New addition to the fleet - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Father Of Giants · #31 07-14-2019, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

as I was headed along on a trip I was doing a steady 60MPH in the left lane and a car slowly passed me and as it did the driver leaned out of his open window and waived a big THUMBS UP

not once but twice!

My wife asked me what all that was about and I said he must appreciate a 20 year old car with less than 50K miles on it and he probably liked the like new appearance.
Every now and then I get a few middle digit salutes especially driving my blue bomb when I cut some idiot off but never have I received such a show of affection over my car.
it made me feel really good! Maybe I should wax it and see kind of attention I can get

Immaculately clean W210's are seriously nice looking. It's a rare sight.

dieseldiehard · #32 07-26-2019, 11:35 AM

Father Of Giants (is that a DNA trait?) said "Immaculately clean W210's are seriously nice looking. It's a rare sight."
there are lots of W210's around here, there aren't many rusty ones like back East in the rust belt. Many of them look pretty nice from a distance but show peeling clear coat up close and there are always dents that people get.

A common issue I see is yellowed headlight lens. After the W124 chassis with its glass covered headlights MB went to plastic covers and I've had to replace them on my old '99 E300D. I also had the wiring defect that seems to be a common issue on the 210's. I've spent several hours working on darned 210 headlights but never had an issue with 124 headlights.
Speaking of headlights, this car has Halogens, my older one was updated to Xenon D2S. I prefer Halogens because of two reasons: first the Xenons take a while to get to full brightness so you can't use them to flash another car. Second is the cost to replace Xenons. I had one ballast go out and have replaced bulbs once. The cost of a Halogen is nothing compared to Xenon bulbs and their light output is consistent over time.

I am amazed that my "new" W210 has no (that is ZERO) defects in the windshield! no stars, no chips, no cracks - it really looks like it just rolled off the factory floor.
A close look and I note its the OE W/S unless the PO had it changed at the dealer (very unlikely).
I just got a nice Daimler Benz decal to make it complete

A 004 584 73 38

gsxr · #33 07-26-2019, 11:44 AM

Reid, you can get new lenses for your headlights, from overseas vendors. If you go this route, apply Lamin-X or similar film which claims to block UV rays and should help them last longer. The polishing kits are only a short-term fix, in a couple years they will need it again, and the polished lenses never look as good as new.

BTW, for the HID lights, when you pull on the stalk to flash the high beams, it flashes the smaller halogen high beams which are closer to the grille. So there's no concern about the burners not turning on fast enough.

I've had both and I prefer the HID, if the lenses are new. I had HID's for years with old/polished lenses and always thought the light output was lousy compared to the halogens. Then I installed new lenses on the HID lamps... and WOW. The performance is stunning. I can live with the 30-sec warmup time for the burners. New HID's definitely outpower new halogens! I was shocked at the difference.

Yes, the HID burner output changes over time but it's many hundreds of hours, at which point you likely would have changed the halogen bulbs a time or two.

dieseldiehard · #34 07-26-2019, 12:05 PM

OK Dave
I like the Batman sig!
I did swap out lens off a low mileage wrecked 210, its fun and easily done after the headlights are out and in your lap to deal with. I saw the lens made in Taiwan I believe and decided to get the used one locally, they still look fine but not NEW like the lens on my "new" E300D
I coated them already, using Meguiars spray on coating

gsxr · #35 07-26-2019, 12:10 PM

I was able to source brand-new, Genuine Hella lenses (Euro-spec) from overseas. They weren't terribly expensive. Next time you need to mess with the lenses, I'd highly recommend that route. I was very happy with the results. As you said, with the headlights out of the car, it's easy to swap lesnes.

dieseldiehard · #36 07-26-2019, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsxr

BTW, for the HID lights, when you pull on the stalk to flash the high beams, it flashes the smaller halogen high beams which are closer to the grille. So there's no concern about the burners not turning on fast enough.

I seem to get more light back with the Main Halogen bulbs, maybe the smaller high beams closer to the grill have a better focused beam pattern.
I don't do that much night time driving these days but I used to drive cross country every other year or so and when I did I preferred to drive at night especially across the Southwest with the desert heat in Summer. Many times I used high beams on and off when there was no oncoming traffic.
When I was young and had the energy for crazy things I drove an XKE that I placed a retractable 24V landing light in the center opening in the cowling, it dropped down with the flip of a switch, somewhat in front of the radiator - talk about bright!

rmasteller · #37 07-26-2019, 02:15 PM

How did you get the car codes in a ready state for emissions testing? Was it your friend clearing codes or a driving sequence? I posted a thread about these ready codes.

dieseldiehard · #38 07-26-2019, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmasteller

How did you get the car codes in a ready state for emissions testing? Was it your friend clearing codes or a driving sequence? I posted a thread about these ready codes.

thanks for reminding me, I was going to post the outcome, eventually.
I had to have 4 pre-checks at the smog station
The first three checks were miles apart, like 180, 240 then 90 miles apart but it still it showed not ready.
I was prepared for a real problem, like a plugged EGR valve or the computer might have been flaky because one time it showed an error related to serial comm or something. The OBD2 was reset after that one, I think that was the 3rd trip.
I drove some 50 miles or so, not far really then I stopped to in to see what the result was because I was getting antsy to receive the pink slip as I need that to order a new key.
The car came with the original key which is a flat black thing. New keys are red and black rounded and a chrome edge, thats what you get for something a tad over $200 with the meager dealer discount for me being a Vintage Member (that used to mean I drove in with a vintage car, now I think it means I am an old fart!)
Anyhow on the 4th check it passed! I really was expecting it to fail. The tester asked me what I did to make it pass? he seemed a bit surprised.
I said I drove the car like I stole it, doing an Italian Tune up

The car is strong, the engine idles quietly (for a 24v diesel) there may be just a hint of hesitation sometimes when applying the accelerator, unlike my "old" E300D which jumps and goes when you tell it to.

I dropped the papers off at the DMV so I'm waiting for the title in the mail.
I am going to remove the EGR and see what it looks like, run a wire brush thru there and see that the flapper valve moves freely, just to understand why it might have not been clearing initially. I should have done that when I changed the injector return lines but I didn't want to disturb the ongoing computer analysis or whatever was going on in the midst of the drive cycle.

NOTE: I just got back from another 250 mile round trip, prior to leaving I added a cocktail of additives to kill off algae.
One of the First things I did when I got the car was replace the fuel filters and do a trans service. That's when I saw the prefilter was pretty much filled with black algae

Today I drove until the reserve fuel light was on for about 15 miles so the tank is nearly empty and a friend is replacing the tank strainer that just came in from the dealer. I am headed over later to check it out, I just dropped off a new wheel and tire to replace the OE spare.
Just these little surprises O/W the car looks and drives perfectly!
DDH

dieseldiehard · #39 07-26-2019, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

NOTE: I just got back from another 250 mile round trip, prior to leaving I added a cocktail of additives to kill off algae.
One of the First things I did when I got the car was replace the fuel filters and do a trans service. That's when I saw the prefilter was pretty much filled with black algae

Today I drove until the reserve fuel light was on for about 15 miles so the tank is nearly empty and a friend is replacing the tank strainer that just came in from the dealer. I am headed over later to check it out, I just dropped off a new wheel and tire to replace the OE spare.
Just these little surprises O/W the car looks and drives perfectly!
DDH

Oh Boy! we got Fungi!
I guess I dodged a bullet on this, strange thing the car ran like a top!

engatwork · #40 07-27-2019, 08:34 PM

Nice

dieseldiehard · #41 07-31-2019, 12:20 AM

nice, huh? then what about this?

I filled the tank after replacing the main fuel strainer, parked it and the next day I see drip drip drip from fuel spilling out onto the pavement, after 24 hours maybe a half gallon lost! I am afraid to start the engine else it catch fire.

looks like the fuel heater or possibly the IP. Not coming from the secondary
filter which was also changed (and was clean the second time around)
Have to remove the intake manifold to see
Darn it I am beginning to think the car is haunted!
one thing for sure, the OM603 was easy to work on compared to the 606, and the 617 was a piece of cake.
DDH

rmasteller · #42 07-31-2019, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

thanks for reminding me, I was going to post the outcome, eventually.
I had to have 4 pre-checks at the smog station
The first three checks were miles apart, like 180, 240 then 90 miles apart but it still it showed not ready.
I was prepared for a real problem, like a plugged EGR valve or the computer might have been flaky because one time it showed an error related to serial comm or something.

Just because the OBD says the car is "not ready" doesn't mean you have a problem. See:
97 E300D - OBD says EGR problem, no CEL or codes

rmasteller · #43 07-31-2019, 12:37 AM

I read through that thread again and saw you posted in it! So, if you looked at the link I gave, you know it's not about driving 500 miles, it's about driving specific miles at specific speeds. I read somewhere that many times this Drive Cycle is performed on a dyno to make it safe and accurate.

Does anyone have documentation on required Drive Cycle specs to put OBD in a Ready State for testing?

dieseldiehard · #44 07-31-2019, 12:45 AM

OK, was wondering about that.
re: Drive Cycle
I only found a recommendation for a Gasser, probably Chevy?ford/ etc and it mentioned the systematic events that occur, things like having the AC on the electrical system loaded and O2 sensors doing their thing on specific intervals. Definitely not applicable to a Mercedes diesel!
Therefore someone with this problem has to discover what a particular series of acceleration/deceleration etc will satisfy the darned computer!
Very non-scientific!
I believe they keep it all a secret maybe so people will have to go through hoops!

BTW UPDATE AFTER passing the Smog test.
I went ahead and removed the EGR valve, it was not really plugged or even partially plugged. scraped some gunk out of it wiped it clean and reinstalled.
Working on fuel leaks now.

rmasteller · #45 07-31-2019, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

re: Drive Cycle .... I believe they keep it all a secret maybe so people will have to go through hoops!

BTW I went ahead and removed the EGR valve, it was not really plugged or even partially plugged. scraped some gunk out of it wiped it clean and reinstalled.

Yea, I would be impressed if anyone can produce diesel OBD drive cycles.

Nice! Gotta love a clean EGR. I took mine apart this month and it was clean (just sprayed it out with brake cleaner) and the valve worked and held open with the Mityvac.