PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Quick Question: Oil Filter Housing Gasket

SW · #6 05-29-2001, 05:47 PM

The 12 hours also included beer and food breaks. Actual time was probably close to 8 hours. I'm the slow methodical type, never in a hurry. My oil cooler lines did not strip. I could not find a wrench that was thin enough to provide a back up, so I wedged the handle of a set of channel locks in between the oil cooler and the body of the car. That way, the cooler would not move to the left while I loosened the connection. Lucky for me, nothing happened. Access to the hex bolts was tight because of the steering box. Like you said, I did have to cut a 6mm allen key down so that I had room. The long center bolt is the toughest of the 5 bolts. I stripped the center bolt, but was able to get it loosened with a small pipe wrench. The other 4 can be accessed relatively easy. I also used a U-joint extension on my ratchet wrench to loosen the 2 top bolts. You'll need a cheater pipe too, those bolts are tight. Getting the hoses through was the toughest part. My father helped me do that. Without his help, I would have towed the car to the local independant. One thing that I did to prepare myself for this job was practice doing the job on the junkyard 240D that I got the oil filter housing from. I spent about 1 hour getting the filter housing off and another 30 minutes loosening the hose connections. I did not strip the hose connections to the oil cooler/filter housing on that car either. This is a job that a competant DIY'er can do. Be patient and don't let the possible consequnces scare you from making a great improvement to the quality of your car.