The Master List of my SDL's Problems

[bustedbenz]

Just thought I'd write up a quick list of everything wrong with the car at the moment, mostly to see if I've missed anything. I'm putting a * beside the ones I need ideas on, the rest are things I know what needs doing but can't or am not going to fix at the immediate moment.

If anybody knows what to do about some of my * points, let me know if you have the patience for it.

I'll warn you... you may not want to read this. It's okay. I'm long-winded and I know it. Go do something more fun

1. Oil leak from valve cover gasket and who knows where else, engine is so coated I can't see any details. Going to put new valve cover gasket in. This summer. Eventually.

*2. Oil blowing out of EGR since I disconnected and plugged all the vacuum going to that side of the car... am ordering an off-road blockoff kit from Brian this weekend hopefully to see what happens after I remove it. What does it mean to be losing oil there (slowly, not major yet) anyway? Also have some amount but not a ghastly amount of oil gunk lining the crossover pipe (not like dripping oil, but it's definitely there).

*3. Even after plugging lines and so forth, measuring vacuum going down to the transmission, AFTER it goes through the blue box and before it gets down to the modulator, I'm only seeing about 8 inches, and that figure doesn't change significantly or consistently with the throttle. Reading far and away plenty of vacuum at the vacuum pump itself (i think).

4. Smoke incident earlier this week, from the dash, hasn't repeated itself. I'm just going to drive it I guess (shorter distances, I didn't take it to Atlanta this week b/c I was afraid of what might happen) until it does it again and see what I can figure out. Am carrying fire extinguisher in the back seat at all times now.

5. Low fuel light doesn't work at all although the bulb self-tests, and the gauge works but it seems to hit R long before I run out... guess I'll replace the sending unit in the tank when I can afford to. Much bigger fish to fry.

*6. Fan clutch seems to be tensioning properly at some times and freewheeling at others, with no pattern. Think I may have toasted it when I drove it home after the white oak incident last winter with one fan blade stuck just enough into a radiator fin to prevent its turning (but not enough to puncture the radiator)

*6.5 On extremely hot days, and very very rarely on cooler ones, let's call this from 80F and up - if the engine RPM is allowed to fall from any point over 1500 or 2000 rpm, back down to the idle - either by throwing the tranny in neutral from road speed, sitting still in park and accelerating from idle up to 2000 and then taking my foot off the accelerator... whatever... it doesn't stop at idle, it just keeps on falling and then engine dies. On a gas engine, I'd call it vapor lock. Diesel shouldn't be able to do that, I wouldn't think. It always restarts IMMEDIATELY when I reset the key and crank it... but that's a harrowing 10 seconds when it does it in traffic every time I try to move up and then stop again, and have to put it in neutral, turn the switch off, turn it back on, etc. I think this is temp. and maybe fan clutch related but it shouldn't be THAT sensitive. Engine temp on the gauge only goes up to 110 or so at its worst moments. That was the sign that the LAST fan clutch needed replacing... guess I ought to do it again just to be safe.

7. Interior is just falling to pieces. Dash pad is the only good part. Seats bounce too much, and the drivers seat has a hole down to the horsehair in the back rest part, and the strip that wraps around at the very bottom of the seat leather that's supposed to keep it "strapped" to the seat frame... is just absolutely torn to bits, so the driver's seat leather isn't even attached to the seat anymore. Weather strip around my door let go this week so the little leather cloth cover that covers the seat belt pillar is flapping in the wind now, released by the movement of that weather strip. Will fix the weather strip, can't afford a leather replacement and there's no quick fix for that many problems.

*8. Intermittant cruise control.. likes hot days better maybe but that's indeterminate... despite that it has a new control switch stalk and a "new used" amplifier under the dash, supposedly in working order. Works perfectly when it works. Can't really throw an actuator in until I know for sure if the old one is bad or not, how to test? Is completely nonfunctioning cruise a good symptom?

*9. Something inside the dash is preventing my air conditioning from getting to the center vents - sometimes. It goes to the windshield defroster vents instead. But why does it work occasionally? What part is this, and why, oh dog, why, do I have to take the whole dash out (again) to get to it?

10. The speaker that sounds like it's under the glove box in the passenger foot area somewhere is the only speaker in the whole car that still works, except for occasional squawks from something in the left occasionally. Don't know if the door skins will survive being taken off again.

11. Doors have about rusted at the bottom, inside. Thus, my fear for taking them apart too many more times.

*12. Sunroof track, based on rust in the doors (there is no body rust except for those cursed door bottoms, which is perplexing), could be so rusty that I'm afraid to pull the old seals out to put new ones in, even though it leaks on my head.... what if I pull the seals out and the (probably) rusty track comes halfway out in flakes with it and there's nothing to seal the new gasket to?

13. Seems to go through headlight bulbs at an inordinate rate... Both sides haven't made it 8 months to date without burning out one or the other. I give up on the electrical stuff, it hasn't burned one out for a while yet, so maybe it's finally hit a happy point.

14. Rock hit my fog light lens (DOT instead of euro, thank goodness) on the right side back in October... was just a small crack at the time but it's gotten bigger as the road bumped it until now I'm just counting time until that one falls to pieces like the rest of the car's plastic. Can't throw $300 or whatever at a headlight lens that I can live without until it breaks when I've got stuff like the fan clutch to worry about.

*15. Transmission fluid leak, fairly significant. Two seperate occasions, transmission fluid has mysteriously disappeared from the dipstick. Seems to be the seal at the transmission/engine connection point, but... doesn't seem to ever drip fast enough there to account for fluid missing on the "2-quarts in a few months" scale instead of by the "went halfway down the stick but still on it" scale. Could it be a vacuum problem (like the rest of the car) possibly sucking fluid back into the vacuum system (or the pump somehow). We don't have a transmission jack or the facilities to even remotely think about having it out.

16. Power steering fluid disappeared once. Just once. Groaning noise from power steering system, checked the fluid. Just gone. Slurping in the bottom of the reservoir but that's it. Had just finished replacing the ps fluid a month or two prior when it happened. Have checked the reservoir weekly ever since, and it's right where it belongs. But it wasn't a hose blown off or something, we checked. Not asking advice b/c I can't fix a problem that quit existing.

17. Paint, though original, is chipped in places and just plain in bad shape in others. Can't throw the cash at it when I have mechanical problems (and college coming up, freshman at Appalachian St. Univ in the fall, which means summer job is IT for mercedes parts money)

18. The tachometer won't move up past, or back down past, 1500 rpm square on, without sticking until I give it a friendly whack on the dash. Don't REALLY think I have the nerve to go inside there, I'll bend the speedo needle or something and cause myself more problems.

*19. If I do take the dash apart to try to fix that not-working climate whatever it is, I've also got a mess with the lighting; half of the center panel buttons, all of the gear selector lights, the headlight switch center... none of these things light up like they're supposed to, despite my best wiggling and turning of the rheostat on the dashboard. Brightness of the things that DO light up is plenty bright for me, and adjusts flawlessly with the adjuster without the cutting in and out that I'd expect from a dusty rheostat.

20. Air conditioning is practically nonfunctional. Bought some Freeze 12 this week, going to get my grandfather (the family refrigeration expert) to help me recharge it... but then the new problem is that we've been through this once already, which means now I have to find the freon leak and figure out if I can fix it.

*21. Rear defroster only defrosts a stripe about one inch wide right down the middle of the windshield, rest is shot. New windshield? Afraid so... it has the classic seperation starting at the bottom corner anyway, guess that let moisture in and corroded the heating elements

[bustedbenz]

The biggest problem of all is the constant (although he does help me work on it, eventually, since i'm a mechanical idiot) "i told you so" from my dad whenever I bring home a new Mercedes problem. I hate the "i told you so" response... I was going to go get one of these "old, reliable mercedes that run forever" just to prove that I could get away with seriously driving a 21 year old car... and I'm losing, to the severe embarassment of myself and the severe satisfaction of everybody else.



Some of those are really minor, others are major. I wasn't trying to ask for help on every single issue. I just wanted everybody to see the list I've got of all the little stuff that I have to try to figure out day to day... it's adding up. Am I in over my head? I'm starting to wonder... but I can't give up on it. I'm not going to. I'll never hear the end of it. I'll fight it out somehow... but it's getting me a little frustrated.



The stuff we've already fixed: tree damage (my dad did a fantastic job on that one), had the front steering/suspension, etc rebuilt by a mechanic (the only job ever done by somebody other than us on this car since we had it)... we had a lot of stuff done, I think some of the ball joints and tie rods needed replacing, a whole lot of those things under there... we had the mechanic (who is an old mercedes specialist) take it all apart, determine what needed replacement, and just replace those components... he showed us the old stuff to prove he hadn't ripped us off, and it still came to $1600 ... new rebuilt alternator, new water pump, regular maintenance of everything we know how to maintain to the best of our ability (oil, complete transmission fluid change, antifreeze, etc) - on our 2nd cooling fan and soon to be the third fan clutch, new cruise switch, used cruise amp, window regulators, new rebuilt starter, new coolant expansion tank (old one got brittle and cracked, yes we used gold coolant and not green), new exhaust stuff from right after the header pipe all the way to the end, new tires (michelins that already have over 30,000 miles on them, in a year and a half)..... We're doing our best, we fix stuff as it breaks and we're being as nice to it as we can with preventative maintenance and buying oem parts and so forth......



But it's all added up. Plus the hours of trying to figure it all out with no service books except the stupid CD from MBUSA. All that, plus the original purchase price of $5500 - which we thought was doing the right thing and spending more to get one that was not going to need all of this .... we're too deep in to even think about getting out now... but is this NORMAL? Or did we get a real wreck and not know it

[bustedbenz]

And I apologize for putting this in everybody's way and making you read it... but I had to rant somewhere, and I thought I might as well rant to people who knew what I was talking about. Thanks for the patience, folks.

[probear]

Check your PMs...BTW, I have the same issue with my cruise, and just have not worried about it. Slight leak from the PS pump, but not much. Had the front end rebuilt, shocks, tires, rear links, A/C work, starter bendix, and the seat springs suck. BUT.....so far, over 35K miles in 21 months, and it runs great.

You might have more than your share of problems, but they do just keep running and running.

[bustedbenz]

Add a re-broken sunroof to the list. Headlight crack is in the process of being fixed however.

Is this... normal? I mean, I can live with some of it. But am I working with a lost cause here or do I just need a little more time and effort to have it up to par?

[Brian Carlton]

Firstly, and the most important thing to understand, is the fact that you own a 21 year old vehicle with over 300K on the clock. You cannot expect any component on the vehicle to be in good condition after this mileage level. While some things will go longer, expecting them to do so is unrealistic.

Therefore, your approach to such a vehicle must be that of an enthusiast. Things will not function, items will break. It's your job to determine the problem and fix the issue. If this approach is desirable and satisfying for you, then the vehicle is satisfactory for you. If this approach is tiring and frustrating.........you can just stop right not. This is not a vehicle for you and no matter how much effort you put into the vehicle, you'll never be pleased about it.

All of your issues can be addressed in a methodical basis..........it may take a couple of years to work all the bugs out of it. My '86 still has a couple of issues from the date that I bought it. But, overall, after the infusion of about $5K over the purchase price, the vehicle is comfortable and quite reliable. I probably will never completely eradicate "the list", but, I'm not worried about it either.

So, after you make a decision on whether to address that multitude of issues.........or not..........we can get started on some of them..........or not.

My own opinion is that I would not invest the time and money into a vehicle with over 300K on the engine. It's more than likely that some serious engine work will be required at or near the 400K point. These engines are not 1M mile engines, no matter what you've been told in the past. The proper rebuild of this engine is very costly and far exceeds the value of the vehicle.

[Hatterasguy]

Originally Posted by bustedbenz

The biggest problem of all is the constant (although he does help me work on it, eventually, since i'm a mechanical idiot) "i told you so" from my dad whenever I bring home a new Mercedes problem. I hate the "i told you so" response... I was going to go get one of these "old, reliable mercedes that run forever" just to prove that I could get away with seriously driving a 21 year old car... and I'm losing, to the severe embarassment of myself and the severe satisfaction of everybody else.

It would probably be very bad for us if our dads ever meet!

My dad said/says the same things. I also hear the usual, "why can't you buy a good car like a Toyota?" "Get the old clunker out of my way" etc etc.

But he did/does do a lot of work on it.

[captainmonk]

ahhhhhhhhh that be one list too long for me but to each his own mine might just die tommorow