastic section of pipework, this measures charge intake air temperature. This has a two wire connection that is connected across an internal thermistor bead that feeds back a change in resistance value relative to air temperature inside the inlet pipework, the two connected wires are fed through the bulkhead, directly back to the ECU along with those from the pressure sensor. The temperature sensor should measure between 400 and 500 Kilo-Ohms out of circuit. In the information given it is possible to plot the output from the charge pressure sensor to give an indication of charge pressure in the system, from this you can derive if it functioning correctly or if to suspect it as faulty. If you need to measure what is going on in-circuit without disconnecting these components, take a number of drapery pins and push them through the insulation into the conductor cores of the required wires thus allowing you to connect a test meter and take measurements without the need to disconnect or cut any wires.

Relevant Service Manual Extract View Here – Sprinter Boost Pressure Sensor You can disconnect any of these components without lighting the EML warning lamp as no indication of a fault is given by the removal of any of these components from circuit. That is why the dreaded turbo limp home fault often occurs without any indication on the dashboard.

Rev Limiter Function Normally Sprinter engine revs are ECU limited whilst stationary to around 3500 rpm. Depressing the clutch and then further releasing it should now allow revs to increase 3

above this range to the rev limit. If there is a limp home fault, engine revs will not progress above 3000 rpm even when dipping/releasing the clutch when stationary. Once the fault is rectified the rev range and limiter function as described above will return to normal. It is a good idea to check out both of the necessary brake and clutch pedal position switch sensors (on the pedal box above the clutch and brake) and where possible always get hold of a compatible diagnostic code reader as often faults are stored and not indicated with a EML lamp.

I hope this helps you to better understand the function of the turbo boost circuit on early model Mercedes Sprinters and that it assists you to fault find and rectify any problems you may have.

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Mercedes Diesel Injector Advice – Sprinter and others December 15th, 2013

Sprinter Diesel Injector Advice.

Having rectified many ‘chuffing’ injectors and dealt with the famed ‘black-death’ on many sprinter engines and its close derivatives used across the complete range of Mercedes Diesel vehicles, I can honestly say that the hold down mechanism used to secure the injector in the head is definitely the engines number one Achilles heel. I am afraid that a single 6mm cap head pin used on one edge of a single steel injector clamp, tapped into an aluminium head is just engineering madness from a commercial maintenance point of view. Now that’s out of the way – rant over – how do we best deal with this problem and get that vehicle back on the road.

You will be reading this if you have begun to hear the release of combustion gas from around the engine bay of your vehicle (chuffing) or you may have discovered a black shiny coal like deposit building around one or several injectors (black-death) in addition to lacklustre performance and increased fuel usage. Before we carry on, it is of great importance to bring to your attention that we are dealing with a direct injection fuel system with operating pressures around 23,000 psi or 1600 bar! This fact is to be remembered when working on a running system, when either fault finding or during rectification – Serious injury may result if you do not respect the obvious dangers involved. If you cannot identify the dangers of working with very highly pressurised fuel systems you would probably be better to entrust the work to a specialist.

If the ‘chuffing’ has been noticed early on, none or very few ‘black death’ carbon deposits will be seen, just wetness from ejected diesel resulting from the failing combustion process forced up around the leaking injector out to atmosphere on the cylinder head. If carbon deposits are present then they will have to be completely cleared and chipped away with a blunt screwdriver/scraper and vacuumed away as you go.

Injector Black Death Mercedes Sprinter Because of the close proximity of other injectors it may be difficult to identify exactly which one is the culprit. If the leaking injector is not obvious, then clean down the area with Gunk or other degreaser and dry off the area (engine off of course) completely. Using 2 inch strips of old brown paper cut from the envelopes of your unpaid bills (joke) make hollow tubes and wrap them around the injectors, fastening the ends together with a paper clip. Do this for all suspect injectors. Start the engine and watch for the darkening/spotting of the brown paper with diesel spray, this will indicate quite clearly where the problem lies.

Once identified the work can begin – Run the engine until nice and warm then turn it off and remove the keys. Remove the turbo supply hose to the inlet manifold and split the composite intake manifold by removing the pins that secure it to the lower section. Remove the two pins that are also fastened to engine brackets at the rear and front of the head by the fuel filter. Lift off the manifold and stuff the remaining open ports with paper/cloth to prevent bits dropping inside. Check the gasket at the back plate/cover of the upper section of the inlet manifold as this is prone to squeezing out causing turbo boost leak and is this a good time to take a look/plan to rectify.

Remove completely the steel fuel supply pipe from between the leaking injector and the fuel rail along with its injector electrical connector; tie this cable out of the way of the work area. Remove the long single 6mm torx bolt that secures the injector clamp and place it safely to one side with the clamp itself. Inspect the threaded portion of the 6mm bolt if it is damaged or showing heavy signs of alloy material deposited on the threads then further action may be needed later on to rectify the threads in this failing all important tapped hole.

The next part of the procedure is ‘make or break’ for the DIY repair and is the point of no return so please take heed.

Try to rotate the unclamped injector, if it moves freely by hand then great, if it won’t budge try a little more force – but not too much. If it’s seized then at this point re-assemble the engine and take it to a diesel specialist as damage to the injector or head can be very expensive indeed and botched repairs will easily exceed the cost of it being done by a professional in the first place – you have been advised. If the injector rotates, begin to pull it upwards whilst twisting the body, if it jams, twist it the other way and work it using some penetrant or WD40 in the area around where it enters the head. In some cases the injector lifts out instantly, in others it can take hours of wiggling and fiddling, don’t be tempted to use hammers or heavy tools to do this job as commonly expensive damage results. The image below shows damage to a rocker/cam cover caused by levering against it to extract a stubborn injector.

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Damaged Sprinter Rocker Cover Once the injector is out, clean it off and place it safely out of the way then recover the single copper washer from the hole in the head that forms a gas tight seal for the injector against the aluminium cylinder head. Use a torch to inspect the injector seat in the cylinder head, it will likely be blackened and carbonised, this needs to be cleaned off and in severe cases re-cut to present a perfect sealing surface. I have in the past had great success using a wooden dowel, rather like the ones used on a valve grinding hand tool. Using contact adhesive stick a square of medium abrasive paper to the end of a flush cut dowel, allow the glue to dry then trim round with scissors. Pop this tool down the hole and clean the seat as if you were grinding in a valve. Inspect it regularly and if there are slightly deeper grooves remaining keep going with new paper until clean and flat. Now the top tip, it will be necessary to purchase a new copper sealing washer. The best thing to do here is purchase a Honda part in preference to the genuine Mercedes Benz item. This washer is the standard CDI injector seal used on all modern Honda 2.2 litre diesel engines (More info on the Honda seal – here). I personally have had great success using the Honda part as they seem to be made from a superior material and appear more compressible thus making a better seal against any slight face imperfections.

Replace the injector with its new copper sealing washer, using a slight smearing of high temperature ceramic grease on the body sides and position it correctly with regard the electrical connector, replace the clamp and clamp bolt, fit the new clamp bolt and torque it down to 7Nm then 90 degrees turn to finish – NO MORE. If you had a problem with the thread you can use this type of kit or as a more desperate measure carefully tap out the hole to 8mm using a long series drill and tap, if you do this you will also have to drill out the clamp bracket to accept the new diameter bolt.

When drilling/tapping take care to not descend deeper in the head than you need to and break into the water jacket.

Sometimes you may find that the previous repairer has broken into the water jacket – add a small amount of silicon gasket compound to the last section of threads of the pin and tighten down in the normal way. This is not the best way to get out of trouble, but will at least enable you to complete the job. If you don’t do this and a bolt hole is broken through – you will leak water!!

Now your injector is back together, in the cylinder head and clamped down, reconnect the steel fuel supply hose and electrical connector and build up the inlet manifold and turbo pipework. Start and test the engine. The engine should fire after a couple of cranks as no fuel bleeding is necessary. All should now be well with the repair and you have carried out a major maintenance repair saving you hopefully quite a lump of cash.

More info dealing with the actual removal/installation of the injector and its seal – here Good luck.

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Mercedes CDI Injector leak – Honda washer/seal alternative March 21st, 2015

Sprinter Injector Seal If your 6mm torx clamp bolt came away cleanly and without damage, discard the old one and purchase a new item from Mercedes. This part is a stretch type bolt and once used must be replaced. The bolt hole has to be spotless and clean and have no debris or metal swarf at its base. Any solids in the hole will be compressed at the base of the drilling when the bolt is tightened and can cause cracking or worse – bursting through into the water jacket of the cylinder head (really easily done) so clean that hole with an air-line or blow gun until you are sure it’s clear.

You may have read previously either here or on the web about the use of the Honda Accord 2.2 Diesel injector seals in applications for Mercedes CDI diesels. Sprinter, Vito, E320, C220, C 320 etc. Here is an instance that really benefited from the use of the alternative sealing washer.

Sprinter Diesel Injector 5

chipped from new and at half a million miles running its hard to say that it has in any way been detrimental to its life span – an interesting point of note.

I have photographed the Honda part (injector seal) above in its original packet for ease of identification and obtaining the part should you wish to use the alternative copper sealing washer. They look slightly thicker and are definitely made from a softer more malleable material than the OEM Mercedes units – My own view is that this ‘softness’ assists in sealing to irregular hand cut/cleaned seal faces and seats better than the harder MB equivalent washers.

Honda Accord 2.2 Diesel Injector Seal I had one of the courier fleets T1N 4 metre Sprinters in for repair due to a chuffing injector. Unlike most common ‘Black Death’ related failures this one had just decided to spray diesel everywhere under the bonnet without any prior warning or over-time buildup of coke around the injector.

Previously the other 3 injector seals in this engine had been replaced with Honda types and this single remaining one (No.2 Cylinder) was an original Mercedes OEM seal installed at the same time as the others, simply because I had no more Honda parts available.

On removal of the injector ( slacken injector hold down clamp bolt and run engine to normal operating temperature – this often unseats the injector allowing relatively trouble free removal) It was discovered the seat was scored and pitted. The seat was recut then lightly faced with a hand reamer / face cutter tool then checked with a mirror and torch. I knew this seat was good last time I replaced the seal so there had been a problem with blow by gasses cutting the seating face.

Mercedes Sprinter engine 500,000 miles and still going strong…

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Mercedes Diesel Injector Seal Replacement – Notes June 13th, 2015

In a recent Mercedes Sprinter engine replacement (Used engine fitment) it was noticed at the time of purchase that there was an issue with No.2 Injector seal leaking. Obviously this needed attention and there was more chance of being able to remove the stuck injector once the engine was fitted, than try to do the work on the engine prior, as it would simply move around the floor with the physical effort involved!

What I did do before fitting the engine was to get rid of all the carbon ‘Black-Death’ build-up due to the leaking injector. This involved careful chipping and clearing the cables, connectors and pipes that were buried beneath the charcoal coating. If you want a really clean and sparking job, I can recommend a none-acidic oven cleaner for a final dressing, but in this case it was cleaned to a ‘practical degree’ that fitted with the age and condition of the vehicle.

Laser 4597 Diesel Injector Seat Cutter Set So now all seals have been replaced with Honda parts and the van is once more good-to-go! This engine, along with the van itself has covered over 500,000 hard courier miles and although the piston rings/bores are now nearing end of life (increased crank case pressure) it still sounds sweet and runs like a train. Also interesting testament to chipped and tuned engines and their longevity, this one was performance 6

what usually happens once you start to get going is that the fixing nut undoes slightly and puts a stop to using that method of extraction, as it simply rotates upon the head of the injector body.

What you have to do in this eventuality is grip the injector just below the solenoid nut and attempt to move the cast head part – rotationally back and forth. As the diesel supply union is completely removed, you will get the maximum chance of realising this important few degrees of movement, that will in time result in the total removal of the injector body.

Without a doubt, if you are able to start the engine and get it warm, even loosen the clamp bolts five or so millimetres above the shoe clamp then rev the engine, what often happens is the injector gets ‘blown out’ a little under engine compression and once the carbon seal is initially broken, it can make subsequent extraction a great deal easier.

Sometimes it works – sometimes not!

In my case I knew that the engine would probably not start as the seals were in such bad condition. As I turned the engine over clockwise using a 27mm socket/breakerbar on the crank nut, you could hear the escape of air past the injector seal on each rotation. This was confirmed by localised spraying of WD-40 onto the suspect injector and watching it bubble/vaporise as air from the combustion chamber was forced by the injector during a manual rotation of the engine. I had to proceed without heat or hot engine – always makes for interesting removal!

Obviously you will have to remove the inlet manifold upper half and also the engine cover if fitted before you can gain access to the injectors. It is important to plug all the intake tracts to prevent items such as the bleed off pipe spring clips finding their way down there etc…

Once the engine was fully installed, the injector power plug was removed, the bleed off return pipe unclipped and moved well out of the way. The steel diesel supply pipe and the injector union connection were removed with a 14mm spanner and 13mm socket respectively. As soon as the union was removed the hole was plugged with a small section of kitchen towel pushed into the tapped hole. This simply prevents any bits getting into the open hole while working to extract the injector.

Rarely it is possible to clamp a pair of good mole grips to the injector solenoid fixing nut and rotate the injector ten or twenty degrees back and forth to loosen it in its bore, more often it takes a great deal more work! Using a searching penetrant or diesel itself is a good aid to getting things moving. This twisting method can be successful, though

If you have a 24mm open end spanner or its imperial equivalent this is your key tool. If your area of work is the rear three injectors there is a little technique that may work for you. If you lay a 19mm combination spanner along the top of the duct that carries the injector wiring, interlocking the open end into the rear intake manifold support bracket, this will provide a sturdy supporting surface on which to lay the ‘operating’ slightly slack fitting, 24mm spanner onto whilst moving it back and forth. As you will probably only be able to shift the injector a few degrees back and forth at first, it is important to keep the area well irrigated with penetrant.

As your movements get more dynamic, begin to press the back of the operating spanner down onto the 19mm rider.

Keep pushing as you rotate back and forth. This induces a small lifting force under the solenoid nut from the 24mm spanner and as you move it, it will in time begin to raise the injector out from its bore. If your injector is at the forward end of the engine you will have to locate the 19mm ‘rider’ spanner’s open end somewhere up-front to fully enable this method, but it is not impossible!

Mercedes CDI Diesel Injector Eventually you will extract the injector – a feeling of achievement will appear as you take an inspection mirror and torch to peer into the blackness from where it came.

If you were lucky then the copper washer/seal will have accompanied the injector out of the hole. If not, a ‘rat-tail’ round file of suitable size, pushed into the hole will retrieve the seal without issue.

Now you can begin to inspect the seal itself, giving up many clues to the demise of its capability to hold pressure. Clean it with a rag and take a close look at its copper surfaces. If there are any scored lines, cuts or deep marking, this is the route the escaping combustion gasses have taken to ‘carbon-up’ your engine with ‘Black-Death’. Indeed any gas-cut passages in the sealing surfaces will have most certainly also cut into the aluminium injector seat and in severe cases damaged the steel injector face that mates with the copper seal.

I would recommend always at least cleaning the recessed seat of any removed injector with a special tool made for the 7

job. This special tool is a flat face end-mill or reamer with the correct diameter sleeve to cut or reface the base surface with some precision. These tools are available from Laser for under £60 from most motor factors and are essential to DIY replacement and the successful re-sealing of injectors – experience has found in every case, if you don’t at the very least ‘lightly face’ and prepare the injector seat before reinstallation, you are not giving yourself the best chance of success, therefore I would get the proper tool for the job, period!

and continuously clean around its circumference. Now you are almost ready to reassemble!

The injector hold down bolts are a one-time-use, stretch to yield fastening, that must be new and unused on each replacement. Cut a short groove with a saw file to make a thread cleaner out of the old bolt and use this to freshen up the tapped hole for the clamp bolt. Use a thin screwdriver to clear the oily debris from the bottom of the hole as it often builds up here and can if not removed, be forcefully compressed into a plug, causing it to burst through into the cylinder head water jacket – take special care to clean this hole out! If the thread is damaged in this deep tapped hole you have a number of repair options, these are covered briefly in this post.

Escaping combustion gasses often cut the aluminium seat and this needs to be re-faced so that a perfectly gas tight seal can be maintained One or two rotations with the seating tool will be sufficient to enable you see if the seat is damaged in any way, using your inspection mirror and light. If there are any black marks on the seat (rather like worms!) as the drawings below show, then continue to use the seating tool, checking and wiping aluminium shavings as you progress to remove material. Eventually the tool will re-face the damaged seat to show a clean, uninterrupted ring of aluminium. It is possible if you do not fully rotate the tool when using it, mistakenly rotating the tool left to right rotationally, may cause the finished surface to have ‘chatter’ marks on it. This is surface unevenness that must be removed and is only achieved by turning the tool lightly and continually in one direction, stopping movement only as you simultainiously relieve pressure from the cutter. Inspect and clean often, to obtain the best surface finish possible.

Now you can use ceramic grease to coat the outside of the injector body (not the tip or any mating/sealing surfaces) place a new preferred Honda Accord Diesel Seal onto the injector tip and carefully lower it into the clean and prepared hole. Do be sure to have one final check with torch and mirror to make doubly sure there is no debris left on the sealing surface before final assembly. Once the injector is fully inserted, with the fuel connection pointing to the fuel rail, add the clamp and loose-fit the clamp bolt to hold things in place. Now refit the fuel union to the injector, removing the tissue plug that has prevented dirt getting inside, then refit the steel fuel line from the injector union to the fuel rail, finger tightening the union nuts. Now torque the clamp hold down bolt to 7Nm plus 90 degrees (MB Specs say 90 plus 90 degrees after 7Nm, but actually the yield has occurred after the first 90 degrees and clamping force reached, so I see little point in risking further stressing an otherwise ‘spindly’ and fragile fixing). You may now refit the fuel bleed off pipework, electrical connector and tighten off the steel fuel line unions.

Rebuilding your engine is now a reversal of dismantling. (remember to remove the manifold intake plug of rags or paper before fitting the upper section!)

There are a few tips here that hopefully will help you achieve this sometimes daunting job, but with care, patience, the right tools and a little effort this can easily be done by a DIY mechanic.

Improper use of the seating tool sometimes causes chattering on the surface of the seat. This needs to be smooth and not disrupted with tool marking Now turn your attention to the face of the injector body that compresses against the copper seal. This must be free of any carbon build-up and ‘shiny clean’. You can take some fine emery paper and lightly work this surface until it is bright

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Mercedes Sprinter Turbo Blown – Symptoms February 14th, 2015

This will not be a lengthy post as turbo’s are covered in many other areas of this site, but I did think it would be useful to 8

show with a few images of what the symptoms of a blown turbo look like and to back it up with a little additional text.

Depending on the level of failure, the following symptoms will show themselves. Huge amounts of billowing white smoke from burning oil within the exhaust system due to failed turbo seals. (engine oil is pushed at high pressure past the turbo seals directly into the exhaust system and intake tract) This smoke in the early stages of failure may appear as a slight ‘whisping’ of white exhaust output, usually coinciding with some oil marking or dotting on the rear doors, almost like someone has flicked oil from a brush.

These are the first indicators that all is not well. You may notice a higher than normal oil consumption and possibly a louder than normal ‘spooling’ noise from the turbo itself, maybe even a metallic ticking, increasing with engine load.

It goes without saying that there will most probably be some power loss and even an engine management lamp illumination / limp home situation.

Often when the turbo fails it dumps huge quantities of engine oil into the intake tract in a very short time – starving the engine of its oil pressure and life blood!

The majority of turbo fails are due in the most to oil starvation (the main cause – turbo bearing seal failure) that prevents a suitable cooling lubrication path to the high speed rotating spindle which in turn rapidly disintegrates the internal bronze bearings due to heat, causing very rapid spindle seizure and enevitable destruction.

If you suspect in any way that you may have turbo issues STOP the engine and check it out, as to continue running the power unit could easily cost you a complete engine and not just a turbo repair on the Mercedes Sprinter / Vito diesel engines (Including those derivatives utilised in Mercedes passenger cars.) You have been politely reminded!

When the turbo does fail completely, it does so in a number of ways. The two main types of failure are fairly major, being either catastrophic and non-catastrophic. The former is where the bearings collapse completley on the turbo and send metal parts directly into the engine sump, usually finding that during this, all the engine oil dumps almost immediately into the intake tract and exhaust, so fast that unless the engine is halted immediately, irreparable damage is caused by oil starvation to big ends and mains. Good night engine…

The more preferable (If that is possible!) and latter type of failure, is where the indications of turbo trouble give fair warning and are immediately heeded by an informed owner driver, thus preventing certain engine damage, caught at least before the engine oil pressure warning lamp illuminates! White smoke – stop the van and check oil level – immediatley, if dangerously low arrange for vehicle recovery and turbo replacement. You may just be lucky… and be able to at least minimise the damage caused.

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Diesel Mercedes Sprinter Turbo Rebuild May 12th, 2013

The Garrett variable vane turbocharger (Garrett GT18V VNT and its derivatives) are fitted to the diesel Mercedes Sprinter van and most of the modern range of light commercials and passenger cars with very little difference in design, so this post generally covers all but a very few of the turbochargers currently used in Mercedes turbo diesel vehicles. There is more information available on the Turbocharger control circuit, Limp Home (LOS) Faults and component descriptions here: http:// www.mercedes.gen.in/WP35/mercedes-sprinter-turbolimp-home-los-diagnosis-fault-finding/ You will no doubt be aware of the huge replacement cost of a Turbo, and often used parts prices escalate into a ‘tear welling’ hit into the wallet. I decided to rebuild 9

my turbocharger at home using an aftermarket core kit, overhauling the complete unit as a result. The core kit cost is £150.00 – an incredible cost saving for what will be a good as new turbo. Here’s how it went…

where it drives an opposing spool wheel that compresses intake air at a rate controlled by the passage of exhaust gasses – the faster the assembly rotates on the exhaust side the greater intake charge pressure is generated.

Mercedes Turbo Model Plate

How it works – gas flows

Damaged Turbo Spool One of the first things you will need to find is the model number of your turbocharger, the core supplier will need this number to match identical parts to your rebuild. The model number is engraved on a flat plate on the aluminium intake scroll casting, you may need some fine abrasive paper to clean it so that it is visible.

Garrett Variable Vane Turbocharger

New Replacement Turbo Core The Garrett variable vane turbocharger works by modulating the pitch of a number of vanes within the exhaust scroll casting, these vanes direct or concentrate the flow of the exhaust gasses onto one end of the turbo charger spool.

The more concentrated the flow of gas the faster the spool spins. The vanes are adjusted by the rotation of a control ring and lever that is connected to an external actuator. (Commonly a vacuum actuator on early vehicles and an electronic positional servo motor on some later models variants) By varying the control to the actuator, the turbo vanes can be called into play or requested to idle by the engine management system. The turbo spool shaft passes from the exhaust chamber of the turbo through a series of seals and high speed oil cooled bearings to the intake side

The turbo I had on the bench had failed catastrophically, the spool shaft had disintegrated and destroyed both spool wheels, eventually shearing the shaft into two parts. I was now about to rebuild the unit to ‘as new’ serviceable condition. The removal of the turbo from the vehicle had previously been done, its far safer to remove the complete exhaust manifold with turbo connected, than to risk removing the three turbo to manifold flange bolts, that will almost certainly shear off in the process. You have been warned !

Remove the actuator from the turbo and set it aside, mark the location of the aluminium intake scroll flange and plate then remove all the 8mm washer-bolts from the flange edge.

Once all the bolts are removed tap the housing to free off the flange and remove the intake scroll. (Clean parts off as you go!)

Intake air turbo scroll casting Then remove the flange bolts and washers from the exhaust scroll. Use penetrating oil or diesel soaked into the flange seam to assist in freeing it off. Tap gently the housing with a copper faced hammer or wooden block, working your way around the circumference. Eventually it will come away. Be sure to watch for the large vane adjusting ring and the three small guide pins and wheels that secure it to the internal plate. Don’t worry where they came from at this stage as it can only go back together one way, just catch the parts and do not lose them!

Now that the exhaust scroll housing is removed the main scroll and vane section can be treated generously to a can of Mr Muscle oven cleaner or similar, to soften and help free off the internal components that will be coated with soot and carbon deposits. Do not use oven cleaner on the alloy intake scroll as it will be attacked by the spray cleaner – just use cleaner on the cast iron or steel parts. Once rinsed off with water begin a further clean up the steel parts.

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Adjustable vane turbo. Internal actuating levers

Adjustable vane assembly rebuilt

Remove the three torx head screws securing the vane plate to the scroll housing, as you lift out the ring vane plate be sure to catch the three spacers from behind. Put these spacers in a safe place, along with the torx screws. Clean off as much of the carbon deposits from the vanes, vane ring and housing as possible and remove all scrapings etc. Be sure to clean/scrape all the flange locating grooves to make sure that when things are seated on reassembly, components flush fit without binding or rocking.

Removing carbon deposits from vanes

You are now ready to fit the new turbo core. Align the vane adjusting ring with the flange roll pin hole and hold the external vane actuating lever on the new core in the correct position whilst pushing together and locating the flange. The core exhaust face should now be a comfortable push fit and have located flatly against the scroll flange, with equal lip protrusion all around its circumference. Once you are sure all is well and it is assembled correctly, check the vane actuating lever for correct operation. You should just about be able to see the vanes move between the new turbo spool wheel and the inside of the exhaust scroll housing – using a torch makes this easier. Begin to tighten down the ring bolts and washers evenly. Now is the time to replace the actuator and fit it to the actuator lever, as the fixing bolts form part of the flange clamping arrangement. Refit the actuator lever arm circlip and adjust the lever stop to exactly the same position (protrusion) as the original stop on the discarded old core. (8mm spanner and small ball end hex key to adjust)

Cleaned exhaust scroll casting

Turbo actuator lever and stop adjustment

Cleaned turbo vane ring Once all the parts are as clean as you require begin the reassembly. Start by refitting the vane ring to the exhaust scroll, using the three torx screws and spacers put to one side earlier. Now look around the flange face for a single small drilling that locates the spool core roll pin stake. This is the locator of the vane actuating ring positional slot engaging with the lever mechanism that passes through the spool housing to the outside world. Position all the vane levers in their associated slots in the adjusting ring, then position the three slotted guide wheels and axle pins into their place on the ring vane plate. Check the rotary movement and actuation of all the vanes by turning the inner ring back and forth, almost no resistance to movement should be felt in the mechanism.

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the turbo oil ways ready for engine starting. All text books and manuals say: ”to check oil prime, remove oil return pipe, crank engine without firing and wait for oil to emerge….” in reality the return pipe is virtually impossible to remove or refit with the turbo in place so the above method was substituted. Do feel free to remove the pipe and watch for oil as per the manuals and instructions if you wish! Once ready for starting clip back the injector electrical plugs, start the engine and allow it to idle for a few minutes without revving.

Once happy that all is well, reconnect the vac pipes and hose work that was removed to the allow turbo removal and road test.

I hope this saved you some money !

The post Diesel Mercedes Sprinter Turbo Rebuild appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In. New turbo core fitted to exhaust scroll casting Now you can fit the intake scroll casting to the new core assembly. Noting the location marks you made before disassembly on the alloy flanges, replace the scroll casting in the correct position and secure with the ring of 8mm washer head bolts, tightening evenly and steadily as you go.

Completed rebuilt Mercedes turbo assembly Everything is now back together, notice the added oil return pipe, this had been cleaned with paraffin and a ‘pull through’ made from a piece of rag on string. Fit a new fibre gasket to this pipe and finger tighten only, the free end has to be orientated into the sump pocket and this can severely hamper the replacement of the exhaust manifold if otherwise tightened. Save the last return pipe fixing ‘nip-up’ until its all in position on the vehicle. (Its a pig to get to, but it is possible with a stubby 1/4 drive 8mm socket and short extension from beneath the vehicle)

New turbo – still no boost!

Mercedes Sprinter September 6th, 2014

A Mercedes 4 cylinder Luton body vehicle came to me with a turbo boost problem. The owner complained that when driving it felt like it had lost all the boost. On gentle acceleration it was drivable, but under any real load it did not produce any power to speak of and smoked from the exhaust. The history of the vehicle was that this fault had been occurring for a month or two prior to the turbo failing catastrophically on the motorway.

I checked all the hose work and intercooler for problems with leaks or splits and nothing obvious was found. A shiny new turbo was present under the bonnet (hood) and looked to be functioning correctly. The vane actuating lever was moving under engine load and all looked well with the vac control valve, vac supply pipes etc.

A quick read of the ECU with the code reader showed that there was a low boost fault code stored (no surprise there!) Selecting the live data view on the code reader revealed an atmospheric pressure of 990 mb and a boost pressure of 1010 mb at idle, on a test drive under load the boost produced did not rise above 1150 mb (absolute) , sure enough no boost but why? I made sure the % on/off signal to the actuator was calling for full boost at this point on live data just to confirm it was not being told by the ECU to apply this amount of low boost.

I had previously mentioned the vacuum lines that feed the turbo boost controller were good and the feed line to the actuator itself was perfect.

New Mercedes turbocharger core fitted Once the assembly is totally rebuilt and fitted to the vehicle, it needs to be ‘primed’ with oil before the engine is run. I have found the best way to do this is to position the oil feed pipe and use a syringe to squirt engine oil into the turbo core before fitting the banjo bolt and washers. Then take a screwdriver and slide-disconnect the electrical plugs to the four injectors on the cylinder head. (This will prevent the vehicle starting before priming is completed) After checking the oil feed banjo bolt is tight and having tightened the drain return pipe fasteners, crank the engine in 15 second bursts, 30 seconds waiting – 7 or 8 times. This should initially prime

As normal, once started, the lever of the turbo vane actuator dropped just as it should to charge position at idle. I moved the actuator by hand and noticed that although the lever was pulling down under vac, it was not pulling fully down, there was a good 6-8mm of travel left in the lever at its maximum actuated position, though it could be pushed down yet further to its ‘mechanical stop’ with a screwdriver.

My first thought was: there was not enough vac available to fully actuate the turbo – not the case. Was the turbo boost actuator valve faulty? – not the case. Vacuum actuator diaphragm holed or leaking – no as it held perfect vacuum.

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unlucky this steel pipe and its unions will be all tight and dry of any leaks.

High rate oil loss may be the result of the sealing washer on the turbo oil return to sump pipe being worn/split and leaking (Item number 10 in the diagram below). The fact that you may have noticed large amounts of oil around the engine on the turbo/resonator side could be indicative of this problem.

Undo the lock nut on the actuator rod (yellow painted here) to the right of this is a knurled adjusting wheel. Adjust to set the required rod lenght (Until a full vac condition holds the vane lever to its maximum on the mechanical stop) After a while it occurred to me that the reason the vane lever on the turbo was not being pulled down enough was the fact the turbo actuator was at the end of its mechanical stroke. Removing the small circlip on the actuator rod eye and removing it from the turbo vane lever I was able to adjust the length of the arm. This was done by slackening the 10mm lock nut on the rod and screwing the knurled adjuster, shortening the rod length. This allowed the rod to now pull the lever fully down onto its mechanical stop under full vacuum stroke. The small circlip was replaced and road tests carried out.

We had now regained the lost boost, the van pulled like a train in all gears. Success! Since the van had recently had a new turbo fitted, obviously no adjustment had been carried out to the actuator stroke, it was just swapped over from the old turbo to the new one. After correct adjustments, road tests proved max boost was in the normal range (2447 mb absolute / 21 psi) and expected performance restored.

I suppose the moral of the story here is never assume that just changing the turbo without correctly setting up the controlling actuator stroke, will work out of the box.

I hope you find this cautionary tale informative and it may just draw your attention to this issue should it ever pass your way. NB. The reason the fault was noticed before the turbo blew and was replaced with the new unit was because: The old turbo was failing and could not produce useable boost – Same issue and symptoms (no/little boost}, just different totally different causes!

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Mercedes Sprinter T1N Large engine oil loss / leak (Turbo area) April 17th, 2015

A reported heavy engine oil usage (almost a litre/100 miles) with no apparent burning of oil or excessive smoke from the exhaust could be the result of the following – common to the Mercedes T1N earlier Sprinter models.

It is worth visually checking the oil supply banjo bolt and washers on the top of the turbo unit, unless you are very

Item No. 10 in the above diagram is the seal to check along with the condition of the steel pipe that fits into the seal If you follow the half inch steel pipe that dog legs from the underside of the turbo to the seam between the block and sump pan, this point of entry is the place to look. Clean it off and have a peek, even at idle poor sealing here will be indicated with a very visible oil leak. The seal itself is like a rubber top-hat that wears due to engine vibration. I have even seen the return pipe wall material wear through to the point of leaking as it passes through this seal.

Lubricating oil passing through the turbo circulates at a ‘gallons a minute’ rate and trouble here will cause some rapid oil loss.

Either way it would be good to jet wash the engine off, so you have a better chance of locating any leak and a far more pleasant environment in which to work when rectifying the problem.

If you do find this to be the problem, replacement is quickest done by taking off the complete exhaust manifold/turbo as the return pipe is next to impossible to remove in situ.

If the leak persists, then you need to wipe off the return pipe and look underneath with engine running. If there is oil travelling down the outside of the pipe from the turbo casting, chances are the top hat seal flange section of the pipe as fractured around the radius. This is a fault I have seen a couple of times. No amount of gasket, compound or tightening will ever stem the flow, there is likely a crack as the pipe is flanged out and the only way to detect it is to take it off, plug the end and blow!

Obviously if the leak is internal and the turbo hoses are full of oil then you have a different problem…

I have stellar mile sprinters on my books here that really have some pretty big blow-by crank case pressures from worn piston rings / bores. These breathe quite heavily 13

through the oil separator on the rocker cover but do not consume a great deal of oil in daily use.

Another place to take a look would be the oil filler cap! I have had a couple of these that have split /cracked on their edges.

The oil filler cap is wonderfully positioned to take the full force of oil fling from the timing chain under any running conditions, oil obviously works its way out through any failings here. It will usually run down and back – sometimes giving the impression the separator is leaking. It is not uncommon for it to run down and soak the alternator and any dripping from this base of the generator/alternator is always worth tracing to what lies directly above.

It is also worth noting that oil will distribute itself on a running engine in what can be sometimes very misleading ways, being blown about by the cooling fan and the action of the vehicle in motion. In any event the best way to proceed in a situation where oil is leaking and you are unsure where from, is to clean off the engine with Gunk or other degreaser and watch and wait with an idling engine. It is sometimes useful to place a piece of hardboard beneath so drips can be easily located and hopefully traced.

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How not maintaining your Sprinter air filter can leave you stranded

considered this had maybe failed. The code reader showed the normal ‘Glow Plug Failure’ codes in three instances, along with a single low boost pressure flag. I cleared the codes and started the van – sure enough it would not rev above a 3000rpm ceiling.

Immediately I re-read the codes, the glow plug issues remained but the low boost pressure did not appear again.

Strange. I checked the rear lamp clusters for shorts and bulb failure, (All the first base reactionary stuff) the brake pedal switch and the clutch switch. The clutch switch seemed to be ‘dirty’ resistance wise and I removed it and soaked it in switch cleaner. Once tested good with the Ohmmeter it was refitted and the van run up again – no change! Problems with either of these switches should have normally thrown a fault code.

The engine compartment was an oily mess, this is not unusual for this owners vehicles as they are ‘breathing heavily’ through the separator/breather due to worn bores, but this was not the issue at this juncture.

I checked all the turbo hoses and intercooler for splits or leaks and after a tweak here and there on the hose clips, all proved well.

The driver stared the van as I looked into the engine bay. Signalling him to rev the engine, I felt the pressure on the manifold inlet hose with a squeeze, it was hardly pressurising at all. This complimented the real-time reading I had previously obtained from the code reader. On removing the inlet hose to the turbo from the air box (Engine off) I spun up the turbo vanes to check all was well with the turbo. There was no play at all and the impeller ran freely without any stiction. The actuation arm on the turbo body that operates the VNT vanes functioned as it should falling downwards on engine-start, oscillating upward and downward on a no load rev.

Reassembly of the intake hose and a signal to restart the engine took place. I noticed the strangest thing in my torchlight. As the engine was revved, the concertina moulded rubber inlet hose from the air box-to-turbo inlet was physically shortening! Continued revving proved the hose was being sucked in and the concertina section was contracting in length as the engine revs increased.

February 6th, 2015

Brrrr… Its freezing outside, 7.00pm the phone rings…”The van has broken down… it will not come out of Limp Mode..

I need to get my delivery done tomorrow ..” You know the story I am sure.

I pack up a limited tool kit and set off to a stranded van parked at the drivers house some 30 miles away. I find the van parked up on a rural unlit junction outside the drivers house, I collect the keys and begin.

I plug in the code reader. Some weeks earlier this vehicle had had a repair to the boost actuator valve wiring and I

The only thing that could be causing any suction at this point was a restriction in the air box or its fresh air intake routing. I flipped the lid on the air filter housing and shone a torch inside. The filter element was so clogged it had begun to pull out from its foam frame, lifting up, as the paper element unfolded to block the outlet from the air box. The filter element was removed and what was left of it inspected.

– WOW that was almost completely choked with dust and soot, presenting almost a complete barrier to any air flow, so much of a barrier in fact that the engines scavenging for air had begun to pull the air filter into the upper section of the air 14

box, unravelling the filter paper construction and blocking off almost completely the intake air’s route to the turbo.

Removing the filter and testing the engine proved it was the issue, though seeing it with my own eyes, I had no doubt that this was the problem.

Discarding the old filter element I told the owner/driver to get a replacement filter and slot it in the following morning and all would be fine. Lesson learned!

Always better to hear a used engine running if possible

On reflection, this should have maybe been the first place I looked during my diagnosis regime, but at the time – end of the day, dark, cold, roadside, a distance from good tools etc. I had checked elsewhere first. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and maybe if you are reading this, you too will think on in future to check the condition of that air filter if the vehicle is not known to you or you don’t know when it was last checked out.

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Purchasing a used Mercedes Sprinter diesel engine.

May 9th, 2015

For whatever reason you may be looking to purchase a used replacement engine, there are quite a lot of pitfalls that you may fall foul of if unaware. I hope to highlight some of the things to look for and be aware of when searching for that ‘mechanical bargain’ in the small ads or breakers yard.

Indeed this guide could be used to assist you if you were about to purchase a used van and needed to know/check a few things out indicating the condition of the engine before you buy.

Probably the most obvious thing is, ‘can you hear the engine start and run’? Without doubt this is the best way to buy a used engine. Quite often engines may be removed from a scrap vehicle and sold on this basis. They will frequently be strapped to a pallet or resting on an old tyre waiting for sale and although there is little you can do about that, there is a few things you can check to be more positive about your potential purchase – especially as you will not be able to hear it run! Don’t forget to take along your torch on any reccy’ as you will need this for most of your checks.

If you do get chance to inspect an engine while it is still in the vehicle, make a mental note of the mileage and ask questions of the seller – even before you lift the hood/bonnet or turn the key. It goes without saying the reason for the sale should be credible, if the rest of the van looks good, one would ask why the engine was being sold – is it stolen and being partedout? Just be aware.

If the registration plate is still there make a note of this too, along with any vin number. The purpose of this is to have all the information to hand if you need to later double check if the engine is compatible with your vehicle, these are the details that a dealer or independent will need to cross check the parts on his system to confirm compatibility with your own vehicle if you are in any way uncertain.

Have a quick look at the engine in situ, dip the oil and look into the coolant expansion tank – it is that the vehicle was front ended, the radiator will likley be broken and there will be nothing to look for in here, but have a look anyway. It should be clean inside with no frothy oily mess and should not be coated with thick brown rusty sludge.

As with any other vehicle purchase if you can, you will want to hear it run from cold. It should start without hesitation and soon settle into an even idle. Try and gauge if it is as quiet as your own engine was when it was working properly.

If there is no coolant, you will not be able to run it for long so quickly pull of the breather hose from the oil separator or turbo intake pipe and look for smoke and pressure here, if either is excessive walk away. This is an indication of worn bores and/or piston rings and really not what you want to be buying into. You can look for fumes and blow-by pressure at the dipstick tube also, but this is not always as conclusive as what can be seen at the breather pipe.

Can you here the turbo spool up? If you are in doubt remove the air cleaner cover or intake hose to the turbo body and dab the throttle. You should hear a healthy howl if everything is working correctly. Glance back to rear of the vehicle as you rev the engine and make sure you can still see the sky!

Below is a checklist to help you assess your potential ‘running’ or ‘palletised’ engine purchase, some items in this list may/may not apply:

Coolant Expansion Tank (Front right hand side slam panel area) Should be clean inside, no brown sludge, no oily mayonnaise. With the engine cold and running, carefully remove the filler cap and place your hand over the coolant reserve neck, get an assistant to blip the throttle, there should be no pressure to lift your palm off the lip. Have a quick glance inside – no bubbles is good. Problems here could indicate a potential head gasket issue.

Oil Separator (Top of engine behind oil filler cap) While it is normal for a high miles engine to be a little ‘wet’ with oil around this area, any white smoke or fumes beyond 15

the ‘barely visible’ from the vent pipe that runs to the turbo inlet could signify worn bores and/or piston rings. Pull the pipe from either end and observe to be sure. Do not be too concerned by traces of oil here and also if the pipe is gummed with a little mayonnaise as in many cases this is normal.

Check for excess crank case pressure – inspect the oil separator pipework Water vapour, moisture and condensation escape from the crank case and exit here to the turbo inlet. The device that is present on the lower pipe is not a sensor it is a small heater!

This actually stops moisture and crank case water vapour freezing in the vent pipe in colder climates, blocking it.

Leaks – Visual Inspection Start from underneath with your torch, you will not need to jack the vehicle, just slide under and look under the front bumper. Places with oil staining and dripping will be very easy to spot. While most oil leaks can be fixed, there are some cost implications to be considered depending on what and where the leak is. A leak around the crank pulley for example will mean it will have to be removed and a new seal fitted, often if this has been leaking for a while the harmonic damper pulley (if fitted) may have suffered deterioration due to the oil. (See Harmonic Damper Pulley in the check list) Oil may be leaking from the rocker cover, do not assume this will be a simple fix, if it is going to be a problem all the injectors have to be extracted to remove the cover and replace this gasket, doing so can sometimes open a whole can of worms (Injector removal and so on). Lots of oil around the turbo body is not a good sign, it should be reasonably dry and in most cases the iron casting should remain red rusty. Look beneath the turbo and seek out where the turbo oil return pipe enters on the sump line. This could be oily, contaminating the surrounding area, indicating the oil return pipe seal requires replacement. (two gallons a min. circulate through here!) The turbo/manifold has to be removed to replace this commonly failing seal.

Oil Dip-Stick Pull this and check the oil level, there is not much to be told from the black oil that will be on the end but caution must be observed if there is any water droplets, froth or whitish deposits on the stick. As with the coolant tank inspection any issue here could mean that the head gasket may be suspected as leaking. Any obvious quantity of water in here could also mean that the oil cooler fixed to the side of the oil filter housing is passing pressurised water into the engine – not good. There should be little or no pressure, or smoking from the open dip stick tube.

Oil Filler Cap Pretty much the same visual inspection applies as above.

Do not remove the oil filler cap with the engine running – you will have an ‘oil-shower’, as the duplex timing chain runs directly beneath the cap. If there is a lot of oil around the filler cap it is not unusual for the cap-lip to be slightly split, allowing oil to pass out onto the rocker cover and run down the left of the engine finding its way onto and into the alternator!

O ring seals are simple to replace to cure oil leaks on the HP Diesel and Vac pump bodies Oil leaking from the area behind the vac pump (or diesel HP pump for that matter) and running down the face of the engine block are usually a simple fix. In each case this is a large diameter ‘O ring’ that seals against the block and is simple to rectify. Any diesel leaks should be investigated carefully and if found to be from the high pressure diesel pump (triangular shaped pump block on the front of the engine) head casting seams could indicate new seals or pump are required – not a cheap fix for a replacement pump. (It is worth noting to make sure the viscous fan central hex bolt is free and not seized before any engine installation, as this could hamper future diesel pump work) Look also at the joint between the gearbox bell housing and the rear of the engine, any serious black engine oil presence here could indicate a crankshaft rear seal that is weeping.

Not a huge job to do when the engine is out but best avoided if at all possible, certainly another tick or cross when you are debating your offer price.

If there is oil around the filler look for a split plastic filler cap on the lip – Simple fix

Water leaks should be easy to spot, especially if antifreeze is present in the system. It will leave tell-tale staining in the form of a coloured salty scale. Look at the water pump behind and up from the crank pulley there is a tiny hole in the pump casting nose, any staining or wetness here could mean the pump seal is failing and will be due for unit replacement.

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Obviously hoses are an easy fix if leaking and should be all checked before putting the engine into service in your own vehicle. Importantly include the small bypass hose at the rear of the block RHS above the starter motor area, this is a nightmare to replace once the engine is in situ due to poor access.

Noted leaks from any diesel related item or component must be investigated as these could be costly to rectify. (See Injectors Injector Cover in the checklist)

Harmonic Damper Pulley – Crank Pulley

While not a major issue to rectify if found to be suspect, it is worth checking the harmonic damper/crankshaft pulley that lives at the bottom front of the engine – it drives all the belts and is the main pulley from the motor crankshaft. This is made in two mating parts, bonded together with a rubber metalastic material that is designed to absorb crankshaft borne detonation pulses, reducing noise and vibration of the running engine.

Pulley and idlers are worth a look What happens over time is the rubber sandwich deteriorates (often through oil contamination) and the two pieces begin to part company. When things have got quite bad, the pulley begins to make a ‘clacking’ sound as it rotates (usually people tend to think its a far greater internal engine problem, as it can get very loud indeed) It is actually the pulley edge catching on the crankcase as it revolves. Its presence can sometimes occur only under load as the pulley flexes it can be hard to spot. Look at the pulley with your torch and identify the rubber seam circumference, if it looks tired and cracked then budget to replace this before you refit the engine as failure can result in expensive engine damage. In itself not a full diagnosis, but you can also try to gently pry bar the edge of the pulley away from the block to get an indication of any detrimental flexing that may be present.

This looks a great clean engine…

Having agreed your ‘investigation’, you will need four tools.

A flat blade screwdriver, reverse torx socket wrench or a 10mm/8mm ring spanner and a 5mm hexagon key. Undo the turbo inlet hose from the inlet manifold and tuck it out of the way. Undo the 8x torx pins holding the top of the inlet manifold to its lower section, remove the single pin at the front near the fuel filter and the rear fixing pin behind the plastic manifold, on the top left looking in, just sneaking under the bulkhead. (This one is often not fitted/missing as it is a PITA to get at – again a measure of lesser quality servicing maybe!) Lift off the upper inlet manifold section.

This will reveal the 6x injector cover hex cap-screw fixings.

Once these are removed, lift up-and-off the injector cover.

If it makes a ‘crispy crunchy’ noise as you begin to lift it away, you could almost refit it at this point and just walk away! Once you have the cover removed all should look fairly clean and oil free under there. Be aware the oil separator may have deposited a little oil around the adjacent area but the overall appearance should be clean and dry. Any black carbonous coal like substance and you will have some work to do. This condition signifies the injector seals have failed on one or more injectors and will need to be replaced, as combustion gasses are blowing-by the injector seats/seals and depositing carbon waste on the engine surface. The common name given in the trade to this condition is: ‘BlackDeath’.

Injector Cover – Injectors This is probably the most important check that you will do and will be the most awkward, both from the point of view of asking the seller if you can take a few parts off to inspect it and also from the point of view it will take you about 20 mins to complete. What I would do is leave this as the final ‘deal breaker’. If you are happy with what you see, agree with the vendor a price on the proviso the injector inspection proves satisfactory and explain that without this inspection you are not interested, whatsoever – This is actually very true, as if overlooked and bought blind, the engine could land you with a bill approaching and exceeding what you have just paid for the complete engine! Of course if the injector cover is not fitted or missing further inspection is easy and far less of an issue for all.

Mmmmm maybe its worth less than I first thought! A bad case of Black-Death… It should look like the first image at the top of this post.

The presence of any Black-Death around the injectors will and should drastically effect your offer price downward.

This job is known to be very difficult to price, as issues encountered along the way could range from injectors that cannot be removed, stripped hold down clamp bolts and deep cut sealing seats in the head pockets due to passing exhaust gasses. Each extra issue encountered, over and above normal labour cost, will soon double or treble the 17

overall cost of repair and caution should be heeded when making your offer. Be sure to make your bid based on a worst case scenario. There is plenty to read on this subject both here on Gen-In and on the web, just Google it and learn what you need to know.

If the vendor does not understand the issue you have uncovered, then simply look elsewhere, at least safe in the knowledge your decision was made wisely and with due diligence. Overlooking to check here can cost you dearly!

Look at the engine above that otherwise looked a very good buy indeed. You have been warned.

Sound and Vision Satisfy yourself that the engine sounds good (if you get chance to run it) and that there is no knocking or tapping noises over and above the normal engine song. Any metallic ‘Brrrrap’ possibly from a little end heard under a throttle blip, or heavy knocking noticed under load or overrun, then leave well alone and look else where.

Place your hand over the exhaust at idle and feel the regular pulses from the exhaust, if irregular there is a chance you have a slight misfire at idle and this may need work in the future. Poke your fingers up the exhaust pipe and wipe around, hopefully this is dry sooty-black. If its ‘sticky’ or ‘oily’ this is probably an indication of water or oil passing through the exhaust and in my view would be best avoided.

Look at the emitted gasses from the exhaust – all but for a slight whiff of black soot, visible on a sharp jab of the throttle is good.

Check belts for flapping, running true especially round the harmonic damper/ crank pulley – this could indicate delamination When you turn off the engine it should stop without fuss, any clicking or snapping, cracking noise could indicate that the ‘sprag-clutch’ on the alternator pulley is failing. Turn the serpentine auxiliary belt over with your fingers, if its cracked or worn it is usually a good indication the van has not been regularly serviced as this would have been changed under the maintenance regime.

As a rule of thumb an auxiliary belt in this condition is an indicator of poor servicing.

You don’t want oily smoke like this… Blown turbo in this case.

Any white smoke, as severely shown above indicates oil presence – worn engine or turbo. White smoke that ‘magically disappears’ or dissipates quickly is likely water from a suspect head gasket. Listen to the auxiliary belt as the engine idles, is it flapping around? Look at how it runs over the pulleys, is it straight or canted over? If not running true or overly noisy this could signify worn idlers or failing belt tension device. Check to see all the pulleys on the drive belt route are true and not wobbling, indicating worn bearings that will soon need replacement.

Similarly the age and appearance of the fuel filter canister often gives away the lack of recent servicing. Overall you should be happy that the engine appears to reflect its mileage – remember you are not buying new and its unlikely that it is going to be perfect. It is mainly all about minimising your risk and getting the best deal you can without spending a fortune on rectifying a catalogue of unknown problems even before you get to grafting the replacement engine to your own transport.

Turn It Over Beethoven…

It goes without saying if you are buying a ‘static engine’ out of the vehicle, do make sure it turns over by rotating the flywheel, a simple thing to do but often forgotten in the heat of the moment – who knows how long the unit has been standing?

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DIY’er. Having all garage equipment available and not being bothered by any changes in the weather, a drop-in job can be dusted off end to end, in a working day.

Turn the engine over a couple of rotations to make sure its all free

And just before you hand over your cash…

Hopefully the above has given you a little insider knowledge to be able to assess wether the used engine you are considering is worth what the seller is asking and that you factor in any remedial work into your repair budget before ‘splashing the cash’. There are undoubtably some bargains to be had out there, equally there are also rogues who know the full nature of the faults/condition of their engines, looking for a fast return.

Always try and get a written warranty of some sort for the engine where possible, at least one that covers it running without issue when fitted. If you are buying from a local source maybe ‘in the trade’ and they are reputable, it is worth an extra few dollars/pounds over a private sale to have the security of even a one month warranty – It is worth remembering too that although your extra labour costs would be lost in any claim, removing and returning the faulty engine – often its better to secure the return (at least a large proportion) of your hard earned than not.

I am sure the opportunity to purchase from a private buyer will crop up and the normal ‘caveat emptor’ rules apply but with careful inspection and honest pricing, taking into consideration any faults noted, there are bargains to had from genuine people. Just remember, minimise your risk as much as possible by using care and vigilance – knowledge is power!

Obviously this has not covered every single check-point or eventuality, but it at least prepares you for what you may find on your mission! I hope that it has at least helped you out a little.

The post Purchasing a used Mercedes Sprinter diesel engine. appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Mercedes Sprinter Diesel Engine – Removal and Replacement (T1N) June 6th, 2015

The physical replacement of the Mercedes four cylinder CDI diesel engine is a major mechanical job by any means, but thanks to some good engineering and designed-in serviceability, this is not to be feared. If you know a routine to follow and have a system about your work a direct engine-out, engine-in is an achievable task in a full days work and maybe the following morning for a competent

To undertake this task you must posess a reasonable general tool kit and have at least a reverse torx socket set and the use of an engine hoist. The following outlines how I do the job, you may have different Ideas, but I follow a tried and tested pattern of disassembly and assembly, it works for me and maybe it will for you too.

First raise the bonnet (hood) Remove the battery from the tray Pull up the two radiator retainers and take off the rubber dampers, top either side of the radiator.

Remove the grille, slam panel, removing the bonnet catch bowden cable and right hand headlamp (looking from the front) Undo the water hoses from the engine, (at the thermostat and water pump spigots) then release the hose from the steel pipe above the exhaust manifold and the one on the opposite side feeding the electric circulation pump.

Remove the turbo hoses from either side, to and from the intercooler. Remove the upper supply hose to the inlet manifold.

Remove the air box lid and take out the filter, extract the air box base. Take off the turbo supply pipework and disconnect the crankcase breather heater. Remove this hose from the breather oil/separator.

Disconnect the diesel feed and return lines from the fuel filter Remove the upper half of the inlet manifold, and plug the inlet ports with rag or paper to prevent anything being dropped in there. Remove the plastic injector cover if fitted.

Undo the clips on the upper air distribution ducting above the inlet manifold and slide off the removable section.

Pull off the vac pipe from the turbo actuator Undo the oil cooler support bracket torx screws from the top of the radiator and the top of the intercooler lip, slacken any pipe retainers and release the oil cooler loop, do not break the circuit as no oil needs to be drained/lost.

Pull up and out on the left side first the radiator and intercooler (fixed as one piece) Remove from the vehicle. On AC equipped vehicles the condenser too would have to be removed

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The gearbox will be self supporting on its mounting, allowing you to pull the hoist out slightly bringing the engine forward an inch or so, jacking it as you go Orientate the engine so it lifts straight ahead, over the front crossmember, its a tight fit with the sump, go carefully and steadily and it will lift over this, up and out of the engine bay Once removed, lower the engine onto an old tyre to give it stability, otherwise it will want to fall over to the exhaust side!

Orientate the oil cooler loop upwards towards the battery tray and tie it to the bulkhead to keep it out of the way Undo and remove the exhaust to turbo sealing clamp ring

If you did not drain the oil, you will discover the importance of keeping the removed engine upright as it will leak very fast from the turbo oil return opening in the sump line There could be the odd small thing I have forgotten here, but generally all the major points are covered as above.

Remove the turbo stay bolt (underneath), oil supply banjo and all exhaust manifold nuts. Remove complete turbocharger/manifold assembly Remove serpentine auxiliary drive belt Remove the four alternator bracket bolts and disconnect the power and exiter connections from the rear, remove the alternator Slide out the ECU from under the dash, pull back the grommet into the engine bay that routes the engine harness to the ECU. Undo these connectors from the ECU and feed them back through the bulkhead.

Undo the red glow plug unit wire feeds and auxiliary supplies from the positive battery terminal, reach in through the right hand headlamp opening and remove the loom connector from the glow plug control module Remove the power steering pump and place it where the headlamp usually resides Disconnect the charge air pressure sensor plug and inlet air temperature sensor from the plastic duct. Remove the charge air rigid duct from the area of the right hand headlamp, there are two torx screws accessed from the rear area of the right headlamp Tie the engine loom and starter feed cables from the battery connector up high, onto the top of the engine

Now the engine is out, you can prepare the new engine for fitment, transferring any parts you will need from the old unit. Make sure the clutch slave cylinder in the bell housing looks in good condition and does not look to be leaking. (Do not press the clutch pedal to test!) While the engine is out it is well worth inspecting the steering knuckle joints as access will never be this good again if they ever need to be changed.

Same story for the clutch, if it is suspect then change it now, as your saving will be in the labour time of maybe having to do the job again at a later date. If you have access to a steam cleaner or jet wash and you have the time clean out the engine bay, it almost makes working on an engine a pleasure when its clean and oil free! Plus you can see if your new engine has or develops any leaks if its clean and dry at the start.

Undo both 18mm engine mounting nuts and move the right hand loom bracket and earth bonding lead to a safe location. Leave the bolts in the holes a few threads for safety Jack each side of the vehicle and place ramps under the front wheels to gain access to underbody Get underneath and remove the two starter motor bolts Remove all the remaining reverse torx ring bolts on the bellhousing Assemble the engine hoist Use a length of seatbelt webbing the tightly join the forward and rear engine lifting eyes.

Slide in the hoist and using the webbing as your lift point, take the weight of the engine Once the engine mounts are just cleared undo the finger tight mount bolts Get underneath and bar off the engine from the bell housing

I am not going to say replacement is the direct opposite of removal because once the replacement engine is in situ then adding the remaining parts can be done in an order that best suits you, allowing you the best access to components as build-up progress is made.

This replacement used engine is known to have an issue with No2 injector seal leaking, so before being able to start and 20

run up the newly installed lump, I will change the seal and overhaul this part of the engine before continuing to fully build up the unit. Its easier to remove an injector from an engine mounted in a vehicle than to try and chase it round the garage, especially if attempting to remove a difficult or stubborn injector.

place it over the end of the drop link bush/arm to be pushed onto the roll bar. Have an assistant turn the van steering wheel slowly either left or right lock dependant which side you are working. Position and trap the socket between the back of the hub assembly and drop link bush as the lock is applied. Continue to turn the steering wheel to further push the socket and as a result press the bush with minimum effort onto the end of the roll bar. Job done…!

Obviously a little care has to be taken to avoid trapping your fingers to complete the above but if you have ever had to change this component on either a Mercedes or other similar vehicle you will recollect mauling away under the vehicle, usually collecting resultant bruises – muttering the often heard phrase: ‘How the hell do they get these bl@@dy things on here in the first place…’

I will cover the injector replacement procedure and final test running of a newly installed engine in future sections.

Even with vigorous cleaning, sanding and filing it is rare to be able to clean up the mating parts of the roll bar end and wishbone mounting to such an extent to allow you ‘just push the new bushes on’ by hand, so this tip works really well.

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Enjoy.

Sprinter anti-roll bar drop link replacement tip (T1N)

Steve The post Sprinter anti-roll bar drop link replacement tip (T1N) appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

March 19th, 2014

Here is a quick tip I have used to assist in replacing the anti roll bar links on the Mercedes Sprinter 2000-2006 model year T1N. Often due to corrosion of the smooth surface that used to be the painted ends of the anti-roll bar (sway bar) and the wishbone attachment makes for difficult removal and refitting of the drop link arm bushes.

Mercedes Sprinter Heater Blower Motor Brush Replacement January 19th, 2013

Intermittent or no rotation of the heater blower fan is a common problem on the Mercedes Sprinter.

As similar types of fan motor assembly appear on many Mercedes models the replacement of the carbon motor brushes is much the same across the range once the motor is removed.

First be sure that the appropriate vehicle electrical supply exists on the fan DC connector and check all circuit fuses before assuming the fan itself requires repair.

Drop Link Sprinter Removal of the old bushes is quite simple, (due to wear they often nearly drop off anyway) WD40 spray or washing up liquid and a lever will assist ! Refitting the drop link is, as maybe you will know, a little more problematic. Whether you have re-bushed your original drop links or purchased complete replacements the same scenario applies.

Remove the triangular plate that covers the end of the leaf spring 3x 16mm bolts. Take the plate with the integral lower mounting bar from the vehicle and use a vice or large clamp to press the bush onto the mounting stake. Use some spray lube as above to assist fitting. Refit the leaf spring cover plate to the lower wishbone and remove any loose rust scale from the roll bar end. Offer up the unattached drop link arm bush to the end of the roll bar (use a little lubricant on the rubber again) Take a 22mm 1/2 drive socket and

On the Sprinter, start by unplugging the electrical connector from the base of the fan assembly in the passenger side engine compartment. Remove the 3 cross head self tapping screws that hold the fan/motor assembly to the blower box then withdraw it downward, removing the unit out from the vehicle. Placing the unit on the floor or 21

workbench, begin to release the motor and fan from the plastic body. This is done by inserting a broad flat blade screwdriver into the 3 openings as shown and levering the units rubber mountings complete with motor out of the cover body. You will need to keep working your way round the holes levering as you go until the assembly works its way out from the cover body.

Once the motor/fan assembly is removed from its cover the brush gear is easily seen. First begin by straightening the retaining bars on the brush holders with a pair of long nose pliers, the material is quite soft so bends easily, take care not to break them off!. These are indicated by the white arrows on the photograph below.

Once the motor and fan are separated from the cover, place the unit on a flat surface – fan side down – and locate the two brush holders as indicated on the photograph below.

The carbon brushes (A) and braid (B) transfer the electrical energy to the rotating motor commutator and because they are always in contact with the spinning rotor they wear down over time and no longer make satisfactory contact, the motor either becomes intermittent or ceases to work at all.

The high cost of a replacement fan motor assembly from Mercedes or Auto-factor, makes this an ideal candidate for an economical DIY repair that is quite simple and not too taxing. Start by obtaining new motor brushes from many of the on-line auction sites available on the internet. The brushes are standard size across the range of motors used by Mercedes and also many other manufacturers – so are quite common. The size you need are 9mm x 8mm x 22mm with a braid wire of at least 40mm in length. You will need a pair and these cost little more than £5 with postage.

Once the two sides are straight the brush retaining pressure spring will be released, cut the existing braid wire about 12mm from where it is soldered to the electrical contact post and remove the brush by pulling the braid upward. Once the brush is removed, note which side has the pointed longer edge as the new bushes will have to be fitted in the same way as these were removed. If you do forget – look at the brush holder and you will see that it is mounted off-centre to the centre line of the commutator shaft, the longer edge of the new brush goes to the holder edge furthest away from the shaft centre line as you insert it. You may find that the universal brush kit you have purchased has brushes that are a little too long. This is easily rectified by using a junior hacksaw and trimming the brush length as indicated in the photograph below. Be sure to maintain the angle of the brush tip and dress the carbon block with a small file to a round it to a slightly concave profile similar to the one on the part just cut off and disgarded.

With the old brushes now removed scrape clean the interior guide faces so the new parts will slide easily within them, also scrape the tip of the braid previously cut with the edge of a small file. Removing the carbon dust and cleaning this copper braid will allow solder to be applied and make for easy joining/tinning of the new braid to this point using a soldering iron and multi-core solder.

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Insert the brush into the holder with the longer edge in the correct position as outlined above. Thread the braid through the centre of the coiled spring and compress it fully into the brush holder below the level of the slots beneath the retaining bars. Using long nose pliers, distort the retaining bars inwards to block the spring under tension within the holder. Using a soldering iron, join the new braid to the existing cut stub and tuck its free length neatly into the motor housing void, making sure that it hangs free not touching any metal part of the motor, rotating armature or steel housing. Complete this on the other side of the motor and once the pair have been fitted begin to reassemble the motor into the plastic cover.

Align the power connector so that it will appear in the correct position within the cover once assembled. Slot the three rubber mountings into their respective grooves and push the motor home. As the motor reaches full insertion in the cover, use a screwdriver to push the rubbers fully home and latch them into the retaining holes in the cover. This can best be done as shown in the photograph, from inside the fan blade cage pushing downward into the case body.

than likely look like one, so be prepared to spend some time to do things properly and get the best results you can.

One of my clients drivers made a clumsy turn-round manoeuvre in one of the LWB Crafter CR35’s and being one of the tidiest and latest vehicles on the fleet it seemed a shame to leave it in a state of disrepair. The price of a good white painted second hand wing was in the order of £250 and a 100 mile round trip to collect – not what he was looking to pay. Any professional body repair work would mean time off the road for the vehicle and currently this would not be possible, so I offered to to rectify the damage over the weekend.

Once the motor and fan assembly are latched fully back into the plastic cover the completed unit can be refitted into the vehicle, reconnected and tested.

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Mercedes Sprinter / VW Crafter simple bodywork repair May 17th, 2015

If you own a commercial or working vehicle, from time to time you will without doubt attract the odd knock or bump along the way that adds character to your van. Not everyone wants to pay premium bodyshop prices to rectify these scars and in many instances its just a matter of keeping the van respectable and not looking like an old hack.

Here you can see a photo of the initial damage, fortunately the lamp assembly was not in any way broken so the repair was confined to the wing panel itself.

Half the battle of any body repair is having some kit to help you, this will not cost you the earth and it will always be on hand for any future jobs that you may wish to take on. The remaining half of the battle is having the ‘balls’ to take on the job of physically hitting out the dent – especially if its something new to you. What you have to remember before you start is – you can’t make it any worse really can you!

For this reason I have added this post, hopefully to give you some confidence to carry out your own simple bodywork repairs, especially if it is something you have never tackled before. Before we begin I will point out that any DIY repair will often fall short of professional refinishing to that showroom standard, but if you are looking to tidy up a few knocks and bangs to a reasonable ‘working vehicle’ standard then read on…

Any length of time you invest in putting right bodywork wrongs, is directly proportional to the quality of the end result. It is worth remembering that a ‘quick-job’ will more

I use a cheap and cheerful Panel beating set from Machine Mart, costing around £35 for a comprehensive set of 23

hammers and steel dollies. As I am no panel beating or bodywork expert, this is about the maximum I am prepared to invest to get the job done.

First I removed the grille, headlamp assembly trim panel and lamp unit. This revealed good access to the back of pretty much all the area of damage. This is ideal. If the dent you wish to get at is further back, then you would probably have to strip out the plastic wheel liner and remove the road wheel to gain suitable access.

Holding a steel dolly on the outside of the wing, strike the inside of the wing/dent to start to bring it outward.

Don’t worry about over-bending it slightly at this point as you can aways dress it back. Moving the dolly about to absorb the hammer shocks, try and model the wing to its original contours and shape. Once the outline shape starts to recover, reduce the force of your hammering and begin to strike the point where the dolly touches the point on the surface of the outer wing.

Your hammering sound will change when you start to hit the correct point, it will begin to ‘ping’. This means you are striking the metal perfectly, sandwiched between hammer and dolly, flattening the rippled and dented steel as you proceed. If your dent is horizontal, work vertically in lines, up and down over it to work out the kink in the metal sheet, if your dent is vertical, do the inverse.

You will soon get the hang of tapping with the flat faced hammer and deforming the metal, flattening it onto the dollies.

Take your time, use the range of dollies in the kit to access all the areas needed, use the wedge dolly on the panel lips and edges and the flatter anvil types on the more linear surfaces.

The original shape will begin to emerge. Any high spots on the outside, reverse the hammer and dolly to knock the panel in onto the anvil, working from both sides of the steel where necessary. There is a great little web article on Panel Beating for Beginners here should you wish to read up a little more before you attempt your repair.

It should be possible with careful work, to get the shape of the original wing back without the need to use large amounts of filler or bonder. To be truthful, only a light skim of filler to flatten any imperfections should be what you are looking to achieve in your panel beating.

Test the fit of any components that may have a closing or butting edge to your work, be sure that everything aligns as it should.

Now rough-up and sand the repair surface with abrasive paper and a block, you will begin to see any high/low spots, re hammer if needed. Apply a thin coating of filler where needed and sand flat when hardened, any imperfections address with more filler and sanding. Work your way down in abrasive paper coarseness to obtain a smooth paint ready surface.

Suitably mask off any area that is likely to be subject to overspray. Be sure to use a primer of similar colour base to the top coat e.g white primer for white, grey for blacks and blues, red for red and so on. It makes a difference to coverage and the final shade of top coat, so choose with some care. Be sure to sand down each coat of primer to a smooth finish.

The primer itself will begin to fill small imperfections in readiness for the top coat, each coat of primer improving the chances of success with the top coat factory colour.

Wipe down the area and try to make it as dust free as possible before spraying with the factory colour. Only apply light coats and let it dry between sprays, building a good thickness of paint is important that can eventually be cut back and polished. Use a good coating of paint, I used almost a full can of top coat on this small area, this allows for any flatting or buffing without wearing down to the primer coat.

After leaving to dry for a good couple of hours you may begin to carefully build up the rest of the van, grille, headlamp and so on. Do not attempt to work on the paint for a least a day has passed, as it remains soft, even if dry to the touch, for several days before it is fully hard.

I think you will agree that the repair was a success and in actual cash value (not counting any time) it cost £60 to complete, this includes the tool set and materials.

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very reliable component and is not often known to fail. Read below for further information:

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Mercedes Sprinter Intermittent Turn Indicator – Cure

‘’ An electronic wipers, turn signals and engine start control module located within the fuse block beneath the steering column monitors the turn signal circuits and controls the flash rate of the turn signal relay. The instrument cluster continually monitors the right and left turn signal circuits to determine the proper turn signal and hazard warning indicator operation, then flashes the proper turn signal indicators and the contactless relay on and off accordingly.

The multi-function switch, the turn signal relay and the left and right turn signal circuits to the instrument cluster can be diagnosed using conventional diagnostic tools and methods.

For proper diagnosis of the wipers, turn signals and engine start control module within the fuse block or the instrument cluster circuitry that controls the turn signal indicators and the contactless relay, a Mercedes dealer scan tool is required.

Refer to the appropriate diagnostic information.”

For use in fault finding your turn indicator system refer to the circuit/wiring diagram section here.

December 16th, 2013

Mercedes Sprinter Faulty Turn Indicators More often than not the number one cause of indicator problems on the Mercedes Sprinter range is due to the failure of a small control relay located on the lower edge of the fuse board on the steering column. Faults are usually intermittent function of the indicators and hazard warning lamps, ordinarily the indicator will flash two or three times as normal then stop flashing altogether.

Locate the fuse board by removing the plastic panel beneath the steering column, (turn-screw latch at top of cover) at the base of the fuse board you will see a thick red wire connected to a lug terminal this is +12 live constantly, be sure not to short this to the chassis! – look below this and you will see two small relays placed to one side. The relay that is furthest from the thick red wire lug is the indicator control relay (OEM Part is usually grey in colour). Replace this unit and test indicators. The next items to check if this does not cure the problem are the indicator flasher relay module and column control stalk – but nearly always the problem lies with this small control relay.

Sprinter Indicator Control Relay 12v It’s also worth a mention to check the operation of the hazard light switch on the steering column, if this is not functioning correctly the indicators will not work properly as it forms an integral part of the indicator electrical circuit. Operate the hazard switch several times and check for intermittency.

If you still have problems and have tried all of the above you may begin to suspect the column control stalk, this is an expensive part to replace and you need to be sure before changing this item that it is the probable cause of the issue – try everything else first, it would be a shame to replace this part and then later find it was a £2.00 relay that was the problem.

Good luck !

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Mercedes Sound 5 Auxillary Audio Input Modification January 7th, 2013

Mercedes Sprinter Turn Indicator Control Relay Location Just a note: There is no conventional flasher turn signal relay, the one you commonly see as the main plug in unit on other vehicles, that controls the flash rate/duration etc. On the Sprinter the flash module itself is an electronic device and forms an integral part of the fuse control box beneath the steering column and cannot be swapped out without replacing the whole of the fuse board. This is however a

There is some mystery surrounding the standard Mercedes Sound 5 CD Radio player found in later model Vito and Sprinter models I hope that this post goes some way to explaining them and my findings prove useful in adapting the unit for connection to an external mp3 player etc.

The Mercedes Sound 5 CD Radio unit exists in 2 versions as I am aware, the one made by Becker and the other Mobis (Hyundai) Both radios look similar and have the same 25

controls, connections and layout but differ in their internal firmware – this controls the radio ‘behind the scenes’ – to the user, both radios operate in a similar way with a couple of exceptions. The other difference is the later Mobis HA1111 version of the Sound 5 (NG) plays a range of computer audio file CD formats that the previous Becker unit does not. The Mobis unit has secondary button function legends above the channel preset numbers – this is a quick way to identify the models as the early Becker unit does not have these button markings .

The Mercedes Sound 5 (NG) Mobis Version HA1111 The mystery of the radio is that it contains flash memory that holds a unique code, this code is communicated to the vehicle electrical systems (CAN-BUS) main processor to give the radio anti-theft security. The radio can be removed from the van and refitted without the traditional recoding once power failiure has occurred. It simply talks to the central system, says I am here, the code is recognised and the unit is allowed to function. Great !

If your radio breaks or becomes faulty, you buy a used replacement right? Well you can, but it will not work in your vehicle. You connect it, all is well… then after a few seconds the set ceases to function and displays ‘PROD’. What this means is that there is no longer a match between the radio flash code and that registered in the central vehicle contol system. (it is reacting as if you had stolen it from another vehicle!) Now, that wonderful machine that connects to your vehicle electrical system when you take it into a main Mercedes Dealer (The Mercedes-STAR Diagnostic System) is able to syncronise a new radio to your van but cannot recode an existing one… Great marketing…. So they will sell you a new radio that is delivered with a default ‘blank’ flash code which is open and accessible, further activated by the dealer to synchronise with your vehicles central controller via the CAN-BUS. You now have a new working radio !

If you have a 6 Disc changer or Auxillary audio device that uses the radio audio section, such as some types of phone kit, these functions are activated and enabled by the STAR diagnostics unit. (Also variable volume-with-roadspeed option) So lets say you purchased a 6 disc changer for your basic Sound 5 CD radio and the function of ‘CDC’ was not already accessible through the user menu, then it will not work. It would have to be activated for you (with a £ charge) by the Mercedes agent. See here for information of how to enable Sound 5 radio options from the front panel without MB STAR and a visit to the dealers!

these will need enabling again by the Main Dealer using STAR. Most, if not all decoded ‘re-flashed’ radios do not contain any options just a basic load.

From my own expierience I have come to the conclusion that once the blanked ‘as new’ radio is installed it will function without the security enabled, this means that you can remove it and refit it to another vehicle without the PROD error as many times as you like. However if you go to the dealer to have options enabled, or possibly even a main service (although I dont see why unless the radio section of the dealer software is accessed) the STAR will synchronise the radio to the main system and the radio will once more be locked and married to the individual vehicle. (This is my assumption as there is no other reasoning behind how it can function) Knowing the above details regarding the radio, the first thing to do is check your fitted Sound 5 has the AUX option enabled, below is an extract from the owner manual, follow the instructions given to try and select AUX – if it does not exist in the user menu, the option to have an auxiliary audio input is currently disabled. You could try to enable it yourself from the front panel ‘Test Mode’ – read about this here.

If this did not work for you, it would need to be enabled at a Mercedes dealer with MB STAR service and diagnostic equipment. If however you have found the option or you have managed to enable it, then you may wish to continue reading, describing how to easily add an audio input for your external device.

Firstly take a look at the photograph of my Vito installation below (Becker Version), it was carried out quite easily using a 3.5mm chassis socket that was mounted in the area to the left side of the storage compartment below the radio.

There is a large quantity of free space behind this area and it was chosen to prevent any problems with catching it, or the connected lead with your hand during gearchange. Space between the radio is restricted in the gear lever area to the right of the set as you will no doubt be aware, often radio preset 5 or mute can be frequently knocked and selected with a finger or knuckle during an upshift. If you need to know how to remove the radio from the dashboard see here.

It describes the radio removal to replace heater control illumination lamp (Other Mercedes.Gen.In Post)

What replacement options are open to us then ! There are used/repaired radios available that have been re-flashed by Auto Electrical Repair Shops that have car audio workshops.

This is carried out by connecting directly to the flash memory chip inside the radio and using a PC programming device erasing and and reloading a blank ‘default’ dump of the factory code. This basically returns the radio to a factory ‘new’ state that enables connection to your vehicle without the fatal PROD error. But there is a downside, if you had options enabled such as AUX or in some cases CDC then 26

A simple cable can be made up between the 3.5mm stereo jack chassis socket pictured and the rear of the radio, plugged directly into the available ISO socket at the back of the set. Perfect connection to the rear of the Sound 5 is achieved by using a special ‘blue’ ISO radio connector and contact pins that fits into the top row of the radio connector block. This special blue connector ready made can be obtained here, you can either use it as it is – threading the cable through the dash somewhere – or do as I did and cut off the 3.5mm stereo jack plug and solder the wires to the rear of a drilled and installed 3.5mm jack socket. The choice is yours ! The 3.5mm stereo jack socket can be obtained from Maplin Electronic Supplies here. Shown below is all the information you require to connect the radio to the external audio device. Should you require just the blue ISO plastic female plug and pins to fabricate your own cable it can be found here. It is possible to carry out this complete useful modification for under £15 if you have the AUX option already enabled.

is a possibility current radios of this model (Model years 2012/2013-on) have the manual ‘front panel’ test mode disabled – Sadly if this is the case, you will have to take a trip to your dealer to have your chosen functions enabled via MB Star.

Mark’s original instructions are posted below along with a video that I made to show how to access the Test Mode and what was available once selected. I have made a listing of the available headings within the test mode scroll adding notation to the individual settings if known.

There are a few options that I am yet to fully understand but it should give most readers a general insight into ‘whatdoes-what’ and the meaning of some of the info displayed within. Please note that if your radio is the BeckerAudio 5 NG BE9012 your test mode menu does not display ‘Test Mode’ when first entered, it just displays ‘SOUND 5′ From here you can then scroll through the menu selection as below. You will also notice some of the listed options may or may not be available in the Becker model. (I have found that some EU Becker models do not seem to have the WB USA Weather Band option and also the CD Temperature warning is set at ‘0’ and appears not to function enabled in these versions.

However you may find different options are available to you once you enter the Test Mode menu on your own set) Have fun…..

Mercedes Sound 5 ISO Connector

”Switch the radio on without the ignition on, and turn to radio function. Switch off…..then turn radio on again, after 2 sec. press the sound adjustment key (with the 2 notes on it) together with the #4 selector for radio stations. this puts you into the menu of the radios AUX EXT……press the button up key until you see the AUX OFF…..turn the volume dial till it says AUX EXT…..then press left key to finish……..now press CD twice and you should see that button now has two options in the display…….NOW THE AUX IS ACTIVE !!!!!”

Here is my Gen-In video of how to access the TEST MODE adopted from the above information that worked fine for me.

Mercedes Sound 5 mp3 connection lead wiring.

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Mercedes Benz Sound 5 Radio CD Player HA1111 Hidden Test Mode Menu

Assumed Functionality and Key Settings I have taken a ‘first guess’ at what the individual settings mean or relate to – I may be wrong in some cases and there are a few I haven’t worked out yet but hopefully it will provide the basics to go on should you venture into this menu and wish to make some changes.

June 4th, 2013

Test Mode

The Mercedes Sound 5 radio/cd Mobis HA1111 unit fitted to later Vito and Sprinter models has the ability to handle external wired audio input and can be modified as shown in this earlier post. What had been assumed at the time of writing was that the radio could only be activated to allow this option using the MB dealer STAR plug in diagnostic tool.

DEV – Hex ID Tag for the Device

Thanks to a reader of the original post (Mark) who discovered a manual way of activating the AUX mode through access to the radios hidden ‘Test Mode’ without using the MB Star dealer setup. Thanks again for this Mark !

There are other interesting options available to access through this menu too that I hope to investigate further given time. Response to this post has highlighted that there

SER – Serial Number of Device HW – Hardware Date /Week and Year/ (WW/YY) SW – Software Date /Week and Year/ (WW/YY) DECK – CD Deck Date /DAY/MONTH/YEAR/VERSION (DD/MM/YY/VV) PRD – Production Date – /DAY/MONTH/YEAR (DD/MM/ YY) TUN – Tuner ???

P1– ???

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FAD – Front to Rear Fader option ON/OFF GAL – Speed Dependant Volume. GAL is a special circuit which automatically adjusts the radio volume according to vehicle speed. This compensates for higher noise levels at increased speeds.

Mercedes Sprinter NCV3 / VW Crafter (2007-) Radio Removal January 17th, 2015

GAL OFF – No speed dependent volume adjustment GAL 1 – Volume adjustment set to activate at lower speeds GAL 7 – Volume adjustment set to activate at higher speeds TON – Test tone RDS – ON OFF TP VOL – RDS Traffic program break in volume level AREA – Sales Region ECE (Europe) KW– Short Wave Band Selection option ON OFF (I assume this is SW option see below German radio band translation) LW– Long Wave Band Selection option ON OFF LW is “Langwelle”, German for Long Wave (700m – 2000m) MW is “Mittelwelle”, German for Middle Wave, or AM (185m – 580m)

Removal of the integrated radio/CD Player from the later model Mercedes Sprinter (NCV3) and VW Crafter models is quite straight forward and easily carried out with the minimum of tools. Although this post will primarily covers the removal of the OEM radio, removal of several other dashboard components is also documented, these were required to gain access for the installation of a fleet vehicle tracking system.

KW is “Kurzwelle”, German for Short Wave (18.5m – 50m) UKW is “Ultrakurzwelle”, German for Ultra Short Wave, or FM (87.5 – 108MHz) WB– USA Weather Band Selection Option ON OFF USA NOAA Weather Band (WB) Channels EXT– External audio input selection. OFF or Either ON or AUX for auxiliary wired audio input SCR– (ID3) ON OFF ????

PHON- MIN Minimum phone break in volume PHON-MAX Maximum phone break in volume AMP – Amplifier output ON OFF CD – T Temperature protection alarm limit for CD player (Disc/Player damage) CAN – CANbus Security Location HEX Code (This model is blank FE00) Blacked Out Display – Contrast Set/Test

As you can see the original display to this HA1111 Sprinter radio had been damaged, I was unable to find thez replacement parts to carry out a repair to the LCD so an alternate method of repair was chosen. As you will be aware the HA1111 radio is protected with a ‘PROD’ security feature and in many cases coded via CANBUS to the vehicle ECU. To get around this problem a replacement radio was purchased from EBay for a bargain price of £35. It did not matter that it would be coded to another vehicle, all I required was a radio of the same model and version to swap the damaged front panel containing the LCD display unit. In doing this the radio coding issue would not be a problem as the original chassis (that worked perfectly well) would be retained and just swapping the front panels in this case was a perfect economical solution given the type of fault.

Clear Display – Backlight Illumination Level Test RESET – Press SC button to enter defaults and lose all custom settings of this menu END – End of menu Turn unit off on this point in the menu to save options.

The post Mercedes Benz Sound 5 Radio CD Player HA1111 Hidden Test Mode Menu appeared first on Mercedes GenIn.

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Firstly prize off the console bezel that surrounds the heater, storage tray and radio. Insert a blunt object into the trim gap in the lower and upper corners of the bezel and lever it forward – it is fixed on clips. once the upper and lower corners are free, lever between the central heater control to release the middle section clips. Pulling now from the top, carefully release the bezel from the centre console. Once it is totally free from the retaining clips, remove the electrical connector plug from behind the hazard warning switch and place the bezel safely out of the way while you proceed to remove the radio.

You will have to remove the lower storage tray beneath the radio first, not only to gain access to the radio lower fixing screws but to prevent the wiring loom being caught behind and preventing full radio removal – this is removed easily with a ‘straight pull’ outward. Once the radio is removed, it can be unplugged from the ISO connector loom and coaxial antenna disconnected.

Assembly is the reverse of removal.

Additional dashboard notes.

You may wish to read a little more on the Mobis HA1111 Mercedes OEM radio and its features here and here.

The radio is simply held in with 4 torx screws, one at each approximate corner location. Once these are removed the radio can be slid out of the dashboard. There is a slide rail arrangement moulded into the inner dash frame that guides the radio into position and secures its location.

The dashboard corner speakers are accessed by prizing up the leading edge furthest away from the windscreen and lifting this edge upward and out. The centre speaker can be accessed in the same way by lifting first the corners, then the middle of the long edge of the square central grille.

If you wish to remove the top storage tray section, undo the 2 torx screws in the front lip of the upper section directly above the radio. Then undo and remove the 2 vertical torx fixings from each grey console/vent side section, this plastic trim pulls straight out towards the passenger compartment.

Once each side is removed it will reveal 2 more screws on the top, that once removed will allow full removal of the top 29

tray and lid half-section. In this case the under-tray section was used to mount the hidden GPS antenna. The tracker GSM antenna was mounted in the windscreen side pillar.

Mercedes Sprinter Radio Code Decoder December 29th, 2013

I recently had some success in finding the original 5 digit radio code for an early Mercedes Sound 10 radio unit fitted to a friends 2004 Mercedes Sprinter using this decode list.

This is simply removed by pulling free the door seal and then prizing inward the 2 trim clips that support the door pillar cover trim. Pulling the top is the best way to proceed, levering out the trim as you work down to the dash. Once free, flip out the speaker grille as above and pull slightly upward on the trim piece to unlatch the single lower tongue, it can now be fully removed.

Any wiring that may be needed to be run from the centre console/radio can be routed down through the heater console area and run beneath the glove box to the door pillar.

The glove box is removed by opening its door and pressing inward the 2 sprung plastic tabs that form part of the rear tray moulding. This allows the glove box to fall fully forward, revealing a further 3 torx hinge screws. These screws will release fully the glove box so that it can be removed from the dash.

Mercedes Sound 10 You might want to give it a try.. No promises, but its worth a go! Just enter the last 8 digits of your Sprinters VIN into the grey window of the downloadable decoder spread sheet and then press enter – if the radio code is known against the VIN number it will be displayed in the yellow window. If ‘N/A’ is displayed then its not your lucky day, sorry! This will only work if you still have the original radio fitted from when your vehicle left the factory. Remember this is for the early series of sprinters with the radio as the picture above.

If the above does not work out for you then remove the radio from the dash and take down the Becker model and serial number from the paper label on the side of the set, I still may be able to assist with the code for your old model radio cassette unit.

Instructions for entering the code: After switching on the unit the display will show ‘SOUND 10′ for a brief time then clear.

Press [ ON ] and ‘SOUND 10′ will display again followed by ‘CODE * * * * ‘ The ‘C’ will be flashing.

Press [ + or – ] to increment/decrement the first digit of the code, then press [ M ] to select the second digit.

Repeat the procedure until all digits have been entered.

Upon entering the last digit press and hold the [ M ] key to accept the code.

The set will now turn on.

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Sprinter Road Wheel Bolt Removal December 28th, 2013

Road Wheel Bolt Removal The post Mercedes Sprinter NCV3 / VW Crafter (2007-) Radio Removal appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

I suppose most of you are thinking why has this been documented as its a simple enough task – Right? Well I decided to share this one as this is a really useful and simple tip that may help you out. It could just get you out of a fix at the roadside, especially if you have to change a wheel and you

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find ‘as usual’ the wheel bolts or nuts will not budge, even if you do carry a breaker bar and 19mm socket !

common issue is the fuse box distribution module that lives beneath the steering column on a T1N Mercedes Sprinter.

There is often difficulty removing wheel bolts/nuts on the Mercedes Sprinter (or any other light commercial vehicle for that matter) as they are invariably very tight to remove.

Manual force on a breaker bar is often just not enough. Use this simple technique to remove stubborn wheel bolts/nuts without pulling a muscle or damaging yourself jumping on the breaker bar! Very useful at the roadside if you have a puncture – first job is to remove the spare wheel and use it with this technique to aid the removal of the damaged/ punctured road wheel. An often used and frowned upon ‘tyre fitters’ technique if the wheel nuts are proving very stubborn is to take the largest hammer from the box and strike the wheel nut squarely on the face taking your best and most powerful shot. This works by jarring the nut in the threaded hub and breaking the rust bond allowing wheel removal – This really does work ! It has limitations in that it can only work on steel wheels with ‘proud’ wheel nuts and not recessed fixings and of course the chances of an off centre strike or complete miss with the hammer causing other damage is quite high – useful however to know in a noother-option situation.

Mercedes Sprinter Fuse Box There is just one cautionary note for Mercedes Sprinter owners that have Alloy Wheels fitted and a Steel spare. If you ever need to install the steel spare and mistakenly use the alloy wheel bolts there is a high probability that you could run into trouble. It has been known for a steel wheel to be installed with alloy wheel bolts (with longer threads) on the rear axle of a Sprinter and when moving off to totally rip apart the internal handbrake shoes, mechanism, ABS sensor and fixtures inside the drum due to the increased bolt projection within, escalating a simple puncture repair to major problems for the owner. You should have a set of the 5 correct length wheel bolts in the tool kit/roll if you have factory installed alloy wheels, if you have fitted your own aftermarket wheels make sure you keep a correct set of steel wheel type bolts handy if you intend to retain a 5th steel spare.

This highly complex ‘box of tricks’ contains a matrix of brass interconnections, distributing power to many circuits through fuses and plug connections. It also contains the integrated flasher control circuitry electronics for the indicators and intermittent wipers. What usually happens is the board suffers corrosion, usually caused by a spilled drink or liquid that makes its way inside the steering column and starts the electrolytic corrosion process off. Sugary drinks such as coke or a sweet tea or coffee will do nicely. Of course on occasion its just damp and condensation that sets the whole bad connection scenario off, but for whatever reason this is the centre of all electrical connection to the vehicle and more often than not is the source of a catalogue of seemingly untraceable electrical faults.

The correct wheel tightening torque is: 240 Nm (steel wheel)/180 Nm (light-alloy wheel) for wheel bolts 180 Nm for wheel nuts Interesting video with insight into the wheel nuts of Formula One cars……

The post Sprinter Road Wheel Bolt Removal appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Unusual Intermittent Electrical Power Problems Mercedes Sprinter February 2nd, 2014

Have you had issues with mysterious power interruption or gremlins, maybe with wipers, headlamps, radio, indicators and various other sections of the vehicles electrics? – well the 31

It is quite simple to remove and service / clean up although the Mercedes people would prefer to sell you another one at a princely sum.

Once the fixings are removed and the large wire is protected pull out the top of the board directly from the two connectors beneath the steering wheel. Once this is out the board will pull down to allow you to remove the connectors behind.

Once all these are removed the unit can be lifted away from the column and inspected.

First start by removing the under wheel door flap that covers the fuses on the distribution panel. Then remove the cowling that forms the lower part of the steering wheel column cover.

Two cross head screws at the top and a single 10mm nut at the base will remove the plastic cowling. Once removed undo the single 10mm fixings top and bottom, then flip up the protective disc and remove the large red power lead eyelet.

Make sure you tape this up as it remains at permanent +12 battery potential regardless of ignition position.

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You can see from the pictures where the problem lay with this unit, several of the brass spade connectors had started to corrode, there were easily cleaned up once the unit was split open. This is done by simply removing the three small relays and the bottom edge moulding first, then further undoing the 10mm brass nut and washer that holds the unit together on the main power pin. (the same stud where the thick red cable connects) Once this is removed the unit will allow the black plastic cover side to be removed. This will facilitate the easy cleaning and inspection of the tags that connect with the molex loom connectors.

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will be in the multi-way connectors on the rear of the unit.

Do not forget to clean the relay tabs that lie beneath the unit before re-inserting the relays into position. Test the electrics before fitting the cowling and you should be good to go !

You can see the level of corrosion on the terminals, that once cleaned, (Don’t forget the plug spades as well!) will allow good electrical connection to made between the two mating parts. Once clean the unit can be reassembled and fitted back in pretty much the same way as it was removed.

Sometimes due to a weak moulding, the threaded insert in the column plastic fails, preventing the secure fastening of the fuse board at its top edge. The best cure for this is to remove the insert with careful use of a screwdriver and prize it out, then using a strong tie-wrap as pictured to secure the whole assembly.

Have fun…

The post Unusual Intermittent Electrical Power Problems Mercedes Sprinter appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Sprinter (T1N) auxiliary belt and tensioner problems February 27th, 2015

I was searching for a gift for my wife’s Birthday when the phone rang. “I have a courier vehicle stranded… Belts come off… We have sent another vehicle on route to take over but need you to get this one recovered and fixed…” I packed the tool kit and met up with the Director of the company who transported me to the exact location of the stricken vehicle some 25 miles away.

You may find that some of the fuse carriers have also corroded on the visible side of the board, the unit can be further dismantled to reveal the internal components of the holders that can be cleaned in the same way as the rear connectors. However the most common cause of problems

On flipping the bonnet, sure enough there was no belt to be seen. There was plenty of fibrous ‘fluff’ both on the cooling fan and around the base of the radiator cowl – it had not failed suddenly. On the way we had stopped off to pick up a new belt from the local dealers, so I had the parts on-hand to rethread the auxiliary belt and fix this at the roadside.

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A quick check of the idlers and tensioner, although far from new, proved to be not too noisy and running true – In luck, we were going to be away very quickly indeed!

Even though you go through a routine fitting replacement belts every couple of months here and there, on this occasion there was no ‘old’ belt present to remind me of the routing – stumped! After a couple of failed attempts I eventually got the routing correct and once the 17mm spanner ‘tweak’ on the tensioner had allowed me to finalise the installation I made a spot decision that this memory fade (could be an age thing…) was not going to cost me lost time ever again.

Fortunately it wasn’t raining, but I knew how important this information was and how wet or cold I could have been in trying to find the correct combination to fit a missing auxiliary belt under less than ideal conditions.

So what did I do?

I cleaned an area on the top of the washer bottle and took a black marker pen and sketched the correct belt route permanently on the plastic surface as a reminder of where things went. A top tip (Cheers Vic of Sprinter-Source) for anyone who carries a spare belt – the original may not be there for your reference and this makes a great, simple and easy ‘roadside aid-memoir’. I will be adding this drawing to the fleet as and when I next work on them. You may wish to draw it in the back of your service book, but with multidriver fleet vehicles, things like that go missing – especially when you need them most!

Bonnet/hood down and on my way, I drive the van back to the depot and hand the keys to security. When parking I noticed one of the older LWB Sprinter fleet parked in the adjacent bay and though it would be an ideal opportunity to swap the long overdue diesel filter and add my new ‘supersketch’ to the washer bottle. (to find one of these vehicles parked back at base and not on the road was very rare)

I changed the diesel filter without issue, priming the new canister with fresh diesel using a large syringe I carry specially for the job. Turning the van over it burst straight into life. I slid from the drivers seat and peered into the oily depths of the engine bay. This particular van was my nemesis, it was a ‘heavy breather’ through the oil separator, due mostly to bore wear and as such had accumulated a liberal coating of black oily tar over most of its parts – oh joy! With the torch I noticed that the auxiliary belt was almost running off the edge of the idler/tensioner pulley.

The tensioner pulley had obviously collapsed internally, causing the belt to run half way off the plastic pulley.

I sourced a new tensioner and my second drive belt of the day from the dealers and set about changing the faulty unit.

Although in theory this should be a straight forward job, it is hampered by poor access and is even with the proper tools, by its nature, is a bit of a fiddle to execute at the best of times.

Firstly take off the long top turbo hose to the inlet manifold this gives slightly improved access for working, then remove the auxiliary drive belt by scooting underneath the front and using a 17mm ring spanner on the tensioner arm to relieve the belt, slipping it forwards off the crank pulley. Now pull out the belt from above the engine – note that none of the belt has to be threaded behind the cooling fan blade, it just folds down either side of the cooling fan pulley from above.

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up its correct, natural position and apply load to the back of the belt as designed.

Now remove the large idler pulley and bracket that lives just below the power steering pump (non air conditioned models, on AC equipped vehicles this will be the compressor location) This is attached with two long, reverse socket head bolts at the front and a single shorter bolt some way back on the block. Once these three bolts are removed the pulley can be lifted down and out of the way.

The removal of the large idler pulley will reveal the two small fixings that hold the sprung belt tensioner. These are smaller, reverse socket head fixings and although you really do need a special set of sockets an 8mm multipoint deep socket is about the correct length for best removal. You may just need to use the ring end of a long series 8mm combo spanner to crack the bolts first, as they do get tight.

Click the image above to enlarge it and compare the levers of both tensioners, noting where they join the damper cylinder.

The lower worn tensioner/damper pivot ‘join’ line can clearly be seen to be pulled over, indicating internal collapse of the rubber damper bushing.

Anytime you change components in the auxillary belt loop, always fit a new drive belt. Because it will have worn to the old positioning/run of pulleys etc and could could cause future issues with unwanted belt noise or slipping – best avoided if you can – fit a new belt!

How about that, two drive belt jobs in one day!

The post Sprinter (T1N) auxiliary belt and tensioner problems appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Mercedes Sprinter T1N – Front towing / lashing eye failure.

February 14th, 2015

On removing the two tensioner fixings, the integrated barrel damper and idler wheel unit can be pulled out from its cast socket in the front bracket, then orientated down and out from the area between the fan and block.

I was called out today as a quick favour to assist in recovering a vehicle that was stranded with a blown turbo a few miles from the clients base. Being happy to be asked to ‘ride shotgun’ in the disabled vehicle on a rigid bar tow was something that I had done many times before so was unconcerned of what lay ahead.

We arrived at the carpark where the van had been standing overnight and coupled up the rigid bar to the towing eye to the front of the vehicle and to the pin and eye tow bar on the L200 tow vehicle. This is common practice for both the AA and RAC for short distance recovery. We had also purposely chosen a time when the roads would be at their quietest to carry out the recovery.

Assembly is the reversal of removal, with the exception that if fitting a new out-of-the-box tensioner, it will be fitted with a steel pin that holds the new assembly in the correct sprung loaded position to allow easy belt installation. Once happy with your threaded route of your new belt, the tensioner can be tweaked with a 17mm ring spanner as before, and then the locking pin/bar removed. The tensioner spring will now take

Adjusting the drivers seat in the Sprinter so I could see over the tow vehicle is essential, as it takes any surprise out of 36

any manoeuvres the towing vehicle may make during the journey. So off we set – navigating about 5 miles of winding country lanes before we hit the dual carriage way back to base. Obviously the ignition was in the on position to unlock the steering and allow brake lights and indicator signalling without the engine running. The brakes and steering are very unresponsive due to overall weight of the van and the lack of power assistance in both cases.

However this is probably one of those moments that I will keep remembering for a very, very long time…

The post Mercedes Sprinter T1N – Front towing / lashing eye failure. appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In. We made it out onto the carriageway and maintained a steady 45 mph on the straight clearway. Then something happened that came straight from a TV comedy or big screen production… BANG! The towing eye gave way from the chassis and the towing vehicle ripped off completely the front of the Sprinter and proceeded to drag it some way up the road. We both coasted to a stop and surveyed the damage. After the initial wonderment of what had actually just happened, we both enjoyed probably one of the funniest moments of the last five years, before lashing the front crossmember with the elasticated tow rope and covering the remaining couple of miles back to base.

As we discovered at the roadside, what had actually happened is the towing eye had been completely ripped from the chassis due to corrosion of the weld points. As it parted company with the chassis, the eye that extends through a cutout slot in the plastic front bumper skin had dragged with it the complete front – totally detaching it from the vehicle.

I suppose in light of the fact that corrosion played a big part in this release, I for one will always double check the condition of this vital welded section before using it in any towing or lashing situation – It would have been a more interesting time if this had given way in any other place than on a straight clear road. I have always used this towing eye as a transportation hook, on Both commercial vehicles and cars ( aka – RAC and AA recovery) and I would like to make the point in this posting that: No matter what your vehicle, Mercedes or otherwise, if it is more than just a few years old it would be a good practice to go and have a look and satisfy yourself that everything is absolutely in order!

Mysteries of the Mercedes Sprinter road speed signal – ABS September 6th, 2014

The Story…

A long wheelbase 4 cylinder Mercedes Sprinter (2004) some years back had ABS problems and the ABS pump was bypassed at the time due to the unavailability of parts and dealer cost of a new replacement unit. The Sprinter ran for many years, each time passing the annual MOT with no ABS function without problem – until the recent changes to the MOT test. The new revised regulations for the MOT test stipulate that if the vehicle has ABS fitted it must function correctly – at least with regard to correct function and sequence of ABS warning lamps on the dash.

The owner had been told by the MOT inspector that if the ABS system was totally removed from the vehicle it would not be subject to test inspection. He was advised to remove the faulty ABS pump and remove all wheel sensors and wiring. Once this was done a pass certificate would be issued.

Pump and sensor wiring was cut back, sensors chiselled off and the new MOT certificate obtained. One problem – no speedo function and Limp home actuation in higher gears (3rd upward) I had the van to sort out as it was basically un-drivable and did not have a functioning speedo/odo.

The Mercedes Sprinter (ABS model) takes the road speed signal from the front left ABS wheel sensor. Once this wheel speed signal is restored and the ABS pump module reinstated (this self contained unit contains the ABS control electronics) the speedo will function as normal. The wheel speed data pulse will be signalled to the ABS controller then 37

data sent via CAN BUS to the Engine ECU and speedo unit.

Road speed will be once more indicated and the ECU will have its required speed input allowing the engine electronics to operate correctly throughout the speed range.

Once these few but critical components are refitted, (although the ABS was not or would never be functional in the above case) normal service is restored. It may also be noted that if you have a Sprinter with fitted and functioning ABS – If you ever get an ABS warning light in conjunction with a loss of speedo reading, it will most certainly be the left hand side front (when sitting in the drivers seat) wheel sensor, its wiring or reluctor (tone wheel) ring that is faulty.

A special note from the owner of the vehicle – Always take what MOT tester’s instruct you to do with ‘a pinch of salt’ as they most likely don’t know anything about the intricacies of Mercedes Benz models or their control systems. This turned out to be quite costly advice that was given freely. The moral of the story is: If you are unsure, ask some one who actually knows!

To check out the condition of the steering track rod end ball joint, jack and support the front of the vehicle on the side you wish to test. Grasp the road wheel at the front and back outer edges of the tyre (horizontal) and push and pull the wheel about the hub. You should detect little to no play. If you feel play when you push and pull the wheel, inspect the steering ball joint for movement as indicated in the short video clip below.

If you feel a little play and the ball joint seems sound, follow the tie rod into the steering rack bellows and grip/pinch where it connects to the end of the rack (Inner tie rod ball joint) If you detect a slight movement here this is due to wear in the inner ball joint. In many cases this ‘small play’ is acceptable on high mile vehicles, but can be eliminated by replacing the tie rod and inner joint as one assembly (screws into the end of the steering rack). For the purpose of this post we will investigate only the replacement of the outer ball joint.

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Mercedes Sprinter – Steering Track Rod End (Ball Joint) Replacement April 4th, 2015

The wearing of an outer steering track rod end ball joint is quite common (Steering outer tie rod end) and can usually be found to be the culprit of wearing out prematurely the inner edge of both front tyres. Another indicator is a slight ‘offset’ to the natural straight ahead position of the steering wheel, even though the vehicle appears to steer straight. Frequently this is the only ‘give-away’ to this type of wear, due to the nature and size of the vehicle, very little wandering or any other symptom is rarely detected. If your steering wheel ‘straight ahead’ position is turning slightly to the left, where it used to be dead-ahead – the worn component will more often than not be located at the right hand road wheel and vice versa.

This is quite a straight forward job and should take no longer than an hour to complete. Before you commence to raise the vehicle, wire brush the long thread and lock nut on the tie rod end, also cleaning off the ball joint lock nut on the hub steering arm, giving both a liberal spraying of penetrant.

Slacken the wheel lug nuts then jack and support the Sprinter allowing total removal of the road wheel. You can 38

see the Tippex lines I use on the lug nuts once torqued to the correct tightness, so that a quick visual check of the nuts can be made. It is easy for the driver to then spot if any nut is out of position, indicating that perhaps a nut could be coming loose. This is especially useful on the rear nearside (UK) wheel that is often the one to ‘amazingly’ undo itself over time!

Once the road wheel is removed (You can see the damage to the tyre that has occurred due to the worn joint in only a few days) begin by undoing the 24mm lock nut on the ball joint taper, then using a 24mm open ended spanner undo the lock nut on the tie rod – just slightly – enough just to back it off the casting of the ball joint. Spray more penetrant. If this nut is stubborn you may need to use a little heat to assist its removal.

Insert the ball joint taper into the hub arm and tighten the nut, then using the 24mm spanner nip up the lock nut on the tie rod end shaft.

Now check to see if your play has gone, if so refit the wheel and lower the vehicle to the ground. If you still detect some play investigate further following the description above regarding testing the inner tie rod ball joint or possibly investigating the lower control arm ball joint for play.

NB. Don’t forget to replace any worn tyres!

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Using a stout hammer, strike the hub casting on the steering arm / ball joint taper. Do this accurately and with suitable force in two positions and the joint should ‘pop’. If this technique does not work for you then use a ball joint splitter for this job – either a lever type or pickle fork. Once the ball joint taper is released, unscrew the ball joint casting from the tie rod and screw on the new unit up to the lock nut. This maintains the distance and position of the new component to that of the old one, until you can get it checked for correct steering alignment – perhaps in the next day or so.

Mercedes Sprinter (T1N) Centre Handbrake Cable Replacement February 1st, 2015

It is probably ‘situation normal’ that one of the handbrake cables gave way on or about the coldest period in UK weather for a few months – but it did! The handbrake lever came right up, the driver reported a loud bang when it happened, so pretty certain it was the centre cable that had failed. The centre cable being the one that extends from the brake lever to the compensator just fore of the axle.

The bang noise is not usually so pronounced if a left or right wheel cable had snapped because they are fully enclosed and rather shorter than the main front to back cable. A quick squint underneath revealed I was correct, so we collected a new cable from the dealers.

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To replace the main cable is straight forward, however it does hold a few challenges and I hope to outline them here with possibly a few work-arounds.

Firstly raise/jack one rear wheel from under the axle to give you good working clearance underneath the van then venture under and begin to strip out the old cable. If it is snapped like this one was, the section that fixes to the compensator will have probably dropped off and be long gone by now, so you won’t have to worry about that part!

Remove the sliding spring clip that locates the ‘lever end’ cable jacket as it enters under the cab floor, use a hammer and knock through the steel guide and rubber block from the other adjacent bracket.

From inside the cab remove the spring clip from the steel peg that holds the cable eye to the handbrake lever mechanism.

Slide this out towards the passenger seat to release the cable eye and remove the pin. (You may wish to delete the following section from your work method. Not having to work blind makes the disassembly and attachment of the new cable to the lever a whole lot easier and the additional time taken is soon lost in frustration) Remove the passenger bench seat, one 16mm bolt on the rear edge of the seat base by the passenger door and the other behind the centre seatbelt clasp in the centre of the seat cushion. You can access the latter by removing the padded foam rubber filler piece from around the seatbelt clasp. Once these two securing bolts are removed, tilt the seat forward a little and lift the front edge. This will ‘disconnect’ the seat from the seat base. There is just enough seatbelt length to allow you to hang the bench seat out of the passenger door to gain full access to the handbrake lever. With the lever in the down (off) position, remove the large round circular trim piece from the handbrake trim, this covers the two 13mm pivot fixing bolts – undo them. This will release the handbrake lever from its mounting. Look carefully at the cable you have previously released, between the lever trim you will see that there is a single zip-tie holding brown and black electrical wires to the handbrake cable itself, cut this tie with side cutters – if you failed do this and just pulled the cable from beneath the van you would risk damaging either the connections or handbrake status indicator switch itself at the rear of the pawl mechanism. Why this cable is zip tied to the moving bowden cable only Mercedes knows! I suppose it just holds the cable out of the way of the quadrant mechanism and teeth/pawl when in use.

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13mm bolt locations at its rear and reattach it to the seat base fixing position with the two bolts. Use a single zip tie to secure the switch wires to the handbrake cable to prevent them getting trapped or pinched in the ratchet and pawl mechanism. Replace the large circular lever trim over the tightened pivot bolts.

Once the cable is released from the mechanism and electric wires detached, it is free to be withdrawn from under the vehicle by gentle pulling through the floor grommet.

While pulling out the cable from underneath, familiarise yourself with its routing and how it passes through a support hanger and central box section holes before it terminates at the compensator hook. This is the route the new cable must take, thread it carefully into place, re-using the nylon guide bushings on the hanger and central box section. It is normal for the nylon guides to break, so be prepared for this by maybe ordering them in advance along with the cable.

However if you find yourself with missing or some broken parts, do not be too worried as there is a work round.

Usually you will manage to rescue 2 good halves of a nylon guide, the others normally fall inside the box section never to be seen again. After threading the cable into the two halves, slide them onto the hanger, utilising tie wraps secure them to the open C shape. Use a short 5 or 6 inch length of heater hose or other rubber pipe of suitable diameter to provide a bushing through the hole in the central box section as the middle photograph above shows. Measure and cut it to length so that it protrudes about an inch either side of the box section, then slit it down its length with a sharp knife. Spring it over the cable and work it through the box section, using the slit along its length to reduce the diameter if needed to get it through to the other side. Once in place, it will form a perfectly secure bushing through the middle section, preventing any chafing or cutting of the cable due to vibration.

Test the handbrake function a few times and check the dashboard indicator light works as it should. If all is good replace the passenger seat. Adjusting the cable is straight forward and done by moving forward or aft the compensator box mechanism. It is secured to the underbody using four pins and it has slotted holes, allowing some adjustment of the centre cable tension if necessary. I have usually found however that no adjustment is needed and the brake works perfectly first time.

Pack up your tools and go indoors and defrost… or as I did – move on to replacing the Turbo boost actuator valve and welding up the side loading door runner attachment ready for bringing the vehicle back into service on Monday morning!

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Fitting OEM Floor – Mercedes Sprinter (NCV3) 2007-on January 4th, 2015

Hook the square cable eye onto the compensator lever, pull any slack to the handbrake end and get back inside the cab to complete the job. Ensuring the brake switch is connected correctly, feed the round cable eye into position on the lever.

Now slide the pivot pin through the lever trim cheek into the mechanism, securing the cable eye into the pivot as you go.

The pivot pin should now protrude through the mechanism and out of the other side of the lever trim, replace the locking spring clip on the end of the pin. (Access to do this is greatly improved with the bench seat removed and lever free to be manipulated, you may be lucky to do this without seat removal, but I am sure you will find it difficult to position and align the cable eye and pin to allow its smooth location into the mechanism because of the very restricted space available – Its up to you!) Offer up the lever mechanism to the two

This has to be one of the most straight forward jobs to do and instantly transforms the load area of your late model Sprinter. The owner of the vehicle managed to get hold of a used floor from a conversion specialist complete with cargo eyes and cups (These retain the OEM floor) The OEM part number sticker for the LWB floor is shown below.

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You will notice the Sprinter floor is made from a phenolic coated plywood that offers great resistance to wear and tear. Its two interlocking sections are made from Delignit plywood.

forward near the side loading door and two rear near the rear loading doors. The purpose of these fixings is to secure the floor in the middle and prevent lifting/movement. The chances are if your van was not specified with a factory floor it will not have the threaded inserts in the floor to accommodate these four fixings. You will need to purchase a nut-sert tool (under £20 from EBay) and four 8mm threaded inserts.

Drill centrally a 10mm hole in each steel floor area, through into the box section chassis, accessed through the circular cut out areas in the OEM floor. Fit the thread insert to the insertion tool and crimp it up in a similar manner to that of a pop-rivet gun. Once the insert is deformed and crimped into the floor panel, unscrew out the tool from the insert and finally fit the hold down washers/spacers with their 8mm torx head pins. This fully completes the floor installation.

All that has to be done is to strip out the old floor covering (if you have it) and then remove the floor mounted cargo lashing eyes in all positions. Lay the rearmost section first, both sections have soundproofing material and edge packing stapled to the rear of each board. Once the rear section is in place drop the forward section in, aligning the 50mm overlap and rebate for a neat join closure. Now fit the special cargo eye cups followed by the spacer then eye. Fasten all parts to the floor using the original tapped holes in the floor with the torx head fixings.

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Replacing Brake Pads Mercedes Sprinter December 30th, 2013

Replacing Brake Pads Mercedes Sprinter

The replacement of disc brake pads on the Sprinter whether front or back is a straight forward operation and can be completed quite quickly.

For the purpose of this posting I will outline the replacement of the rear brake pads. Front pad replacement is by much the same method and does not require a separate write-up as the procedure is more or less identical.

Job done and really easy to tidy up the floor area of any Sprinter. If you check your local area for body conversion specialists, the kind that fit out community busses and ambulances give them a call as they literally have or will know someone who has more OEM floors to get rid of than they can handle! that makes the flooring kit with fixings under £60.00 All ambulances, community busses and the like are stripped out from new and replaced with heavy duty flooring – hence the surplus availability if you ask around.

First chock the wheel on the opposite side to prevent the vehicle moving when the handbrake is released later in the operation. Then slacken and remove the wheel bolts, if these are tight and cannot be easily removed see this previous posting. Once removed the road wheel can be taken off and work may begin.

There are additionally four recessed 8mm threaded cup fixings without lashing eyes, these are positioned two 42

Lever a screwdriver between the central hub applying pressure to the caliper leaf spring allowing it to be dislplaced from the two holes in the body, remove this item and store safely.

Identify and retrieve the two black plastic bungs that cover the removable caliper slide pins, using a 7mm hexagon key unscrew both slide pins and lay them safely out of the way.

Due to the operating environment the slides are sometimes quite tight and may need a sharp tap in the right direction with a copper hammer.

Levering and removing tension spring Using a stout screwdriver, small lever or pry-bar, lever the brake pads away from the disc by a few millimetres. This should allow you to slide off/out the central part of the caliper casting containing the piston away from the fixed hanger bracket and then lie it out of the way, ensuring not to stress the brake hose or electrical cable to the pad wear indicator that will in some cases be attached to it.

Remove the old pads, there is a spring clip that inserts into the caliper piston to locate it, the outer pad is not held by any other mechanism. Both pads are located onto the fixed hanger bracket in machined slots that accept the shaped ears on each end of the pad. Once these are removed wire brush the hanger and clean the rust from the slides. Wire brush the other part of the caliper and remove any scale or debris that could foul the new pads.

Next attach a 17mm spanner to the hub with a wheel bolt and add one other to lever against. Carefully release the handbrake (make sure you chock at least one of the wheels not been worked on) Strike the edge of the disk with a soft copper hammer as you rotate the disc using the spanner.

This will break away the scale that forms on the edge of the disc, do this all around the edge. Place the edge of a file between the fixed hanger and disc then run the hub round by hand and clean off the scale both on the outer edge and lip of the disc. Brush down the area to remove all debris.

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It is a good idea while the disc is nice and clean to measure its thickness to make sure it is above the specified wear limit.

(Min Thickness on Mk1 Sprinter Rear Disc 14mm) This is best done using a Micrometer or Vernier Caliper. If worn below specification, replace the disc/hub assembly at your earliest convenience. It is also worth a brief mention that if your brake disc has a raised lip at its edge that cannot easily be removed can either be reduced with a die grinder or file. If some raised area remains, some pad manufacturers recommend that on fitment you file a small chamfer on the outer and inner edges of the pad friction material to aid bedding in in these circumstances.

Use a G clamp or push-back tool to compress the brake piston back into the casting. I have always found it beneficial when doing this to lift the dust boot slightly and give a quick blast of WD40 or similar to assist the free movement of the piston back into the caliper. Once this is done you can proceed.

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From the cab apply gentle pressure to the brake pedal and by moving the pedal in 50mm strokes pump back the pads to contact the brake disc. Check the operation of the disc brake and be sure it is not binding.

After a final check all is well, wire brush the hub centre and wheel centre, smearing a coating of copper grease on the contact areas, this will prevent the wheel from sticking/ rusting to the hub centre due to corrosion making the whole disassembly much easier in the future and prevent embarrassment at the roadside if the wheel could not be removed in an emergency.

Check the new pads fit freely into the hanger and that they can move within the slides both in and out. If not check for rust scale remaining on the slides and clear it away. If the slides are clean and there is still binding of the new pads, check for paint build up on the face edges of the pad ears.

Clean this off lightly with a file and retry. Once satisfied of a good fit, use copper grease to coat the edges of the ears of both pads, apply some copper grease to the piston face where it touches the pad and also a smear the prongs of the spring clip that fits inside the piston. Insert the inboard piston pad and clip it into place, locate the outboard pad into the hanger and slot it into place. Smear copper grease on the two areas of the outboard pad that contact with the casting then slide the two parts, caliper and hanger together.

Take the two slide pins removed earlier and clean them of any dirt or coating of grime. The caliper slides dividing braking force between the two pads on either side of the disc.

Any debris could prevent easy movement and imbalanced or sticking braking. Lightly use a file if necessary, but be aware these are chrome plated and it is nice to keep this coating for its anti-corrosion properties.

Re-fix the pins after giving them a liberal coating of copper grease (Marine grade grease is a good alternative); it is sometimes beneficial to also apply a little grease to the female part of the slide before reassembly.

Once the slides are in place and retightened, refit the plastic plugs to the slide housings and replace the caliper tension spring in the same manner in which it was removed, using a screwdriver to lever it against the hub centre.

Wire brush the wheel bolt threads and refit. There are several schools of thought around wheel bolt lubrication.

The factory will say no to any oil or grease – as it affects the bolt torque when tightening them to the correct level.

I am personally an advocate of a fine coating of engine oil to ease the future removal of the wheel bolt, also a little rag wipe of oil applied to the dome of the nut that bears onto the wheel itself. Make up your own mind on this one, but I will continue to do what I have done for the last 35 years without issue!

Replace the other pads and you are good to go. Be aware that it will take a few miles for the pads to bed –in and braking during this time may feel a little spongy and require increased pedal effort to stop. As time progresses the pedal feel will begin to harden and normal braking will resume.

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Mercedes Sprinter Front Spring Replacement March 15th, 2014

If your sprinter has dropped on one side at the front there is a likelihood that one of the two leaves on the transverse leaf spring across the front axle has broken.

Sprinter Front Spring Swap

Mercedes Sprinter front spring broken To replace this spring is not for the faint hearted and needs a good tool kit with some heavy bars and pry’s to complete.

Here is what you do: It is worth remembering that the manual will have you stripping far more components down than you really need to complete the job, so here is the minimum that you will need to do. It will take you 5-6 hours to complete so set aside a good weather day to do the job – it is unpleasant enough without it raining on you too.

With the vehicle on the ground crawl under with an 18mm spanner and 19mm socket and breaker bar, juggle the open end of the spanner into the small gap between the cross member wishbone support and wishbone pivot. Beneath both front and back wishbone pivots you will find a 19mm bolt with 18mm nut, whilst locking it as above, crack and remove these 2 pins on either side of the Sprinter – OSF and NSF.

Remove the other 16mm pins from the spring locator plate on the OSF and move it out of the work area in a similar fashion to the above. Now remove the remaining 4 spring clamp plate bolts on the OSF (19mm pins and 17mm nuts) from the sub frame and remove the plate completely. Note the plate locates on two dowel type spigots on the front and rearmost bolt holes and these need to relocate on assembly for correct fitment. As you dismantle the plates/spring you will need to recover and note the location of 4 rubber buffer blocks – 2 above the spring and 2 below. Use a jack and wooden block to support the spring under slight holding pressure before continuing.

Undo and remove the two lower wishbone pivot bolts on the OSF. Inside the cab by the accelerator, remove the 24mm top strut/damper bolt by holding the shaft with a hexagon key and using a ring spanner. Support the complete hub assembly on a jack and remove the damper top bolt completely. The hub assembly will now be floating, using a small crow bar free the lower wishbone from the sub frame.

Ensure the brake hoses and sensor wires/cables do not get strained or snagged during this process.

Loosen the wheel bolts of both front road wheels then jack the vehicle front and support the body at a suitable working height with stands. Remove the front wheels.

Split and separate the NSF steering ball joint from the hub assembly. Remove the three 16mm pins that hold the spring locator plate to the top of the wishbone, and pivot the plate away from the spring end and work area by spinning it on the roll bar link bush. (No need to remove these)

Sprinter lower wishbone / spring retainer Pull and rotate the OSF wishbone/hub out of the way enough to the rear of the vehicle to allow clearance to lower the spring. Lower the jack supporting the spring. It will tip down on the unsupported side and fall clear of the OSF wishbone and hub.

Move the jack the other side and lightly support the spring (that will have now lifted up from the cup on the NSF wishbone) Undo the remaining 4 spring clamp bolts and remove the plate, lowering the spring again once removed.

With care the spring can now be manoeuvred out of the NSF wishbone cup and slid out from under the vehicle.

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On the NSF refit and tighten the track rod ball joint, fully tighten the three wishbone triangular plate bolts and fit the road wheels then lower the vehicle to the ground. Torque the wheel nuts and replace trims. With the vehicle under its own weight crawl back underneath and replace the final 2 fixings to the spring clamp plates on either side. NB. If you do not remove these 2 pins on either side before jacking the vehicle you will be unable to do so, as once the wishbone lowers under spring pressure when jacked – the access gap is closed and you will be unable to back the nut with a spanner to remove the bolt. It is obviously impossible to refit these bolts until the vehicle is once more on level ground under its own weight.

Sprinter Front Spring Swap The new spring can be slid into place in the same manner; supporting its weight with the jack and wooden block once more it can be retained and held back in the correct position while the NSF clamp plate is re-bolted into place. Making sure that as you proceed the 2 rubber buffers (a pair on each side) are located correctly top and bottom with a torch and inspection mirror before moving to the OSF. Now jack up the free end of the spring on the OSF, again check the location of the upper rubber buffer into the cup on the sub frame. (The sub frame upper buffer locator cup is made from hard Nylon and on the driver’s side it is coloured Red, the passenger side colour coded White – there is different spring preload for the driver side to compensate for his weight in a balanced vehicle) Once happy the spring is in the correct position, reposition the OSF lower wishbone under the spring and relocate and fit the 2 wishbone pivot bolts.

The job should now be complete, road test the vehicle and be very pleased with yourself.

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Sprinter (T1N) Rear Spring Replacement March 8th, 2015

Probably one of the worst wet days we have had this year and I was involved in an emergency repair – A rear leaf spring had snapped on a clients LWB at the axle and needed replacing as the vehicle was required for its courier drops the next day. Ordinarily this would have been a job done in the workshop but the van was stranded at the yard and had to be fixed on-site. As you can see the weather was most welcoming ! – NOT…

Loosely reposition the OSF and NSF spring locator plates on the tops of both wishbones, beginning to trap the spring at its ends into the wishbone arms, finger tighten the 3 pins in each sides triangular plate.

Extend the strut/damper on the OSF and wrap rag around the shaft. Use light mole grip pressure through the rag to clamp the damper rod fully extended, to prevent it retracting as you guide it back inside the cab. Use the jack beneath the hub assembly to raise it into the correct position so you can easily re fix and tighten the 24mm bolt on the damper rod. Working beneath the OSF wheel arch rebuild the spring clamp plate and fully fasten the three 16mm pins that trap the spring to the top of the wishbone. Lower the spring supporting jack and recover the second jack that was assisting to hold the OSF hub.

Spring snapped directly at the axle saddle To complete this task you first need to firmly support the body and remove the road wheel. Although there are only 6 nuts between ‘fixed and removed’ on the rear spring, they have usually endured the most arduous conditions in their lifetime. Corrosion usually abounds on the U bolts, making the nuts ‘as-one’ with the saddle plates and in most cases very difficult to remove. The other 2 long bolts that pass through the spring bush eye and the rear shackle are equally in danger of being a nightmare to remove.

Underside of donor subframe showing spring clamp plates and wishbone configuration 47

the saddles allowing the fixings to be removed upward along with the upper saddle.

Here I am showing that it is just possible to carry a smile – even in this weather…

New axle U bolts fitted Starting with the forward bushing through bolt, 18/19mm combo spend as long with a wire brush and penetrant as you can, even apply a little heat from a blow lamp to taste. You will need a breaker bar on one end with a Hex socket and a good ratchet on the other to remove the nut. Leave the pin in place and move to the rear shackle. The through bolt lives in a recess on both sides of the shackle bush, and usually will need digging out of road muck on the outermost side to even find the nut! The bolt head is recessed into a pocket in the chassis on the other side, so access is only with a hex socket and short extension (Again 18/19mm size combination) The exposed thread on the inboard side with the nut will be badly corroded, it is impossible to get a wire brush or heat where it is needed so brute force is required. It is worth pointing out at this point that unless you have access to at least a new nut (possibly a new bolt too) do not attempt this, as you could be caught out: The rusty thread will rapidly disappear under the duress of force from a breaker bar! I rarely tackle this job without the essensial new pair of U bolts and nuts – doing so without at least these few spares to hand, is just asking for trouble so these parts should be added to your pre-job shopping list along with the spring.

Now jack up the vehicle slightly to allow the peg on the spring lower face to dislocate from the hole on the upper axle mount. Give yourself about 2-3 inches of air gap, before attempting the removal of the two long spring eye and shackle bolts. Once these are removed the spring, or what is left of it can be removed with a lever or bar. The spring is extracted out from beneath the rear of the van.

Before assembly check the condition of the nuts and threads on the spring shackles, front and back. If they are poor replace them if OK, then reuse them. Feed in the new or replacement spring from the rear and locate the forward bush and eye using a spike or tapered ‘podger’ (we had a second hand spring that had the rear shackle already fitted, you may have to transfer and fit your existing hanger to your new spring – using the same caveats regarding the nut and bolt condition as above) Once the front eye is in place fit the rear through bolt in the same fashion. Before torquing up the front and rear fixings lower the jack slightly so the spring peg engages with the hole in the axel. Wiggle and lever the spring/axle to locate this if it is not aligned correctly.

Now fit the spring upper saddle and U bolts, once in position tighten the shackles/eye bolts fully and remove the axle support. Once the 4 U bolt nuts are fixed to final tightness, refit the road wheel and lower the vehicle to the ground.

Job done – hopefully in better weather than I had!

Corrosion abounds the spring components The 19mm U bolt nuts will be stubborn to break, they either undo or shear off in the process due to the size of bar required to break them on their threads. Heat would be a real boon here, but sadly on-site repairs often don’t have access to oxy-acetelene tools! Once all 4 U bolt nuts are loose (or sheared) support the axle with a block of wood, lowering the jack so the axle is just in contact with the support.

Remove the U bolt nuts completeley, strike the U bolts with a stout hammer up and down until the rust pocket breaks in

Typically a couple of hours after the job was completed the weather improved – Dry off the kit!

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Sprinter Differential Noise – Axle Replacement June 27th, 2015

Get underneath and remove the lower shock absorber mounting bolts, the roll bar-to-chassis drop link bolts and the load compensating valve plastic link arm (17mm lock spanner and 16mm socket).

One of the fleet of Sprinters I maintain had developed over time a noticeable rear end wine/noise type vibration that changed note on overrun, there was a high likelihood there was some issue with the differential and further investigation revealed the pinion had worn allowing the nose bearing to push back and forth. This increased end float and subsequent wear in the pinion and crown wheel, had caused the nose bearing to wear all symptoms contributed to the noise experienced. For the record this particular vehicle had covered in the region of 500,000 courier miles!

By grasping the input flange any play can be observed, although it is far better to remove the prop shaft itself to determine smaller amounts of wear. Above is a video taken once the diff/axle was fully removed to show the severe situation that had occurred on the van in question.

Replacement of the axle is in itself not a complex task, it is just one that requires careful coordination and a bit of forward thinking due to the size and weight of the component involved. A used replacement was sourced from a Sprinter van breaker and was collected on a pallet. Usually used items are complete with hubs, discs, backplates, sensors and hand brake mechanisms with cables. The sensor cables (Pad wear and ABS/Wheel Speed) are usually cut at the point where the handbrake mechanism is mounted to the underbody so there is often plenty to rejoin to the existing loom. When selecting a used axle look for one that is dry of oil leaks/staining and has the best condition discs and handbrake components as often they will just go straight on without huge work. If you were purchasing a new axle you would have to transfer all your existing parts to the new installation which is quite time consuming.

Cut the securing tie wraps from all the differential cabling, then trace and mark which wire goes where (four wires in total, two brake wear sensor wires and two speed sensor wires) It is important to mark the right and left hand cables, especially with regard the ABS wheel speed sensors, as these will need to be remade correctly for things to function as before. Look at the cabling lengths supplied on your replacement axle and determine the best place to cut each wire so you have enough length to work with to re-join the conductors, cut free the cables at your chosen lengths along the vehicle loom and tuck them out of the way.

You may also have to pull free the breather hose from the grommet in the box section next to the hand brake mechanism.

Once you have obtained a replacement differential it is time to remove the old one! At this point it is worth noting that this type of differential does not have a drain plug, only a level plug. So if you intend to use new hypoid lubricant in your used purchase, now is the time to roll over the diff and empty out the old oil.

Using a 15mm combination spanner, remove the four differential/prop shaft flange bolts, dropping the prop to the floor out of the way to one side. Normally you would mark the position of the drive flange relative to its mating part but as we are replacing the complete diff for an exchange unit, there is little point.

Select a good hard standing for the vehicle and chock the front wheels. Loosen the rear road wheel studs and support the rear of the vehicle on the forward leaf spring mounts with axle stands. Remove the rear road wheels and place them under the sills of each side of the van as a safety precaution, use stout blocks of wood to pack them to a suitable useful height.

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While under the centre of the van, remove the four 13mm bolts that hold the handbrake operating mechanism plate to the van underside, once free, unhook the single long hand brake cable from the actuating lever and place it out of the way. Let the bracket hang to the ground. As the hand brake cables run through a welded spectacle bracket affair on the box section just above the diff it is important to assess how to best /remove or refit the cables through these.

There are two options open to you: The first is to remove the cables and thread them through the supporting eyes. (I have always found this difficult, as you have to disconnect the cable inside the drum before you can unhook it from inside the compensator mechanism. While this is entirely possible to do for removal, it could be difficult on the used axle as it is not mounted to a vehicle!) The second method is my preference, though the choice remains yours – using a junior hacksaw cut a slot in each of the upper portions of the bracket, this allows the use of pliers to bend the bracket each side into a ‘C’ shape allowing easy removal of the cables.

Once the new cables are in place simply bend back the bracket to its original position. The brackets do not carry any weight and are only provided as cable ‘guides’ – so doing this has little long term effect on the purpose of the guide.

easier but also reduces the risk of future failure due to stress or corrosion.

Use penetrant on the holes where the U bolts pass through the cast plate on each side of the differential, maybe a little heat too. Hammer the top of the U bolt downward on its saddle, then upward on the protruding threads beneath. Continue this up and down movement until the bolt eventually releases and raises free of the clamping assembly.

Do not heavily /bend over the threaded portion of the bolt during your hammering, as the diameter is a close fit through the hole and it is easy to jam up during its subsequent extraction. Use of a copper hammer is recommended.

If your bolts and lower threaded portion have sheared off then you can apply some upward force by driving a slim chisel into the gap between the cast saddle and the top of the leaf spring as it opens up. Do not use excessive force, just enough to shock the U bolt enough up and down to break the rust that is holding it into the locating holes.

Remove both brake caliper hanger bracket bolts, 2x 18mm and place the complete calipers on the top of the leaf spring towards the front, safely out of the way.

Once both sides are free of the leaf springs, the axle can be dropped slowly on the trolley jack and pulled out from beneath the vehicle. It is a good idea to have a second or third person assist you with this, as it is a very heavy and imbalanced component – two or three people makes life so much easier and safer!

Now the old and new diff/axle are side by side, transfer any parts between the two that is necessary, roll bar etc. If you intend to service the hand brake shoes or at least inspect them on the replacement axle, wait until it is fully mounted and secured back in place as it will be so much easier to work on.

Place a trolley jack under the centre of the diff and just bring it into contact with the casting.

The first real obstacle to encounter will be to remove the two spring U bolts that fix through cast plates on each side of the axle, 2x per side. For this you will need a blow torch to apply some heat and a good penetrating oil. Start by wire brushing the exposed threads and apply direct heat or a good length of time to the fixing nuts. Using a 19mm socket and breaker bar attempt to undo the nuts. If they shear off, do not worry as it is still possible to remove the loop part of the U bolt without the exposed part beneath. It is always a good idea to purchase new U bolts, as it not only makes reassembly

Assembly is also pretty straight forward, trolley the new axle underneath the van and raise it gently, supporting/guiding it at both ends until it aligns with the ‘pips’ that protrude from the base of the leaf springs. You may have to hammer,tap or bar the axle back and forth to get this fully located. Once in position, place the cast saddle bracket and new U bolts in position and tighten each side. You may now remove 50

the supporting jack from the differential and rebuild the remainder of the attached components. Resolder the sensor cables to their correct wire locations previously marked, then use ‘self-amalgamating’ waterproof tape to seal and finish all of your joints before securing them to the hand brake cable runs back to the chassis.

Do not forget to check the level/refill of hypoid gear oil in the diff before driving, this can be done by prying out the rubber bung level plug and filling to the lower segment of the hole.

Replace the plug and wipe the area clean.

Job done!

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Sprinter / Vito Glove Box Catch / Latch Repair July 3rd, 2015

Regarding the glove box lid, there is a common fault with the latch mechanism most Sprinter (T1N >2006) and Vito W639 models. What happens is the glove box either does not latch closed, with the door falling open at every opportunity, or the door simply ‘opens itself’ automatically if you hit a bump in the road. I have found this simple repair to be very successful if you have all the component parts that have fallen from inside the mechanism. It is rare to lose them, as they are generally trapped inside until you release the handle mechanism.

Often the latch itself is the issue, it does not often break – it just falls apart inside. The steel bars that hold the lower spring and release lever become slack in its pivot holes in the plastic moulding. This eventually moves sideways slightly and pops out of the opposite end. This skews the catch alignment so it does not function correctly. Frequently all the component parts are all there and all that is needed is to remove the latch and rebuild the parts in the correct order using a little glue on each end of the two steel rods to prevent any future problems.

Just for the record, this documented procedure was done on a 2008 W639 Mercedes Vito and the photographs represent this, it is a very similar operation to carry out on an early sprinter latch, as they are much the same part and identical in operation.

First check the striker above the glove box opening for damage or misalignment, if this looks OK then you can remove the door latch assembly by removing the two torx head self tapping screws from behind the latch on the door panel. It is often easier to remove the complete glove box lid, this is a simple task, as on the Vito as all that has to be done is to slide the two black plastic hinge pins inward towards the centre of the door and this will release the hinges. Simply push over the two arched door stops to unlatch them from their end stops and then remove the complete door to the work bench

Once the two screws are removed the latch will come away from the front of the door leaving a pocket, inside this pocket look carefully and you may find any combination of these parts loose inside – black plastic lever, spring and small steel bar about 20mm long and 2mm diameter, all depending on what has fallen out of position! Obviously if any parts are missing or broken then only a new latch can be fitted. If you have a part number sticky label in here, it often peels a little and the free parts can stick to the glue on the back of it!

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apply the adhesive to the outer parts of the latch. Allow the glue to fully harden, it will remain slightly elastic, which is good with regard vibration and knocks.

With the latch flat, face down on the handle part begin by checking the location of the uppermost pivot bar, it should be central in the moulding and virtually flush either side. The black hook part of the catch is sprung to open and you should see a looped spring with coils held either side of the pivot. If the catch does not spring to an open position, investigate and reposition the spring so that it holds the hook open. Now look at the lower black lever and single spring. Just as the photographs show the L shaped tang of the lever extends to contact the large diameter protrusion from the external handle flap.

Rebuild the handle into the front of the door and refit it to the dashboard (if door was previously removed) Job done, an irritating fault fixed simply – it should take no more than an hour to complete.

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Mercedes Sprinter / VW Crafter – Door Check Strap Failure May 4th, 2015

If you find one day that the driver or passenger door of your Mercedes Sprinter W906 (NCV3) or VW Crafter becomes stiff to close and in some cases won’t close at all – suspect failure of the door check strap.

It is fairly obvious how the spring fits into the larger lever as it is moulded and designed to accept one end of the spring which can only be fitted one way (see pictures). Once this is held in position slide the pivot pin through the lever and locate it in each cheek of the main grey handle moulding.

Test the catch function.

Now all that needs to be done is to fix the ends of the steel pivot bars so that they do not work out sideways again. This is done by using a glue such as Evostik contact adhesive.

Apply small blobs on the end of the pivots extending to the surrounding plastic, do this on both the inner and outer locations, upper and lower pivot pins in the area where the bar passes through the supporting outside cheeks. Be careful not to allow any glue onto the mechanism and only

The door check strap is situated in the hinge edge of the door between the hinge pivots. It is a sliding bar attached to the door frame that enters the interior of the door and its tension is controlled with a very strong sprung ball bearing arrangement. The purpose of the check strap is to give two distinct ‘hold’ positions to the opening door and prevent it opening too widely, where it would strike the front wing.

The check device sliding bar is attached to the door frame with a single torx head bolt. The internal part of the mechanism is held on by two slightly smaller torx fixings recessed into the hinge edge of the door. There is another matching screw inside the door panel that holds the mechanisms rear edge, this is positioned just ahead of the window electronic control module on the hidden area of the door skin.

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Once you have removed the door check it may be necessary to hold the door open while you work on the door interior, this can be done quite easily without any damage by jamming an empty soda/pop bottle into the hinge area.

To remove the door trim panel (door card) prize out the two top trim bungs to reveal a pair of fixing screws in the top right and left corners of the panel, open the lower storage door and lift it upwards off its plastic hinges. This reveals a further two screws inset on the lower left and right corners, remove these also.

Now gently prize off the black trim top cover from the door handle opening lever assembly, this will reveal two large torx head screws above and below the handle portion of the trim. Once these are removed the only thing holding the trim panel/door card is a number of plastic trim ‘bullet’ clips that surround the panel on all outer edges. Using a trim tool or sturdy palette knife lever out all the clips and the door panel will then lift slightly upward and off.

Disconnect the electric window switches from the door loom and unclip (if necessary) the bowden cable from the door opening lever. Access is given to the internals of the door.

Gently peel back the plastic membrane from the area just above the speaker. Disconnecting the door speaker makes this job a little easier, but do remember to reconnect it when done. Find the single mounting screw for the rear edge of the check strap and remove it.

Peel back the lower front corner portion of the membrane to gain ‘arm’ access to the door cavity. Reach upward into the door and feed the check strap bar through the opening in the door and bring the whole assembly down and out of the door interior.

Once the strap mechanism is out of the door you will see that it has two mounting ears, these fatigue, work harden and shear in time – preventing the bar from sliding in a controlled manner ‘checking’ the door. Instead the unattached front edge causes the bar to jam and baulk in the mechanism preventing the door closing. You may have already found that the check strap came out from the door with the two front ears still attached to the door edge!

Once all the parts are removed from the door you can do one of two things – replace the complete strap or weld up the one you have and refit. If you choose the latter, although welding the part is quite simple as the fractures are often clean and fit back in position perfectly, the arm must be removed from the strap mechanism before welding.

To remove the arm: force it through 45 degrees causing one ball bearing to remain in the end slot and the opposite one to latch in the last rail slot. With care then lever the exposed ball back into the sprung tube and release the arm from the rail. Be prepared to catch the ball bearings as they are under quite considerable tension. Once the component parts are visible you will see exactly what has caused the failure of the mechanism! Each ball bearing has a strong spring pushing a plastic cup that applies low friction pressure to the underside of the ball, between these two springs runs a lighter spring 53

that connects both plastic cups, this breaks up causing one side of it to to jam into the main spring coils and making it almost impossible to compress when the door opens and the check bar requires it to move. This in turn makes the forces on the front mounting ears (where it fixes to the door) quite considerable and flexes the bracket as a result – eventually breaking off the tabs. Discard completely the broken smaller spring and clear the broken coils from the inside of the tube.

It was a nice afternoon and I had little else to do, so I decided to fit the sensor that I had purchased from the Motor factors as a replacement for the ‘work-round’ but so far had not had the chance to fit it – Ideal play day job! The part was just under £4.00 from the motor factors, with an OEM part number of 906 540 15 17 or a VTECH aftermarket part code of 649ME0130 – should you wish to order one.

Interestingly, you often get a pair of sensors with a new set of brake pads but if you choose Mercedes parts you have to additionally purchase the sensors individually.

A replacemnt door check strap is in the order of £35 should you decide to purchase one and not repair the one you have.

Assembly is the reversal of removal – do not forget to reconnect the window look before refitting the door panel.

The lock button on the top of the door panel passes through a removable trim section of the door card, if you remove it before re-fitting it (lifts up to remove) it reveals a slot in the main moulding that allows the pin to locate neatly in the card. Once the trim is fully fitted, simply push back the plastic plug that surrounds the lock pin.

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Mercedes Vito (W639) Front Brake Pad Sensor Replacement – Video May 30th, 2015

Some time back the brake caliper on the drivers side of the Mercedes Vito (W639) was giving trouble. It was sticking badly and as a result stuck on one day to the extent that generated hear melted the brake pad warning sensor.

Obviously I dealt with the sticking caliper but at the time I did not have a replacement sensor to hand so I joined the two ends of the remaining wires just to extinguish the warning lamp on the dash. To read how the sticking brake caliper was repaired read here.

I must point out that if you do get a light on the dash, warning you of low brake pad thickness, please investigate it, as its probably warning you of the actual wear condition and not a faulty sensor like in the case investigated here. (I knew it was a faulty sensor, so ignored the light for a few weeks!)

The warning light on the dash does extinguish automatically once the faulty sensor is replaced, simply by cycling the ignition. In the video I use the Autel Maxidiag code reading diagnostic tool to investigate if the fault is stored at ECU level and how the effects of clearing the logged fault with the diagnostic tool resets the dash warning lamp.

Interestingly even once the fault code is cleared (Key in – engine on), the dash lamp remains illuminated until the ignition is cycled, unlike the majority of cleared engine fault codes that immediately extinguish the warning lamp when actioned by the diagnostic tool, either engine running or static with ignition on. Watch the video, its simple stuff but there is some interesting commentary if the job is new to you.

Replacement of this sensor is quite simple, all you have to do is remove the road wheel and remove the brake caliper as if changing the pads. Once the caliper is removed, slip out the outboard pad and install the sensor in the provided cut out on the steel backing of the brake pad lining. Thread the sensor connector through the access hole in the caliper as you reassemble it. When the slide bolts are in position and 54

tightened, plug in the pad sensor to the mating part that is bolted to the brake carrier assembly. Replace the road wheel and cycle the ignition. I hope you find this of some use.

Fix upgrade twin horns behind grille

The post Mercedes Vito (W639) Front Brake Pad Sensor Replacement – Video appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Improving the Mercedes Vito W639 Horn July 7th, 2013

If you own a late model Mercedes Vito 2004-on (W639) you will no doubt be fully aware of how poor the horn is compared to other medium sized commercial vehicles and most other cars on the road!.

Drivers side horn mounting location I secured my pair of horns from a BMW 5 series, manufactured by Klaxon and both very clean indeed, they cost £5 for the pair and I would imagine cost in the region of £70-£80 off the shelf. I cut the wiring looms back as far as possible when removing them from the donor car so that I could fully utilise the attached wiring and their waterproof plug and socket type power connectors.

Twin Horn Mounting location behind grille

Original Single Horn Vito W639 This can be easily remedied by installing better horn sounders – a trip to the local scrap yard will produce the goods at a very low price. Sure, you can buy off-the-shelf horns from accessory shops but rarely are they of the quality of OEM units, often made by top manufacturers like Klaxon, Hella or Fiamm. When you get to the scrap yard look for high end saloons and estates, BMW, Jaguar and Audi being the most common producers of quality dual horns. Always identify the ‘scroll type’ horns in preference to the feeble disc horns that are common these days, look for good clean examples, there will be plenty to choose from. The scroll type horn produces a loud and full tone, a Hi-Lo tone pair will when fitted, scare most motoring offenders out of play!

Fitting was easy. Lift the bonnet, remove the three screws on the top of the grille, un-slot it and remove it up and out from the Vito. Locate the two plastic moulded grey ABS brackets either side of the radiator that support the front bumper skin, position your horn on the inside of these brackets and check the fit. Drill a suitable hole through the plastic bracket and fix the horns either side – note there is a great deal of room behind the grille if its a model without air conditioning. You will probably have to be a little more inventive with the mounting location if you are restricted by the air-conditioning condenser and its cooling fans, it would probably be good practice to check clearance by refitting the grille before committing to a mounting place. However it is an easy job to mount the horns in this area.

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a wheel-bolt hole, bringing the shoes into contact with the drum – then back it off a noted number of clicks until the wheel rotates without binding, repeat on the opposite wheel and job done ! Simple….

Mercedes Vito W639 Horn Location Once you have mounted the new horns, wire them both in parallel and route the two connecting wires through to the drivers side headlamp unit (Right Hand Drive). Stretch your arm down behind and below the headlamp unit and you will find the original single disc type horn, feel for the connector and unplug the lead feeding it back through to the engine compartment. Splice in your new horn wires to the original horn connector, tape up the joints and tie wrap the cables neatly out of the way. Test your horns and refit the grille assembly. If you would like to hear the resulting sound of fitting the dual tone horns, just select the W639 horn sound track in the Mercedes Sounds player to your right and click play.

Vito Rear Brake Detail As I dropped off the rear passenger wheel on the Vito (111 W639 2008) to make the shoe adjustment I noticed that there was a lip forming on the outer edge of the brake disc. As this is some thing that I usually like to remove when servicing the brakes myself, (dealer did it last time !)

Thinking I would just drop off the disc and run around it with the grinder, I backed off the adjuster through one wheel-lug hole, removed the caliper completely by undoing the two 18mm securing bolts and then took out the single torx retaining bolt from the front face of the disc/drum.

The assembly then pulled directly off the hub to reveal the parking brake mechanism/shoes.

New twin horns hidden behind grille Job Done !

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Mercedes Vito W639 Parking Brake – WARNING! – Don’t adjust the shoes without INSPECTING THEM FIRST !!

March 31st, 2013

With the weather being so bad in the UK at the moment I have best avoided doing any maintenance tasks until it gets a little warmer. However a sight rear parking brake imbalance on the Vito was beginning to bug me, and the the day in question was sunny and dry although bitterly cold – I was going to have a quick look and adjust the shoes to balance the parking brake.

Parking Brake Adjustment Spur Wheel Gulp! … Now being so glad that I had not just blindly adjusted the parking brake shoes to obtain best balance and just continued to drive the vehicle, I was met by a very unpleasant sight inside the drum that needed urgent attention – serious corrosion of the actual brake shoes and back plate. (These were genuine Mercedes shoes, with stamped logo and OEM part no.6394200220 ) Honestly never seeing anything quite like this ‘rotting’ of the shoes in my many years of mechanics, additionally so on such a modern vehicle with a documented service history (2008) was to say the least, a tad disturbing.

Vito Parking Brake Corrosion

Its a simple enough task to drop the rear wheels off and click the adjusting spur wheel round a few notches through

A quick phone round to source replacement shoes was a total waste of time as it was Easter Sunday and the places that were open had no stock – So I decided to strip both sides and do a ‘proper job’ in readiness for the new shoes ordered online to be fitted in the next day or two.

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Fitted Disc / Drum Assembly

Corrosion of Parking Brake Shoes – The actuating lever mechanism was also seized with rust All the time I was working on the vehicle cleaning up the parts that were in very poor condition, I reflected how fortunate I was to have made the decision to remove the disc/ drums to take a look inside. This was further underlined when the friction lining totally de-laminated from the steel shoe support on its removal. What a mess !

Rear Parking Brake Service Completed My advice to anyone contemplating blindly adjusting the Mercedes Vito parking brake is DONT ! Unless you can personally vouch for the condition of what lies inside, I recommend having at least a look inside first, just to see what condition it is all in.

WARNING

Cleaned and Painted Backplate Having stripped the back plates and cleaned them up with a wire brush and in places used a Dremel grinder, paying special attention to the raised surfaces where the shoes slide during actuation, as any rust here would for sure hinder their smooth sprung return when in use.

Prepared Vito Rear Brake Disc / Drum Assembly Cleaning the inside of the drum revealed little wear and only the slightest lip to be removed with a file so that refitting and future removal would be made a lot easier without snagging the shoes as it slides off the hub. Lips were removed from the outer and inner edges of the disc area with careful use of a grinder and finishing with a file, they were then treated to the same paint coating as the back plates – all awaiting fitment of the new parts. New parking brake shoes were purchased from here, super quality German manufacture and fast delivery – above all excellent value. I also bought a set of new DELPHI springs and retainers from here, again fantastic value and truly fast delivery. The job was done for less than £35.00 !! MB want over £100.00 for the shoes alone, seeing how the original OEM parts had deteriorated I have little problem in using parts sourced from an alternative manufacturer.

Better be safe than sorry – De-laminated friction material Better to be safe than sorry!

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Binding or sticking front brake – Vito W639 March 22nd, 2014

I recently noticed that the driver side front brake caliper was sticking on my 2008 111 Vito (W639). It got so bad and jammed on that it began to ‘cook’ the brake pads and smoked, burning hot! I limped the vehicle home and when all had cooled down a little set to work on investigating.

Even before the wheel was removed the caliper slides were suspected to be binding on their surfaces preventing free side to side movement of the floating part of the caliper casting. Removing the two long 7mm hex screws under the rubber protective caps, top and bottom at the rear of the caliper, revealed sure enough that the lower slide was rusted solid into the casting. Fortunately I had a suitable 1/2 inch copper drift to hand that I used with a hammer to drive out the rusted slide from the casting. I cleaned up the surface of the slide pin with a very fine file and wet and dry abrasive paper, and treated the inside of the casting to a similar clean-up. Using anti-seize copper grease they were reassembled with ease and now moved freely. If badly corroded, new slides would have to be purchased.

On reassembly I noticed that the lower of the two pistons in the caliper was sticking too, probably due to the fact that it had been locked in one position for a while caused by the seized slide. Peeling back the piston dust seal I was able to squirt some WD40 into the gap between the piston and casting. Working the piston back and forth with a piston compressor or ‘G’ clamp I was able to free it off completely.

Pumping the brake pedal 5-6 times 3/4 of the pedal stroke will extend the piston far enough out of the caliper to attend to its chromed surface with fine emery cloth or wire wool (lightly!). Be sure to block the second piston from extending while you do this.

As my piston was well extended and exercised over a 1″ extension from the casting I was able with the careful use of slide grips on the very outer rim, external to the dust seal, to rotate the offending piston by about 90 degrees to hopefully shift any slight piston corrosion areas to another point on the caliper bore and thus give a better chance of it not sticking again in the future (Maybe!). If the corrosion was severe and the piston did not free up after a reasonable time I would recommend fitting replacement calipers as experience tells that these faults often return.

Building back up the drivers side and refitting the wheel, I moved to attend to the other side as a precautionary measure.

Never do brake work to one side of a vehicle, especially the front without at least inspecting the other hand for similar or related problems. If you ignore this there is a chance your braking could be imbalanced or grab/snatch unevenly under heavy braking. A good road test proved all was well and I now relax awaiting tomorrows job list….

Additional post: 12 months later the sticking/binding returned, I decided to pump out the pistons to almost fully extended. I then clamped the brake hose and pulled both of the pistons from the caliper. Using a sharp pick or small screwdriver carefully remove the rubber seals from the casting. If the seals are not damaged, they can be cleaned up and replaced into their respective grooves when rebuilt. However the major problem here is corrosion behind the seal that ‘packs it out’ and tightens it to the piston – causing the piston to stick.

Once the piston and seal is removed all the rust, muck and debris can be raked from the back of the seal groove and cleaned up with fresh brake fluid and a lint-free rag. Replace the rubber seal and insert the pistons fully home. If the pistons need cleaning up use fine wire wool.

Once the caliper is back in place, open the bleed valve (11mm) a hexagon socket is the best tool to prevent rounding as it is likely to be corroded. Wait until fluid emerges then tap the casting with a light hammer to release trapped air bubbles. When the brake fluid runs without bubbles close the bleed nipple and push the brake pedal to bring the pads in contact with the disc. Reopen the nipple and push the caliper back ejecting fluid as you go, retighten the bleed nipple and build up the wheel, not forgetting to top up the brake fluid reservoir.

While I was in the area I also re-greased the caliper slides before reassembly. A road test proved all to well.

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Mercedes Vito W639 ABS Pump – Brake Pipe Identification September 7th, 2014

I could not find this information anywhere, so I have put a notated image together to identify and show which brake pipe goes where on the Mercedes Vito W639. The notation of pipe locations will be carried across all ranges including Sprinter although the pump/controller module may differ slightly in design. The main ABS pump/controller body is stamped with markings next to each hydraulic port, you will find below the identification of these and where the connected pipes are routed.

remaining outer joints at roughly the same time. That, too, would have been an after-market item.

Because of that, and because as far as I know both splits are relatively recent – and also to save money, of course – I decided to try to buy and fit new covers, rather than new CV joints (which obviously come with covers). I know that I will still have to remove the shafts and separate the joints, but I hate throwing away perfectly serviceable components.

First port of call, as usual, was the Euro Car Parts website, but this shows a boot kit only for the outer joint, at £15.30 including VAT. Checking with my local ECP branch confirmed that for some reason they don’t do a similar boot kit for the inner joint – just a complete joint at around £70. (Or £53.40 online, apparently – but still more than I was prepared to pay.)

Next stop was my local Mercedes main dealer. Yes, they could do me a boot kit alone for the inner CV joint, but that too would cost about £70 – so there was clearly little point in going down that route. (I didn’t bother asking how much a complete joint would be. More than the value of the van, almost certainly.)

Mercedes Vito W639 ABS Pump – Pipe Identification The post Mercedes Vito W639 ABS Pump – Brake Pipe Identification appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Let’s try Halfords, then. Nothing in stock, unsurprisingly, but the helpful chap on the parts counter made a rather protracted phone call, presumably to their central parts department, and eventually established that he could get hold of a boot kit for the inner CV joint. The price would be £12.66 including VAT. Would tomorrow be OK? Yes, absolutely!

Mercedes Vito W638 Drive Shaft Boots – Obtaining Pattern Parts January 4th, 2015

This post is published with great thanks to Chris Horton.

It explains the best UK source of parts to replace damaged CV boots on the Mercedes Vito W638 chassis.

As is my habit in these situations, I ordered two. If one inner cover has split, then it probably won’t be too long before the other one does the same, and I don’t want to have to go through this rigmarole again if I can avoid it.

As promised, Halfords rang me the following day to say that the parts had arrived, so off I went to collect them.

Imagine my surprise when, back in the van to drive home, I looked more closely at the (Löbro) boxes, and saw that they appeared to have come from none other than Euro Car Parts.

They certainly have that company’s familiar logo on them.

w638 driveshaft My Vito – a 1999 108CDI, now with 162,000 miles recorded – needed two new CV joint covers: the outer one on the lefthand side of the vehicle, and the inner one on the right-hand side.

Annoying, because although I can’t at this moment remember which of the two complete drive shafts I replaced, it’s not so long since at least one of them was brand-new (albeit after-market rather than genuine Mercedes). And I have a feeling that I replaced one of the

Whether this will aid anyone else in a similar situation I don’t know. It depends on whether you have a helpful Halfords 59

nearby, I guess or a branch of Euro Car Parts with staff prepared to do a bit of digging for you. Either way, the ECP part number is 656223180, with what looks like 00058 tacked on by Halfords.

Chris Horton The post Mercedes Vito W638 Drive Shaft Boots – Obtaining Pattern Parts appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Mystery fan noise in cabin when ignition off – Vito W639 August 9th, 2014

I recently was sent a question with regard the hearing of a fan noise/running in the cabin of the Mercedes Vito W639 when everything is turned off. This noise is often mistaken as the ventilation fan (blower) running, even though the fan position switch is at the off position.

Here is the original question: Message: HI, I recently purchased a 2008 vito W639 111 and when I start the engine the heater fan is also on, even thou the fan switch is in the off position.

Have you heard of this on any other vans and is there a remedy that I can do to fix this issue.

Here is my reply: I can only assume that what you are hearing is: There is a small fan (like a computer fan) that operates under the control of the ECU that cools the large plastic fuse/ ECU box under the bonnet, this obviously has a mechanical connection to the area behind the dash on the passenger side. As this fan ages it becomes more a little more noisy and can sound like the cabin air fan is spinning on low RPMs. It also runs when the ignition is on and engine not running and continues for a controlled period after the engine is stopped, you can force it to stop by turning the ignition on and off a second time. There is also a small fan that cools the rear of the radio (similar thing), this is on the inside right of the radio cage within the dash if you were to remove the radio.

This one gets really noisy with age !

So nothing to worry about unless the cabin air circulation fan is actually running!, which I think you may well be mistaken about.

Hope this helps, if not just email back with a little more detail.

Mercedes Vito w639 Fusebox Fan A further note – Just as a point of note the fuse box/ECU cooling fan is at the bottom of the plastic fuse box housing in the engine bay (picture above) and once its bearings get a little worn the box aids to amplify the noisy fan motion and it appears quite loud in the cabin area, often mistaken as the cabin ventilation fan running.

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Poor First Gear Selection – Manual Gearbox Problem W639 Vito – Cure February 19th, 2013

Having read all the horror stories regarding Mercedes Vito gearbox problems I was intent of getting to the bottom of this problem as all I had read on the internet about ‘suggestion A’ and ‘suggestion B’ etc. all seemed contradictory and to be honest there was little to substantiate any of the writing.

So here we go….

Mercedes Vito 111, W639 2008 Model, 6 speed gearbox, 90k miles.

The problem I had, as do many it seems – is that from a standing start, engine running, first gear is hard to select, and on some occasions requires some extreme force to shift the lever into position 1. The get-a-round was to lift the clutch in neutral and re-depress to try and align the box somehow to allow this selection but this only sometimes worked. To be honest it makes driving in town a real chore.

Add to that a poor second gear selection, almost like a worn synchro issues from my old banger days – I was beginning to worry!

‘Check the gear selector cable adjustments’ seems everyone’s first comment, however my view was that if you could easily select all gears when stationary with the engine off this is not a plausible reason for the issue. Secondly it is often reported on the internet that ‘ Vito gearboxes suffer from synchro wear on second and third gear. I found this, although possible hard to swallow as the same manual gearbox is used in similar guises in other MB makes that do not report a problem – how could this be? Maybe Mercedes vans are abused by their drivers who always crash change through the box for the speediest getaway. One owner driver / vans with dealer history show the same problems on the forums so an appallingly weak gearbox? I don’t think so…

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The gear selector arm that is mounted to the gearbox does wear on high mile/use vehicles, but the resultant is second gear and reverse cannot be selected – even when the engine is off! If you wish to check this fault out – look for play in the pivot bushing as indicated on the photo below and rectify this first.

So what is it….? What causes this problem? ‘The clutch dragging’ is a popular comment, ‘gearbox input splines sticking on the friction plate’ – again discounted by me as the clutch functions fine with no drag, judder or other malaise people seem too quick to associate to problems with the dual-mass flywheel set up.

Concluding that a small cross section of people have had isolated problems of differing types and reported them via forums etc, everyone reads into them as being the definitive cure and then becomes somewhat of a ‘shade tree’ expert to coin an Americanism – Re-reporting exactly what they have read and not really understanding the true nature of the OP’s problem from all perspectives.

that its grade performance peeled off ever so slightly lower in sustained operating temperatures than a fully fledged hypoid synthetic oil. Due to the fact this is not a racing car, its operating in the UK where average ambient rarely squeaks above 10 degrees C and the Vito is rarely fully loaded pulling a max weight trailer at 80 mph down an Autobahn! I choose to ignore this paper spec detail. Just as I chose to accept that the vehicle was now out of warranty and that from a MB dealer warranty point of view it didn’t really matter anymore – apart from the important fact it was time the driving experience was improved and that I technically understood what I needed to regarding the protection offered by the oil I was about to use vs. my driving style and vehicle use.

On this footing I proceeded to choose my oil. It was to be a Synthetic ATF sold by GSF Car parts. They sell it as ATF-U. You will need the best part of two x 1L bottles.

Installation was straight forward taking no longer than half an hour to complete the process.

I focussed on the oil in the transmission as my saviour and as it turns out – it was a great call! Selecting the alternative gearbox oil has totally eradicated the issues mentioned at the beginning of this post and the van has been transformed into a vehicle that is a pleasure to drive once more. This may not work for you depending on the exact nature of your gearbox issue, but if you are living with the same set of problems I had then its well worth the small investment before following other pathways (all of which are mostly inordinately expensive!).

Mercedes Benz specifies a very expensive synthetic single grade manual gearbox oil of SAE 75w. It took my main dealer a few tries to even establish this fact so it’s not common knowledge. It is supplied as MB part number 0019892603/11 or you can get a single grade 75w Synthetic alternative from Titan as Titan Sintofluid. (For information purposes it may be useful to know the Vito differential hypoid oil is a SAE 75w-85w synthetic – Alternate supply for this would be Titan Sintopoid.)

What I wanted was to use a slightly thinner performance oil, one that would allow more adequate slowing of the gear train on an up-shift, allowing the synchros to do their job with more ease. Thicker oil would tend to drag the gears round and make the synchros work harder to mesh a faster spinning gear set. When you are choosing a weight of oil it is interesting to know that gear oils have a different ‘W’ rating from those used in engine only applications. For example a gear oil of 75w -90 is almost the same viscosity as a 10w-40 engine oil ! Armed with this information I began my research…

I required a performance synthetic gear oil of less than 75w – ATF was the way forward. Synthetic ATF has a w rating around the w50 / w60 mark on the gearbox scale so fitted the requirement perfectly. The only downside (if there is one!) is

Jack up the Vito on the front driver side jacking point enough to crawl underneath easily. Remove both the fill and drain plugs using the correct Hex tools (GSF or any good motor factor / tool shop sell these cheaply in a set similar to this – before you buy make sure it contains the required 17mm tool as some kits do not) Note the drain plug is a larger hex tool than the fill plug and a pair of the correct tools will be needed. Remove the fill plug completely, then place a bucket beneath the drain and remove that plug. Let the oil drain for a few minutes to empty the contents as best you can. While draining take the opportunity to clean the magnetic drain plug of metallic bits, it will have a quantity of iron filings on it – don’t worry they all look like this and that’s what it is designed to do !

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Seans UK Vito Van W639 2008 – Now living in France!

Once cleaned refit – don’t over tighten either plugs as they are a tapered thread and overzealous tightening could crack the gear casing. Fill with the chosen oil until it dribbles from the fill plug. At this point the level is correct and refit the fill plug. Clean up any mess and lower the vehicle and road test. I had a look at the deposits in the old gear oil at the bottom of the bucket and found there was only the slightest traces of brass/bronze flecks, a very good sign – as past experience tells that if it looks like a ‘gold panners bowl’ there’s trouble ahead !. Heavy deposits of bronze particles is a good indication you most probably have some heavy synchro wear and maybe an oil swap will not cure your problem.

On the road test I noticed immediately the poor selection to first issue had completely gone and the first to second upshift was near perfect. What a difference this has made in continued driving and in my opinion is a very worthwhile result considering the research I had put in. Perhaps I now changed the oil as part of my service regime instead of the almost ‘leave-in for life’ recommendation for the standard lubricant. I hope this modification helps you out as much as it helped me. Whats to lose? It may even work for you…

Sean started by locating some pattern lighting units from a supplier in Poland, these were substantially cheaper than original OEM units from Mercedes Benz. There was a few quality issues but nothing that prevented the installation being an economic success. The issues were that the plastic mounting tags that protrude from the lamp were not moulded of the best plastic and sadly due to the way in which the items were boxed for shipping from the manufacturer one was damaged.

The broken mounting tag was repaired with a small plate fixed with self tapping screws into the lamp body. ”I took my time doing the repair, using some thin steel from a broken PC hard drive cover, making a sandwich for the broken one of 2 steel between plastic, secured with self tapper and 2 part epoxy. I also added an extra plate to the other lower bracket just in case. The mounts all have a round moulded plug hole, much like a fixing hole, at the base of the mount-these were ideal for using to fix the metal plate(s) to the mount using a large self tapper.”

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Mercedes Vito W639 Headlamp Removal / Swap February 2nd, 2014

Sean, a fellow Gen-In follower who lives in France wrote to me with some detail of how he managed to change over the headlamp units in his Mercedes Benz Vito (W639) 2008 model from UK right hand drive beam pattern to units designed for EU left hand drive. He did this so that the UK imported vehicle could be registered in France and comply with their local MOT test. This is called the ‘contrôle technique’ (CT) it is an obligatory vehicle inspection that must be undertaken every two years once the vehicle reaches 4 years old from new.

With the new lamps repaired he was able to carry on with the swap. On the Vito W639 the complete front bumper cover has to be removed, whilst this is quite a simple task it looks far more scary than it really is. Start by removing the grille and then the bumper fixing screws behind, then remove the 62

fixings from the lower edge lip of the bumper underneath the oil cooler area. You will encounter both self tapping screws and a plastic ‘top hat’ type of expanding fixing, these if carefully removed can be re-used. There are more fixings inside the wheel arches. ”There is some nasty cheapo plastic screws things that expand in a ‘top hat’ arrangement that hold the front bumper to the underskirt. There is a plastic hanger/support on each side below the innermost headlamp line at the bottom of the bumper this is a fixing point too (Big self tappers). (You will find the outside temp sensor here under the RHS too, clipped into this hanger) These are on the bottom edge. I think once these and the other fixings are off the bumper should pull away without hassle.”

see if I can locate the horn while there, so that I can note where I can mount a louder replacement, when I can get to the UK and go to a breakers, hopefully in a couple of weeks.” The other issue with the pattern headlamps apart from the broken mounting tag was a dimensional difference with the headlamp leveller actuator arm. Fortunately there was enough adjustment to maintain the correct lamp level. ” I plan to put the H/Ls back on tomorrow if the weather allows, and have to set up the alignment, assuming the lights all work as they should. The motor mounting was difficult, as the ball joint was very difficult to locate-it was 5-6mm longer than the original part, but by locating the beam aim screw above the motor and adjusting this, I was able to get enough slack in the system for the ball to move smoothly.”

Vito W639 Headlamp Alignment Information.

Keep watch on the Mercedes Gen In for future posts as Sean has identified a few other areas that need improvement/ repair to his Vito and thanks to his great photos and tips, with his help we will no doubt be covering some of the other bits and pieces as he gets round to fixing them!

Thanks Sean. ”The weather was ok this am so I got started, it all went ok, thanks to your pointing out the problems-the top hat plastic plugs hung up the bumper, the side screws behind the arches were hard (for me) to find, and the worst was removing the plugs for the H/L wiring-they did not want to come off.”

Careful levering with a screwdriver will eventually work the loom connector plugs off the rear of the lamps.

The post Mercedes Vito W639 Headlamp Removal / Swap appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Mercedes Vito W639 Headlamp (Lamp) Aim Adjustment April 6th, 2013

The aim adjustment of the headlamp unit on the Mercedes Vito W639 is quite a simple task to perform and is outlined below. I had noticed whilst driving at night that the nearside headlamp was aimed slightly lower than the offside and required some adjustment to lift it slightly. Before you begin start the van and set the electric headlamp level control to ‘0’ – its highest lift position, shut off the engine, lift the bonnet (hood) and find the the location of the adjustment screws as outlined in the photographs.

Once the bumper and old lamp units were removed the job was pretty straight forward to fit the new lamps and rebuild the front of the vehicle as it was before. Its a good opportunity while the bumper is off, to jet blast any dead flies from the Intercooler as it is rare to get this kind of access. ” I’ll certainly clean off the intercooler and will

You will need to insert and rotate a 6mm long hexagon key to make the adjustment.

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over my 35 year motoring history I had a good idea of what to expect.

Standing at the front of the vehicle the outermost adjustment screws move the beam in or out, or to the left or right van.

Clockwise rotation of outermost adjusters (the ones nearest the wings) will move the beams toward the left of the vehicle in both cases.

Vito broken springs often fail badly without retaining in the strut cup Unlike a few coil springs that break and the remainder of the coil falls into the strut cup, the Vito generally performs in a more catastrophic manner. Because of the reduced shape of the spring and relative smaller diameter of the strut support cup, when the lower seated smaller spring turn breaks at its final coil there is little to stop the remaining larger diameter section of the spring rocketing down the damper strut.

Anti-clockwise will move either beam to the right in both lamps. The innermost lamp adjusters (the ones nearest the bonnet catch or hood release) will raise or lower the beam of either lamp. Anti-clockwise rotation lifts either lamp beam, clockwise lowers it.

Here is the smaller diameter spring piece that often fails at the base of the coil Usually the remainder of the spring will catch and come to rest on the flimsy bracket that supports the ABS sensor and brake pad warning cable restraint. My advice is if you ever think you hear anything unusual from either corner of the vehicle always have a quick look, as to continue at speed would be very dangerous indeed.

This simple procedure allowed me to make the slight trimming adjustment required but if you need to do a a more thorough alignment I found this quick-guide to how to obtain correct alignment without a professional beam setter.

Further reference to the UK MOT headlamp conformity read here (Ref. Chapter 1.8 page 3).

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Mercedes Vito W639 Front Road Spring Replacement January 16th, 2015

While parked the front near side spring broke on the 2008 Vito W639. I noticed a strange rubbing sound when I drove off and investigated. Having had many coil springs break

You can see how dangerously the spring falls over the small diameter of the support cup – poor failure condition I managed to get the vehicle home and the next day set about replacing the broken spring. There are many sources of nondealer spare parts for this model. You could choose GSF who supply a Lesfojers pattern part spring for about £40.00 or Euro Car Parts who supply the genuine OEM Sachs unit for a little over £60.00 (ECP Part No. 627222210) These units like the struts themselves, are a universal fit and not handed left or right, this is useful to know if you are sourcing used or breaker parts.

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“Hi Steve, As an alternative to using a through socket for the nut at the top of the strut I used a spark plug socket from a half inch drive socket set, the type with nut type flats on the outside so a spanner can be used instead of a ratchet. My torx drivers fit through the centre just the same as a through socket only a lot cheaper as most socket sets include such a tool.” – Many thanks Trevor! Now unscrew the strut top rod nut almost to its end, just leaving a finger-tight couple of turns to full removal.

The strut top bolts are located beneath this panel The job itself is quite straightforward and as long as you have a competent local garage or the equipment to compress and swap the spring over for you it is well within the realms of the DIY mechanic.

Raise the bonnet and remove both wiper arms noting their position. Take care to pull off each washer fluid pipe from the scuttle deck without breaking the fittings. Now remove the plastic scuttle that lies beneath the wiper arms. There are four plastic fixings/rivets, 2 on each side and a row of torx screws on the bulkhead lip. Lift up the central flap that covers the pollen filter and remove the two torx screws and stainless steel filter retainer band. Raise carefully the released plastic trim at each corner and disconnect the lower supply pipes to the washer jets. This is quite thick 8mm hard pipe and can be a little stubborn to remove, a straight pull down works best. Once the washer fluid supply pipes either side are free, remove the two large grommets from the wiper spindles and now you may remove the full length plastic panel. The panel once jiggled and unlatched from the windscreen lower seal, will lift up the windscreen towards the roof line, through the gap created by the open bonnet.

You will need to fiddle the off side corner free, as it catches on the bonnet stay hinge. Lift away the panel and store it carefully until needed.

Strut mount beneath protective grommet – restricted access Now raise the vehicle and remove the road wheel. Either support the van from its sill jacking point or front subframe, to allow the front wishbone to fully descend once jacked. Remove the plastic support clip that retains the ABS and pad sensor cables from the strut, unclip the brake hose support at the rear and find a selection of wooden blocks in preparation for the next stage.

Upper and lower hub carrier bolts. Top bolt is a cam type adjuster to control camber angle – be sure to mark its position before disassembly

Pass-thru socket required to remove the strut top 21mm rod nut

Remove the roll bar drop link using a torx socket and 18mm spanner, rest it out of the way of the strut. Mark with paint the upper cam type (camber) adjuster bolt on the strut hanger to hub. Use a 21mm spanner and socket to remove this pin and its matching non-adjustable lower relative.

Carefully pull the hub out of the strut mounting and support it on the blocks of wood to prevent damage to the brake pipe or attached cabling.

With the lower fixing of the strut free, support it while you undo the final turns of the strut top rod nut. The strut can now be removed towards the front of the vehicle.

7mm long series hexagon key and pass-thru socket wrench In the area of each corner, under the wiper rack you will find a large grommet, remove the required cover to give access to the strut top nut. You will need a pass-thru socket and wrench that will enable you to hold the strut rod with a 7mm long series hexagon key, whilst undoing the 21mm top nut. Access is restricted and you may struggle without the correct tools, especially as the wiper rack can hamper both vision and tool operation. A reader has added this useful tip:

Support the hub carrier on wooden blocks or other support

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Recently I have started to use the services of a local garage to ‘swap’ springs over on struts as although possible, using the cheap or sometimes even ‘professional’ threaded rod type compressors can be hazardous. All Mercedes front struts springs are under immense compression and it makes far more sense to pay £10 for the pleasure and have someone do this with the proper floor mounted spring compressor – usually in a fraction of the time it takes to do it with rod type compressors and also without the associated risk of injury!

Well worth it in my book… Just a note, be sure to take note of the condition of the top strut mount, as this is a perfect time to replace it if worn. Also if your collapse caused the top mount to come apart, make sure all the ball bearings that are contained within the top swivel race are recovered and replaced correctly before refitting the spring onto the strut.

fully. The position of this adjuster is critical to the camber angle adjustment of the road wheel and care should be taken to get it back in its correct place, as if not, without doubt tyre wear and handling will suffer. Retighten the matching lower fixed pin in the hub carrier and build up the rest of the wheel assembly. Once you have lowered the vehicle to the ground you can finally fully tighten the strut top nut and build up the complete wiper panel as a reverse of disassembly.

Hub carrier mount showing paint marking to upper eccentric cam bolt Test the wipers for correct positioning and road test the vehicle. Job well done!

The post Mercedes Vito W639 Front Road Spring Replacement appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In. Strut with new spring fitted The newly sprung strut can then be refitted to the van. Feed the strut into the wheel arch tower. It is better to fix the strut to hub bolts loosely first as this will aid reassembly. Clip back the brake hose and cable support. Use a scissor jack under the hub or have an assistant hold the unit up to feed the damper rod through the chassis, so you can replace the top nut and washer, only to finger tightness this at this point.

Mercedes Vito W639 Electric Window Problem May 10th, 2015

When I raised the glass on the passenger side to close the window on the Vito (W639) it powered fully up and then made a high pitched ‘Boing’ noise. After which, although the motor was heard running, the glass did not move in either direction.

Use the G clamp to apply pressure to hold the hub carrier in its correct position while tightening the carrier bolts

Ensure correct camber angle by realigning to your paint marks Now tighten the lower bolt on the strut to hub flanges and just ‘nip’ it up. Place a G-Clamp onto the raised locator pip on the hub casting and the other side at the back of the strut leg. Apply tension to draw the eccentric adjuster into contact with the raised stop on the side of the strut flange, rotate the cam adjuster to its marked position adjusting the G clamp as you go. This will ensure the hub carrier is drawn back fully to the adjuster while you tighten the upper clamp bolt

It is quite common for the rise and fall mechanism in the door to give problems once the vehicle is a few years old.

What normally happens is the plastic slides that move the glass up and down on two rails weaken, causing the bowden cable to break away from the captive part of the moulding.

Once one end of the cable becomes detached the window will no longer work correctly.

There are some great quality cheap service kits available (Ebay) and before I ventured to get started on the job I ordered a repair kit. The kit consists of the steel cables with three sleeves, two plastic slides and a new fitted gearbox and spool mechanism. (Other more comprehensive kits including full slide rails can be obtained, dependant on what you need and wish to pay) Mercedes dealerships will

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normally charge you £160 parts, plus 3 hours labour per side so the £10 kit represents good value for a DIY job.

do not use force at this point, as if the panel releases quickly, you will be fortunate to stop it ripping off the wires to the tweeter speaker and possibly the electric window switch.

As you raise the panel up and off the door, reach behind and disconnect the door tweeter/speaker connector from on top of the bass speaker and then the electric window switch assembly cable. Unclip the door handle steel cable from its retainer block and place the panel to one side.

The DIY job is fairly straight forward and depending on what part is broken the job could take anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours to complete.

The first thing to to do is strip the door down, removing the trim panel (door card) to gain access to the mechanical parts needing replacement. Before you start, spray some WD40 across the top of the trim panel where it joins the rubber window seal, this is important to aid removal, as often the plastic panel ‘sticks’ in the rubber channel making it difficult to lift off.

Now prize off the top trim cover from the handle, there is a small ‘letterbox’ hole at the base to assist its removal by inserting a screwdriver and releasing the plastic latch. Once this part is removed, undo the two torx head screws securing the handle to the door. Beneath the door pocket are three black plastic expanding fittings, these will unscrew and allow the retained expanding piece to be withdrawn, releasing the bottom of the panel.

The door panel is now only held with a number of green plastic mushroom trim clips on all remaining edges, insert a broad screwdriver between the trim panel and door and release them one by one. When all the clips are released, tilt out the bottom of the door about 4-5 inches and lift carefully up. This should release it from the rubber window seal, if not

You will be faced with the inner membrane covering the door apertures and before you can fully remove this to gain access, you will have to remove the main bass speaker (4 screws) and the door control module. The door control module is the square unit where all the wires connect to, push in the two latch clips and release the leading edge, lever slightly out and slide forward to release the rear locating tabs. Pull out all the wiring connectors and fully remove the module.

Using a sharp blade or craft knife, cut through the mastic that holds the door membrane to the door, this will take some time to do without damaging the membrane material.

It may be easier to ‘peel and cut’ the mastic as you go, all around the edges of the cover, after a while you will have free edges. Lift off the membrane and store it. If you were careful to cut it without damage, leaving some mastic on both the door and membrane panel. It will ‘re-stick’ when it is time to put it all back together, without the use of any other glue or tape. For this reason it is worth taking the time to do it carefully so as not to cut the material itself and leave mastic on both of the mating surfaces.

Now the membrane is removed access to the interior is possible. Temporarily re-fit the door control module and reconnect the cables, operate the window from the other door or re-fit the control switch. It is now you will get an idea of what the issue or problem is with the window lifter. I felt inside the vertical rails and both bowden cables were present, running in their respective guides and taught.

Realising that the slide assembly was fully intact it could only be one other thing the motor spool gearbox. A new spool gearbox was supplied in the kit and I felt it unnecessary 67

to replace all the parts as I could gain access to the faulty gearbox without removing the full rail assembly. (Saving unnecessary parts being replaced and of course time)

On removing the three self tapping screws from the spool gearbox the moulded cover lifts off, revealing the spool and cable entry/exit portion, now separated from the window lifter motor drive shaft. Instantly I could see the problem – the main gear drive that locates into the lifter motor had sheared cleanly from the spool moulding. All I was going to do was replace this part taken from the service kit.

The spool can be pulled from the housing and the cable outers released from their slotted retainers. As you do this it is a good idea to note how the cables are routed and especially how they are wound and positioned round the drum to aid reassembly. Unhook the cable from the bottom of front lower guide rail, this will give you the slack you will need to wind the spool correctly.

Obviously the problem with your window mechanism may be different than that found here and it may require the full removal of the mechanism (A little more complex and time consuming). Details of the full procedure are well documented here in a very good video by Scott Elliott, to which I cannot add much to his excellent description of the work to be done.

Remove the door control module to begin the rebuild, refit the membrane threading the electrical connectors through the appropriate cut-outs, push the mastic edges together to seal the membrane to the door. Finally locate the door control module and plug in all the connecting leads and cables. Each cable has a unique plug/socket arrangement so it is impossible to connect this wrongly. Once you are satisfied with your work, offer up the door panel. Reconnect the door latch operating cable, the window switch and tweeter cables, then locate the top of the trim panel into the slotted lip of rubber window seal, feeding through the door lock pin as you go.

Once this is in position you may finally position the panel to the door, ensuring where possible the trim clips are aligned with their respective holes. Use the palm of your hand to pat the panel onto the door, this will seat the trim clips around its perimeter. Now replace the three black expanding clips under the door pocket and finally add the two torx screws that fasten the door handle to the door. Clip back on the handle trim and the job is done.

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Mercedes Vito W639 Rear Barn Door Check Strap – Repair January 11th, 2013

The Mercedes Vito W639 with twin barn rear doors suffers from a weakness of the hold back spring that guides the check bar into the body mounted lock spring when the door is opened.

Having fished out the broken gear from the motor unit, the gearbox can be refitted. All that remains to be done is to feed the bowden cable inner around the lower guide rail, pulling the outer (quite hard) to be able to re-seat it in its retaining slot that makes up part of the corner guide. Test the window, if all is well start to rebuild the door.

What happens is that when you open the door the quadrant arm (check strap) that locks into the fixed check, misses the receptacle and allows the door to open without restriction.

Worse still is that when you go to close the door the quadrant arm bashes onto the bodywork or door seal preventing the door closing past this point. This requires the owner to push the check arm and assist it into the door frame guide pocket before the door will close. This is a real pain 68

and becomes a chore. I looked at purchasing new strap assemblies for both rear doors but at over £30 a side decided to investigate what was going on !

The tension spring fitted to the door mounted check strap / bar that holds the arm under pressure in the guide pocket so that it locates into the body receptacle when opened, weakens. This seems to be common and I would wager is the reason for many unnecessary replacement straps being fitted. The repair is very simple and is achieved in a very short time with the assistance of a Dremel hand grinder and a mounted point grinding tip.

Open the door wide open to gain acces to the strap assembly, locate the tension spring as seen in the photograph below, hold the strap levered to one side to disengage the springs locating tip from the metal casting stop. With care remove two or three millimetres of material from the metal cast ‘spring-stop’ with the Dremmel. The material’s location and amount to remove with the grinder is shown in the second photograph. Remove a small amount at a time and try and keep the stop face as flat and perpendicular as possible.

was exceptional, with uniform, high brightness illumination even in daylight. I fitted the remainder of the ordered quantity to my wife’s Nissan Micra and friends Mitsibishi L200 and everyone was very pleased with the outcome.

Exchanging my standard headlamp bulbs with Osram Night Breaker Plus, transformed the performance of the lighting measurably.

Here are the LED side light bulbs.

Once fitted to the headlamp assembly the light given is very white in comparison to that of the normal tungsten T10 side light bulbs. One thing to remember is that these LED bulbs are electrically polarised – If once fitted they do not illuminate, take them from the holder and turn them round re-inserting the blades of the lamp in the opposing way. Due to this it is important that you test the lamps for correct illumination before inserting them into the reflector and building up the rear of the headlight casing. You will need to make sure the LED lamps that you order are compatible with bulb-failiure warning systems (These have a resistor within them that presents the same drawn current to the electical sense circuit as tungsten lamps) or the vehicle bulb failiure warning light in the instrument panel will illuminate incorrectly.

Here is the sidelight shown illuminated in daylight.

Once this is done, the lever is now allowed to rotate about its axis a little further so that it now perfectly engages with the check strap locator on the main body as it exits the guide pocket. The only time you need now to touch the strap is if you need to open the doors wider than 90 degrees, just as it should be. A great little fix that will take no longer than 20 mins and save you over £60 !!

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Mercedes Vito LED Side Light Upgrade February 10th, 2013

I recently ordered on-line, a number of T10 LED ultrabright white side light bulbs for the Vito. After some web research of what offered the best and most uniform light output I settled for the 20 LED cluster type. These were ordered from Hong Kong for very little cost and to be honest when I eventually got hold of them I was surprised at how well made they were. The performance of these lamps

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Vito W639 Heater Control Illumination Bulb – Replacement January 2nd, 2013

When the central upper console heater control illumination fails is virtually impossible to make sensible adjustments to the cab temperature in darkness and its a job you may have been putting off – with good reason !

Its a real fiddle to replace the single filament bulb that lies behind the control console but is well worth the effort.

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First remove the radio outer bezel by slipping a thin flat blade screwdriver under its outer edge where it joins the dashbard either side and pop out the trim. Use care its quite fragile. Once removed, set the parking brake and select 4th gear, unscrew the four corner fixing screws to the radio and cubby-box chasis and remove the unit from the dash. There should be enough cable to allow you to place this complete assembly on the seat (twin passenger seat model).

Using a jewellers screwdriver prize out the two plastic cover caps on the upper dash storage tray on the front edge located near the adustable fresh air vent. Remove the two screws and lift up and out the complete storage tray. There should be now revealed the fixing screws to the heater control console (containing the central fresh air vents) remove these and any further fixings that may exist behing where the radio was removed. The heater console will now be free – but dont pull it out just yet !

Look at this picture first to familiarise yourself with the control unit:

Your control unit will still be fixed to the surrounding chassis that holds the air vents etc but the important things to note are the bulb location Red Arrow C (recessed in the most rediculous position at the rear!) and the rods that connect the rotary controls to the actuators Arrow A and B. Please note the flexible joint on the control rods between the white and black plastic, this allows easy relocation once the job is done and you need to refit the control unit into the dash.

Ok now for the tricky part…. Set both controls to the twelve o’clock position and begin by lifting and pulling slightly forward the top of the whole control panel at the point where the air vents connect to the delivery pipe – it will begin to come away from the dash, as it does the rods will become disconnected from the actuators beneath and should hang free. With the control panel pulled forward a little (the attached wiring loom will limit the distance you can move the control panel) there is just enough length in the wiring loom to enable you to get access with a hand to insert a power screwdriver bit holder (the magnetic one that comes with all screwdriver kits these days) into the central bulb recess and quarter turn the bulb out (anti-CW). Once turned the bulb will come away with the bit holder. Use a blob of blue-tac in the end of the bit holder if you are nervous of losing the bulb.

Once removed the bulb can be seen to be part of the holder and is integral to the plastic top-hat locating flange. Here is the correct MB bulb made by Osram 12V 2W part number N000000 002453.

Stick the new bulb into the bit holder with the blue-tac and fit it to the console. Once in place test the lamp. Its very very dim in daylight and even with the general dash illumination brightness set as high as it will go you will struggle to see if the bulb illuminates – enter the cardboard tube of a toilet roll, place one end over either heater control and the other end pushed to your eye this will tell you if all is well. Place the console back in the dash and look through the apature where the radio was removed, guide in the control rods into the actuator for both the temperature selector and distribution controls. Push gently the console back into place, locating the air feed duct to the fresh air vents, constantly checking that the control rods have not displaced. Once satisfied all is well and the controls operate as they should refit the securing screws and re-asemble the parts removed to rebuild the centre console and radio section of the dash.

Special Note: While the radio and cubby is out of the dash, take a few moments to check the in-dash fan that blows cooling air accross the rear of the radio heatsink. (This is what you can hear running behind the dash when you turn on the radio!) Its located on the rear right of the opening where the radio is fitted and can be removed by undoing a single screw on its supporting bracket. Once free it can be withdrawn and cleaned off with a soft paint brush and treated to a minimal quirt of WD40 in the bearing section.

It quientened my fan a little although I suppose if needed a new one could be fitted at this time.

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Vito W639 Reverse Camera Installation January 3rd, 2013

Ins talling a Rear View Reversing Camera – Mercedes Vito W639 I was looking for quite some time for the perfect solution to provide excellent rearward vision on my long wheelbase Vito W639 without drilling and damage to the bodywork and a few weeks ago I finally found it ! I came by this 12V high resolution mini, waterproof camera that used a top quality Sony vision chip that provides a pin sharp colour picture on any monitor for under £20. Here is the link:

used in the single tailgate model its centered vision would be slightly improved as it would lie closer to the centre line of the vehicle.

Night time colour vision is very good, especially when reversing lamps illuminate the area behind, daytime vision is super clear and little noise is apparent in either darkness or poor lighting situations – Remember this is not HD TV – its a visual reversing aid!

Here is the rear view in complete darkness, illuminated as it would be with only the van reversing lights. This image is shown without the displayed reversing guide bars.

LINK – VITO REAR VIEW CAMERA As you can see it is designed to replace one of the number plate illumination lamps under the rear plate trim, it fits the into the hole left by the original lamp once its removed and needs very little modification to fit.

The video signal output from the camera gives is NTSC but causes little problem to auto video monitors as most are auto-switching PAL or NTSC system formats so this was not a concern. It is already image reversed so there is no need to worry about the image appearing backwards on the viewing monitor and if used in place of rear view mirror the image appears just as it would in a standard mirror. There is a nice added bonus that the video signal has a distance grid superimposed on the rearward image, this means you have two visible guide lines either side of the picture (zoned green, amber and red in colour) to assist you in knowing how far you are away from an object. The viewing angle is 170 degrees, this gives a very wide angle view indeed almost fanning the complete rear of the vehicle. The bumper and area around it can be easily be seen and to be honest the ‘fisheye’ vision effect is quite minimal.

This camera was installed in theVito ‘twin, barn door model’ where although the camera is slightly offset to one side of the vehicle it’s hardly noticeable, I would imagine when

Here is a photograph of the monitor installation where the rear view mirror would be located in a rear windowed vehicle. The fact that the mirror mount was there and already fixed to the glass unused, made a perfect mounting option in my case. The monitor I used was a used ‘Back-View’ 5 inch automotive monitor adapted to fix to a standard rear view mirror ball arm. Wiring runs beneath the headlining and just pops out infront of the interior light, straight to the monitor. 12V power was obtained from behind the glovebox from its interior lamp supply. This was great as it was only live when the ignition was on and provided both positive and negative connection with little fuss. The camera supply was taken from the reverse light cluster wiring at the rear.

I tapped off the main loom using an inline fuse holder with a 2A fuse for protection if anything ever went wrong with the camera. Video cable was run the full length of the van in the box section body void that runs the full length of the vehicle front to back, the video wire enters above the rear light body section and runs along through the top of the roof line past the sliding door upper frame, rail runner and appears just above the passenger door where it then exited behind the plastic trim, into the headlining and out to the monitor. I used a steel fish wire pushed from the front door end to the rear, attached the cable and then withdrew the fish wire pulling the thin video cable unseen, neat and tidy along the concealed section. The only tricky part was threading the video and power cables through the rubber cable condiut that is attached to the rear door. It is possible but just takes a little time to fiddle the wires through, once done it makes

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a really professional job of the installation as everything is hidden with no trailing wires.

……………………………………

The only consideration in mounting the camera is that attention has to be made to replace the illumination for the number plate. The camera has in its design a clear plasic window to allow light from a bulb mounted in a holder inserted into the camera body to shine down onto the number plate giving adequate light. However the bulb holder is not included with the camera kit and the original type that was removed to fit the device will not fit. What you need is the rubber type of push in lamp holder, the type used on motorcycle side lights. like this one: LINK – REQUIRED BULB HOLDER & LAMP You could I am sure get a similar holder for the bulb from a scrap yard or breakers for virtually nothing, once you know what to look for ! The bulb that fits this type of holder is a standard 12V 501 / T10 5W sidelight bulb. Once the correct parts are obtained, cut off the original mercedes lamp holder from your Vito leaving long enough wire tails to rewire it should you ever need to refit it. – (Keep it in a safe place !) The only other related job that was done was to mask and spray the rear of the video monitor matt black (originally silver) to reduce its visibility both in reflection terms and to casual viewers. In fact the fact that the monitor is where the rear view mirror would usually be placed makes use of the natural masking and tint of the screen in this area to oscure it from sight. If you have a Vito that has rear glass or own a Traveliner, then I would suggest looking at the video monitors that combine a traditional rear view mirror and an LCD video display. You can find many examples of these on the on-line auction sites with a simple search.

I will include some more pictures once its light enough to take them.

A very useful modification and quite easy to do with limited funds.

Here is some further interesting info sent to me by Garry who fitted a reversing camera to his 2012 model with lift-up rear door: “Thanks Steve.

You inspired me to install one on my 2012 Valente. Being a bit of an amateur, I could have used a few more details so I thought I’d send them in case anyone else needs them.

Mine is a lift-up tailgate and the monitor I used is a rear-view mirror replacement from Elinz.

To get the number plate light assembly off you need to remove the tailgate lining which has 2 screws in the grips at the bottom and a cover strip around the inside handle.

After removing these, you need to pop off all the bayonet clips holding the lining. The light assembly is secured by 4 bolts and 2 clips.

The camera/light fitted into the slot that held the left light without any need for alteration. I found a rubber globe holder ( http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/ products/Sca-Universal-Globe-Holder-Suits-T10MmWedge-Globes.aspx?pid=325157 Cross ) which has the advantage of using the original T-10mm wedge globe. It was easy to modify this holder to fit the hole in the camera/light fitting.

I couldn’t get the camera/power wire through the rubber grommet into the door but did manage to get it through the rubber conduit from the door to the body with a lot of effort. Like you I attached the power wires to the reverse light cluster (Blue/White + and Brown -) and fed the camera cable along the inside of the roof.

On my van there are 2 lights and vents along this path and I was able to remove the vent covers (2 star screws on each) which made it easy to feed the cable along in 3 stages. I used a length of stiff heavy duty power cable (as used in house wiring) and a plastic strip from tongue & groove timber flooring slabs. At this point I wish I had also fed the monitor power wires through here too because the mirror monitor 72

needs to be switched off when not in use (so you can use the mirror without a big blue rectangle in the middle).

The monitor/mirror clipped onto the rearview mirror and there was plenty of room in the roof above to hide all the cables. Initially I also attached the monitor power to the glovebox light (without hiding the wires) to test the system.

I discovered that the monitor came on with the ignition and the camera came on when in reverse. Hiding the wires looked too difficult to me and that was another reason to run the monitor power wires back to the reverse light. I will only be using the monitor for reversing anyway.

Garry & Jan Hart�

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Mercedes Gen-In Review 2015 (vol.2) The Correct Battery Charge / Jump Points – Mercedes Vito W639 April 6th, 2013

I was speaking to a respected Mercedes commercial / Vito mechanic the other day and the conversation moved toward the correct method to jump start or charge a W639 Vito. He had seen several instances where people ‘not-in-the-know’ had jumped the vehicle from the under-seat connection and caused fatal damage to the ECU. He went on to say that ONLY the correct under-bonnet jump point should be used to either charge or jump start the vehicle as otherwise you run the risk of damage to the ECU and/or other electrical systems. Wise words indeed !

All the parts are supplied, even the fixings for the manufacturers captive fastening on the roof line. The install took just short of an hour to fit and everything mated together just as it should. This rack is custom made for the vehicle and you can tell some time has been taken to make sure fits, bends and holes are perfectly aligned in their design process. The brackets themselves are are heavy gauge steel, laser cut, bent and fillet welded for extra strength and durability. You can choose from two types of ‘U’ bolt that hold the oval profile cross bars to the brackets. The first are just a basic clamp fastening, the second has a raised profile that incorprates a good sized lashing eye for securing your load and because of the extended height these do a great job in retaining the load and preventing side-shift. The whole kit is assembled using just a 13mm and 10mm spanner.

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Vito Heavy Duty W639 Roof Bars – AIKO January 12th, 2013

I have recently fitted a set of full length Aiko roof bars (4x) to my long wheel-base W639 Mercedes Vito. Ordered online from Aiko who are a British company, (North East) it was delivered next day and It fitted perfectly. The build quality is really good, of high quality constuction and all parts are plated to an excellent standard to protect it from the worst of UK weather. There are a few options regarding ladder rollers and I opted for a plain and simple protection bar.

This rear bar just overhangs the rear door line of the van and offers valuable protection to the bodywork in loading and unloading long loads.

The cross bars are of equally strong profiled steel construction and are of sufficient strength to support the heaviest of loads. You can select either traditional square section box or the slightly more ‘streamlined’ oval profile as I chose. Here is an interesting picture that demontrates the strength of Aiko roof bars, its not my van ! Link taken for the Aiko website.

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Service Indicator Reset Vito W639 111 (2008) March 22nd, 2014

Wind noise is really not too bad, I have had bar sets in the past that sing a very merry tune as you travel, these seem to produce a lowish frequency noise on the Vito, this starts at about 40mph and the level does not rise appreciably as road speed increases. Because the noise is quite low frequency, the sound is soon drowned out and becomes part of the normal road noise associated with speed, so not really annoying – top marks for that one !

Having looked for a suitable heavy duty ‘trade’ roofrack / roof bars for the Mercedes Vito over quite some time, I feel that the Aiko offering is good value for money. The set I purchased on-line was a shade over £150 for the 4 bar set as you see and this pricing compares favourably with lesser versions I looked at previously. So in my view, good value too.

If you are reading this you may have been irritated by the huge number and range of methods described to reset the service indicator (ASSYST) on the 2008 (or thereabout) 111 Vito (W639). Most of the methods described on the web, in the most part, offered by well-meaning people who have incorrectly read or copied the incorrect information from somewhere then relayed it via a post on a forum to someone asking for help. The truth is, there are a few dashboard/instrument cluster versions in the W639 range and it changed version in this year for the basic van (single semi circular speedo to twin circular dial) – most get it wrong and to find the correct method for resetting with this twin dial type of dashboard without steering wheel controls, is rare to find and at the very least may prevent you some irritation by having to try method after method finding that they simply do not work!

So here it is: If you have specifically a 2008 Vito 111 (W639) and your instrument pod is like this one below, with no steering wheel control buttons…..

Vito 111 2008 (w639) Instrument Cluster

….then the ‘tried and tested’ definitive instructions to reset the service indicator as extracted from the Mercedes Benz service manual is outlined below. Click here to view full size or download.

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Mercedes Vito W639 Paint Code – Location March 23rd, 2014

The location of the paint code sticker on the Mercedes Vito (W639) 2005 – on is the near side passenger door (UK) frame just above the upper door hinge. The reference number you will require to get a paint colour match is the number printed on the approximate centre of the ‘white-onblack’ printed label after the word – ‘Lack.’ – (German for Paint or Coating).

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Mercedes Benz Registration Plate Frame – Installation April 23rd, 2013

Vito W639 111 2008 Service Indicator Reset Hopefully, if you needed reset information for this exact model, you have now found the answer you were searching for.

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Vito Gear Selector Cable Install/Adjustment Documentation October 8th, 2013

Vito Gearchange Cable Install/Adjustment Documentation Click the link below to view information on W638 and W639 Mercedes Benz Vito gear select control cables.

Unsure of the outcome of the pending insurance claim on the Mercedes E320 CDI I decided to transfer the registration plates to the Vito to cover me in the event the insurance company declared my car a ‘total loss’ and switching plates became more complex overnight.

Having removed the original plates from the Mercedes Vito I decided to clean up the area and use some new mounting frames for the fresh plates. A quick scan on the online auction sites drew my attention to these. They seemed cheap enough and of reasonable quality, I thought I would give them a go. I was skeptical as to whether they would be any use as out of all the reviews of previous purchasers there was one who complained and stated they were ‘rubbish and binned them’ – being objective and not expecting the world for what I was about to pay for a pair, I took the plunge and glad I did!

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From placing the order to delivery through the letter box was two days, I was pleased with the packing and the frames looked well when I inspected them.

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Mercedes front wheel bearing noise – or is it? – Tyre Choice June 24th, 2013

Here is a little gem of information that as Mercedes Benz owners you may or may not be aware of regarding a common occurrence that has presented itself many times in my personal experience maintaining and servicing MB vehicles.

To fit the rear plate, open the frame by springing the clips and open it up (hinged). Use a little double sided sticky tape on the back edges and other broad plastic sections to give a nice firm mount when fixed with the two original screw in Mercedes door fixings. I used plastic screw caps to provide a larger surface area for the screws to tighten down onto the frame. These did not affect the fitting of the reg plate as they fell below the back plate supports.

Correct tyre tread pattern choice will often improve your vehicle rolling noise and in some cases – A switch to the correct type will often ‘cure’ mechanical worn out bearing sounds!

Once fixed, tuck the reg plate under the lips provided in the top of the inner frame. Pull down the four sprung bottom retainers that have a further lip that secures the plate snugly to the back plate. Making sure the reg plate is central in the frame, close the door downward and snap the fixings closed. Job done ! Same routine for the front plate, other than to add extra fixing screws in the extreme four corners to allow a more rigid mounting of the frame – this is really important, as the frame would otherwise get easily caught when washing the vehicle etc.

A nice simple task that took less than 20 minutes to complete and I think looks a very tidy job.

If you are like me and are ‘in tune’ with the noises your car produces in the normal course of driving, you may be aware that tyre choice is fundamental to the quiet running of a vehicle. None more so than in the Mercedes Benz range.

I recently test drove a 75ooo mile young, C200 2004 model, in excellent condition and I would have been convinced that the noise from the front off side was a worn wheel bearing in the latter stages of its life. As usual it turned out to be a poor choice of tyre on that corner of the car. So many times have new owners of used Mercedes vehicles described an annoying ‘drone’ and are convinced it is a worn out rotational component such as a wheel bearing, when actually it turns out to be nothing more than a poor choice of tyre fitted to the car by someone who does not know any better (or the used car dealer fitted any ‘odd pattern’ of tyre to the vehicle to make its tread depth attractive to the would be purchaser).

The truth is that MB make quiet running vehicles and resonances are often heard that would normally be drowned out by road and engine noise in lesser vehicles – that’s why new owners regularly pick up on the odd noises that play above the serene quiet inside their passenger compartment.

The outline details below are from my own findings and experiences, I am neither promoting or slating any manufacturer of tyre, nor am I suggesting that every tyre of certain types and tread pattern all produce the same noise 4

issues, they may not – however, quietly ask a well informed reputable tyre dealer and the chances are that he will impart to you the exact same recommendations.

The worst offending tyre to generate ‘wheel bearing type noise’ on the front of a Mercedes is the aggressive ‘V’ tread pattern that is often seen on modern tyres. As a rule the cheaper the tyre – the worse the noise! Their tread pattern looks very similar to this:

Pirelli Premium Tyre

V Tread Pattern The next high ‘noise’ offender is the Winter or All Weather tyre, with its much smaller tread features moulded into larger segmented tread blocks placed again in a ‘V’ pattern, rather like the one shown below:

The tyres above represent tread patterns that are far more favorable to the quiet smooth running of your Mercedes Benz vehicle, it does not have to cost a lot to get the best from your tyres, just an informed choice of what style of tread pattern you should be selecting at purchase. Past experience with both the ‘E Class’ ( W210, and W211 Chassis ) and ‘C’ Class model ranges has proven this time and time again. Often if I suspect that there is a tyre problem or the possibility of a worn wheel bearing I will quickly switch the tyres front to back if they are a different more forgiving tread pattern, to see if the noise changes or disappears. It often does, and by changing the rubber set up on the car will frequently cure the suggestion of any other mechanical defect.

Try it out for yourself if you are in any doubt, whats to lose?

– it could save you some money in unnecessary garage bills !

Winter All Season Tyre – Block Pattern Both of the tread patterns above will more often than not give increased rolling road noise and in some cases a very pronounced ‘humming’ noise on all road surfaces, this often gets progressively lower in frequency as you brake to a halt or roll to a stop line. A far quieter, better choice of tyre would be ones with a more ‘radial grooved’ tread pattern that rings the complete circumference of the tyre as opposed to the noisy ‘V’ or ‘Block’ sections above. See below for good choice tread patterns.

Maxxis Economy Tyre

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Mercedes C200 (& others) knocking noise at rear – Diagnosis June 27th, 2015

If you hear a thudding or knocking noise from the rear of your vehicle you will want to find out what is the cause pretty quickly as the constant noise will soon drive you mad!

On the Mercedes C200 and actually most Mercedes Benz passenger car models, that all share the long lived 5 link rear suspension set up, there can be several causes. The first potential cause to eliminate is wear to the anti-roll bar bushes or sway-bar (US). There is two bushes mounted to 5

the chassis in D saddles that carry the roll bar from one side to the other, any any play here can cause thudding or knocking on uneven ground. Usually rust staining gives away the poor condition of these busses – what happens is the bar corrodes inside them and presents a rough oxidised surface that eventually wears away the supporting rubber at it moves under normal use. This is why it is good practice to file down, de-rust and repaint any exposed metal before fitting new bushes.

simplest way to check for a faulty damper is shown in the following short video. Quite often it is possible for a car to pass an MOT test with a faulty or ageing shock absorber, especially if it is secure in its mounting and not in any way leaking. It is only as the units age that they gets weaker in operation and eventually often fail, providing little in the way of suspension damping at all.

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Mercedes C Class (W203) Rear Damper Replacement July 3rd, 2015

You may have already read of the problems here, including banging and knocking noises associated with faulty rear dampers (Gas strut/tube type) on the Mercedes C200 (W203). In this post we will detail how to easily change the faulty parts and get the vehicle back to specification.

On each end of the roll bar there are drop links (like a dog bone in shape) these have a rubber bush at both ends and connect the roll bar to the suspension hub carrier. It is important to check the condition of these rubbers also. In both of the above cases it is important to inspect all bushes while the vehicle is on all four wheels and in its normal driving position, as lifting one wheel will put the connected bar in tension and you will be unable to see the small amounts of play that would be more than capable of causing knocking noises.

If all looks sound and no play is present, turn your attention to the rubber bushings at each end of all the suspension links, use a pry or lever to check them for play. These bushes do deteriorate and although sometimes looking in poor condition, cracked on the ends with rusty sleeves, they are still serviceable as long as they do not allow lateral movement where the arm could contact its mounting. Play of this kind would be severe and easily noticeable under power or braking.

The noise you will have most difficulty in finding the source of will be the one that comes and goes at slow speed on uneven terrain, it will be irregular and probably most prevalent while crossing speed bumps or rail lines on a crossing. If you have checked out all the suspension components, exhaust mountings and interior of the boot area you will be turning your attention to a faulty damper. As these deteriorate over time they will in most cases eventually cause a knocking as the valving begins to break up internally or in severe cases the internal oil is lost through leaking. The

While neither of the dampers removed had any visible signs of fluid leakage and had recently passed annual inspection, they were exhibiting knocking noises on slow speed movement over uneven ground. Internally a gas type damper has a charge of oil and a further charge of high pressure gas, usually nitrogen. As they age the gas escapes through the damper rod seals and leaves just the oil to perform all of the damping. When new, the purpose of the gas charge is to control small and light movements of the suspension, leaving the oil to take care of damping the larger travel and more violent bumps and bangs the car car is subjected to in normal road use. Calibrated internal valving controls the dampers rate and makes for a perfect combination of gas filled over hydraulic fluid dampers for vehicle use. However once the nitrogen charge has escaped over age, the damper will have difficulty controlling the smaller reflex movements of the suspension. larger travel may still be adequately catered for with just the remaining oil, but slow speed damping will, in most cases be poor.

Due to the resulting little to no light damping due to the depletion of the gas charge, the oil is having to do all the work. Working harder and forcing oil through the metering valves more rapidly to try and compensate, heats up the oil which often froths as it passes back and forth through the internal orifices. Once air is introduced into the damper oil as frothing, it becomes ineffective as the air is compressible – any subsequent damping will be hampered by this condition.

Over time, as the shock absorber ages, the first leakage is often the gas charge. It is this natural ageing that requires some diagnosis and the faulty dampers replaced accordingly.

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Replacement is very simple on the Mercedes C200 model series and both dampers can be easily replaced in about one and a half hours.

First empty the boot load area, remove the carpet liners from both sides and base of the compartment. There are two plastic mushroom clips at the top edge either side, once these are removed the carpet can be folded back to gain access to the strut tops once the hard plastic cross panel has been lifted. To do this simply pull the two D shaped mushroom clips and disengage the panels forward edge from the plastic spare wheel well retainer lip. This black hard plastic cover can now be lifted clear of the car.

Working one side at a time, undo the road wheel lug nuts and support the vehicle on a trolley jack. Remove the wheel and spray penetrant onto the two 10mm head, self tapping screws that hold the plastic wishbone cover in position.

Unscrew these two fixings and remove the plastic wishbone cover. Now spray the 16mm lower suspension nut with a similar penetrating oil.

suspension component. Undo the lower damper nut and tap the bolt through.

From inside the car use a 17mm spanner and undo the top fixing, you may need to hold the damper rod with grips to prevent it spinning as you fully remove the nut. Now take off the top plate washer and then lever out the ‘rubber donut’ from the protruding thread and sleeve. Discard these parts as you should have new components supplied in the kit with the new damper.

From under the wheel arch, use a stout screwdriver or short lever to force down the top of the damper so that it clears the mounting hole, once free, let it extend fully in a controlled manner. Tilt the top of the damper out into the wheel arch area and lift it free, pulling it out of the lower wishbone as you go.

Refitting the new dampers is an exact reversal of removal, be sure to fully tighten the top securing nut and use the supplied lock nut to prevent it undoing. Again you may need to use grips on the rod end to prevent it turning whilst you are tightening.

Once all fixing nuts and bolts have been tightened, refit the internal carpet and side panels. Do not forget to refit the plastic protection panels to the lower wishbones, clipping them into position before fastening with the special 10mm head self tapping screws (2x per side)

If the dampers are original fitment they will have an inverted torx head damper bolt head and a 16mm nut on the other end, your replacement will probably have a standard 16mm nut and bolt included in the kit. Place a support under the wishbone and lower the jack so the wishbone ‘just’ contacts the block and takes some of the tension from the 7

Conduct a road test and enjoy quiet safe motoring!

If you are interested have a look at the short 30 sec. video below, this shows how the first six inches or more of the old dampers stroke is virtually ineffective, though the lower section still has some damping capability. This is due to either gas escape or faulty/damaged/aged internal valving.

New shock absorbers/dampers transformed the vehicle over rough roads and totally eliminated the rear end knock at slow speed.

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Mercedes C Class (W203) Alarm Problems June 5th, 2015

The first thing to do is locate and remove the faulty sounder.

On the C Class (W203) it is located behind the plastic protection panel under the left hand (near side UK) front wheel arch.

Simply remove the road wheel, remove the five plastic 10mm nuts and remaining fixings that secure the inner protection panel. Remove it from under the wheel arch. You should now be able to see the siren, fitted to a steel bracket that is fixed to the bodywork. The torx self-tapping fixings that hold the siren bracket to the vehicle are security types with the inner peg. If you don’t have the correct security tool, just tap them round slightly on their outer circumference to loosen with a small chisel or punch, once slack, they will usually remove with firm finger pressure. The rearmost fixing is a strange 8mm crimped nut affair, that quickly removes with pliers. Once the support bracket is free, the siren can be unplugged and totally removed from the car.

If your Mercedes C Class alarm starts to behave strangely with random false alarms sounding, indicators flashing without any alarm sound or even chirping whilst you are driving, then the number one cause for these issues is the siren module. The siren module is a round black plastic canister about the size of a small bean can, containing an alarm sounder, control electronics and back up alarm system batteries. It is these internal NiMH batteries that will start to age and deteriorate, giving rise to the conditions stated above.

To replace the siren simply plug in the new unit with the car unlocked and alarm de-activated, re-fix the bracket and build up the inner arch panel. Fitting the wheel and lowering to the ground to complete the job. If you are doing a straight swap-out with a new component and you have good elevated access, it is possible to replace the siren unit without removing the road wheel – by just undoing the trailing edge fixings of the plastic arch liner and pulling them out of the way while you remove/replace the siren unit.

The problem with the batteries is not quite as simple as it sounds. What happens is they start to leak and spread over the PCB inside the sealed alarm unit. The electrolyte from these cells is conductive, as it spreads, it bridges circuit tracks and components making the alarm system unstable and causing it to do peculiar things. A replacement sounder is around £100 from a dealership and once fitted will in the majority of cases, cure any problems you may have.

Replacing the batteries in the siren module / sounder unit If you have been following this site for a while, you will have probably realised that there is a little more on the subject to come – there is an option that could save you some money and get your alarm working correctly again, for around a £15 chance investment with some DIY time and a soldering iron. This style of siren module/unit is fitted to many models of Mercedes vehicles spanning many years and this repair technique is applicable to all instances where this type/style of sounder is used. If you are interested then read on…

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The first thing to be aware of is that the batteries, as they leak, do start to corrode the PCB within the siren unit, if you do catch this in time (and it really has to be quite bad to be unsuccessful) then you can repair the unit very economically. If however the PCB has deteriorated ‘just too far’ or there is another fault in the unit, you will have probably wasted your money and time, needing to buy a replacement. If its worth the risk of chancing your luck – that is up to you! Interestingly, if you can live without any audible alarm at all, then you can just leave the siren unit disconnected and tape up the connector. This has no detrimental effect on the rest of the alarm system or its linked components. My logic in all this is: If I can fix it for a few pounds then all well and good, if not then leave it disconnected as £100 dealer charge for new or buying a used unit that is probably almost as bad inside as the one I am removing, albeit at the moment still working, are not in this case acceptable options. Equally a customer may decide that the cost to repair a sounder on an older vehicle is just not worth it – so you can just leave it disconnected!

Unclip the sounder plug, pink and white wires inside and unclip the PCB pulling it off its two locating pegs. It should now be out of the plastic body and you will be able to get a full visual idea of how bad the PCB has been damaged by the battery leakage. The one pictured is quite bad and to be honest if it was any worse than this I would not go further, so in this instance it was a borderline repair, reducing my odds of it all working out successfully due to the poor condition.

Note how the batteries are polarised, take a photo so you can be sure you are fitting the new NiCd’s with their correct polarity as once you get cleaning, often the markings on the PCB also get removed. Using side cutters clip off the old batteries flush with the soldered holes and throw them away.

Using a soldering iron heat the remaining part of the battery pin until the solder melts fully, then quickly bang the PCB onto a cardboard box. This shocks the molten solder and pin from the board and should leave you with clean holes for the new battery contact pins. Repeat on all eight holes.

If you decide to have a go at changing the batteries you will need to remove the sounder from its bracket, again a single security torx fixing is the order of the day. Once this is removed the sounder can be cut open. It is ‘weather-sealed’ and the only way to get it open is to cut carefully around the seam with a junior hacksaw, rotating the sounder as you go. Do not allow the blade to penetrate deeper than half its width, as if you cut too far inside you may damage the PCB or sounder wiring. Once the cut is continuous around the siren unit, pull apart the two halves. The front part will contain all the electronics with sounder, the rear is just a shell cover with an aperture for the electrical connector pins.

Now you have the board clear, use PCB flux cleaner spray or other electronic solvent to scrub away the electrolyte that has leaked from the batteries, use an old tooth brush and lollypop stick to scrape the most stubborn material away.

You can now get an idea if the battery juices have eaten into the copper track, if it passes inspection, continue cleaning 9

the circuit board with an abrasive pad, I used one similar to those used to clean model railway tracks. Eventually it should look like the photograph.

You will need to purchase a pair of replacement batteries from a Maplin store or other electronic component outlet, they are quite a common 3.6v 140 to 160 mAh NiMH cell pack, measuring approximately 24mm x17mm x 15mm The only issue the replacement batteries have is that the component legs on one side will need slight modification to fit the PCB but apart from that they are drop in replacements. The batteries cost in the order of £7.50 each.

Part Number BN-24B

Once you are satisfied with your cleaning, bend up the single mounting leg/tab of each battery into a ‘U’ shape as you can see in the photographs. Fit and solder the twin-tab side of the battery to the PCB, observing the correct polarity.

Once you have this side soldered in, cut a short length of thin stripped wire or tinned copper wire if you have it.

Using a small piece of cardboard packing under the edge of the battery solder one end of the stripped wire into the PCB. Now loop it over the ‘U’ shape you have formed on the battery tag, threading it back into the board. Pull the wire tightly and solder the remaining end to the board. Now heat and solder bond the wire to the bent tag as it passes through its formed ‘U’ slot. Clip off any protruding wire from the back of the PCB

Fit both batteries and check your work for solder bridges etc. Once you are happy, mask off the siren sounder plug and three prong external connector pins. Spray the complete electronic board with clear lacquer, both sides and allow to dry thoroughly. Once dry, refit the electronics to the front section of the siren unit. Connect the red and pink wires to the sounder unit then run a continuious bead of silicone sealer or epoxy resin around the plastic seam of the housing.

Offer up the rear plastic housing section and press it into position.

Clamp the assembled sounder/siren unit in a vice gently until the silicone/epoxy as hardened. Then for good measure, although really not necessary, tape around the seam joint with insulation tape making a tight secondary water resistant seal.

You can now refit the rebuilt unit to the car and test your work, either it will work perfectly or your time has been wasted! If successful then you have saved yourself a wedge of money, if it does not work then you have wasted £15 and can just leave it disconnected or go out and buy a new one – the choice is yours!

Hopefully all will be well and your Mercedes will once again have a fully functional alarm.

The post Mercedes C Class (W203) Alarm Problems appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Broken Front Spring Replacement – C Class Mercedes (W203) June 1st, 2014

Broken Front Spring – C Class Mercedes – W203 and others 10

It was MOT time again and I confidently took the wife’s C200 to the local Testing Station. The tester and I were flippantly discussing the benefits of strut suspension over the corroding W210 E class spring and perch arrangement when he detected a problem with my own off side front spring. The spring had recently broken on the final bottom turn of the coil and needed replacement, so off I went fail certificate in hand, to get the job done!

EuroCar Parts were the best and most convenient source of a new spring, I opted for the OEM spec Sachs spring at a very reasonable £35.00 although I could have opted for a far cheaper economy spring should I have wished.

Here you can see the new spring installed, note how compressed it is. Note the new white nylon tie-wrap holding the cable retaining bracket on the lower section of the strut.

Place a support under the brake rotor/disc (a wooden block is perfect for this) and then lower the vehicle to take the weight on the support. Lower the vehicle enough to allow easy removal of the upper roll bar link ball joint from the suspension strut. This is a 17mm spanner job with a 7mm socket to hold the central threaded portion from rotating.

Once removed, free the drop link from the strut and pull it to one side. Raise the vehicle again to working height.

Here is the cast aluminium spring seat, strut platform that the lower part of the spring locates into.

The task of removing the front strut on a C Class Mercedes is in itself far simpler than most strut suspension vehicles around, however the removal and replacement of the spring from the strut is in many cases beyond the scope of the home mechanic (Unless you make a special tool). Do not think that you can just buy a cheap set of spring compressors from the auto-store and complete this task, as you will most probably fail and at worst end up damaging yourself or other object of value in your working surroundings! If you are in any doubt of your competencies in carrying out this task I advise entrusting this one to an independent repair shop. But if you are ‘gung-ho’ read on.

Undo and remove the bottom strut to hub carrier bolts with a breaker bar and socket (2x 19mm), now completely remove the upper carrier bolt and pull the hub outward from the vehicle. The top lug on the carrier should now disengage and allow you to apply downward pressure on the hub and release the complete strut from under the car. Be careful not to damage the sensor cables when manoeuvring out the strut. It will easily come downward and out if you direct the lower end toward the passenger foot well whilst holding down the hub assembly and lower arm. You should now have the complete strut out from the vehicle. Have a drink of tea… you will need it.

If you open the large blue box that holds the new Sachs spring you will wonder if they have supplied the correct part, as it is just soooooo.. long!

For those who are interested in tackling this job, here we go….

Slacken the road wheel bolts and jack up and support the vehicle on the working side, the forward jacking point is the perfect position to lift for this job as it leaves the suspension in free air which is ideal. Remove the road wheel and lift the bonnet/hood.

Unclip the brake pad sensor wire and ABS cable from the black plastic holder on the suspension leg, note that both wires run beneath the hub carrier bolt to their sensors, this will be important on reassembly. Use side cutters and snip the single tie-wrap that secures this bracket to the bottom of the leg. Push in the upper and lower latch fingers of the bracket and rotate it around the suspension leg, once free move it out of the vicinity upwards of the flexible brake hose.

Using a 15mm spanner and 21mm socket almost remove the upper hub carrier to leg bolt. Prize off the black plastic cap on the suspension strut top in the engine bay then using a 21mm ring spanner and a 7mm Hex key wrench undo fully the top nut and remove the retaining bracket.

The C200 Spring is a seriously long spring uncompressed and takes a great deal of careful compression to fit. You can see here the broken section.

The strut itself has aluminium casting that platforms the base of the spring and a pressed steel top cap and a rubber top bush that sockets into the suspension cup of the chassis.

For future reference it is good to familiarise yourself with the orientation of this rubber top mount with the shape of the cup inside the wing top. The broad rubber locating flute is inboard and thinner one outboard – useful to note before reassembly.

If you have access to a set of expensive twin yoke spring compressors that is great, if not read on..

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The next step is to make a ¼ inch steel plate that saddles the strut underneath the alloy support spring platform and extends a couple of inches out either side, drill two holes to accept the threaded portion of your standard spring compressors. Latch the upper hooks as high up the spring as possible on either side and use a couple of small hose clips (jubilee clips) on the spring coils, tightened to prevent the compressor hooks slipping down the coils as you compress.

You will need to compress the spring almost fully, until it is nearly coil-bound to be able to remove the bush and top cap – ensure that you are comfortable with your construction and that it is as safe as it can be, the fitted spring is and will be under extreme tension as you proceed and it needs to be intrinsic for your safety and well being. Fully compress the spring.

Once compressed, use a small screwdriver or thin drift to tap round the locking collar on the threaded portion of the strut just as it exits through and seats just inside the Metalastic top bush. You may need to hold the strut from rotating with a 7mm hex key. The strut cartridge is biased to retract, which does not help either disassembly or reassembly, so you will need in some instances to lever the top bush slightly out of the upper spring seat to carry out these operations. Once the locking collar is removed you can lift off the top bush from its taper seat on the strut shaft. The spring can now be carefully uncompressed, ensuring that you balance the release of tension equally between the two spring compressor tools as you go.

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Mercedes C Class W203 – Dim Multi-Function Instrument Display (MFD) – LCD Panel Replacement June 26th, 2013

A Common fault with the Mercedes C Class instrument cluster is a dimming of the orange LCD multi-function display. This fading often gets worse when the car is hot or has been out in the sun all day. The usual places to show the fault are the auto gear selection and W/S icons top right and the lower and upper edge, in some cases totally obscuring any information that may be displayed. When the car is cold, the display often works better for a time and appears of reasonable contrast only to later fail as temperatures rise.

Fading Mercedes Display The LCD unit itself forms part of the instrument cluster and can be removed and replaced. The negative is that the LCD unit is not available as a spare part (you have to buy the whole console!) The special LCD is manufactured

by Motorola (Part number HLM7804) and is common part used in all variants of the C class dash with the arched speedometer and MFD.

The two larger holes are the ones I drilled to accept the spring compressor rods, the others existed prior on the scrap plate I used.

Remove the broken road spring and fit the new one, locating it into rubber slot on the alloy lower support platform. Reattach the compressor tools and fully compress the spring – use the same vigilance and safety precautions as before.

Once fully compressed, locate the top cup onto the spring and refit the upper bush, screwing home the locking ring on the threaded shaft fully. Once you are sure that all is well and the spring is seated correctly and the damper rod is secured seated fully into the top bush, begin to release the spring compressors in the same way as before.

Once fully relaxed the compressors may be removed and the assembled strut refitted to the car. Remember to position the top bush so that the larger rubber locating flute is inboard and the thinner one outboard, this will assist greatly in relocating the strut back onto the vehicle.

Reassembly is a direct reversal of removal. Congratulate yourself on a job well done !

Mercedes instrument cluster removal

So what to do… Buy a new speedometer (lots of cash) or a used one (incorrect odometer reading)? Or swap out the display from the cheapest used one you can buy !

To give an idea of the cost of a used instrument cluster from a breakers they are usually about £65 to £95 GB pounds.

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The online auction sites are a great source of cheap parts and if you are prepared to scour the listings you will find a bargain. You have the advantage of being able to choose any similar instrument cluster, not bothering about, model year, petrol or diesel types, engine size, 4 or 6 cylinder etc…

This gives you the edge! Just buy the cheapest you can find. I managed to pick one up for £30, advertised with a photograph showing the display clearly illuminated still fitted to the car!

UPDATE – It appears there is a company who specialises in the supply of display ribbon cable kits for various MB models here. Also there is another company, probably in China who can supply the complete W203 display with bonded cable here (Also other MB and car models it seems) I have not used either company but I thought the links may prove useful.

be slid out of either side of the gap between the steering wheel and instrument cowl.

Mercedes C200 console removed Make yourself some space and use a soft cloth to put the instrument cluster on.

Now to replace the display, this is a simple task and can be done with only a length of welding rod, a small screwdriver and some care.

Carefully release the 2 clips from bottom of the rear of the cluster, pull the cover slightly to just release it from its latches, now do the same with the 3 top clips. The central clip at the top has a warranty label over it that will have to be cut/ torn to allow the two halves of the housing to be parted.

How the instrument pod latch works

Instrument cluster control PCB

First remove the instrument cluster from the dash, slide down a length of welding rod into the apertures each side of the binnacle, the rod will push onto a moulded latch mechanism, as it is inserted (about 10 cm in) it releases a retaining clasp. Once this is done, hook into the top of the slot a small hexagon key and pull the cluster gently out from the dash, each side at a time. Set the steering wheel position adjustment – fully out and down to give you maximum working room.

Once removed, the back panel can be placed out of the way.

Revealed is the main control PCB and orange multi-function ribbon flex connector to the LCD display. This orange flexistrip is removed from the connector by carefully pushing down the 2 black ears either side, about 1mm, down and away from the connector, this releases an internal clamping mechanism allowing you to withdraw the ribbon flex. Once the flex is released, turn over the instrument pod and remove the instrument chassis from the lens unit.

Mercedes C200 Instrument cluster connector

Remove the LCD flexible connector strip Grasp each side of the ‘D’ shaped frame that surrounds the display and un-clip it, each side in turn from the front face of the cluster. This will reveal the thin glass LCD display.

Mercedes C200 Instrument cluster latching connector Draw the pod forward enough to disconnect the multi-pole connector from the rear. This has a grey lever that has to be unlatched and arced down ward to allow the ‘lever-lock’ removal of the connector. Once this is removed the pod can

Removing the MFD Bezel Now push up from the bottom edge the LCD glass towards the centre of the dial face, push it just enough to clear the 13

white plastic retaining clips at the bottom, then lever the LCD up and out of the back light holder.

Mercedes R129 SL 320 (M104) Timing Cover Leak – Alternative Fix January 18th, 2015

Push back the Motorola LCD unit, then lever up to remove

Mercedes SL320 1996

The orange LED illumination area behind the LCD display Strip your ‘donor’ instrument cluster and remove your new LCD unit as described above. Fit it to your vehicle’s cluster and rebuild it in the exact same manner as you took it apart (again as outlined above) Refit to the vehicle and test. You should now be able to enjoy a nice bright, high contrast MFD unit !

Mercedes M104 3,2 6cyl Engine It has long been reported that the robust M104 Mercedes engine has a renown weakness in the area of the timing cover to cylinder head joint. Because of a design weakness, it is common if not obligatory for these engines to leak at this point. The often publicised method of repair is to remove the front timing cover and replace the ‘C’ gasket that seals upper and lower halves of the timing cover.

A nice bright, high contrast MFD display Just a couple of points to note during this task: Always make sure that the white loom connector to the back of the cluster is as fully home as possible when re-connecting – this plug will often engage half way and give the misleading impression that it is fully inserted and all is OK, the lever even moves down to its locked position! However If it is not fully home the instrument cluster will appear totally ‘dead’ when you turn on the ignition. Dont panic! just correctly insert the plug, latching it fully home and try again.

The slight downside is, what will have happened when you turned on the ignition with the cluster disconnected, the SRS system will have flagged a fault on its self test (SRS Indicator fault) and will have raised an SRS fault code. This will have to be reset with a Mercedes OBD scan tool or with the dealer Mercedes Star diagnostic tool. Not the end of the world, but avoided if you make double sure the console plug is correctly inserted before turning on the ignition.

I have read many ‘how-to’ posts and owners write-ups on this problem, and in all but a very few cases the seal made by the ‘C’ gasket only fails in this one weak spot. (left hand combination joint, above the alternator support bracket) In many cases once disassembled the gasket has proved to be sound and in good condition, apart from in this key area where there is practically no material for the seal to press against causing a troublesome unpressurised weeping leak.

This is a simple, easy fix for a fading MFD and one that can save you a great deal of cash.

The post Mercedes C Class W203 – Dim Multi-Function Instrument Display (MFD) – LCD Panel Replacement appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In. The leak itself is caused by the internal casing design that is leaned at an angle, this allows localised pooling of oil fling from the timing chain and subsequent leaking from 14

the poor seal area between head, block and upper timing cover. Bearing this in mind, knowing that the leak is not a ‘pressurised’ leak from an oil-way or gallery, it is only oil escape to atmosphere by a poor external seal. Although not serious and frequently the amount of oil lost in everyday use is slight, it still makes a mess and is annoying at the very least.

As the silicone builds, squidge it into the gaps with your thumb working it into the seam and corner area of the join.

Apply more sealant and push it into the corners with a small wooden stick (Coffee stirrer) and really work the area well. Now apply the final squirt and smooth the area off, neatening as much as you can without disturbing the main blob of sealant, if you are particular how it looks.

A couple of US guys had tried with some success the sealing of this area externally and I decided this was what I was going to try for myself as there is really nothing to lose – it would either work or it wouldn’t ! Worst case would be the timing cover seal would need replacement to fully stem the leak, so nothing really lost in trying this method first.

I set about gaining access to the troublesome area, on the R129 Mercedes SL 320 access is made possible by removing the air box and plastic cam chain housing decoration panel only. Once these are removed, clean down the area with Gunk or Jizer de-greaser. Use a selection of bent pieces of wire and rag to clean the area thoroughly, raking out any oily crud that lies in the seam between the upper and lower covers. When you are satisfied the area is spotless and clean (the cleaner and more time you spend de-greasing here, the more chance of the repair working) Finish off by either a tooth-brush over with methylated spirits or carb cleaner.

While the plastic front cover was off I noticed a leak from the lower edge of the variable valve timing clutch on the end of the timing cover. I removed the three cap head screws that fix it to the cover and remade the gasket, clearly this original gasket had hardened and was allowing oil seepage down the front face of the timing cover. Cleaning the finished front area as much as possible to allow monitoring of any further oil leaking over time, was in order before leaving the RTV silicone sealant to fully harden for the rest of the day. Rebuild the front cover and air box to complete the job.

Mercedes SL 320 VVT Solenoid Oil Leak I have now monitored the leakage for a day or two now and thus far it has not returned. I was unsure if most of my leaking was down to the VVT clutch gasket or the more complex seal point on the timing cover. However and whatever has been rectified in this operation has currently stemmed the oil flow from the front of the engine, it will be interesting to monitor the situation over the next few months and see if it returns, but as of now I am pleased with the outcome, for what was basically very little effort.

Use a gas blow lamp to apply localised heat to ‘dry off’ and warm the area for a coupe of minutes, take care when doing this that you don’t damage any other components, although the area is quite clear of any combustibles, cables and plastics, just remember to fire-watch! Choose a good quality RTV silicone sealant, high temperature and rapid curing. Using the supplied nozzle on the RTV tube, cut to its smallest hole, inject the sealer sealer into the area cleaned.

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The post Mercedes R129 SL 320 (M104) Timing Cover Leak – Alternative Fix appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

rubber fuel supply pipe (about an inch diameter) delivering fuel from the tank, comes from the above the differential and swoops down over the drive shaft connecting to the rear of the pump. The output from the pump is smaller bore and connects in a short ‘U’ shaped flexible link pipe to the head of the fuel filter. Filtered fuel exits the in-line filter through an eight inch length of 15mm flexible hose at the rear, connecting to a 10mm steel spigot on the fuel pipe that runs over the differential and to the front of the car on the left side.

Fuel Leak from Fuel Pump area Mercedes SL 320 (R129) June 3rd, 2015

With the car idling in the street I went to close the gates and on my return noticed a growing pool of petrol beneath the car. I opened up the yard again and parked the SL out of harms way until I could find time to have a closer look.

Everything looked dry and over the few days standing, there was no evidence of a fuel leak at all. I started the engine and took a look at the pump section underneath with everything running. Dry as a bone! For sure it was a monumental leak the other day and now it had totally disappeared. I began poking and twisting the rubber hose connections and it was not long before I discovered the culprit. As soon I touched the last section of rubber hose that joined the steel high pressure supply pipe, fuel sprayed out from the joint at a good rate of knots.

I was confident that it was a leak on the pressure side of the pump, as it only seemed to leak with the engine running, so it was safe to leave for a few days until time allowed.

The weather improved this week, so I lifted the car sufficiently to gain access to the fuel pump and filter assembly that lives under a plastic cover, just in front of the right hand rear wheel. There are three plastic 10mm nuts holding the front edge and a single recessed nut high up on the trailing edge in a moulded extension of the cover. Once these are removed the cover can be dropped to reveal the fuel pump and filter assembly.

On some models there are twin pumps fitted in series, the output of one feeding the input of the next. This SL320 model has the elongated single high delivery pump. The whole pump and filter assembly hangs on rubber bushes, rather like ‘miniature exhaust hanger rubbers’. The thick

I immediately shut off the engine and inspected the pipe a little more closely. The rubber and steel pipes were all in excellent condition not showing any signs of deterioration, but for a little surface muck, that when cleaned off left things looking as new. The original hose clip on the joint was a factory ‘clic-clamp’ type, and the hose had deformed under its pressure over the years and become a relaxed fit on the steel pipe. As the rubber pipe diameter was a little larger than my largest fuel line clamp I opted for a thin wall screw type line clip, that fitted perfectly and more than adequately secured the leaking joint.

Attempting to twist the other connectors both on the pump and in-line filter did not reveal any weakness in the other clamps, so I decided to rebuild the unit and call it a day.

Before I replaced the plastic cover, I ran the engine for a while and gave the area a good looking at with a torch, prodding and poking the running pump and its pipework to 16

make doubly sure all was well before putting the cover back on.

Amazed by the amount of road muck that had collected inside the cover, I gave it a good clean out before refitting.

Lowering the car to the ground I was pleased at least that the leak had not turned out to be problems with the steel delivery hose that runs over the differential – as that looks an absolute swine to replace.

to expand on what I have noted here. What I have done is written about the important parts and included some vital pieces of information that you may need to refer to – you may find this data at the other linked sources too, but at least it will remain available in another Mercedes resource should any of it disappear from the web, as a great deal on this subject already has. Enjoy!

Carsoft Interface connected to R129

MB Diagnostic History

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Mercedes older series diagnostic fault code reading.

W124 R129 & others April 29th, 2015

Back in the day when Mercedes first ventured into the world of on board diagnostics in the era of the 1984’s W124 and its stable mates they began to introduce electronic code diagnostics. The first being either through an 8 pin (X92) or 16 pin (X11/4) square block fastened to the bulkhead. There were actually only14 diagnostic pins on some 16 pin X11/4 models as slot 2 was a small momentary push button and slot 4 was a small red LED used to read out fault codes flashes.

All was needed was a paperclip or short banana plug jumper to ground the required pins and simply watch the number of flashes. Codes are resolved from comparison of flashes to fault codes on a written list.

Counting flashes activated by grounding individual pins continued through the square block connectors to the 38 pin round X11/14 diagnostic socket to about 1994. This was commonly located within the ECU box and was accesses by removing a sealed access cap. Although 38 pins were used only the pins relating to build options were loaded and as such gave diagnostic flash / blink access to the cars individual modules.

Mercedes older series diagnostic fault code reading. W124.R129 1980’s – 1990’s era As you are reading this you will probably be wishing to extract a fault code or clear a fault indicator lamp from the dashboard of your older Mercedes Benz model vehicle. You will have also likely been frustrated by reading a multitude of confusing information, following dead web-links and generally reading several different takes on the same subject – mostly from well-meaning members on forums or online motor clubs who unintentionally ‘muddy’ obtaining the most correct and technically accurate information.

Well the alternative information source you have been looking for is here, hopefully clear and accurate enough for your needs. I have collected the following information together in one place to save the frustration of trying to locate and find most that you would ever need to tackle this job. I will not repeat what has already been expertly written on this subject, you can find links below to these sources

USA and some EU versions around 1994 were equipped with both a 38 pin X11/14 and the now common 16 pin oblong OBD port we use today. The reason behind this was that MB at the time had to comply with export requirements that necessitated access to emission data through OBD standard protocols. At this time Mercedes added the OBD port under the dash, in some cases near the steering column just to give access to emission related diagnostic codes, all the other 17

electronic systems were dealt with through the 38 pin socket as before. So very much a hybrid situation was in existence – seemingly done as a quick fix to continue to sell cars in the US. Mercedes were in parallel developing their own digital diagnostic system and not following the industry standard of OBD1/2. From August 1995 production date Mercedes phased out the analogue type of flash/blink diagnostics in favour of their propriety digital code reading system.

Without going into too much detail this new system used ISO9141 communication protocol to access the vehicle electronics via a common communications module. This used both a K-line and L-line connection and Mercedes own communications language to access the system. Even though the communications standard of ISO9141 is the same as used on OBD2 systems the way in which it talked to the modules was bespoke – and this is why you cannot use traditional OBD2 readers on systems of this type. Fortunately Mercedes saw the error of their ways and only ran with this for about a six year window opting to take on the OBD2 standard across the board from 1999 (Thank goodness!)

Types So given the above history there are three primary diagnostic code reading methods (actually four) that you may come across in the model year window of 1984-1999 (Please note all dates stated are approximate and for guidance only) What is a little confusing is that Mercedes in their wisdom used the 38 pin diagnostic connector for both the analogue and digital systems making it very difficult to visually identify what system you are dealing with – they even used the same pin number allocations to reflect the connection to individual system components !

Here is the link to the Cs1000 Baum Tools Manual code reader that contains most of the detailed information you may ever need regarding, connections, pin outs etc specifically for Mercedes Benz models. Importantly it contains the analogue flash / blink error code fault decoder information.

To read codes: 1.Connect the code reader cables to pin 1 for the black or ground connection and pin 3 for the 12v supply on the 38 pin diagnostic socket. Select your chosen test point (module connection) to test from the following 38 pin socket diagram and connection pin-out table.

2.Turn ignition on, engine not running.

3.Press momentary switch for 2-4 seconds, wait and then count flashes. Note down the number of flashes on a piece of paper. Repeat the process until the first flashed code repeats.

Note:A single flash means – no fault stored

To clear codes: 1.After reading a code, press the momentary switch for 6-8 seconds then release.

2.repeat this for all stored codes.

The diagnostic systems that were available during this period are:

Mercedes SL R129 38pin Diagnostic connector pin out diagram and function ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. list.

Flash / Blink – circa 1984 – 1994 Flash / Blink with OBD X11/22 Under-dash for US Markets circa 1993 – 1997 (OBD Port for engine management only) Mercedes Proprietary Digital Diagnostics 1995 – 1998 OBD2 Standard 1999 – on

Please note not all pins are loaded in every model, the quantity of available pins depends on model, version and fitted equipment.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Useful links that have great information and should be used for reference. http://www.mbcluster.com/Media_Diagnostics.htm http://www.202tech.com/howto/leddiag.html http://www.onboarddiagnostics.com/page03.htm http://k6jrf.com/mb_scnrs.html

Here is some important information that budding MB SL R129 / W124 diagnosticians will need.

To build and use a simple Mercedes Flash / Blink decoder, here is the circuit diagram.

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Air conditioning system – self diagnosis (R129) The AC control unit in the R129 Mercedes SL model along with a few other MB models of the time (outlined in the CS1000 manual) could be accessed to diagnose system problems by retrieving fault codes directly from the AC control unit console in the car. Instead of counting flashes, the AC console displayed fault codes on the two digit LCD temperature display and were cleared by a combination of pushing buttons. Information for the reading and clearing of the diagnostic codes of the AC unit for the R129 can be found on page 90 of the Cs1000 Baum Tools Manual.

Information on other period MB models that had similar AC control consoles is included in the above publication.

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W124 R129 & others appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Mercedes SL (R129) ETS and ABS Fault Light Illumination – Diagnosis May 1st, 2015

I started up the Mercedes SL (R129) and reversed it out of the drive and as I straightened up to drive forward both the ETS and ABS amber lamps illuminated on the dashboard.

This was shortly after completing the front road spring swap posted earlier on this site.

Later MB Proprietary Digital Diagnostic Communications – 1996 MY (R129) SL I have discovered that this period model (The one I have!) was fitted with a combination of both analogue (Blink / Flash) and Digital Mercedes Proprietary diagnostic systems.

I do not have an OVP module (voltage controller) I have a Base Module. The base module can be accessed with the blink/flash code reader, faults read and cleared on pin 8, while other system components can be accessed with the Mercedes Proprietary reader from the same socket!

However that is about the extent of any function accessible by this method. As stated earlier above to read engine codes or ABS codes etc the unit has to be connected to a capable electronic code reader. The Autel OBD2 reader I use for most of my modern day Mercedes diagnostics does not work – even with the OBD 16 pin to 38 pin adapter. This is because the protocol or access language is specific to Mercedes.

About the only system capable of reading and accessing the majority of codes through the Mercedes proprietary system is the Carsoft V12 system. This is a Mercedes single model diagnostic tool made in Belgium. Its kit consists of a 7.2 interface module, selection of leads (for all MB models) Operating USB security dongle and Carsoft V12 PC software.

Apart from indicating more work to do, I began to wonder if I had disturbed anything when I had replaced the front springs or even earlier, the suspension top mounts. I went about my business on that day driving the car with the fault lights illuminated, they would pop straight on as soon as the key was turned and would not clear down on any number of engine re-starts. I had noticed disappointingly, that I had also lost 5th gear (5 speed version of the 1996 R125 with electronic control overdrive gear) and also cruise control operation. This underlined it was a speed signal fault but I would have to investigate further to narrow the field.

I will cover the use of this diagnostic equipment in another post shortly.

For those fortunate to own post 1999 vehicles of the R129 stable your car should be equipped with a fully compliant OBD2 diagnostic system, 16 pin standard diagnostic port and the capability to be interrogated by most any off the shelf OBD2 reader. (Lucky you!)

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is no chafing of cables to the vehicle chassis. It all looked electrically good, so investigations continued.

I connected the car to my Carsoft code reader kit. This vehicle being the 1996 model SL it had the Mercedes proprietary diagnostic communication system, accessed from the 38 pin diagnostic socket inside the ECU box next to the bulkhead (firewall). You can read more about early MB diagnostic systems in this post. The first read of the ABS system revealed a recorded fault code with the rear left wheel speed sensor (C1106). Rear wheel sensor plausibility.

On removing the road wheel and checking the cable routing, all looked well. Often the older series of Bosch wheel speed sensors have a habit of collecting large amounts of iron debris on the sensing tip over time, causing impulse read issues at low speeds. This was in my mind as being the fault, though it was unusual that on this occasion it had not reset the warning lamps on restart and re-triggered them only when the car started moving.

I removed the sensor from its mounting hole on the rear hub carrier and inspected the tip. It was not too bad and looked in good order. I had previously measured the sensors static resistance of 1300 ohms (1.3k) and this is in the range I would expect across the two sensor wires. 1.2k to 1.8k is the norm, anything outside this and I would be suspecting the sensor or wiring itself. A quick check to chassis ground, from either of the two sensor wires just proved that there

Just a point on removing the sensor from its pocket on the rear carrier – invariably it will be very tight or even bound into the hole, unlike the front sensors where they have a large clearance into the hole, the rears are a ‘push fit’ for about one inch and any corrosion causes them to bind woefully into the hub. The technique here is to remove the single hex cap head fixing from the sensor and spray penetrant all around the sensor. Push a screwdriver into the clearance hole of the sensor tab and begin to work it, levering very slightly to and fro, very carefully. Continue application of penetrant. Tap the tag gently from the direction of the drive shaft then insert a thin screwdriver through the tab hole into the casting tapped hole and lever the sensor back to its aligned position. keep doing this, rotating the sensor many times while spraying more WD40 or similar. Eventually the sensor should be able to worked out from its hole. If you have not done so already, unclip the cable from the three snap clip mounting points behind the backplate to facilitate easy removal.

I shone a torch into the hole where the sensor is mounted to reveal the reluctor ring. This is a slotted (punched) continiuos steel band that is held around the drive shaft outer CV joint body as it passes through the hub bearing centre. Its purpose in conjunction with the sensor, is to provide measured impulses as the wheel rotates, each slot passing the sensor tip as it turns. This passing (gap, steel, gap, steel and so on) induces a small AC voltage in the sensor coil and this is passed in the form of electrical impulses, through its connecting cable to the ABS controller, allowing it to determine wheel speed.

I prodded around inside the sensor hole and discovered that the reluctor ring, sometimes called a ‘tone-wheel’ was damaged. It was split (like a letter ‘C’)and no longer gripped the circumference of the CV joint/driveshaft. Obviously it was just spinning and not providing the correct road speed signal in comparison to that measured at the controller 20

from the other three wheels, flagging a fault code. My heart sank… Although tapping on a new tone wheel is quite simple, this is a large job to undertake, as to gain access it involves removing the hub and withdrawing the drive shaft from the bearing centre – this usually destroys the hub bearing in doing so and it then has to be replaced, more £££ and time I just do not have at the moment. Although driving the car without ABS was no major concern on my normal commute, what did matter was that 5th gear was disabled and fuel costs as they are, this would have made my toes curl with the additional cost over any length of time.

So what was I to do?

I had noticed that the tone ring was in very good condition and the surface where it once was attached was clean and oil free. I could just see its inner edge as it passed the rear of the hub, so I selected Neutral and rotated the hub so the broken edges could be seen – they were clean and nothing was missing – just a straight, clean fracture. Taking a selection of pick tools and jewellers screwdrivers from the toolbox I proved it was possible to wedge the tone ring onto the drive shaft by forcing the thin tools into the gap between the ring and hub casting around the accessible 1/3 that was visible of the ring. The gap in the split ring was forced closed, all but for less than half a millimetre gap.

Later the Carsoft reader was connected and the ABS fault code cleared once more, a road test proved the repair to be sound and reliable. The 5th gear worked, cruise control functioned as it should and importantly the ABS was once more available should I ever need it. (Even better no warning lamps!)

I do realise that this repair is only a temporary fix to keep me going until I revisit the rear hub to replace the tone wheel/reluctor ring, but it worked perfectly and for me is a perfect short term solution. The repair to the ring is not stressed, it merely rotates in front of a sensor with an air gap between the two components – if it does fail again at some point before I get around to the proper fix, I will at least know exactly what the problem will be! Two weeks on – no problems to date, but I will say they are expected to return again at some point!

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Mixing up some quality epoxy two part adhesive, using a small screwdriver I built up the edge of the tone wheel to the CV joint body, pushing epoxy into the punched holes of the tone ring, then cleaning off the excess. Allowing this to dry hard at the repaired split section, the hub was rotated and further epoxy was applied to the complete circumference of the ring, filling in the slots, pushing and forcing the glue into the ring as I went. Making sure I cleaned any excess that could interfere with the clearance between ring and sensor.

Finishing the job, allowing it to fully harden before testing the clearance by inserting a screwdriver into the sensor hole then slowly rotating the hub confirming the lack of high spots – there wasn’t any so the sensor was refitted and the road wheel replaced.

Mercedes SL (R129) Front Coil Spring Replacement April 24th, 2015

A slight difference in ride height on the drivers side front was noticed from when I purchased the SL over Christmas, so it was no real surprise the spring refresh needed doing.

I put the spring job off (waiting for slightly warmer weather) and it jumped the queue slightly when a torsion bar hanger snapped, obviously because of the constant tension the weak spring was placing on the hanger arrangement.

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I ordered up a new pair of the front torsion bar hanger brackets and clamps from the local Mercedes dealer at £13.00 each. (Part numbers: A129 323 0026, A129 323 0126 and two clamps A124 323 1140) and a pair of 15mm diameter OEM replacement road springs.

The job itself is pretty straightforward and requires a Mercedes specific ‘special tool’ to compress the coil spring on the car to enable you to lift out the old spring and simply slot in the new one. With the specially designed tool, the job is very quick, though if you want to separate the ball joints and remove the torsion/roll bar then I have read some reports of being able to do a spring change without the spring compressor, undoubtably by levering the lower wishbone down – Personally for the cost of the tool, (£50) its not worth making the job ‘ten times bigger’ with the increased risk of doing an injury to yourself or someone else – Get the tool!

Jack the car at the front from the jacking point and remove the road wheel. Slide into the spring the top plate of the compressor tool, locate the bottom plate and thread through the hole in the wishbone the telescopic compressor bar.

Locate the upper bar tangs through the top plate by turning the bar until the top plate locks into its slots. Pay attention to align the bottom plate correctly as you begin to ratchet up the compressor bar. (19mm socket) Make sure all is located correctly with the compressor and the tool top plates, recheck as soon as you begin to feel tension being taken from the spring. Double check before proceeding to tighten and compress the spring further. It will be under a great deal of tension and you need to be super sure everything is latched and locked before you proceed.

After compressing the spring with the tool almost to the point of the spring being ‘coil bound’, tilt while pushing upward to remove the spring toward the front of the car. Lay the removed spring down and use the 19mm ratchet to unto and relax the tension on the coil spring so the tool can be removed and placed in exactly the same position on the new spring and wound up for refitting.

Swap over the rubber top seat that cushions the spring against the spring perch. Make sure this is in the correct position rotationally, so the springs ‘end of coil’ seats in the moulded slot made prominent by the previous spring. If these rubber spring mounts have split or deteriorated – now is the time to replace them.

Once the new spring is compressed it can be orientated back into position on the car, making sure you clean the spring seat on the lower wishbone of all debris and corrosion.

If you are lucky, you will still have the soft metal seat crescents that afford a little abrasion resistance for the springs final turn onto the wishbone. In most cases these parts will be corroded, worn away or missing, it is optional that you may wish replace these parts before spring reinstallation.

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Mercedes SL (R129) Front Strut Top Mount Replacement – Video April 19th, 2015

Once the spring is positioned in the upper perch cup correctly and the bottom turn of the spring is located in the ‘pressing formation’ on the lower wishbone, begin to relax the spring compressor. Check the position of the spring and ensure it is seating correctly as you fully undo the spring compressor tool. Once fully undone, the tool bar can be twisted and removed then the plates taken out from the newly fitted spring. Isn’t that quite easy..!

At this point in my case I replaced the torsion bar hangers and brackets (one 17mm bolt and locator bracket into the chassis), not fully tightening the two clamp bush bolts until the spring job was completed on both sides and the vehicle lowered to level ground. A quick nip up with a 13mm spanner and matching socket swiftly completed the torsion bar fixing.

Both road wheels were refitted and the vehicle road tested.

Great job done!

Interestingly once the spring is removed it gives a great opportunity to test out the bushings in the lower arm/ wishbone and more importantly the lower ball joint. This item is very hard to detect wear in when under road spring tension. In the case of R129 and W124 series lower ball joints are virtually impossible to decern very small amounts of play in, as unusually the ball is being ‘pulled’ by the spring arrangement of the suspension. So check everything out in detail while you have the spring out. In my case all was tight as a drum, although a little play in the near side wheel bearing was noticed. (I will deal with this later!)

I found the above wonderful animated diagram of how the front suspension is set up and how to apply force to test the ball joints. This great animation is credited to Chistian K and has been published on several Mercedes forums. It is by far the best explanation of the front suspension that I have seen to date. Many thanks for sharing this work Christian!.

After almost 20 years of being fitted, I thought it was time to replace the front strut top mount bushes on the Mercedes SL R129. This is part of the SL’s front end refurbishment that is taking place pretty much as I have time to tinker.

The top bush or rubber mount that is fitted between the chassis and the damper/shock absorber leg is a metalastic bonded rubber bushing and as such is susceptible to cracking over time and should be inspected regularly as it is possible for the mount to fail in such a manner that the damper rod can push up into the bonnet/hood with the full weight of the vehicle, if it were to give way completely. £££ !

The video below hopefully documents the simple procedure to replace these bushes, there is no need to remove the road wheel although careful and accurate use of a trolley jack to 23

raise and lower the vehicle (keeping the tyre on the ground at all times to control height) to remove the strut top will be needed. Just make sure that the brake flexible hose to the caliper is not stretched or pulled during this process.

just soaked into the material and left it looking like a drenched wash leather! Even though it remained water tight throughout, I decided it was about time to proof the mohair fabric.

The only other tricky thing is to replace the protective bellows that are attached to the rubber lip on the lower part of the strut top bush, familiarise yourself in how this is fitted before removing the old bush. It will be a fiddle to re-install, and once you develop a technique you will find it quite simple to do. I have even read that some people when replacing the damper / shock absorbers too, fit the gaiter on the bench before installation. This may be worth considering if you are doing a complete suspension job. The best technique I found was to roll back the top lip of the gaiter all round the top (turn it inside out around) then offer up the gaiter. While pushing it up against the mounting lip, roll over the top lip of the gaiter onto the suspension mount – worked a treat!

I researched a few products and what came out top was Grangers Fabsil in a can. Other stuff looked to be a little messy and in many cases was an aerosol spray (I didn’t fancy masking off and dealing with overspray on the paintwork) so I opted for a brush-on product. Fabsil is a silicone based ‘clear liquid’ that is free flowing and dries very quickly without any residue. In fact, even in instances where I was a little careless with the brush it wiped off the paint without issue and left no marking what so ever. Even the brush you used will dry out overnight and not harden – this was the product for me! eBay Link to the Fabsil product in 2.5L Can – Here.

A straight forward job that can be accomplished with the minimum of tools in a short time.

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Waterproofing Mercedes SL Mohair Soft Top – Fabsil April 5th, 2015

This has to be one of the most simple and worthwhile jobs you can do. Since I purchased the SL over Christmas I have run around with the hard top on. About three weeks ago when we had that first little burst of nice weather I stored the hardtop in the back of one of the Storage Units and have run with the rag top ever since.

There is a little in the way of preparation to do if you want to do a good job, but I suppose the proofer would work equally well if you just slapped it on – it really is that easy!

I dry brushed the whole roof down to remove any debris and rain ‘wash-down dirt’ that collects in the lip and edge rolls, for this I used a stiff nylon bristle nail brush and worked with the grain. Once this was completed and all other marks removed and brushed out, vacuuming the complete roof area proved to be fantastic at removing and collecting up all the loosened debris.

I kind of imagined that in the 20 years since the car was manufactured, the roof has never seen any attention for waterproofing. This was based on the fact that water 24

it really does look fantastic once the proofer has dried and it returns to its ‘as-new’ black finish. The second coat goes on much the same as the first, taking about four hours to dry totally.

Obviously pick a dry day and one that looks like being so for at least three to four hours. Blanket off the windscreen (don’t fancy silicone smears!!) and the boot lid area, tucking the protective cloth under the rear roof lip.

Some of the reviews I have read, beef about the smell involved in using Fabsil. I have found this really, to be honest, unfounded and if you ventilate the car well and let it dry properly, I must say I can’t understand why it is worthy of comment. It smells slightly like ‘turpentine’, which I suppose is the products base solvent.

Great Job and well worth the effort (not that much effort required) – Its child’s play!

Use an old sandwich box to decant a decent amount of Fabsil and obtain a new or ‘ultra-clean’ 2 inch brush. As far a quantities used goes, I gave my roof a generous coating, twice, and I used a little under half a gallon of Fabsil. I have seen this sold in half gallon cans, but my shop only had the larger gallon can, that was in my case, far cheaper than buying its equivalent volume in one litre tins! – Plus once in stock, in the future I can proof anytime I care too !

I read several painful reviews of people brushing on the proofer once in one direction of weave then the second coat the other way. I personally went for the ‘flood and soak’ approach, to the point where the material was soddened with Fabsil – making any weave brushing just a total waste of time! It worked perfectly. There advantage of this method is that by keeping a wet edge to your work with the brush, you don’t get any brush marks whatsoever, and the agent ‘wicks’ into the most hard to get places. Painting around the windows is a cinch! Just get to within a couple of millimetres from the seam edge with a loaded brush and let capillary action do the rest. Easy…

I shall report back once I get chance to take a few photographs in rain, so far we have a couple of ‘dewey’ nights and the water droplets sit on top of the fabric – we have not had that before!

Added pictures of waterproofing after first downpour and hard frost a couple of weeks later…

After the first coat you will notice how the colour of your your roof darkens to a beautiful ‘as-new’ black. As Mohair ages and gets an ingrained surface dirt coating from the elements of our poor weather, it tends to go a dark charcoal grey and 25

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Slight vibration heard when applying slow speed steering lock – Mercedes SL (R129) March 20th, 2015

When I last went to the tyre shop the fitter drove the car into the bay, as he manoeuvred I heard a low frequency vibration from outside the car. It was like a flapping vibration, two parts vibrating against each other and it was quite loud.

I knew it was nothing to to do with the auxiliary belt or its tensioners as I already inspected these components and found them to be sound. So what was it…?

I searched for replacement parts (bobbins) and was horrified to see that they were priced between £8 and £12 per bush!

Now, although I don’t mind buying parts that are required, I just think this is a ridiculous price to pay for what is in effect a piece of rubber with two threads on! Especially as it was a non-critical part.

Searching deeper for an alternative I caught sight of a supplier in Hong Kong advertising the correctly dimensioned bush for 0.99 pence including delivery – thats more like it!! Link to product found here

It wasn’t until a few weeks later when I was replacing the steering idler arm bushes that I noticed the metalastic bush (rubber bobbin) on the front cross brace on the passenger side had deteriorated and parted company. It was not instantly visible as faulty as the tension that is placed on the bush pushes the parts together so it can’t easily be seen.

Just give your bushes a little pry to see if they have parted company with the bonded threaded sections.

The cross braces run from the centre of the car, under the engine, to just behind each road wheel in a diagonal formation. They are securely bolted fore and aft to the chassis with a single bobbin type bush in the centre run of each. The bush is bolted to the brace then upwards to the chassis and I suppose is in place only to prevent it vibrating or flapping over its length – precisely the issue I had.

Ordering six bushes I only had to wait two weeks and the package arrived. Six bushes of what looked good construction and quality just what was required for the bracing bars. I then remembered the air box support bobbins had gone the same way and by chance the parts ordered also fitted this application perfectly.

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So for £6 I had repaired/replaced the two air box mounting bobbins and those on both bracing bars, plus two spare!. As suspected the flapping sound of the bracing bar, induced by the pulsing of the power steering pump at low speed had now gone – Success!

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Mercedes SL 320 (R129) Steering Idler Arm Bushes – Replacement

Pay special attention to the drag link ball joint ends that links the pitman arm of the steering box to the idler arm.

Look carefully at the top of the steering idler arm pivot while the steering wheel is being swung, any up, down or side to side movement that can be seen with the eye indicates the bushes require replacement. Bushes in a kit, with a new through bolt and washers are appx. £130 genuine Mercedes or about £40 for URO imported pattern parts. (Not the best make in the world – but as Lemforder have recently discontinued their offering, the only available option to genuine parts)

March 6th, 2015

In the quest for the best possible drive and ride I had detected a slight amount of front end wander and tramlining on rutted tarmac. This was a similar feeling to someone just tugging the steering wheel and forcing the car to steer slightly in an unexpected direction. This was not a serious situation, just one that I knew shouldn’t be there.

On the SL320 (R129) take a 24mm combination spanner and place it over the head of the idler bolt, let the spanner rest against the engine mount. From underneath, use a breaker bar short extension and 24mm hexagon socket and begin to undo the nut. Once free, exchange the breaker bar for a ratchet and remove the nut and washer. Tap through the long bolt and remove noting the order of the cup shield and spacer washer.

I checked the lower control arm bushes and ball joint on both lower arms, along with all six ball joints in the steering route.

The steering gear checks are easily carried out by simply gripping the ball joint to be tested while an assistant wags the steering wheel left to right. Any play will be felt in the joint – any perceivable movement between the ball pin and socket, then replace!

Removing the old bushes is best done first from the engine bay. Use a piece of steel tube about 75cm long and place it on the steel lip of the lower bush. Strike the drift/tube from above in the engine bay with a stout hammer and work your way round the bush lip, driving it steadily out of the chassis tube. When the lower bushing is removed, get underneath and use a shorter tube/drift through the chassis tube to drive out the upper section.

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Lubricate the new bushes with red rubber grease. Pop the old through bolt into the new bushing and position it over the chassis tube top, drive it into the tube using your drift/ pipe centred over the through bolt head as far as possible.

When the bush is fully home drive the lower section of bushing in from underneath. As soon as the thread can be seen, fit the old nut and tighten it up. This should draw the bush home, reaching the end of the available thread take out the through pin and thread it through the idler arm and retighten until both sections of the bush are completely fitted. When satisfied replace the old through bolt with the new one, build up the pivot and tighten the nut and bolt fully.

Mercedes SL 320 (R129) Steering Idler Arm Bush Kit Part Number: 129 460 0019 R129 Exploded steering parts diagram (LHD) The post Mercedes SL 320 (R129) Steering Idler Arm Bushes – Replacement appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Rear Suspension Refresh (R129) Mercedes SL & (W124) – A Wandering Star!

February 21st, 2015

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Either way, it would be nice to sort this minor issue as the SL is such a pleasing drive and you do just ‘Waft’ along on a magic-carpet ride, with surety even when pushed.

I had previously had the vehicle in the air and ‘barred’ the various multi-link suspension components in every way possible. Although the rubber bushes in each one of the pressed steel control arms was almost 20 years old, they were together and were just showing slight signs of perishing, with no real visually alarming deterioration.

Even gripping the wheel and then exerting huge forces with a crowbar under the tyre resulted in what seemed a taught rear suspension layout, seemingly not wanting for anything.

But something was not just right and it was bugging me!

Previously I had already fine tooth-combed the front end, discovering that the lower wishbone (control arm) bushes were starting to get a little saggy, but were holding there own. Visually the worst was the off side front rear bush in the set, but even when barred to extreme it still held firm. A job for the future. The front dampers were a little worn with only the slightest play in the rod/cartridge bush at normal ride height – again nothing to cause the wandering or write home about. It goes without saying the steering components came under detailed scrutiny and in every case proved wholly serviceable, with no unusual tyre wear either on the front or rear.

Even though the Mercedes SL320 (R129) passed its MOT in December with flying colours, there has always been a slight uncertainty at speed with regard to wandering. This is not ‘lane changing’ wandering we are talking about here, but just a hint of rear end steering that needed to be corrected in the 60+ mph range when buffeted or the road surface commanded, by the way of uneven camber or rutting of the tarmac.

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So what to do… well I decided the rear steering was obviously a result of some issue with the rear suspension, as the car would shift or wander needing correction through the steering. If this was front end wander, you would be fighting the wear in the normal course of driving, over correcting as you drove. So the decision was – it was the rear, you could kind of sense it happening under your seat, as you are sitting almost on top of the rear axle. It was almost as if you were being slightly ‘pushed’ sideways from the area under the seat. Characteristics were unusual in that there seemed no repeatable reason for the movement. I tried driving in ruts LHS/RHS, applying power, driving on white lines etc.

It had a mind of its own – only the car knew when it wanted to do it!

Having double checked the rear sub-frame mountings and bushings for wear, I made the decision to jump in with both feet and totally refresh the rear suspension – maybe I would find something along the way that would directly point to the ‘Wandering Star’…

I sourced a complete kit of rear suspension parts containing four control arms per side, all new bolts, fixings and washers.

The Delphi Kit price was very good value as the component parts individually added up to almost double the kit price by the time you had purchased – new camber adjustment bolts, washers and lock nuts etc. On opening the kit, it was obviously good quality and proved excellent value against OEM or other available parts. All the contents were checked against the originals as they were removed and bush centre to centre dimensions were crack on.

Remove the plastic Spring Link cover by undoing the two 10mm head self tapping screws and prying off the cover from the lip on the arm. Now adjust the jack so half of the weight of the car is supported on the jack under the chassis and the other half resting the Spring Link, supported by using your wooden blocks. You will need to adjust the weight distribution at times between the chassis and Spring Link, by raising and lowering the jack slightly. This will release tension from the suspension links allowing you to easily withdraw the various pins from the eyes and hangers as and when required.

Start by removing the upper forward arm, The Pulling Link. Your tools of choice for the job in hand will mainly be a pair of good 19mm combination spanners, a 17mm combination spanner, 17mm socket and 18mm combo for interlocking with the other spanners to increase leverage to break any rust. The new fixings/bolts and pins will require a triple square splined tool, it would be better to check exactly what size you need by first inspecting the parts in the kit when you purchase it. A heavy copper hammer and a sharp hack saw will also be required!

Tightening torques for bushes: Body end = 70 Nm – Wheel end= 70 Nm with M12 thread, if M10 thread then 40 Nm.

So on with the job, side at a time…

Raise the vehicle using the rear chassis jacking point and remove the road wheel. Get a sturdy support to handblocks of wood are ideal, these will need to be inserted under the rear sprung arm to take the weight of the vehicle when necessary during the work, especially when finally tightening the suspension fixings under normal ride height conditions.

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Open the kit of new parts and select the correct arm and refit it to the car, once fixed, just nip up the fixings. Lower the chassis to place pre-load weight onto the suspension, then fully tighten at the two fixing points on the Pulling Link, raising the vehicle again when done.

Now remove the Pushing Link, (Forward lower arm without a ball joint) This will have a plastic trim cover clipped onto it, this can be transferred to the new link when you refit the item. Begin to remove the Tie Link using a 17mm spanner on the nut attached to the hub carrier, if the ball joint begins to spin you may need to use a hexagon key in the taper end to hold it while you undo the lock nut completely. If it does not spin, you will get the nut off easily, then using a ball joint separator (Pickle Fork) part the joint.

To fit the new Tie Link, slot the arm into the hanger, align the taper of the ball joint and tighten this first using the hex key and 17mm spanner. Then align the hanger end, inserting the new through bolt (cam adjuster) Mark the parts in the same way with paint, copying the exact positions from the removed components. Lower the chassis to support the weight of the vehicle on the Spring Link and tighten the adjuster fully through the hanger, whilst maintaining alignment of your paint marks.

Raise the vehicle again and refit the Pushing link with its plastic trim cover, this fits between the front of the hub carrier and chassis. Use the same raise/lower technique with the jack to correctly stress the rubber bushes on tightening.

Tackle the other end on the Tie link chassis bushing by undoing the 19mm nut. Make sure you paint mark the adjusting eccentric cam so it can be returned to its correct position on reassembly. Typically this fixing bolt will be seized. It has a longitudinal slot in the bolt to key with the adjustment cam. In use this allows water to seep along into the joint and internally corrode the alloy bush to the steel pin – you may be lucky, but probably wont be! Faced with a seized through-bolt, your only option is to cut off the bush and bolt with a hacksaw. Begin your cut from underneath on the first alloy step of the bush, on the triple square end.

Don’t try and cut the steel outer as you will be sawing for ever. Short strokes will be allowed and it takes a while to cut to a maximum of 90 per cent through the bush and bolt. Any further and you will begin to cut the chassis or hanger bracket, so be aware of your limitations while sawing.

When you have cut to the maximum allowable depth, wire brush the triple square adjuster. Insert your splined tool to its maximum, if you can only manage a poor fit, don’t go any further until you have cleaned the splines and can get the tool tip fully home. (rounding this head off at this point would be a disaster) Once the spline tool is fully home, place a 10mm spanner on its shaft, interlock an 18mm combo spanner and turn the bolt, hard – if you have cut through to your maximum, the bolt head will shear and the end will fall off. The joint can then be manoeuvred out of the hanger and thrown down the garden!

Move on now to replace The Camber Link, use the same above procedure to refit the last of the new components.

Check your work thoroughly, refit the plastic Spring Link cover and then the road wheel, finally lowering the car to the ground. Proceed to do the suspension ‘refresh’ the other side of the vehicle.

It is worth while mentioning that while individual links are off the vehicle, it is possible to test out the condition of the bushes in the Spring Link inner and outer locations, these should be firm and without play.

The complete rear suspension refresh job should take about three to three and a half hours a side, as although straight forward, space is restricted and work is hampered by suborn and seized bolts. Either way, with a little patience and care it should go well.

So having completed the job it was time for the road test. The biggest thought in my mind was… had I wasted my money!

I started the engine and selected drive, the familiar muted thud that had always been there when slipping the selector to D to move off had gone!. I did not believe it, so I did it again – sure enough the slop when taking up the drive had gone. Lets continue…

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Out of the street turning out and into narrow roads, the car felt noticeably different, tighter. I was unsure if this was psychological mumbo jumbo, but that is how it felt.

Amazingly the steering straightened up more positively out of a turn, pulling out onto the familiar main road proved this without any doubt. Applying throttle on then off, felt no different, which was good news – because it meant that combined with the fact the car steered perfectly straight without drifting or pulling, meant that the Tie Link adjuster had gone back in a near correct position, maintaining a useable and balanced toe in figure for the rear wheel set.

Opening up the throttle showed that the work was well worth doing, the car no longer felt vague, and did no longer have a mind of its own wandering as it did before. Result.

The most amazing thing for me was to lose the drive uptake when engaging gear from neutral or park, this was indeed unexpected.

If I was to review this DIY maintenance work honestly, I would say the resulting positives from such a suspension refresh were probably one of the most value-added improvements you could make to your R129/W124 for what is comparativley a very little monetary investment.

Enjoy !

The post Rear Suspension Refresh (R129) Mercedes SL & (W124) – A Wandering Star! appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Heavy scrubbing noise from front tyres when cold – (R129) Mercedes SL & Others February 13th, 2015

It goes without saying that this is maybe the first time ever I could not convince myself by visual of physical inspection (on or off the car) that any of the joints were degraded to a point of causing this type of wander. It just goes to prove that old soft, not necessarily collapsed bushings, in a Mercedes five link rear suspension set up has a cumulative effect on drivability. If your links are are all old, the rubber will exhibit a kind of aging related softness, this is without doubt time to change them and enjoy the improvements it can make – not just to the wandering, but also to steering geometry in general, add to that the new transmission firmness and the result – Money well spent.

When I first came across this problem I was worried that I had serious front suspension trouble, in fact it sounded so like there was some part of the wheel/tyre catching on a suspension component I used to stop and check my tyres were still inflated! This problem only ever occurred when the car was cold and had been standing all day or overnight and never revealed itself when the car was warm. It was noticed when applying a generous amount of steering lock either left or right, needed to negotiate an exit from a tight parking position.

This went on for weeks. I researched what the issue could be and all that was written was: Worn lower arm bushes, top mount worn , play in ball joints… etc – to be honest enough horror reading material to scare the most ardent of owners!

But I was not convinced, as I could see nothing wrong with anything and all components were in good order with no play, back-lash or wear present.

I came by this totally by accident, it was a YouTube video posted by a chap with an almost new Porsche 991 – the noise and vibration effect was identical to what I was suffering on the Mercedes SL (R129) Although my tyres were past there best, still more than legal but approaching time to change I was convinced this was tyre related. After some investigation and reading obscure posts and questioning seasoned performance mechanics it became apparent that this was not an uncommon problem.

If you were so inclined you could spend in the order of £175.00 upward having the vehicle 4 wheel aligned. My own view is to maybe wait until I get around to doing the few jobs up-front before even considering this. If I don’t get any abnormal tyre wear and drivability is perfect, I see no reason to have this alignment done, although without doubt it should be done in the real world. I have read so many alignment tales of woe borne of the technicians inability to understand the complexities of the Mercedes W124/R129 series it could make things worse – you decide!

Interesting write-up on wheel alignment, front and rear – here.

Continental Contact tyres – worn but with some life left The scrubbing/rubbing noise seems to be more prevelent with Continental Contact 2/3 tyres and often accentuated if the tyre is starting to cup or feather on the edges. However 31

it is not a product of a worn tyre or even an anomaly of a particular brand – it is due wholly to steering geometry angles and cold tyres!

From my reading on the subject some Porsche dealerships have offered an opinion to owners that this noise or juddering effect takes place more commonly below ambient temperatures of 40 degreed F or 4 degrees C (That is most of the time here in the UK!) Owners of Mercedes vehicles have reported exact noises and effects similar to that experienced by Porsche owners.

Having spoken to several mechanics and in particular to one industry expert on the subject his comments are worthy of note: Hi Steve, now you come to mention it, I think I have noticed that happening in some of my cars – and especially the 2004 Passat when I’m using full lock to get out of my driveway. I also borrowed a Porsche Panamera last summer, and from memory that did it, too.

I think it’s because modern cars have such a tight ‘lock’ that when you turn the wheel fully in either direction at least one of the tyres – the inside one, I guess – is almost literally being pulled/pushed diagonally across the ground, rather than rolling as cleanly as it should. I’d imagine it would be worse when the tyres are cold – ie less supple and less grippy than when hot – but then again the ambient temperature when I had the Panam was pretty warm. Maybe that has less bearing than the angle they are operating at…

I had decided to drain the oil as it gave me good opportunity to see how much lubricant existed in the diff, also so I could gauge if any remedial work needed to be planned or just to ignore it for a season and monitor its progress. I chose the latter, as neither combinations of small leaks looked to be too serious – compared to ones I had seen that needed new seals. Added to this, the fact that there was a good amount of oil drained out of the diff, the leak was not sufficient to pose any any great danger.

To change the differential oil, raise the rear of the car to a comfortable level and clean off the area with a wire brush around the filler and drain plugs. Then use a good penetrating oil if they look like the ones on my car! The fill plug will be found on the upper left side of the diff casing looking at the back of the vehicle masked by the exhaust pipe and the drain plug on the lower right.

So there you have it, it is a little known phenomena occurring mostly with cold tyres, made worse in some instances by tyre choice, wear or age. You live and learn….

You will need a 14mm hexagon drain plug key, the one I use uses a 21mm spanner or socket to apply the required force.

Insert the key into the fill plug, tapping it fully home before applying any turning force so that it does not slip out. If it proves stubborn to undo, try tightening it a little first – once the rust is broken, it should undo nicely as it is a taper fit thread in the casing.

Replacement Pirelli P7 front tyres – ready to go on the SL The post Heavy scrubbing noise from front tyres when cold – (R129) Mercedes SL & Others appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Differential Oil Change – Mercedes SL (R129) February 13th, 2015

This is a simple task carried out with only a few points of note. Often the pinion seal of this type of hypoid differential passes oil, as long as it is only minor and not gushing they can continue to run for years and give no real trouble. This leaking problem is also common to most W124 series, and the later 190’s. Obviously the point of note here is; if you ignore a bad leak here and the oil runs dry, it can result in damage to the pinion bearing or worse still the internals of the Diff . Other commonplace diff leaks are from the rear cover and drive shaft output seals.

IMPORTANT NOTE- Always remove the filler plug first, as if you cannot get this open, its far better to know now than when you have drained the oil contents and are unable to refill the differential!! This is very good advice indeed for any gearbox or diff job you may attempt in the future.

Once the fill plug is removed, remove the drain plug and allow the oil to drain into a suitable container. Once empty, refit the plug and dispose of the old oil. If you choose a modern semi-synthetic gear oil like Autolube’s 75-90 EP then the 1 litre bottle will have a short dispensing spout. The specified oil amount is approx. 1.5 litres. Have a good look 32

at the drained oil and see if it looks to hold a suspension of metallic particles or is clear and maybe just dirty. Any metal pieces or chips, heavy contamination etc. indicates that probably the differential is not in the best of condition!

On the R129 SL there is quite a technique to getting the oil into the diff from the bottle if you do not own a pump of some sort. The technique is as follows. Pull up the flexible spout on the oil bottle, (leaving the screw cap seal on the tube spout) and feed the container into the area above the exhaust pipe and intermediate box. The position you will find allows the bottle to lie horizontal with little or no tilt available, but thats ok. Manoeuvre the bottle so that the sealed spout is within 20mm or so of the fill orifice, then unscrew the cap and quickly push the bottle forward into the hole. Squeeze the bottle to get as much oil in as possible, this is unlikely to be much more than half its contents (0.5l), when you feel you cannot get any more out of the bottle, withdraw it and top up to full again from the new bottle. Re -insert and deliver another half litre. Finally refill the bottle for a last time and fill to the level of the filler plug hole. It is painstaking and it can be a little messy to refill to just ‘dribbling out’ of the filler hole, but without a delivery pump its the only way possible (Unless you have a length of garden hose, funnel and an assistant to pour the oil elevated from the side of the vehicle.)

The symptoms can be varied but often manifest themselves as an uncontrolled gentle wobble at slow speed over uneven ground. A good example of this would be – if waiting to turn right on a crosshatch marked section of road, trickling along, moving very slowly at nothing more than a ‘snail’space’ in a straight line. The front of the car will often appear to rock from side to side slightly and this motion is often undetectable in the steering wheel. (The nature of steering box and relay link steering is not the most positive steering feel out there, compared of course to rack and pinion setups)

You may also notice some wandering at speed, although on the older E series, SL and 124 series this is more likely resulting from a combination of ‘saggy’ aged lower arm bushes in conjunction with a worn out and ineffective steering damper.

Refit the filler plug and clean down the whole area with rag.

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Steering Damper Fault – Mercedes SL (R129) and others.

February 13th, 2015

The issue with the Mercedes steering damper across many of the model ranges is that it is often ignored and as such goes unnoticed, until either a new owner takes up ownership or it is noticed by someone ‘in the know’ who recognises that it is no longer doing its job.

It is in reality a shock-absorber for the steering, it applies a linear damping force to the connecting steering tie bar (the rod/bars that tie left to right wheels together that is moved by the steering box) One end is attached to the tie bar and the other to the chassis. Forces are acted upon by the gas/oil filled damper against a fixed point on the chassis.

Physically the unit looks just like a small shock absorber/ damper, the type of which you would normally see on a rear wheel suspension setup for instance.

For the attributed low cost of this item and the relative ease in which it can be DIY fitted in a matter of minutes, it is hardly worth avoiding to change it – handling and ride can only be improved.

Raise a front corner of the vehicle to a reasonable height to allow unrestricted movement beneath. Remove the plastic under-belly cover to improve visibility and overall access.

Look towards the rear of the engine, about where the gearbox mates to the block and just beneath you will see 33

the steering tie bar. Connected to this and running parallel, you will identify the steering damper, one end attached to the rod, the other to the chassis. Using a 17mm spanner above the chassis fixing point on the left hand side of the vehicle (from looking at the front) ‘back’ the through-pin and with a 17mm socket ratchet, undo and withdraw the nut and pin. The attachment to the tie bar end is also 17mm but has a captive nut at its lower point. A combination spanner will make light work of the nut. Once undone, remove the captive square section nut from the eye. You may have to apply a little left hand lock to the steering to enable the pin to clear the underbody bracing struts. The steering damper can now be removed and replaced with a new unit. Refit the damper locating pins and nuts then replace the plastic under tray. Lower vehicle to the ground and test out your new and improved steering !

The cost of the steering damper unit is around £30 for a pattern part from GSF and it will take around 20 minutes to complete give or take a tad, to change it. Time well spent. I have yet to remove one of these dampers that has not been faulty as they often forgotten because they are hidden away and all but a few people are aware they exist.

View the video clip above showing a worn steering damper – when the gas/oil escapes over time, seals fail etc the damper becomes generally worthless and ineffective. This particular one is totally gone with as you can see no damping action at all. Also when it was fully extended the rod grated and scraped – One place for this damper, (the bin) and doubly certain that in this condition it shouldn’t remain fitted to any car!

light emitted is more pleasing to me than the yellow light from older traditional lighting, but that is a matter of taste and may not be to everyones liking.

I will add that there are a lot of LED’s out there stating that they are ‘white’ when actually their output contains an element of the blue spectrum – this often causes problems at MOT or inspection time, as the testers seem to need to see a ‘pure white’ rather than one diluted with a blueish tinge – That gets the thumbs down under the – ‘No blue lights should be fitted to the vehicle’ rule. In my view this is a little petty, given that in reality the emitted ever-so-slightly bluish light, is not even on the same page as ’emergency services blue’, but I suppose a law is a law.

While I was choosing suitable festoon LED’s to replace the existing tungsten filament lamps I came across some T10 push in LED replacement lamps. These would be ideal for the sidelights up front in the headlamp unit, the ones I was looking at had built in SMD resistors to offset the lamp load so that they would not trigger the bulb failure dash warning lamp.

The T10 LED replacement that has an oversize base that will not push through the opening in the R129 headlamp My chosen festoon lamps were ordered from China (Also with resistors so that I could use them in the number plate lamp holders too) The T10 push fit LED’s were ordered from the UK – no guessing which LED’s were delivered first!

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LED Lighting Upgrade – Side Light & Interior – Mercedes SL (R129) February 15th, 2015

I decided to upgrade the lighting in the interior of the Mercedes SL (R129). Previously I had modified the BA9S LED lamps in the dome light / map light and now wanted to tackle the footwell and puddle lamps (under door lighting).

Link to dome light modification/LED fitment here.

The reason for the upgrade is that I like the reliability of LED’s over the T10 and festoon tungsten lamp styles. The T10 often blackens almost to the point of no light being emitted and the festoon ‘end to end’ filament is not a robust design by any means, especially in applications that involve slamming doors and boot/trunk lids. Apart from that the

My chosen T10 sidelight replacement – what an amazing light output!

I had previously upgraded the side lighting on my Vito W639 and was going to use some spare LED lamps I had in the SL application. The problem I had was the receptacle in the SL headlamp reflector was only just large enough to insert a glass T10 lamp (not surprisingly 10mm diameter) The China T10 replacements I had in the drawer were a little oversize on the plastic moulding flange, and although I could probably have forced the holder and LED into the lamp housing, I did not fancy dismantling the headlight to remove an LED that had been pulled from its holder and had fallen inside, when or if I ever had to remove or change it!

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Almost as good as headlights ! – well you get the idea.

I ordered up the UK LED’s and within a couple of days they arrived. Expecting similar performance to the Vito LED upgrade, I fitted the T10 replacements. WOW.. These were just amazing. Pure white and very, very bright with the added bonus that they fooled perfectly the SL’s bulb fail circuit. I could not believe how good these lamps were.

Indeed they were almost as bright as daytime running lamps and at night the forward illumination from the two LED side lights was just staggering. (see photos)

Heatsink for heat dissipation of the LED’s and built in resistor.

I fitted festoons with integrated resistors, not because they are covered by any lamp fail warning, but because I simply ordered a larger quantity of the lamps I needed for the number/reg plate lights. The number plate lamps were also a breeze to change, unscrewing the stainless steel screws (2 per lens holder) and lowering the holders was as easy as swapping the bulbs and slotting the holders back in place.

These LED’s also worked brilliantly, they did not trigger any lamp failure and the light was nice and white (although I must admit – not as ‘piercing white’ as the front T10 LED side lights) Very pleased with the results indeed.

White light output with good intensity as can be seen here.

Within a few weeks, the delivery of my LED selection from China arrived. Once the weather had improved sufficiently to allow me to open the doors of the car and work inside without getting drenched, I got to work to swap out the footwell and door card puddle lamps.

Good illumination and LED’s do not trigger lamp fail warning.

As you can see the quality of the LED’s both from China and the UK is very good, they look well made and built to last. So far 6 weeks and no problems – not that I expect to have any, because the Vito’s upgrade was done some 18 months ago and the LED’s are still going strong.

Footwell and door lighting works well.

Pulling the lenses/holders was straight forward as was changing the tungsten festoon’s for the new LED units. I was pleased with the results – again pure white and excellent illumination, now matching the dome lamp LED’s done previously.

The side light LED T10 type resistor equipped replacements can be found here.

The LED festoon type, with integrated resistor and heatsink, for interior and number plate illumination can be found here.

When time allows I have some dash and instrument lighting that is out and in need of attention, so that ones on the list!

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Mercedes SL (R129) Dome Light / Map Light – LED Upgrade January 25th, 2015

LED Festoon lamp replacement.

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I suppose if you are reading this you are considering upgrading your Mercedes SL’s current dome light / map reading light to LED lamps. Simple you might think. You may have tried already and be wondering how I managed to get it work, well here is the detail.

There are several sources of LED lamps to replace the Ba9s miniature bayonet cap bulb and you might think it is just a matter of swapping out the standard filament lamp for the newer LED replacement…. wrong! If you do this you will find that it will just not work, not illuminate, flicker or blink – ‘nada’. The reason behind this is that Mercedes in their wisdom decided to polarise the voltage connection to the lamps in the reverse of what you would expect, ie. the tip in this case is negative 12v. This is related to the way in which the dome light control switches work and their dual function.

First remove the dome light lens and holder assemblies from both fittings by levering them on one of the long edge corners. Once removed, you will have to carefully push in the two small tags on the reflector contact frame to release them from the clear lens part.

Remove the old bulb and take off the plastic support by releasing the two clips to leave a bare metal frame. Offering the old bulb up to the holder from the reflector side of the assembly note where material will have to be removed with a needle file to insert the bulb from the front of the holder and not the rear as it is currently designed. There is even slides in the plastic holder bush to allow fitment from this side but no slots in the base to allow the bulb to be slotted and turned.

See the pictures that show both original configuration and the notched modified part. Carry out this modification to both left and right lamp holders and proceed now to modify the Ba9s LED lamps.

So what do we do, put the old lamps back in and admit defeat… NEVER ! I chose these LED Ba9s bulbs as they were based in the UK and I were delivered quickly as opposed to the many retailers in China who take 6-8 weeks for delivery.

I looked at the replacement LED Ba9s lamps and decided that it would be possible to take them apart, reverse the polarity and rebuild the lamps to work in opposing polarity to how they were intended. Its intricate work but well within the capability of someone who owns and has used a soldering iron.

Quickly heat up the tip of the LED lamp with a soldering iron until the solder is molten, then bang the bulb on a hard surface, the hot solder will be ejected leaving a hole and connecting wire. Pull carefully on the LED structure and free it from the cap. You will see the LED unit is polarised and it is this we will be swapping over. Unfold the thin wire that is bent over the edge of the plastic holder, make it as straight as possible, in most cases it will be too short to reach the tip (its new connection point). Using fine pliers, bend a small hook onto its end. Use some suitable fine wire and bend one end into a similar hook and couple the two ends together.

Mechanically crimp together and solder the joint using as little solder as possible. Now bend the longer section of wire that used to go to the bulb tip, over the edge of the plastic holder in a similar fashion to how the original wire was bent.

See photographs.

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Check your work with a test meter and if you wish to double check test the LED lamp on a 12v DC supply. Remember that the tip will be polarised negative now!

Push the LED assembly back into the cap, threading the longer straight wire through the cap tip. Push the LED assembly fully home into the cap and quickly re-solder the tip making sure you do not overheat the wire in the process.

Clip the remaining wire from the tip and allow to cool.

Insert the modified LED lamp into the holder and turn it a few degrees to locate the cap pips in the dimples provided.

Refit the plastic lens to the reflector frame if you have not done so already and clip the assembly back into the dome light. Test out the function of your new modified LED lamps and then pat yourself on the back, as it is a very unique feature in the Mercedes SL R129 vehicle to have LED dome lights, for this very reason. If you search the web you will see many owners who have in my view almost ‘bodged’ a 36mm festoon type LED bulb into the fittings. Suffice to say I have 37

further read about blowing fuses and intermittent operation due to poorly made connections, in one case on a popular MB forum the lamp control module required replacement at a huge sum. If anything touches the exposed cross head fixing screw that lives inside the dome light pocket – expect trouble. The fitting was never designed for any other lamp other than the Ba9s and that is how it should remain for robustness of operation and safety’s sake! It really does not take too much effort to do the job properly.

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Position the key so you can view its red IR window on the screen of your phone or camera, press the operating button on the key and observe the image on the device. Due to the optical filtering in the camera (CCD) you should be able to see the invisible infra-red light illuminating in a blue-grey point of light. This cannot normally be seen with the naked eye, but once viewed through a camera or camera phone it can easily prove that there is IR light being emitted from your remote – If not check the batteries! This simple trick can be used on all IR remotes, home TV, HiFi etc.

No IR light emitted – as viewed through camera/camera phone

Simple Functional Test for Mercedes Infra-red Remote Keys January 16th, 2015

Sometimes it may be necessary to prove an older style Mercedes Benz infra-red key is working. At least to prove the batteries are functioning and that the key is emitting and infra-red beam before further diagnostics are carried out.

Mercedes Infra-red key remote

IR Light emitted – as viewed through camera/camera phone It is worth remembering that this is a really basic test.

The battery actually needs to have more power than is needed just to illuminate the LED to correctly operate the immobiliser and locking system. You will often get an indication on the rear view mirror warning of failing batteries in the remote. This warning will be indicated to the driver on activation of the key fob, by alternate flashing of both the red and green mirror status lamps for a brief period.

Whilst the locking and unlocking will be unhindered and still function as it should, it is warning that the fob batteries are in need of replacement and should be changed as soon as possible.

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Synchronising the single button IR Mercedes Key February 8th, 2015

Mercedes Infra-red key remote – IR window Using either a mobile phone camera or digital camera to carry out this simple quick test that allows you to at least prove the most basic function of your IR remote key.

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This is quite a simple task if you have changed the batteries or for whatever reason the key no longer correctly locks and unlocks the car as it used to.

There are principally three variations on a theme and these are outlined below:

Mercedes SL 320 R129 Front Roll Bar Bush Replacement January 9th, 2015

The following instructions are for the square flip out key (not the later DAS pear shaped keys) Model W124 (with code 885) Model W124 model year 01-03-96 Model W129,W140,W202 model year 01-12-94 up to 31-05 97 Model W210 model year up to 28-02-97

New roll bar end rubber bushes

Point the remote key towards the rear view mirror receiver.

Press the remote button just once.

NOTE: For vehicles model year up to 12-93 – lock or unlock car with the remote key flip out blade within 30 seconds in door lock Mercedes C class models from Jan 1994 with control modules 202 820 40, 26 and 202 820 43 26. Turn on ignition to position 2 with folding key within next 30 seconds.

W210 E class cars as from December 1994 with part numbers: 210 820 21 26 210 820 22 26 210 820 27 26 210 820 28 26

R129 Roll bar parts diagram To remove the roll bar on a SL R129 Jack and support the nearside chassis then remove the road wheel, belly pan (engine under shield) and the nearside wheel arch shield panel that the roll bar passes through. Wire brush and use a good penetrating spray on all the fixing bolt threads: 2x on both hangers and 2x on each lower wishbone position.

210 820 32 26

Debris and scale removed from Mercedes SL R129 roll bar Point the remote key at the interior mirror, press remote button twice then turn key in ignition lock to position 2 (within 30 seconds).

Test function of key, it should now be synchronised!

If the key fob now locks and unlocks the doors correctly, but the red and green lights flash alternately red/green unusually on the rear view mirror – replace the batteries in the key fob remote. This alternate flashing is the Mercedes indication of low batteries in the remote fob/flip key – it is not widely publicised.

Place a support packing under the raised wishbone and lower the car gently onto it to release any torsional tension between the two lower arms. Remove the roll bar hanger bush pins and saddles (13mm nuts and pins) and then remove the two nuts on the near side lower wishbone mount and slacked the ones on the off side. Release the roll bar, and then pull it out from the offside bush.

You can watch a video of how to change the key fob batteries here.

The post Synchronising the single button IR Mercedes Key appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In. Swelling and corrosion of anti-roll bar pivot points (Hanger bush location) 39

sets. Refit all the parts removed to gain access to the roll bar, refit wheel and road test.

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R129 Mercedes SL Headlamp Repair R129 Roll bar hanger bush (worn)

December 31st, 2014

Here you can see my Christmas purchase of a 1996 Mercedes SL 320. This is set to replace the E320 that was damaged and written off a couple of years back, when an oncoming driver decided that there was not enough room on their side of the white line and for no reason decided to drive in mine, running me off the road. When I went to view the SL I noticed that the near side headlamp was heavily condensated inside and the lamp reflector had just begun to deteriorate within.

R129 Roll bar end bushes (Worn) Once the roll bar is removed the offside bush can be unbolted and removed. You may find that the roll bar is corroded badly under the bush contact areas, this obviously must be removed and cleaned. A good coat of protective paint will provide future protection.

Prepared, cleaned and painted, fitted with new hanger bushes ready for refitting Once the paint is dry, slide the new hanger rubber bushes over the ends of the roll bar, use a little washing up liquid to ease the bushes round the bends of the bar. Offer up the roll bar and position the hanger bushes centrally and in the correct position to give balanced lengths at each wishbone/ bar tip. Push fit the nearside wishbone bush onto the roll bar. Loosely fit the offside bush to the lower wishbone and slide the roll bar into it (use some washing up liquid if needed)

It was the first job that I had on the list as it detracted to the overall appearance (and it bugged me). It was quite a simple task, although needed some care when removing the glass lens from the housing. As you can see from the photograph above it was a cold day when I tackled this one!!

Firstly to remove the lamp raise the hood/bonnet and remove any trim pieces from the radiator side of the lamp body. Reach inside the inner wing corner area from inside the engine bay and release the clip on the indicator lens and pull this out from the front. It locates and slides into the outer side of the headlamp body, remove the indicator lamp housing completely by pulling off the electrical connector and placing the unit in a safe place.

Inside where the indicator has been removed, on the headlamp you will see 2x 8mm hex head self tapping screws fixing it to the front panel, remove these. Tilt back the headlamp wiper nut cover and remove this 8mm nut, carefully pull off the wiper arm and jet assembly. Remove the washer hose from the white protruding fluid coupling.

Hanger and lower wishbone attachment points Offer up the bar whilst getting a lower nut and pin started in each of the hanger brackets and saddles, this will support the bar fully while you position and fit the nearside lower wishbone roll bush and saddle. Once you are happy with the fit tighten the hanger pins fully then the two wishbone bush

Undo the two cross head self tapping screws that attach the lower lamp trim piece, one to the bottom corner (bonnet/ hood edge) and the other inside on the wind edge where the indicator was removed. Pull the trim piece over the wiper shaft and let it hang down away from the work area. Do not remove it from the rubber trim section as this is a nightmare to reattach to the trim piece!

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Now working from the radiator side remove the single 8mm hex head long self tapping screw from the middle of the lamp side. (This is located in a larger hex plastic adjuster assembly, do not change the position of this outer part as it will alter the lamp position/aim)

in any way, it will scratch/mark and if it has begun to deteriorate the silvered coating will come off very easily and leave you with a lamp without a usable reflector, best left alone if at all possible! Reassemble the lamp and refit to the car using the same method as removal.

Pull the lamp forward disconnecting both the square electrical connector and purple vacuum adjuster hose. The lamp should be free to remove from the vehicle.

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Hirschmann Antenna Service and Repair – Mercedes SL R129 January 1st, 2015

Once you have the lamp removed, the lens glass can be removed by firstly removing the L shaped rubber bonnet/ hood seal from the outer case by pulling the centres of the plastic rivets that hold it to the lamp body. Once removed you will see 4 clips reaching from the glass lens housing to the main body, 2 on top and 2 underneath the headlamp assembly. Using a paint scraper or similar tool lever each clip up just enough to push the housing apart. Work your way round to release all four clips then withdraw the lens away from the main body. You will now see the lamp seal in its groove. This can be removed and cleaned before reassembly. You may now carry out any repairs you require inside the lamp before reassembling and refitting the lamp housing.

I repaired a hole in the front of the lens caused by a road flint or small rock. To do this I cleaned the lamp glass on the inside and dried all components with a hair dryer. I then mixed a small quantity of epoxy resin (Araldite). On the outside of the glass I placed a small piece of Sellotape over the hole and lay the lamp glass on the table, inside facing upward. I then used the two part epoxy to fill the hole on the back of the lamp. As most glass ‘hole’s in such a way that bursts a larger piece out of the back than the damage on the front, it makes a perfect repair surface profile.

The SL’s radio antenna was just a 4 inch stub neither moving up or down, completely jammed, a service and repair was needed.

Being the standard OEM antenna fitted to this car I knew it would be worth the effort as the Hirschmann ATUA 6000KE is an expensive and fine quality unit with every spare part available from Hirschmann. The antenna mast type for the R129 SL is the h04 which is the 86cm chrome mast or the h05 86cm black chrome mast finish. Either mast will fit the 6000KE. The Hirshmann h04/05 masts are equivalent to the Mercedes Benz part numbers B 6 6 82 8037 and Q 52223112 To remove the antenna pull upward the outer of the 2 part wing grommet and remove it, take a 13mm spanner and place it on the mast nut and unscrew it from the main body. Have an assistant turn on the radio and the antenna should feed out of the main body until the plastic/nylon mast gear disengages fully from the internal drive allowing you to withdraw the mast completely. Oh if were that simple…

Once the epoxy has dried, do final cleaning to the lamp internals, do be aware that if you try to clean the reflector 41

As I previously stated the mast was jammed (as the top photo) and did not move at all, so the complete antenna has to be removed from the car.

Unclip the inner lamp housing and disconnect the electrical plug, place to one side. From the photograph you can see that I had to remove the OEM Blaupunkt CD changer from its bracket before remove the interior trim to the left hand inner wing from inside the boot. Look towards the base of the antenna motor and inner wing support bracket and you will find a single cross head screw – undo this. Remove the ground braid from the support using a 7mm spanner/socket.

Remove the plug from the motor controller and unscrew the antenna cable from the upper section. You can now manoeuvre the motor assembly and rod down and out of the rubber wing grommet and out of the vehicle.

The motor control electronic section slides off the main body away from the alloy antenna tube, there is a twin electrical connection to the motor. If you further remove the 2x torx screws from the die cast zinc motor chassis it can be withdrawn from the plastic main housing. The small black drive belt that runs from the motor sprocket to the worm drive can now be replaced. While you have this apart lubricate the bronze bushes on the worm drive spindle and refit.

Working from the motor side of the casing remove the white plastic quadrant/guide at the 7 o’clock position (2x cross head screws) Be sure to clean this before refitting. Beneath this quadrant is a small steel roller and bearing pin this needs to be cleaned and lightly lubricated, once done this part can be built back up.

Replace the empty spool assembly on the rear of the main housing, refit the split two section nylon main drive gear and refit the cover. the motor controller can be slid into its home position at any time.

Once on the bench things are more accessible and obvious.

If you could not remove the antenna mast from the tube then carefully clamp the upper tube section in a vice and remove the mast. It may be corroded in the top section of the tube if its been there for a while so a little jiggling and pulling may be necessary to fully remove it. As the mast will not be reused twist it round until the nylon rack attached to the mast breaks and discard the antenna. Now remove the top tube casting (antenna connection section) by unscrewing it from the ally tube.

You will now be left with a black motor body and alloy tube section. To retrieve the broken nylon rack and service the internal parts undo the single torx screw on the centre circular hub and remove both the rack cover and motor gear covers on either side. Pull off the black rack spool and uncoil the contained nylon rack. Turn the assembly over and begin to tease the nylon gear out from the worm drive, this is a little tricky but will pass the worm drive with a small clearance.

With this split gear removed remove all the old debris of nylon rack and clean the body. Use a stiff nail brush or old tooth brush to clean the drive components, WD40 helps to loosen the muck.

If you discovered any parts broken, especially the two section drive gears their internal spring, the drive belt etc they can be purchased from a Hirschmann dealer or even from EBay! The repair parts, h04 h05 replacement antenna masts with integral toothed flexible drive rack, and mounting grommets can all be purchased at the very best prices from EBay seller ‘car-masts-uk‘ or simply email him for a price. (Although these are not a cheap product by their nature, I doubt you will not find them cheaper anywhere – as I looked!)

The importance of the grommet condition is to prevent water entering the trunk/boot and corroding the wheel well area behind the rear wheel and is best replaced if found to be suspect. While the interior trim was out I took time to inspect the roof operating hydraulic cylinders for problems and thankfully no leaks and in fine condition.

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Refitting is the same as removal. once you have installed and reconnected the motor assembly (the antenna motor should now run) feed the new antenna mast rack down into the open tube. (It is designed to feed into the gears correctly so don’t worry too much about the initial orientation of the mast/rack when inserting it for the first time. If it does not grip first time rotate the mast slightly then it will drive home easily) Once the mast rack is grabbed by the drive cog it will begin to retract – feed the mast home carefully until the chrome part just depends into the tube then begin to screw in the mast nut finger tight. The motor will stop at some point (usually with several inches of mast protruding) allowing you then to fully tighten this nut. Turn on the radio for a moment until the antenna fully extends, then turn it off so that it fully retracts. You may have to do this a couple of times to set the antenna so it extends and retracts correctly. Replace the outer grommet and check everything works and the antenna lead is connected before you replace the interior trim. Once completed I will valet the boot-space to make it all the more pleasing!

The post Hirschmann Antenna Service and Repair – Mercedes SL R129 appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Mercedes E Class W210 Front Spring Perch Failure – Repair April 13th, 2013

Take a look at this photograph do you see anything wrong?

On the face of it all looks well, but it isn’t !…..

As you can see the front spring perch had pulled away from its mounting due to corrosion. The groaning noise was in fact the road spring scraping on the inside face of the shock absorber/damper! I had previously checked these out and all looked good at the last service as spring perches are known failure points with the Mercedes E Class W210 model series. I had previously strengthened the passenger side perch by plating the area that looked slightly suspect.

Failure of this side was a complete surprise as the perch looked fine under my close inspection last season and I had every faith that it was sound. Just goes to show…

What happens is that over time water gets behind the perch seams that are only spot welded onto the inner wing, this corrodes the material from the back. It is feebly protected from leaving the factory with rubberised grey mastic, applied to all the seams before the paint process, but moisture gets behind it and gets to work. The original factory perches are spot welded on their lower ears and then one big spot weld inside the upper cup. Very poor design. Its not just Mercedes, Ford actually attached their suspension tops to the bodywork on the Sierra model with adhesive ! On warranty claim ‘failed’ cars, Mercedes Benz riveted new perches into place with ‘special’ rivets once they had ground off the original failed part, but in my opinion rivets are no better than poor spot weld. Next time your car fails its MOT on corroded structural bodywork, see if you can get away with ‘riveting’ a patch over it – I don’t think so. It is however quite easy to weld strong repair patches to this area using 1 mm steel and it does a great job in securing the perch, as you can choose where to reinforce the design and tie it to much strong inner wing metal in a several places.

I had heard a slight groaning noise rather like a worn ball joint for the duration of the return journey from work, it was only apparent at very low speed so I dismissed it as an inspection job for the weekend. Curiosity got the better of me the following morning and I decided to take a quick glance under the wheel arch before leaving for work, glad that I did when I noticed ‘all was not well’. I took the van to work and when I arrived home I took off the wheel of the E Class to investigate further.

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I am not going to dwell on the dire situation that would face a driver if this component completely failed at speed, but thankfully all the reports I have ever read have always been at slow speed and always driver has just heard a large bang, on rare occasion I have also read that the vehicle drops to the ground – ‘wheel inside wheel arch’. …. Moving swiftly on with the repair…… You will need two jacks !

Stage one, open the bonnet / hood and remove the two 17mm nuts, plate washer and rubber pad that secure the shock absorber damper to the inner wing. Support the car and remove the road wheel. Remove the lower damper bolt and extract the damper assembly from the car. Place a trolley jack under the lower wishbone and support the cars weight so the spring is compressed as much as possible. Remove the 17mm nut from the upper wishbone ball joint and use a lever type ball joint splitter as shown below to split the joint (It’s usually very tight !).

Once the upper joint is free, undo the lower ball joint and split it using the lever tool. Finally undo the steering track rod end ball joint nut from the hub assembly and split the joint using the tool. Place the whole hub assembly toward the rear of the arch in which you are working, supported on a block of wood, taking care not to stretch or damage the brake hose or cables to the ABS wheel sensor and pad warning sensor that are fitted to the brake caliper/hub. Undo the single torx bolt from the roll bar link attached to the lower wishbone and move it out of the way.

rubber pad from inside the perch that locates the spring – before you start grinding or welding!

Once removed the spring can be wire brushed and painted along with the damper if necessary.

Now clean the spring perch area with a grinder and wire brush and remove all traces of rubberised mastic, paint, under seal and rust. Inspect the area and ascertain what will need to be done to restore the mounting. In my case I bent the perch back into its original position and tack welded it in place.

I then welded 1mm steel patches to either side of the perch, anchoring both sides of the perch to solid metal on the inner wing. To add further support and strength I also welded the rear perch lip to the inner wing using a short strip of plate steel.

Spring removal: The next procedure can be hazardous so take care and go steady.

I have read many E Class Mercedes Benz W210 owners writing that they have ‘easily’ removed and refitted front road springs without even the slightest hint of using spring compressors. – I have yet to discover how they do this as the spring is very long uncompressed indeed and not easily compressed without huge force – is just too long in its relaxed state to remove on the Elegance model anyway.

So here is how I do it… While the spring is compressed under the weight of the vehicle (Jack under lower wish bone) attach a pair of simple spring compressors and take up the tension equally on both sides. If you are worried about the compressors jaws slipping round the spring as they choose to do rather dangerously! Use a handful of fuel line jubilee clips either side of the jaws of the compressing tool, fixed around the spring – this works great and adds a higher degree of safety to the operation.

Once the welding is complete and you are happy with it, use a Waxoyl type spray to coat all the areas you have welded, make sure that all seams are flooded as best you can with a couple of coats of the sealer as this will hopefully prevent further corrosion of the area. Assemble the spring using the spring compressor method as outlined above (don’t forget the jubilee clips for safety). You will have to fit the rubber mounting top to the spring before you insert it into the perch cup on reassembly as otherwise it will be a problem to locate correctly.

Once you have tension on the spring compressors, lower the jack beneath the lower wishbone or raise the body (a combination of the two works well) eventually the wishbone will descend enough allowing you to lever it down further and spring out the coil from its lower retainer. Be careful as even with the widest gap between the spring perch and lower wishbone there still may exist some tension in the coil spring. WATCH OUT! Do remember also to remove the 44

Once the suspension is all back together, paint on further under body protection or add more coats of Waxoyl, you may even spray the spring itself with the sealer as it aids in protecting it from the elements. Refit the wheel and lower the car to the ground. Job done ! (Note the slightly larger gap between the top of the tyre and wheel arch compared to the first ‘collapsed perch’ photograph)

and all seemed sound with no leaks and further squinting revealed that the water was in fact dripping from the body of the telescopic headlamp spray assembly. Where exactly was this leaking? It was dripping from the rear of the main body of the jet assembly. Water was running backwards from the head, down the inclined jet and appearing beneath it at the rear, discharging into the engine bay lower tray.

You can see the rear of the jet assembly and the water supply hose indicated here by the red arrow. The supply hose is easily removed from the assembly by presing the quickconnector inward (at the arrow tip on the photo) whilst pulling the pipe off the spigot. At this point the remaining contents of the washer bottle will discharge from the pipe… watch your boots!

The post Mercedes E Class W210 Front Spring Perch Failure – Repair appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

The next step is to remove the assembly completely for inspection, repair or replacement.

Mercedes Leaking Headlamp Washer Jet Repair Leaking Headlamp Washer Jet – Cure Posted on Over the past few months we had several bouts of severe frost and sustained bitter cold temperatures, the E Class Mercedes had stood outside unused for the majority of this time as I used the Vito for work. As the weather improved slightly over Christmas we decided to go on a family shopping trip to Matlock.

I filled the washer bottle along with checking the oil and tyre pressures and off we set. Within 10 miles the ‘Low washer fluid’ warning lit on the dash and a little later the screen washers stopped functioning – empty!. As it rained for the rest of the day, and the day after that, I was unable to look at the problem but suspected the washer bottle may have split due to freezing.

Take a small, thin, flat blade screwdriver and carefully insert it behind the sprung cover flap and open it up – this will reveal the jet assembly that telescopes outward under water pressure when the wash is activated. Normally this flap is automatically opened against spring pressure when the extending jet rod pushes it open when operated.

New Year’s day arrived, the weather in the morning although cold gave perfect opportunity to investigate. I filled the 5l reservoir, marked its level with a pencil and waited….. sure enough the level began to drop but inspection proved the bottle to be sound and no water leakage was obvious – although it was disappearing at an alarming rate! I removed the smaller concentrate bottle – the one that contains the undiluted ‘intensive wash additive’ as MB call it for the headlamp washer circuit. Mistakenly this front fluid reserve is incorrectly understood by some owners to provide water to the headlamp washer circuit separate to the screen circuit, this is not the case – main water is drawn for the headlamp washer system from the main 5l reserve through a moulded mixing chamber in the bottle. In this mixing chamber as water passes at high pressure, it draws a metered quantity of concentrated cleaner from the forward bottle (gravity feed), the cocktail is then propelled to the pop out headlamp jets.

After some torch shining and listening for dripping, the leak was located in the engine compartment on the driver’s side front below the headlamp assembly. I checked the pipe work

Removal from this point is fairly straight forward. There is only a single cross head screw holding the assembly in situ.

Once the screw is out, this will then allow the withdrawal 45

of the complete unit through the front of the vehicle via the held open flap. Once removed and the unit emptied of water, you will be able to pull out the piston to its full extent whilst grasping the main body, then cover the supply spigot with your thumb and allow it to spring back under its own pressure – once it has, it will internally pressurise the unit allowing it to be submerged in a bowl of clean water and look for leaks in the form of air bubbles. On my unit the leak was at the end of the extending portion (Green arrow B on the photograph). The part where the extending rod joins with the twin-head jet. On the final photograph the jet assembly can be seen pulled and extended whilst in place on the car. (Grasped and pulled in the direction of white arrow C) Obviously removal of the following component parts is best done with the whole jet assembly removed from the car, although I suppose it would not be impossible to do whilst it is still installed. The jet head can then be carefully removed by holding up the small plastic tang that forms the locking arm of a ratchet – this can be seen arrowed and numbered as A in the following pic. Once the plastic ratchet arm is held up with a small jewellers screwdriver, the jet head can be pulled out of the end of the extending rod. Once removed, the rod will no doubt spring back into the body! – don’t worry about this, it can still be reassembled with ease.

Once the spray head is removed it can be seen to be sealed to the body with a small purple rubber O-ring. It was this that had an accumulated build up of muck and grime preventing a perfect seal with the inner barrel of the extending main body obviously allowing water to pass by. Once cleaned, reseated and bedded in the smallest bead of silicone sealer (I did not have a replacement O-ring of the correct size) The jet head was then pushed home into the main body, inserted to butt hard up against its plasic grey ‘end skid’ clip that prevents further travel inward into the end of the telescopic cylinder. Once attatched the complete unit can be tested then refitted into the bumper in the same manner it was removed.

Tested as a complete success, this simple fix was worthy of posting – Have fun !

Mercedes SRS Fault Here is a way to deal with a common SRS fault that lies within the seat pad of the Mercedes E Class (W210). (I am sure also similar for other models) The service history of my current E Class W210 shows repeat visits over 10 years for this specific SRS problem and I would like to share with you the ins and outs of it all (each visit cost the previous owner £220 for the cure/pleasure – only to have it return again almost every 18 months to 2 years during ownership) If the red SRS lamp on the dash is accompanied by the orange airbag lamp next to the transmission shifter is lit, the fault is commonly connected to the passenger seat sensor.

As I imagined the previous owner had always a rather ‘cuddly’ passenger riding shotgun, the seat would have taken a pounding, the flopping into the car was probably the most damaging to the seat related parts I am about to describe.

Layered within the seat base skin of the passenger seat, there is a complex contact matrix (like a foil printed circuit – looks like an aerial view of a maze) that senses if the seat is occupied (a bum on it) and in most cases with post face-lift models, also auto-senses the proximity of the MB child seat. The former sensor circuit is used to switch off the passenger air bag if the seat is unoccupied, the latter is to used to switch off the passenger air bag when a MB child seat is fitted on the seat. Understanding that the weight may fool the occupancy sensor to thinking an adult bum is on the seat, the child seat detector overrides this and signals the Air Bag Control Module to turn off passenger side airbags.

When it does this, the orange Air-Bag off transmission LED illuminates showing the system is disabled and its safe for baby to travel.

On cars pre face lift, without auto child seat detection, the connection from the seat occupancy sensor is connected directly to the Air Bag Control Module and operates just as a simple switch, changing the potential of the signal line to the module when sat on. Post face lift set up is far more complex.

There is an electronic box inside the seat base that forms part of the sensor matrix, the ends of the wire ‘maze’ are connected to this and it converts the status of the occupancy detector into a CAN output signal that is piped to the Air Bag Control Module (as a PWM signal) An over simplistic way to imagine this, is to think of it as a pulse, like a heart beat at a fixed rate. This beat is detected by the ABCM (Air bag control module) when the seat is unoccupied and turns off the air bags on passenger side. Once the seat is sat on, the electronic box in the seat changes the frequency of the pulse which is again detected by the ABCM to turn the passenger bags on.

The other function of the electronic box within the seat is to auto-detect the presence of the MB child seat, this is done by using RFID (radio frequency identification) working in the same way as the detection alarms at the doors of music shops etc. The RFID token hidden in the child seat is detected by the seat matrix (antenna) and the electronic box then gives out the all important seat unoccupied/child seat in place 46

PWM CAN signal to the ABCM turning off the passenger bags and illuminating the advisory air bag off light.

There is a yellow connector beneath the seat, this houses all the connections to the seat pad sensor and links its signals to the ABCM. It is very common for the wires to and around this connector to break (seat-side) as they are very fine conductors indeed and this is compounded by a slight design flaw, in that the cable that enters the seat base to the matrix is tie-wrapped to a metal seat component which in turn causes a stress fracture along the wire length where fixed. So the first thing to check is the connector and it wires (best to remove the seat) If the break is suspected within the depths of the seat base, then it has to be stripped to repair/replace the parts. (This is where the repeat £220 bill from the agents came from!)

Understanding that this is a life saving safety system and the owner may wish to entrust the correct remedial work to a dealer or do it himself with the correct MB parts, there exists however ways to get around this common failure, it is up to you as a reader/owner to make up your own mind if you wish to follow and act on this information. I would not recommend that any of the following solutions be used if the vehicle is or could be used carrying young infants in the front seat, but worth considering if you are grey and old (past it) like me. I have attached a useful wiring diagram of the SRS components so you can identify what’s what on the connector etc. But if you can’t fathom the circuit, then my polite advice to you would be to not mess any further!

If your car is a pre face lift, with a non auto detect child seat, then the seat pad matrix can be simply linked out on the yellow connector under the seat. This will signal to the system that someone is sitting in the seat all the time and cause the passenger airbag to be permanently ‘live’ whether anyone is sitting in the seat or not! (In my view better than not working at all) This is a great fault finding tip if nothing else, as it proves if the fault lies within the seat pad, as the SRS lamp and air-bag orange lamp on the transmission will extinguish immediately the ignition is turned on (without a star reset!)

A later auto child seat detecting, post face lift, later E Class W210 model, cannot be ‘linked out’ in any way sorry! It needs a CAN keep alive signal to the ABCM to signify that the system is fault free (default seat unoccupied signal) so any fault occurring in the wiring or seat matrix resulting in the PWM output failing will deny the function of the passenger airbag by default and raise the SRS dash lamp along with the orange air bag transmission mounted indicator. So strip out the seat and remove the leather etc etc…… OR buy a magic box from China from the large online auction sites. This seat sensor emulator box, usually around £15 delivered to your door, provides a seat occupied PWM signal output that once connected, fools the ABCM into thinking all is well and that there is a bum on the passenger seat. There are 3 wires to connect, colour for colour those that exist under the seat Brown, White and Red on the yellow connector. This resets the SRS lights as before on ignition power, without a star reset.

Just for information the China emulator box contains a programmable PIC chip that emulates exactly the signal that would be given from the MB seat pad matrix. Make sure you get the correct one for your correct model if ordering, as there are a couple of types of ABCM used through model years.

So hopefully this has been useful in explaining how the SRS seat sensor system works and that from this you can get an idea what is ahead of you. I tried to find out information like this and its a little sketchy and hard to place so maybe its of some use in your fault finding, diagnostics and resulting repair. The diagram below is especially useful !

Philips H1 Auto Bulb Corrosion Problem – Mercedes E Class W210 Fog Lamps February 23rd, 2013

No under bumper lamps and the dashboard bulb failiure indicator pointed to the fact there was an issue with the fog lamp bulbs on the E Class W210. When the weather improved enough to investigate I had a peek at the problem.

As you may know, access to the lower fog lamps rear casing is very restricted without raising the car on a jack, this was the reason I had not tackled the problem until it had at least stopped snowing!

Both lamps had failed, but not blown filaments!

A small hinge-down flap, forward of the front wheels in the plastic under-skirt is undone by slotting a 50p coin into and rotating the catches (two on each flap), once open this gives access to the rear of the fog lamps. The lamp housing is opened by releasing the single plastic catch at the bottom of the assembly and levering the rear lid outwards then down – out of two locating slots on its top edge. There is a standard spring-arm retainer holding the H1 lamp in place, once released the bulb can be withdrawn and the single spade electrical connector removed. Replacement is a reversal of the removal.

The bulb itself was in perfect condition, but the welded connection between the filament and holder body had corroded causing an open circuit.

On removal and inspection the interesting thing that I noticed was the bulbs themselves had not ‘blown’ their filaments, but had corroded in an identified weak spot on the filament connection where it joins to the fabricated steel holder. The fact that this was common to both left and right lamps with the same corrosion, pointed towards a possible issue with the termination welds on Philips H1 type bulbs. If you look at the photograph below you will see a yellow sulfurous corrosion that has eaten through and separated the spot weld that attaches the filament wire to the metal support (earth) body of the H1 lamp. When it was cleaned away with a sharp pointed knife it could be seen that 47

the corrosion had totally separated the once welded filament wire from the support post creating an open circuit.

This method will only be suitable for VW Crafter CR35 5 cylinder 2.5l CDI without Air Conditioning. Open the bonnet and begin the task…

Corrosion had allowed the filament tail spot-weld to part from the lamp holder body.

As this had happened in an identical way on both bulbs I suspect a manufacturing fault or a selection of dissimilar metals that have some galvanic action causing this corrosion. Either way it was the failiure of the lamp bulb construction rather than the filament that caused the open circuit in both cases. I replaced my lamps with Osram H1 bulbs which have a better more robust filament connection arrangement and will now use this manufacturer in preference to Philips ! Make your own mind up !

Osram automotive bulb data : Osram data sheet link.

Corrosion has caused the separation of the terminal and filament.

The post Philips H1 Auto Bulb Corrosion Problem – Mercedes E Class W210 Fog Lamps appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Mercedes Audio – ISO Wiring Connections October 3rd, 2013

ISO wiring connection diagram to the rear of Mercedes audio units, Sound 5 and other common radio and CD units used throughout the MB model ranges.

ISO Wiring Diagram Mercedes Audio Mercedes Sound 5 The post Mercedes Audio – ISO Wiring Connections appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

VW Crafter Timing Belt Change January 5th, 2015

Here is a post describing the DIY replacement of the timing belt, water pump and idler pulleys on a 2007 Volkswagen Crafter CR35 Van. (Same body as Sprinter) Timing belt replacement at 12,000 miles or 48 months (though personally I think every 80,000 miles is perhaps a safer bet for hard driven commercial vehicles) The post describes how to remove the radiator without removing the complete front section of the vehicle, allowing the timing belt components and water pump to be changed with minimal fuss.

The first thing that has to be done is to remove the grille, this is done by removing the line of screws on the top edge, lever it carefully forward and unclip it upwards from the 2 tags at each lower corner. Remove and place somewhere where it wont be damaged. Now remove the air box by pulling up on the front fixings, detatch the intake pipe clamp LHS and release the intake before lifting up and removing the complete air box. Remove and store the oil dipstick.

Next remove the central lower plastic grille, and bumper step by undoing the two torx fixings on the step top and working your way around the grille section edge unclipping the securing tags and pulling gently forward until all clips are free, pull forward the compete unit and release it from the surrounding moulding. Although removed on my photographs, neither of the metal headlamp grill fill-in trims need be removed, these were taken off to replace the damaged wing clips and not replaced until final build up.

Unscrew the RHS plastic trim that covers the exit of the twin oil cooler alloy pipes and air intake aperture, unscrew the cooler loop attachment on the LHS and let the oil cooler float free (be aware this bends and damages easily) Undo the two 50mm long torx screws that hold the intercooler to the radiator base. These are located at the very bottom corners of the radiator. Let the intercooler fall down below the rad on its pipes.

Now release the clip on the power steering reservoir and lift it upwards, undo the three torx screws holding it to the slam panel, one is accessed through a hole, now remove the bracket. Undo the single torx fixing on the coolant reserve and lift it free of the slam panel/front panel, fold it back on its pipes to lay out of the way in the engine bay. Now remove the coolant hoses from the radiator, draining the system as you go.

Remove top hose LHS at radiator, bottom hose LHS from the engine spigot underneath van, NOT at the radiator itself.

Now remove the reservoir small pipe RHS. Unclip this pipe from the top of the radiator cowl and fold it out of the way.

Remove the plastic corrugated air deflector from on the top of the radiator/fan housing. Identify the 4 tabs on the fan cowling/housing that interlock into the radiator, 2x RHS and 2x LHS. Lever the plastic moulding on each locator and pull the cowling upward about 2 inches to release it from the radiator. Jiggle it toward the engine as much as possible to maximise available clearance.

Identify and release the 2x clip fix points of the radiator on the upper tank side sections, once released push the radiator the allowed ‘very’ small amount away from the front panel toward the engine. Now take a hacksaw blade and carefully cut the following four small key sections from the front panel in the areas shown. This enables the radiator to be removed 48

from the front without taking off the complete front end of the vehicle.

Left hand side front panel just above radiator locator fixing slot (25mm)

Right hand side front panel just above radiator locator fixing slot

The important thing to remember here is to only take out the small sections as shown on these photographs. To remove the radiator, lift it from its 2x locating slots in the front panel (previously you have unclipped from the top fixings) The lower tabs on the radiator that have just been released will now pull through the slots you have cut and the whole radiator will drop down outward at the bottom. Pull gently the RHS a little further out from the front panel, you may have to jiggle the oil cooler pipes a little to do this, once out from the confines of the RHS front panel lip, push back and guide the radiator on the LHS inwards slightly towards the engine. This will then allow full clearance to drop the radiator clear and out of the front panel lip on the top LHS. Once this is clear of the cut point on the last photo the radiator will lift clear and out of the vehicle. It is a little fiddly, but well worth the effort of not having to break down or remove the complete front end of the vehicle.

(Especially if your viscous fan securing bolt is locked solid with corrosion!)

Now the radiator is out you can remove the fan cowling and undo the single hex bolt from the centre of the viscous fan. Just use a long series allen/hex key and strike it anticlockwise with a hammer to undo. Once this single pin is removed the fan can be lifted out from the fan pulley.

30mm long 45 degree diagonal slice from the RHS front panel edge just below the fixing for the air intake oil cooler cover plate mounting/fixing point

Radiator and fan removed At this point you may want to note how the auxiliary belt routes round the various pulleys. Here is a photo just in case your belt is broken for future reference.

Slice the lower part of the front panel web just below the radiator fixing clip in point on the RHS. Remove the small cut portion of the web section completely.

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VW Crafter CR35 Aux Belt routing The next job is to loosen the three 10mm bolts on the fan pulley, once this is done tension can be eased with a pry bar from the aux belt tensioner (Far right on above photo)and the belt slipped off and removed.

Now fully remove the fan pulley. Behind you will see 3x 17mm x 100mm pins that hold the complete belt tensioner pulley/idler set and supporting hub for the fan pulley to the engine block. Once these are removed the whole three pulley assembly can be removed wholesale and stored out of the way. Now the RHS idler can be removed giving full access to the timing cover – except for the removal of the crankshaft pulley! Crankshaft Pulley / Vibration Damper – This is a ‘beast’ to remove and can only be removed with the correct locking tool or this makeshift rig.

Use the chain routing as shown and attach the end of the chain to the forward alternator mounting bolt (substitute one of the tensioner assembly bolts temporarily to fix the chain in this location as they are slightly longer and will allow a little more thread engagement. First undo or at least slacken the four star head fixings to the vibration damper/ crank pulley centre.

Now use a breaker bar and remove the crankshaft bolt – it will be mega tight! Once removed tap the pulley from the end of the camshaft. Watch for a thin shim that is between the pulley and crankshaft boss on removal. Always use a new centre bolt on reassembly. Remove the steel shield from the timing cover (3x 10mm pins) unclip the plastic upper section to reveal the timing belt.

Use tippex and mark the belt position (mark pulley and belt with corresponding marks) on the two upper pulleys and also the crankshaft toothed pulley. Check the markings are clear and unique then slacken the cam belt tensioner and remove the belt.

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If you need to replace the water pump now is a good time to do it, it is best to do it as a matter of course when replacing the timing belt as its a huge job to do again at a later date. If you are removing the pump undo the 3x fixings and jiggle it from behind the upper timing back shield lip.

Fit the new pump using the supplied new O ring seal and some gasket compound to hold the O ring in place while you reposition the pump behind the upper timing shield. Once the pump is fitted and tightened you can now begin to fit the new timing belt kit.

In the Gates kit you get all the parts needed to do the job, tensioner, idlers and all associated bolts and fixings – including a new crankshaft bolt! Replace the two idlers pulleys, the top most one in the photograph above and the rusty looking one on the RHS. Place the old timing belt on a table and lay the new belt on top of it (ensure correct orientation, manufactures label should be correctly read if you were looking into the engine bay) Mark the new belt in an identical manner to the old one.

Check your work as this part is critical to the timing being correct on rebuild. Slip on the new belt over the pulleys and tensioner, check your alignment of markings. Now place a spanner on the crankshaft bolt and rotate the engine slightly anti-clockwise to take up the slack in the belt on the nontensioner side.

When you have done this tension the belt correctly on the tensioner by rotating the outer eccentric cam on the fixing bolt to get the pointer on the tensioner to about mid position on the pointer marker, tighten the tensioner bolt and apply clockwise then anticlockwise rotational tension to the camshaft pulley and check the range of tension.

VW would have you jump through hoops to set this tension but if you follow the above method you will be happy with the results. Old school, years ago before all the new fangled measuring devices and adjusters the cam belt tension was correct if you could just about manage to turn the belt through 90 degrees on its longest run. Remember the days of the early VW golf… Rotate the water pump to set timing belt tension…

Use this old method to just satisfy yourself and then double check your work before refitting the covers and beginning to rebuild the engine.

Rebuilding the components is an exact reversal of removal, with just a couple of notes. Feed the bottom hose of the radiator into its correct route between the intercooler hose before you ease the radiator back into position, jiggle the radiator in first at the LHS, up and back, then feed in the RHS. Move it all upward inside the front panel, then down into its locators, clipping it in at the top once in its home position.

Be aware that when refilling with coolant make sure the required strength of antifreeze is used as the reservoir level sensor has an integral hygrometer to measure antifreeze strength. Even if you have the correct level of water in the system, if it does not have the correct ratio of antifreeze it will still indicate a dashboard warning!

Tightening the crank pulley bolt can be done by using the same chain method although for £70 if you are able to afford to purchase the correct Laser branded locking kit, it contains the custom lock tool for a 3/4 drive breaker bar. (Laser tool part number: L4638) Crankshaft bolt tightening torque is 160nm plus 180 degrees OOooof!

If you are a competent DIY’er with a reasonable kit of tools you should be able to complete this task in well under 6 Hours (with tea and snack breaks). Its well worth the trouble, as VW commercial dealerships quote circa £700 plus vat for a timing belt job without water pump!

I hope you found this useful as there is little to no information on the web describing this process.

All the best Steve The post VW Crafter Timing Belt Change appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Mitsubishi L200 (2004) Water Pump Replacement February 22nd, 2015

My first comment is, what a ridiculous design of the Mitsubishi 2004 turbo diesel engine to require the removal of the crankshaft pulley, just to remove the plastic timing cover to access the fixing bolts on the water pump – totally outrageous! All that was required was a sectional timing cover to allow the mid section to be removed without encircling the crank pulley. The job would have been far easier to complete.

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We initially noticed bubbling into the expansion bottle and traced the fault to a coolant leak from the water pump housing lower drain hole. Antifreeze staining was just visible looking just below the pump area with a torch.

The exchange procedure is as follows: Remove intercooler and fan assembly, air-box and power steering pump, store to one side. Remove all auxiliary drive belts then remove the two 10mm headed bolts from the top of the radiator header tank. Undo the 4x 10mm headed bolts on the water pump drive pulley boss. Pull out the viscous fan from the left hand side of the radiator, through the gap between the cowling and radiator made by holding them apart. Remove the water pump drive pulley.

Staining from a leaking water pump – it is the area just above the second ‘e’ on the Mercedes watermark.

Access is now possible to the bolts holding the water pump. It is also required to totally remove the steel power steering pump bracket, 3x 12mm headed bolts behind the mount frame and one upper 12mm bolt head into the cylinder head forward of the exhaust manifold.

Now remove the bottom hose from the thermostat housing and drain the system of coolant.

Remove the water pump. Note the timing belt tensioner pulley ‘peg’ spring and how it lies against the pump casting and the timing belt tensioner, as once the pump is disturbed this will have to be relocated. Clean off the face of the block before attempting to refit the new pump. Swap over the thermostat housing over to the new pump before fittment. Use a slight smearing of silicone gasket compound on both the thermostat housing and main pump gasket. This will help adhere the gasket to the pump and allow you to reposition it without fear of the gasket slipping or moving.

Also use a new O ring with a smear of gasket silicone on the bypass hose connection as you push this in.

Remove the 3x tensioner bolts on the AC pump belt run and remove the tensioner. Take out all the 10mm head fixings that surround the plastic upper and lower timing cover, note how the cabling is fixed as it passes over the front of the timing cover, additionally there is one cover bolt accessed from beneath the vehicle, just to the left of the crankshaft pulley.

Remove the crankshaft pulley – a big scale DIY job by any means. It requires a strong 19mm hexagon socket, 3/4 drive breaker and a long pipe as a lever!

Place the L200 in 2nd or 3rd gear, apply the handbrake and get an assistant to stand on the brake pedal with all their weight – while you swing on the bar and pipe on the crankshaft pulley. The nut should eventually release.

Remove the crankshaft pulley. Now remove the plastic timing cover completley.

Rebuild the components previously removed. Note – be sure to re-fix the power steering pump bracket before fitting the water pump pulley and viscous fan. If you don’t do it this way, then you will not be able to fit one of the PAS pump bracket bolts because its hole is masked totally by the water pump pulley.

Replace the auxiliary drive belts with new if needed, tension correctly and refill with coolant and test.

It would be my recommendation that due to the complexity of this job and the large number of major parts required to be removed to gain access to the water pump alone, that the timing belts and tensioner pulleys be replaced at the same time.

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Five and a half hour job to do the water pump complete, additionally probably only another hour and a half to include changing the timing belts. This job is not for the faint hearted! I would have been so simple for Mitsubishi to have engineered the engine to make this water pump job relatively straight forward, if only they had made the plastic timing cover in three sections, allowing full access without removing the crankshaft pulley!

Once this happens, catastrophically the pulley casting breaks at the boss and the retaining bolt gets sheared off as it breaks away. Sending the crankshaft end plate washer and bolthalf out of the engine bay with considerable force. If you are lucky they will hit the road, if not-so lucky then they may strike the underside of the bonnet/hood causing body damage. The pulley simply falls off and the belts stop turning – The vehicle although still running, is stopped by the driver, as something is obviously wrong.

The post Mitsubishi L200 (2004) Water Pump Replacement appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Mitsubishi L200 Crank Bolt Sheared/Snapped – Removal and Repair May 25th, 2015

Driving along without a care in the world, Bang! Heavy steering and charge warning light on the dash, you pull over and lift the bonnet/hood – you are faced with a handful of drive belts, and a broken crankshaft pulley. There is pretty much nothing more you can do except phone for recovery.

When you get to look at the damage you can see what events lead to this failure. The crankshaft pulley begins to slightly delaminate at the rubber damper sandwich, this in turn sets up a nice wobble on the crank shaft pulley that stresses the bolt at the end of the crank. As the bolt releases some of its grip, vibrating over over time, the pulley is allowed to move slightly on the crankshaft end, chewing gradually away at the woodruff key in the process. Eventually the key gets eaten away on one edge, making a nice ramp for the pulley keyway to rotate around.

Depending on a few conditions this can either be skilfully rectified or lead to huge bills for repair. The significant item that generally governs this route is the end of crankshaft. If this has a badly damaged keyway as a result, then major work will be involved to put the engine back to serviceable condition – namely a new crankshaft! £££

If the keyway is largley undamaged, then there is a very good chance you can sort this out with about six hours work, some new parts and a degree of patience. We were fortunate in that our keyway looked good, although there was little left of the key itself, so we proceeded to strip down the front of the L200 as we also needed access to remove the sheared crank bolt too. Believe me, if the keyway is badly damaged then the fact there is a sheared bolt in the end of the crank is the least of your problems! The keyway is virtually impossible to repair in situ and will probably involve a 53

crankshaft replacement (or complete replacement engine depending how your parts/labour total adds up) So its a pretty serious situation to be in, in some cases a crossroads for the owner with regard to its continued ownership.

Now you have the clearance to work through the grille into the engine compartment. You should now be able to see the full extent of the damage to the crank, if it looks good continue to try and remove the key from the keyway. The one we had was well embedded in the crank and no amount of tapping or prying would lift it, indeed there was a fracture in the key and the front 5 mm broke off when we began to try to remove it.

What was left of our key was jammed in the keyway and access with any tools is so restricted a fair number of parts have to be removed to facilitate a repair.

The only way forward now was to remove the timing cover.

Remove the timing belt and timing crank pulley to gain better access to the seized key. Remove the cast tensioner arm from the AC belt route, upper and lower plastic timing covers. Take off the crank angle sensor below the steel ‘chopper’ reluctor plate. Tap off the reluctor plate and mark the timing belt position on all three pulleys with tippex.

Undo the timing belt tensioner and pull the belt firmly to retract it as much as possible, retighten the lock nut. Slip the timing belt off all three pulleys and the tensioner.

Remove the cooling fan and pulley from the water pump, undo and release the radiator, lifting it complete with cowl clear from inside the engine bay. Undo and unclip the front grille assembly, taking off the oil cooler banjos and supporting fixings, move this clear of the vehicle. Remove the bonnet latch and unclip the bowden cable from its mechanism.

Now work on the timing belt sprocket on the camshaft and get it to pass over the damaged key and off the crankshaft.

Once this has been achieved full access to the keyway is possible and you should be able to extract it from the keyway.

Now is an ideal opportunity to dress any damage to either the keyway or crankshaft before reassembly.

Discharge the Air conditioning system, remove the AC fan and undo the two condenser pipe blocks at the right hand lower side of the grille aperture. There are two bushed fixings either side of the AC condenser that need to be removed, after which the matrix can be orientated: in on the front left and out backwards towards the engine on the right, lifting upward as you go. This will cleanly remove the AC condenser with a little jiggle work and some fiddling, it will clear the washer bottle without removing it.

Attention now needs to be focussed on the snapped crank bolt and how to remove it. Many times a well sharpened thin dot punch and accurate tapping at its edge can rotate the sheared threaded portion out of the tapped hole, bit by bit anticlockwise. If you are unlucky, then drill it out and use thread extractors to complete the job. You will have enough access to use a quality battery drill in the front of engine area, anything larger and you may be struggling to get access. If you find you need a slightly better line onto the crankshaft end, jack the engine slightly. Even more lift can be achieved by undoing the engine mounts, but in most cases this will not be needed.

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Once the bolt is out you can begin to rebuild the engine, start by refitting the cam belt sprocket, cam belt and reluctor plate onto the camshaft, then fit your new key into the newly dressed keyway and refit the crank sensor with its two 6mm pins. Replace the plastic timing cover lower and upper halves, then fit a new crankshaft damper pulley, washer and bolt. Apply some thread lock to the bolt before screwing it home.

Mitsubishi L200 (’88-’06) Diesel Tank Replacement April 28th, 2014

Don’t be afraid of this job, its awkward and at times you need to work in spaces reserved for ‘monkeys hands’ but its possible for an afternoon and quite straight forward for even a beginner to auto-DIY. First run the vehicle almost dry of fuel, as I have measured the contents, when the fuel reserve lamp just illuminates there is more than 4 gallons in the tank. Chock and Jack the vehicle then support it with the ‘wheels on’ onto ramps or use correct axel stands. Lower and remove the spare wheel.

Get an assistant to select second gear, set the handbrake and chock the road wheels. With them sitting inside the vehicle using both feet on the brake pedal, pushing hard, use a breaker bar and slip tube to tighten the crankshaft pulley bolt. Once satisfied of good tightness rebuild the complete engine.

Tips to remember are to loosen all the belt adjusters while you have suitable access through the front of the grille before fitting the AC condenser and associated front grill components, oil cooler etc.

Use penetrating oil or Plus-Gas to the four 15mm fixing nuts on the tank rim, 2 front and 2 rear. Its good to wire brush these first to remove the scale (and most of the original nut !) as they are going to be corroded. More penetrant or PlusGas then leave to soak. Get a pair of sturdy side cutters or piano wire cutters and start to clip/remove the spring wire pipe clips from the fuel feed and return pipes. Once you have done this take a small screwdriver and ease the rubber hose end up from the steel pipes. Spray some WD40 between the rubber hose and pipe, twist the hose and work it upward and off the supply and return pipe stubs. Now reach up and cut off the wire hose clip behind the filler neck on the truck tub.

Pull and bend down the rubber filler hose, now cut off the remaining (rusty) spring clip from the vent pipe and pull it off the secondary spigot on the filler neck.

Fit new drive belts and tension correctly, top up the cooling system with antifreeze solution and check your work.

When satisfied all is well, start and run the vehicle up to temperature.

Use a hexagon socket and short extension to break and almost remove all 4 of the supporting 15mm tank nuts. (undo them to the last 3 or 4 turns of thread) Take a screwdriver and drive it between the rear tank flange and chassis mounting cage, the tank should now drop onto the semi-undone nuts, the front lip should not give a problem.

Along the way, especially behind the grille area, you will find that half of the fixings you remove to take off components will snap and shear, be prepared to drill out and re-tap these failed fixings, generally a good drill and 6mm tap will be all you will need.

I hope this helps should you find yourself in a similar situation.

The post Mitsubishi L200 Crank Bolt Sheared/Snapped – Removal and Repair appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Reach into the gap between the chassis rail and tank by the filler pipe and depress the tiny white tag on the white tank sender unit connector and wiggle the plug free, pull the tank sender cable back over the rear of the axel out of the way by releasing it from the two ‘bendy steel’ clips welded to the tank (often rusted off anyway).

Place a trolley jack and piece of wood under the centre of the tank and take the strain within a couple of pumps of pushing the tank back home. Remove the 4x 15mm tank support nuts fully and then keep them stored safely. Lower the jack about 6 inches and as it descends with tank, rotate it clockwise about 45 degrees, working from where the spare wheel usually resides, guiding the rubber filler pipe around the chassis rail as you continue to lower the tank to the ground. I estimate the weight of tank and reserve fuel to be in the order of 20-25kg so it is manageable on your own, however it is a great benefit to have someone at hand to help drop and remove the tank out from under the vehicle.

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Once removed from the vehicle, inspect the first 2 feet of supply and return steel fuel pipe, these are very prone to rust/corrosion in this area and it is an ideal opportunity to cut them back and repair with new copper pipe to at least the gearbox chassis support cross member. This is a good access area to cut and splice in new pipe sections using a short rubber length of hose and clips. Renewing this now is a whole lot easier than when the tank is in place.

Just make sure the final position of the fuel pipe stubs is near to original, because the rubber feed and return hoses from the tank are short and cut to size with little margin for error when reconnecting!

With the tank removed remove the sender unit. There used to be 3x 8mm nuts holding this to the tank, these will be rusted to a shape there is no socket on this earth will fit so use a junior hacksaw and cut down the side of all three nuts to make light work of removal. These nuts can be easily removed by rotating/unscrewing them with pliers once ‘side-cut’ with the hacksaw.

Be careful to ease off the thick black rubber triangular gasket with the sender unit as you withdraw it from the tank, the gasket will be stuck to the steel tank with rust, just be careful to ease it free with a screwdriver as you go so that it can be cleaned up and reused. Once the gasket has been cleaned off on both sides and the sender plate cleaned up a film of nonhardening fuel sealant can be used to refit the sender to the new tank. Its worth noting that the sender unit reserve level sensor requires it to be submerged in diesel to function, so testing the sender ‘on the car’ outside of the tank will result in the low level lamp illuminating, regardless of the recorded fuel leveluntil the sender is correctly fitted and submerged below the fuel level.

The final contents of diesel can now be poured into a bucket from the hole left by removing the tank sender. Its a two person job to tip and aim the tank and contents into the bucket. Fuel can then be simply decanted back into the new tank once fitted.

The post Mitsubishi L200 (’88-’06) Diesel Replacement appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Tank

Water leak at back of Cylinder Head – Mitsubishi L200 May 13th, 2015

If you have noticed a drop in water level in your Mitsubishi L200 (K74 – 4D56 engine) cooling system then there are obvious checks you should make to track down where it’s going. One particular achilles heel of the L200 cooling system is the small rubber bypass hose that routes coolant from the turbo (exhaust manifold side) round the back of the cylinder head to the front top hose casting of the engine on the opposite side.

Near impossible access There is an 8mm small bore steel pipe that runs behind the cylinder head that connects the two points. Two flexible rubber hoses couple the steel pipe at either end. One coupling roughly behind the injector pump diesel pipes and the other below the exhaust manifold at the rear of the engine, turbo side.

Ensure all vent pipework is transferred to your new tank if it does not come supplied and if you have to remove your old pick up and return unit, remember to cut down the nuts on the old tank just as you did on the sender to ease removal.

A handful of 4mm nuts and washers will aid trouble-free fitting of the sender unit and pick up pipe unit. Remember to quickly clean the filter screen of debris on the pick up pipe before refitting.

Replacement is the reverse of removal but it is important to renew any rubber hoses that look suspect or replace hose clamps if they look corroded (as they will !) as any leaks will mean the complete removal of the tank again – and we don’t want that do we!

When decanting the recovered fuel back into the new tank through the filler neck once refitted, you can make a great makeshift fuel funnel by cutting the base of a plastic fuel can and attaching its filler hose, slotting this into the vehicle filler neck. Place some rag across the open funnel to catch any bits or debris that may be present in the reused fuel.

Once fuelled, start the vehicle and check for leaks, drive to the fuel station and initially put in no more than 20 litres of diesel before rechecking your work, if all is well fill up to 50 litres with confidence of a job well done!

The commonly failing hose is the rearmost one on the left hand side looking in (Highlighted in Yellow above – part 56

number 10718.) Failing because of the extreme heat range it encounters in normal use. It is jacketed in a ‘corrugated aluminium’ heat shield hose covering, that frankly makes an almost impossible job to replace this hose, even worse.

The pipe and hose removed (The steel pipe does not have to be removed to replace the hose only)

This is the location of the tricky pin to remove I have replaced this hose on three occasions now on different L200 vehicles, access is very, very restricted and the best way I have found to tackle this job is as follows: Remove the intercooler and associated pipework.

Disconnect its fan and pressure sensor and place it safely away from the vehicle.

The hose you will find may have the consistency of ‘chewing gum’ and often has hidden pin-holes, that leak or squirt coolant under pressure from the last half inch of unprotected hose. The leak sometimes appears to be from ‘somewhere near’ the hose and not the hose itself, because it ‘jets’ coolant to another location. If you do try and tighten the only accessible hose clip on this hose in a feeble attempt it stop it leaking – be warned, it will just cut the deteriorated pipe at the end and leak even more – you have been warned! (Don’t disturb it unless you intend changing it)

Remove the turbo heat shield, 10mm pins on the bulkhead and one behind the air filter housing.

Using a 12mm ring spanner undo the pipe fixing pin at the rear of the head (Left hand side) This single pin ties both the water pipe and vacuum hoses to the aluminium cylinder head. The pin is on the back of the head NOT at the side, there are two 12mm pins visible on some brackets holding the vac hoses and engine lifting eye (LHS) – these are not the ones you want- sorry! (The part you need to undo is highlighted in the red circle in the diagram above – part number 10198SD.) You will find access is virtually impossible to the pin you need as you have about an inch and a half gap in which to work, pushed up against the bulkhead.

You will eventually be able to get the spanner on from the right hand side of the head (spanner horizontal) onto the head of the pin and pushing it downwards toward the bell housing, one eighth of a turn at a time, until you can work it out with your finger tips.

Now undo the hose clip on the right hand side of the engine (mid-way along the rocker cover line) and remove the second 12mm pin from the head, securing the final pipe bracket.

This end of the pipe will now be free.

Reaching down behind the turbo/cylinder head undo the hose clip you can see and push the rubber pipe off the turbo cooling spigot with a screwdriver.

The steel pipe with attached rubber hose will now be loose as an assembly, orientate the steel pipe so that the hidden hose clip is revealed in the turbo spigot area. (its access is still poor but at least now possible) Slide off the aluminium corrugated heat shield from the pipe and use pliers to release the spring hose clip from the pipe end. Pull off the rubber hose completely.

The failed hose Obtain a new hose, commonly available from Mitsubishi for about £4.00 (Part numbers on the diagram above) treat yourself to new spring hose clips too, as this will make the job easier and more certain to give a good seal on the hose to pipe connections – you do not want to do this job twice!

The best thing I found is to place some rolled up carpet onto the engine and climb in/on the block to gain access, you will bruise your shins during the operation, almost certainly.

Push the new hose onto the exposed pipe at the back of the head and fit a new spring clip. A little spit on the pipe will enable it to slide on more easily in the confined space.

Now feed back the steel pipe a couple of inches and push on the hose clip before fitting the other end of the hose to the remaining spigot. Manipulating a short pair of pliers, spring the final clip home and seal the hose against the pipe.

The steel pipe will now be in the correct position to remake the opposite side with its 12mm pin and hose/clip connection. At this point you are welcome to refit the 12mm pin behind the head to secure the pipe or have the option of using two or three of nylon tie wraps to make good the pipe fixing (Only to stop any vibration as the pipe is still well fixed at both ends.) I am guessing that you will choose the latter option having got this far, but I never fail to be surprised by other peoples perseverance over and above my own.

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Using side cutters split the hose’s aluminium heat shield, and work it over the bare rubber hose protecting the pipe once more as best it can from manifold heat. You may be able to slide it over the hose before refitting the final hose clip but I found it hampers the operation somewhat and it fits just as well after the event. Again securing it with a couple of ties (though it didn’t really need it) if needed.

Replace the heat shield, intercooler and other parts previously removed and fill the vehicle with coolant.

Start and warm the engine with the cab heater on full to remove as much trapped air in the upper block as possible, expect the water level to drop once the thermostat has opened and water begins to circulate through the whole engine.

Recheck your work for leaks and top up the radiator and expansion bottle to the correct levels.

Satisfied you have done a good job, you may relax with an ice pack on the back of your hands and shins!

Who said a 4 inch hose would be a quick and easy job…!

The post Water leak at back of Cylinder Head – Mitsubishi L200 appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

Rear brake imbalance problem – Toyota Corolla year 2000 September 25th, 2014

Toyota Corolla 1.3 Automatic Year 2000 (Non ABS) Problem: Rear foot brake imbalance A recent MOT test flagged a 50% imbalance left to right in the rear foot brake circuit. Handbrake efficiency was perfect and balanced across the axel.

A replacement unit must be sought, the later unit made of cast steel, fitted to Non-ABS Yaris models, although of the same format and size will not suitably replace the alloy Corolla unit unless the existing female M10 pipe flares are remade to M10 male flares. This is because the mating union receivers machined in the valve body have male tapers at their base and only mate with M10 female flared pipes.

Connecting the incorrect unit will result in the unit leaking as proper hydraulic sealing will be impossible.

Due to restrictive access to the bulkhead area it is almost impossible to use a flare tool to reform the brake pipe cluster.

It is recommended a like for like part is used. However if unavailable a Yaris steel cast unit could be used if the above considerations are adhered to.

Bleeding the system by gravity and then using pedal assist will remove trapped air from the refitted valve block. Power bleeding is made impossible by the push on brake master cylinder cap having no thread on the reserve body to attach/ seal the power bleed device.

I hope you find this information useful.

The post Rear brake imbalance problem – Toyota Corolla year 2000 appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

The following items were checked: Brake Shoes

Kymco ForU Mobility Scooter Repair

Brake Shoe Pivots

December 22nd, 2013

Cylinders

Kymco Electric Mobility Scooter Repair

Adjustment Handbrake Mechanism Brakes were bled both by Gravity and Power methods No Improvement.

Fault was found to be in the brake balance (proportioning valve) mounted on the front bulkhead. This is a 5 connection device, connections are from front master cylinder chamber, left front wheel caliper, rear master cylinder chamber, right rear wheel cylinder, left rear wheel cylinder. Once replaced balance was restored.

This valve is of aluminium cast construction and has mechanical pressure compensating chambers within its body. The ABS version has only 4 pipe connections and no pressure compensating parts – only a pressure shut off valve to protect braking to one split circuit should the opposing system fail.

I realise it is a little off topic but I thought I would document a repair to a friend’s Mobility Scooter as I was truly amazed at the cause of the issue.

The problem was with a fairly new Kymco ForU electric mobility scooter. What happened was on turning on the scooter at the power key switch it would not drive either 58

forward or reverse, the lights worked but the horn (piezo sounder) didn’t? There was no motion drive in either direction.

I returned to the scooter and tested the functionality of the other controls; everything was now working with the horn out of circuit. I had motion drive and correct battery power indication and the green power light that once flashed at one second intervals was now constantly lit. Incredibly I had found the problem.

The green indicator lamp next to the power switch showed flashing green.

I suspected the control cable that leads from the handle bar controls to the motor drive module was broken as this is a common fault with scooters that are folded away to be placed in cars etc. But on checking this out it was found to be OK. Taking apart the head cover from the handlebars and checking the connections proved to be fruitless as everything was perfectly mated and firmly located. However I began to investigate the horn sounder as it did not make any noise when the button was pressed. There was 25v DC supply to the switch and it illuminated correctly when pressed. I took apart the two bullet connectors that fed the sounder and removed it from the chassis. I placed a known good supply onto the sounder and the connecting wires sparked violently when connected. It metered dead short!

Further investigation proved that the illuminated horn switch cables ran to the main control module beneath the foot plate. An additional pair of wires then ran to the sounder, again out from the main control module. It seems that the module has a clever short circuit protection that shuts down the power within the unit if any problems occur with external devices or cabling and prevent operation of any sort in a fault condition. A quick look in Maplin’s catalogue sourced a replacement 32mm 6-30v piezo sounder for £2.49, but I wanted it fixed ! I broke open the faulty sounder and could not believe what I saw – the two supply wires that feed the sounder were connected directly inside the unit. Once these were soldered onto the correct positions on the internal PCB the sounder worked as it should. I rebuilt the unit and assembled the head on the handlebars.

All worked perfectly!

The only other odd thing was that the direction of the drive operation paddles was back to front compared to the legend stickers that were fitted onto the unit – I asked and was told this is how it had always been and not to swap them over as the user was used to them as they were. I swapped the 59

stickers over to represent the correct direction of travel and then fully tested the unit.

The sticker problem is no great surprise to me as this error I had seen before on Asian made equipment, in fact only recently I bought a radio that was marked FFO and LOV for OFF and VOLume, nowhere near as serious as incorrect direction marking of a vehicle but hey-ho it was fixed.

This may be of use to someone with similar electric mobility scooter issues.

The post Kymco ForU Mobility Scooter Repair appeared first on Mercedes Gen-In.

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