I'm sure all this mess has been my fault....I'm just a royal pain in the a** to deal with 'ya know!!!

I have no ideal of what goes on anymore. Had you left the car is it possible a new fan unit would have been installed. While you were billed for a new flexplate? The average customer knows less than nothing about cars in general today.

It is very hard to believe a noisy fan is similar to the sound of a bad flexplate. Even if it was the separation of the noise source should have been obvious. Could be an honest error as well. Or perhaps he just did not want to tell you.

For the younger guys on site. Mechanics in general in the day. Did not have to charge for diagnosis. The cars where simple in comparison and usually they knew just where the problem was. There would be a time charge of some sort to change out or rectify whatever it was of course.

Even on certain cars today the all too common failures if they know the brand. Are probably treated in a similar fashion sometimes. No point in diagnosing if you are already pretty certain of the issue. Although in todays world you might still pay for diagnosing. Simply because their internal operational costs are so high.

In general servicing of most types you made your money on the really common issues. You make less usually on the tough and intermittent ones.

Also the one or two mechanic shop requires a lot of equipment and subscription costs etc to really stay going properly. This increases his or their internal costs signifigantly. Times have changed so much you cannot even keep all the common failure parts in stock anymore. Actually other than fuses bulbs and lubricants etc. It just does not work out as well.

If you smell crap everywhere you go, check your own shoes.

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Milan Brown 1979 240D, rebuilt OM617.952 turbo diesel, rebuilt 722.315 transmission (my only daily driver)

Instagram: @maximed93

You are so right, sir. With the assistance of technical articles here on pelican parts plus the forum itself, I've finally WEANED myself away from these losers.....

h*ll, due to self-education, I now know more about it than they do. Screw 'em.

In reality. If you want to drive 40 year old cars you better know how to fix it or at least enough to know what is probably wrong. Most of the time these cars break it's something you can fix on the side of the road with a few tools. People are always shocked when I delivered pizzas in my 64 220b, sure I had to touch the carburetors once in awhile or some little thing but nothing that anybody that can keep their weed whacker running probably couldn't have accomplished. Not an electric weedwhacker kids!!

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WARNING!!! VINTAGE MERCEDES MAY MULTIPLY UNCONTROLABLY!!! I have tons of Sl/Slc parts w108 w111 w126 and more. E-mail me with needs
BirchsgarageMB@gmail.com

What an ignorant statement. No wonder you have trouble finding a good shop, I would send you down the road too.

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Milan Brown 1979 240D, rebuilt OM617.952 turbo diesel, rebuilt 722.315 transmission (my only daily driver)

Instagram: @maximed93

Really the honest truth to all of this.

These cars are antiques. Hard to believe it's 2019. There are teenagers driving cars who can vote now that don't remember 9/11.

The 80s and 90s were a long time ago.

Huskyman, I know that feel bro but really if you want to drive these vehicles you really need to be an expert in roughly 80% of it. If something goes outside your wheel house (pun intended) you need to know what and be able to tell an indy exactly what you need done.

Paying for diagnosis is silly. That's what you do here first and then decide if you have the energy to do it yourself or outsource it.

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

Well gee, now is the time for you to open your own shop to serve those that have been ripped off by the man. Should be a big money maker no? My money is on you never opening a real shop. " Don't have space , don't have money , don't have time , don't have business sense , don't have . . . . ."

Don't forget that even though he knows better than any shop, but he's been working on replacing the fan clutch since the end of January, posting questions regarding it during the entire job.

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Milan Brown 1979 240D, rebuilt OM617.952 turbo diesel, rebuilt 722.315 transmission (my only daily driver)

Instagram: @maximed93

Hugh Hefner willed me his estate. I've had to squeeze in time for the fan clutch repair in between long sexual interludes with hot playboy playmates!

I'd been wondering if anyone else was onto this angle.


Between HuskyMan and gregp1962's innocuously started and completely inadvertent tear down project (still very much going), it all has turned into something akin to a multi-season PBS series. Perhaps someday Ken Burns will come along and make an interesting historical narrative of it. Though, he'll have to add some droll humor to enliven what so far are mostly inadvertent self-satires.

Why the hell would you want to do that? Then you have to deal with a bunch of junk that people have "kept running" until the Band-Aids and bubblegum catastrophically come off. Then they want it all fixed for dirt cheap and when 8 things fall apart in your hand on your way to replacing the water pump or whatever they want to say "you broke it you pay for it!" I have the space and the shop, could make the time. **** that. I'd rather sell parts and build cars.

You've got an answer for every situation. Do you work on Mercedes for a living?

__________________
WARNING!!! VINTAGE MERCEDES MAY MULTIPLY UNCONTROLABLY!!! I have tons of Sl/Slc parts w108 w111 w126 and more. E-mail me with needs
BirchsgarageMB@gmail.com

People can continue going to the screw-over indies, I'll turn my own wrenches, eat sandwiches and take names!

My hero. . .

Interesting that those in this thread that have / had actual businesses or are self employed get it. Others complain that there are no good shops but refuse to open one to serve the ripped off masses even-though it seems like a sure money maker.


I never specialized in Mercedes. Had a fin tail in the early 80's then got the 97 SL320 and 97 C280 round about 2011 / 14. I tend to research systems on cars I have before things break and have piles of parts at the ready.

Having built countless engines of most makes I've seen lots of failed parts and this knowledge translates to other makes. Built / restored a number of race cars along the way too.

I look at a car from an engineering perspective. If one understands how the world behaves, how the world works, one can figure everything else out. Cars were convenient machines that I could get my hands on.

From the late 80's to late 90's I had a repair shop focusing on heavy engine , transmission , electrical repairs. Made good $ rebuilding ' difficult " carburetors like the Mikuni on the Chrysler / Mitsubishi 2.6 and Ford Variable Venturi VV 2700 / VV 7200 .

Closed the shop for a number of reasons: saw that it wasn't something I wanted to do on a regular basis until retirement , the area was / still is in a long slow decline , it only takes a few bad customers to make things not fun any longer.

I did have a decent core of customers, engineers were my best ones because I could talk engineer to them. In fact, one was nearly in tears when they found I was closing. His wife told me directly that hubby would not have been this broken up if she had left him. While this was one of the high points, the emotional roller coaster of problem customers got to be too great.

Post shop I was working as a machinery tech in industry and later as an engineer. This is far easier and cleaner than the auto repair biz even though industry carries a higher "status". At 55 I pulled an early semi retirement and am occasionally consulting for a transmission shop and a machine / fabrication shop just to keep skills current.

I'm still waiting for you to help those downtrodden masses by opening your own shop.