Austin, Texas shop info needed.
 

Looking to have some work done that I cannot or may not want to do myself, and I would appreciate input from those in the know.

1.) Does anyone have input on Austin Fuel Injection and Perfomance Center on East 5th street? I have gotten some good feedback on them from Gas EFI guys, and in talking to the counter guys last week the place seemed to be a heads up shop. I am looking to have my 124/603 injecters cleaned and rebuilt if needed, as the car is starting to idle rough and smoke a bit on start up. They charge $20 per injector for labor, and IIRC approx $40 for Bosch parts per injector, if needed, the gentleman I spoke with had owned a 124/603 and indicated that normally parts were not required.

2.) Can Diesel Purge be aquired locally? I would like to try to run some through before I pull the injectors, but I would like to address this issue ASAP.

3.) I might be looking for an A/C shop to recharge my R12 system, and hunt for a possible leak. Might just be a small leak, as it ran fine for sometime after I bought it, but now the A/C is inop, the failure mode was suggestive of low refrigerant qty. The system has a sticker indicating it was charged with a leak detecting dye. (May just do this myself, as I have 7lbs of R12, and access to a manifold and vacum pump if I am lucky.)

4.) It appears the left front is out of alignment, (might just be that the P.O. ran the LF tire with low psi.) Any good alignment shops for Mercedes in the Austin area? 4a.) Most of the supsension was addressed by the P.O. but I am debating having the front A-Arm bushings replace, normally I would do this myself, but with the cost of a Mercedes Benz sping compressor, it seems it might make more sense to turn it over to a local shop. So I guess I am looking for a place have this done, or a place that might rent a quality spring compressor.

5.) A Co-worker with a E300 (124) is looking for a good Austin/Bastrop area transmission shop. (It sounds like the park pawl has grenaded or is not releasing fully.)

Sorry this is so long, but I gotta get this car back up to the fine runnign condition it was in when I bought it, or I am going back to running Japanes. (O' the horror!)

Your input is much appreciated. Mack Kamna

Hi Mack, here's the local answers I can provide:
Haven't dealt with them but have done biz with Central Texas Diesel Injection

I quit looking and run Power Service or Stanandyne.

See Joe or Linda at Atlas Auto Air on North Lamar. You should call first becasue there isn't much work this time of year and Joe likes his fishing. I've known Joe for at least 30 years; he may well be the only honest a/c guy in Waterloo. Tell them Randy Leo sent you.

When you find a front end shop in Austin that knows MBZ front ends, let me know. I've had mine done by a brake shop on William Cannon and am not experiencing any pulling or bizarre tire wear but, I'm not all that convinced they truly know MBZ fronts either. FWIW, I have a spring compressor, a nice workshop and would appreciate the opportunity to get experienced in some front end work. Let's talk.

Sorry, no help here.

Before I purchased my SDL from the Previous Owner in Kyle TX, I had the car checked out by Bens Workshop in Austin. After deciding to go ahead with the purchase, I had Ben's do some work which included fixing the ACC & A/C. I was very impressed with their knowledge and the way they kept me informed. They also went out of their way to find the most cost effective solution and were very reasonable about their time spent for each task. Their labour rate (in August) was $75/hour which is not cheap, but I always felt I got good value for the time they billed. I would highly recommend them for any M-B work.

Thanks guys, some good food for thought.

Randy, I will be talking to you pretty soon. I am still recovering from the broken leg, but the Docter hooked me up with an electronic bone stimulator, and I am finally healing like I should have been all along. Having been injured since May, things are really backing up, everyone of the cars/bikes has something that needs to be addressed. With over 750,000 miles combined on the three cars, I guess that should be expected.

I still have the 1984 190D (201/601) and 1987 300Dt (124/603 turbo), I am in the process of trying to figure out what I want to do vehicle wise. I would like to combine the fuel economy of the 190D, the features of the E300D with the hauling/towing ability of my truck. I am thinking a E300D 5 cylinder (124/602 turbo) with a reciever hitch and a quality trailer might just do the trick. I am also considering a VW TDI Golf, if the combined sale of the cars I have now would get me into a decent used one, and if it could tow what I need to pull. Lots of thinking to do, and numbers to cruch.

Time to get busy. Thanks, Again Mack

PS. My long suffering erratic laptop has finally kicked the bucket, so I may be slow to reply to the forum and emails.

Mack,
Let's visit about that 190D. It's a manual, isn't it?

Randy, I am moving really slowly on things at present, but as soon as I re-insure the 190D and put it back on the road, I will give you a call to arrange a drive. (I dropped the insurance on my PU, and the 190D when I injured the leg, as both are manual trans.)

Still no idea what vehicle(s) I will end up keeping/selling, though I am still leaning toward a 5cyl (602) powered 300D or 190D replacement, as I feel either would give me the best combination of mileage and towing capability.

Austin Fuel Injection also recomended the Stanadyne additive.

No prob.