W210 E300 estate sleeper - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

m1tch · #46 08-27-2015, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leszek

Very strange on the lack of a code when disconnecting the vacuum line from the EGR. I have a 1999 E300TD sedan and tried a multitude of ways to bypass the EGR and got a code that then almost immediately put the car into a limp mode. I would get no boost at all until resetting the check engine. Don't remember the actual code. I eventually found an electronic bypass that "dumbed down" the EGR. My engine had a mid range "hiccup" for years and disappeared the moment I installed this EGR bypass. The one caveat to this is that the poster that I got this fix from was able to remove the vacuum line from his EGR after this electronic bypass. When I did it, I still got a code, but it would sometimes take quite a bit of aggressive driving to get it, however even without the code there was a lack of performance which I believe resulted from a reduced boost situation. I think it may have something to do with a parallel connection somewhere of the vacuum lines between the EGR and the turbo waste gate. Though that is only a hunch.

After playing around with some settings I found that my car also had no boost when the EGR was unplugged. I am yet to get round this but I believe it takes a signal from the MAF to check that the airflow changes when the EGR is opened, if it doesn't then it thinks there is something wrong. The EGR is also not open unless on cruise, when I removed my inlet manifold I found that it was basically perfectly clean (annoyingly) I was expecting it to be caked after 235k miles but it was perfect.

I will be using the diode mod to bypass the EGR, but there is a better solution which will also help with performance. I am looking to swap over the turbo wastegate actuator with a boost controlled one rather than a vacuum operated one. I can then simply use a boost line from the inlet manifold to operate it. This will also help with low down acceleration as the wastegate is default open on idle as its held open on the spring (which is why you don't get any boost when it senses an issue.

Here is an engine bay shot, I will be also taking a photo of the electric fan + oil cooler soon as well:

Here are a few things I have noticed that make a difference:

Change from the stock airbox to a cone filter gives additional throttle response.
Adding a 12kOHM resistor in the MAP signal line improves performance a bit, it seems to shift the powerband up slightly and the car picks up quite strongly at around 2k RPM.
Removing the exhaust reduces weight quite a bit but on the stock turbo it doesn't do too much to the performance owing to the fact that the turbo is too small for the engine and spool is instant anyway.

Key things to check are the jubaliee clips on the end of the stock intercooler and check for any leaks - this was the number 1 killer for performance as I found one was old and didn't 100% seal causing a small boost leak.

Few things I have next on the list:

Oil cooler fitting
Universal backbox fitting (to increase the stealth)
Replace coolant thermostat (currently stuck open so overcooling)
Boost operated wastegate (might not do this and just keep the stock setup then swap over to the new turbo)
Viscous fan removal (just run on the electric fan when needed and reduce parasitic load)
Injector rebuild (new nozzles etc, they work ok but they aren't quiet on idle)
Methanol injection (will be using windscreen washer fluid directly from washer tank)

Not the best photo but here is the GT35 turbo I have sat on top of the stock turbo - the position is about correct as there will be a manifold adaptor attached to it but you get the idea. Might also get a slightly larger turbo, but will see how this turbo does when I do get around to fitting it. Initially I will run it on the stock fuel pump (which should increase the fueling once I knows there is extra air going into the engine and uses a different part of the stock map). I can also add a bit more fueling without upgrading the pump via the additional methanol in the water/meth injection system. I do have more of an issue with it being RHD in the fact that I have a steering rack in the way where the downpipe would usually go, which is why I will be going for the dieselpumpuk adaptor or manifold which is designed for RHD cars to avoid the steering rack.

m1tch · #47 09-10-2015, 02:35 AM

Decided to use the addage of 'Go big or go home' and got myself a GT45 - I might run both together as a compound setup, will check the space. The OEM downpipe has a 3" V band connection, it only narrows down to 2.5" after a bit. This will mean that I should be able to plumb the GT45 directly into the stock exhaust system.

Will need to spin the housings slightly and it will also sit slightly lower, this is the other turbo I was looking at getting, it can flow enough to support the power I am after at only 1 bar vs the 2 bar needed on the smaller GT35 turbo - have the option to swap them over if this turbo is too laggy - I have a feeling it should provide enough air flow though!

Stock downpipe top:

Lines up well with the rest of the exhaust system - might just need to simply spin the current OEM downpipe 180 degrees and connect together:

dtf · #48 09-10-2015, 02:10 PM

That's a nicer looking car than my '99 E300 Turbo sedan when it was brand new! What is your engine temp? Mine usually runs just shy of 80C so if you are seeing those kinds of numbers that might be normal. Enjoy the ride!

m1tch · #49 09-11-2015, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtf

That's a nicer looking car than my '99 E300 Turbo sedan when it was brand new! What is your engine temp? Mine usually runs just shy of 80C so if you are seeing those kinds of numbers that might be normal. Enjoy the ride!

Its not bad, its fairly basic inside - cloth manual seats etc, but thats fine as it means a lower weight anyway. One of the reasons I bought this particular car was the fact that the bodywork was very good. There have been a few bodges in the engine bay eg the oil cooler, aux fans and a hole in the intercooler but those are being sorted.

The M22x1.5 female/female adaptors have arrived now so I can fit the oil cooler, the car is currently having issues with the battery, it was brand new when i bought the car, however it seems to only have 650CCA, minimum spec for this engine is 850 I believe so the incorrect battery was fitted.

I won't be bolting on any of the different turbos until next year, just collecting the parts I need at the moment whilst sorting a few things out generally. I have a 12KOhm resistor fitted and the car does feel more lively although not as good as a remap would be etc. I have also had a few nails go through the rear tyre so having to sort that out before getting everything back on the road, the tyres have only done 300 miles - typical!

If I can get everything running as I want it to be then I will attempt to get another run done at Santapod to see the performance change from stock, I am really enjoying the learning curve of owing a car with an automatic gearbox as well as such a large engine!

I am still keeping with the theme of a sleeper and will be keeping any exterior trim pieces in place etc.

With regards to the water temps, it does drop to around 70c when cruising but it has been up to around 100c when stuck in traffic (hence the need for the electric fan as a failsafe. I have a replacement thermostat to fit soonish as I know that the car is overcooling at the moment as it does take a long time to get to temperature.

m1tch · #50 09-16-2015, 02:58 AM

Slight update on this, I found that I had a few starting issues, this was again caused by air in the fuel lines, it looks like on my car its the O ring around the pre filter so I have replaced the O ring and added some of the black high temp silicone, the car now starts instantly - such a big difference. Also found that I didn't get any injector noise when coming off throttle, sounded like a bag of nails every now and then so I am guessing this would have been the air in the fuel lines.

I also found that the battery fitted (by the garage just before I bought it) is very under specced for the car, have upgraded this to a much beefier battery and its made a big difference to the car and ownership. I think because the last battery couldn't quite keep up with the demand when starting 6 glow plugs and turning over 3 litres of engine it gradually degraded. It was having issues holding enough charge which meant that when I pressed the button to unlock the doors the battery could only just power the vacuum pump to open them - opens instantly now with the new battery.

I will also be looking to get a pop tester and rebuild the injectors adding in some new nozzles, although the engine is running really smoothly at the moment I am sure there can be some improvements - might look into changing the nozzles to something different but will see.

I have decided to have a look at a possible car to compare this to in the Mercedes line up, I have found that the most powerful 7 seater estate they do is the E63 estate which has 507bhp but weighs 1.8 tons. This gives it a power to weight of 282bhp/ton - calculating this back it would mean that my car at stock weight (1.5 tons I believe) would need 423bhp to match it. I should be able to pull around 200kgs out of the car so would only need around 330bhp.

Next year I am going to bolt on that GT45 but keep the stock injection pump with its 6mm elements. I have seen a video of someone running a HX35 on a stock injection pump and it still makes power. I might also look to add water/meth injection next year to up the fueling slightly and keep the EGTs down.

This would mean that I would be at the end of the 'bolt on' options before needing to change out the fuel pump with larger elements - interested to see how far and how much power I can get out of the engine using the stock injection pump.

m1tch · #51 10-30-2015, 08:31 AM

Another small updated on this, I have found that the tiny plastic plunger below S/W selector switch was jammed down meaning that it was always in W mode. This has meant that its always pulled away in 2nd - unless full throttle was requested.

It will be interesting to find out how much difference this will make now that I am actually pulling away in 1st! I do still have a few other issues with regards to air in the system and the battery does keep going flat so need to investigate that as well.

I have also bought a basic straight through bullet backbox - just for peace of mind when it comes to MOTs, I have also been informed of a way to remove the SLS system by modifying the power steering pump and removing the outputs to the SLS lines to the rear - this will then mean I can look to remove the heavy SLS system and fit standard springs and dampers.

m1tch · #52 01-05-2016, 03:37 AM

I am going to be working a bit more on the car over this month or so, hopefully be able to get a few runs in at the end of the month, main thing I am going to be looking at is removing the AC rad, condenser and pipework from the car - the AC isn't working anyway.

I have also ordered up some flexible polylock pipe which I will be using for the downpipe when the turbo gets fitted this year - plan is to weld on the OEM connectors to the pipe so that its basically plug and play. I am also quite tempted to have one end detachable so that I can attach the downpipe to a temporary side pipe with 0 restriction when I get to the drag strip - and then attach the OEM system up when on the road.

m1tch · #53 01-20-2016, 02:41 AM

I have pulled out the passenger seat - its a manual seat so only had 4 bolts holding it in (plus the seat connector) - weighed 25kg which brings the weight reduction up to 145.5kg.

I was planning to pull out the AC rad, lines and condenser but the weather wasn't ideal yesterday so will do that another day - still getting used to a single seater estate!