Great Thread

My dad was a Test Pilot& later Technicial Manager-but never even changed his own oil !! (and had zero interest in cars and tools)

I learned on my own with VWs and now MBs. Sad thing now is my two kids (son and daughter 15 & 13)HATE to work on any of our cars. They have always whined when doing anything that involves dirt, sweat or grease and need to be pryed away from the computer and video games for any mech task.

My "hints" about the the costs THEY will pay when drive time comes-falls on deaf MP3 player plugged ears.

However both are A students, so I cannot complain too much

I always involved my wife in the repairs/maintenance in the years before I went to sea in the Navy. It helped her throw the BS flag at the mechanics later on when I went to sea. Saved us a bunch of money and heart ache in the long run.

My 5 year old boy helped me with the brake pad replacements on the S350D last month. He turned the lug wrench when taking the wheels off and putting them back on. He carried tools from one side of the car to the other. He handed me rags. He helped spread the anti-squeal paste. Stuff like that.

It is a little harder to get my 14 year old daughter out there to do anything. I keep asking her when we are going to start working on her car (the 87 300D). I keep telling her that if she wants it to be in good shape when she starts driving it she better start now.

-Jim

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1995 S350D, Green with black leather interior.
Bought January 2008 w/ 233,xxx miles.
I did 22,000 miles during the first year of ownership.

This is a great thread and a great idea. Too many adults have no idea of how things work because as children they were never allowed/encouraged to do things like fixing cars. Their children grow up into adults who can't do any of their own maintenance and then complain about the cost of mechanics. Kudos to forum members who get their kids (safely) involved.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Holidays are a great time to get kids involved in Mercedes Benz.

I wish I came to this forum 20 years earlier . My kids are now in the late 20's and out of the house.

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1996 E320 since 1/16/08, 171K miles as of Feb 2011

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1989 300CE - R.I.P. Dec 29 2007
Other MBs (sold): 1992 300E-24 - 1979 350SLC - 1984 230E - 1990 300CE

Haven't posted in a long time as I've been busy restoring my 74 VW Bus. Anyway, adjusting valves on the Type 4 Engine requires lying down just behind the rear tyres. Having never done it before, I got my eldest (11) to read the book, hand me the wrenches and feeler gauge...oh and she had to hold the light for Daddy's poor eyes to see better.

Well, after three cylinders, of reading the same instructions to me, she wanted to try it herself! So we switched positions, and she did both intake and exhaust on the number four cylinder. Wow!

When I get the tools for the Merc, she'll be there reading and helping me with adjusting it too, for sure!

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1987 300TD
1984 300D
755,000 KM and going strong
BC Canada

That's great. I'm ging to turn Max, my 300TD over to my younger daughter, who thinks Maxis way cool. I told her that when stuff breaks, we will fix it together. that's part of the deal. She has already helped me change the oil and do a few other routine maintenance chores.

My daughters are not going to grow up to be helpless, clueless women!

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Probably more as my father grew up on a farm in the early 1900's and these skills were just part of growing up. Dad is now 87 and a retired mechanic. I spent after school and all summers at his elbow in the shop and progressed from parts cleaner to grinding valves and helping with the wrenches. Dad believed if you couldn't fix the car, you shouldn't be allowed to drive. At age 12, I began working for pay with the area farmers. Too bad the child labor laws where in effect when my children were that age.

I started my sons early and it really paid off when they became teenagers and started driving. If you have teenagers you know what I mean by how hard it is to talk to them. However, we spent a lot of quality time under the hood with wrenches in our hands talking about topics that would have never been possible in the house. We spent several hundred hours rebuilding a classic corvette when they were at those difficult high school and college ages. I have a 4 post lift in the back garage because one of the lessons learned was how to do things safely.

Today my 8 year old grandson helped me with the MB. Replacing the air cleaner mounts, changing oil, finding a short in the wiring to the rear window, etc.

When I was in graduate school, it was clear that the best people in the laboratory were those that either grew up on a farm or spent a lot of time working on machinery. The others seemed to be very short in the logic department. Today's generation (I teach premed chemistry) are almost helpless when it comes to critical thinking. Those skills begin to be learned at an early age if you learn how things work and how to fix them.

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Charles
1983 300D, bought new, 215k+ miles, donated to Purple Hearts veterans charity but I have parts for sale: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-cars-sale/296386-fs-1-owner-83-mb-300d-turbo-rebuild-parts.html

This weekend my eldest son and I had a fun project with the 95 E300D. Jon is 14 and quite capable with mechanics. The project involved changing the ball joints, the LCA bushings, the drag link and both tie rods. We rented the spring compressor from "overdrive" (thanks very much) and started tackling the job.

It was challenging to be quite honest. The ball joints didn't want to come out, so I took the LCA's 10 mins down the street to the machine shop and had them pressed out and the new ones back in. To cut a long story short, we worked for quite a few hours on SAT and were able to complete the work. We used some string on a couple of jack stands to give it a decently good alignment...but I'll be going in this week to have the alignment properly adjusted with someone who's capable.

Jon partnered well with me and worked along side the entire time. We enjoyed the first test drive together. As a note, the car is just about to turn 247k miles and with the new repairs, drives like new again. I had previously changed the struts FYI.

Anyway, I made sure that he was directly involved in using the spring compressor, wrenching with the air tools, etc. He helped dial in the alignment and we had a great time. The oldest three boys know how to stick and mig weld and are really capable. I really enjoy the investment of time with each of them in learning skills such as these.

I'll add one final thought...I work in corp America in the telecom field, but my family owns a large chicken farm. Living on the farm has been one of the best decisions for my family, as there are always things to fix, make, etc. I believe that my children are learning invaluable skills living on the farm and working along side me on projects like the one shared.

Mercedes cars are such a joy to work on...well the one I own is

Thanks again for a great thread,

Andy

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'95 E300D 313k miles
http://www.ourfullhouse.com

When my daughter was 4 (now 22) I taught her everything,so she would not get ripped off by mechanics.She does all her work,and was in diesel school for a year( her husband did not like her working with men).
My sons,12 and 14 to know how to work on gas and diesel.I plan next year to find my oldest son a Benz diesel.He can bragg at school running on free fuels,like me.
Yes Boy or Girl teach them early,they never forget.

Self-sufficiency is a good thing. I don't want to feel any more dependent upon other people than I have to be, and I don't want my kids to be either. Even if they only learn enough to avoid being taken advantage of by unscrupulous mechanics, that's pretty good.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles