Finishing Samson the M120 R107 - Page 9 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Joe B · #**121** 09-06-2020, 08:29 PM

John I didn't know you were over here updating Samson.

Hope all is still going smoothly!

Roncallo · #**122** 09-07-2020, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe B

John I didn't know you were over here updating Samson.

Hope all is still going smoothly!

Yes I'm here. It all started here.

Smoothly, This is sheer hell.

Yesterday I installed 10 ft of wire harness. Today I installed 1 ft. It was a big one foot. The fuse box area. My goal was to get the fuse box installed today and I made the goal at 2:40AM. Car still looks like the same mess but I knew that would be the hardest part. Tomorrow will be checking and cleaning up as well as a bunch of other little wires that need to be installed.

Roncallo · #**123** 09-14-2020, 12:04 AM

As of yesterday I finally got the engine running. Nice to know I didn't fry the computers.

For today I started to put the car back together. Headlights are now in. All wiring under the hood is in its final position. All cooling components are now back in place except the radiator. I have to wait until Wednesday for a new fan to come in. Tomorrow I really start to run the wires in there permanent location across the dash.

Roncallo · #**124** 09-15-2020, 12:00 AM

Ran the wires across the dash then came up with a small issue that I will need to deal with tomorrow. Apparently with this wiring I know exactly where I am going, I just don't know how to get there. I started to permanently install the harness across the dash. I got up to the ignition switch and something didn't look right. Apparently the part of the harness shown in the picture is supposed to go under the brake pedal support. Its not too bad. It means I will have to un-string the last 6 ft or so of harness on the left fender and pass it back through the fire wall and restring it back under the brake pedal support and re string. But I am making progress. Complete up to the ignition switch. Ignition switch is now installed and it starts with the key.

Roncallo · #**125** 09-16-2020, 12:05 AM

Had to do a lot of chores for the wife today so not much done. But I did get the wire harness re-routed and my fan came in. So I now have the radiator in position but not connected yet. Tomorrow, I should be able to run the car and do some electrical system checkouts.

vwnate1 · #**126** 09-16-2020, 12:20 AM

I wish I was closer so I could buy you a yank of fuel and beg a ride....

I heard to - day the California wildfires smoke has reached the East Coast, please do be careful about working in it, once you inhale smoke it never leaves your lungs .

Roncallo · #**127** 09-16-2020, 11:08 PM

Radiator is fully installed and serviced. I had to fix something else I broke on my fuse block, that's done. At this point all under hood work is complete with the exception of the windshield wiper motor installation. I have to finish up under the driver side dash before installing that. Tomorrow I can start testing the electrical system before going any further. At this point I can put the steering wheel back on and drive around without a dashboard and center console, which I will probably do to test out the ABS system.

Roncallo · #**128** 09-16-2020, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwnate1

I wish I was closer so I could buy you a yank of fuel and beg a ride....

I heard to - day the California wildfires smoke has reached the East Coast, please do be careful about working in it, once you inhale smoke it never leaves your lungs .

You never know when I'm going to be in CA with it.

No sign of smoke here in NC but lots of smoke observed on Long Island.

vwnate1 · #**129** 09-17-2020, 03:02 PM

Try to give me a few days advance notice, my offer stands .

Roncallo · #**130** 09-18-2020, 07:17 PM

Yesterday I ran the car and got it up to temperature. Tested the lights and all that can be tested with the dash out. So far all seams fine. So now I'm at a point where I started the problem is fixed the car runs and I could throw it back together and once again claim ignorance is bliss, and probably drive it around without and issues. But just because I fixed one problem, I still need to address all the other problems that are lurking in the wires. Everything that happened so far only effected the 107 wire harness. Now I need to make sure the same doesn't happen to the 129 side of the wire harness.

I have this group of relays and fuses from the 129 harness that have been tied up with tie wrap for the past 13 years. They gave me no problem but they look like an accident waiting to happen. So I need to make a proper fuse and relay block to hold these. To do this I have made two blocks that represent the total size of the relay/fuse block with components installed. I need to find a place to mount 1 of these blocks under the dash on the driver side. The short block is the absolute minimum, but it would be nice if I could find room for the long block, which would give me some expansion capability.

I'm kind of in the mode where I don't know what to do next. I still need to install the windshield wiper motor and parking break pedal, but I don't know if they will be in the way of installing the fuse/relay block. So the plan is as usual, do something and then do it over if need be.

vwnate1 · #**131** 09-19-2020, 11:21 AM

I agree you should do this and all the rest too .

One thing about projects is : they;re rarely ever finished .

Once everything is done and works properly, you'll begin driving and enjoying it, this means regular maintenance .

Roncallo · #**132** 09-20-2020, 11:38 PM

Hood (Bonnet) closed today. That means all under hood work is completed. There are still about 5 more items that can be addressed before I am done with the 107 wire harness. Things like vacuum lines and such under the dash. After that its work on the 129 fuse block before putting the dash back on.

Roncallo · #**133** 09-22-2020, 05:52 PM

Fuse/Relay block came in today. All except all the terminals that go into it and the mini relays I will be putting in the center section. This is a modular unit made by Little Fuse. They are called the powr blok system. I tried to use a cheaper unit from Online LED but the terminals were made for 14ga only and they were very flimsy. I tried getting a specification of the from the supplier but he told me they were proprietary terminals made just for them and he couldn't offer any better alternative. Since I will be using a mixture of 20 to 10 gauge wire, I will really need something real. Difference in cost is obviously enormous. The little fuse terminals are between $0.50 to $1.75 each plus you need special locking things for each wire. When you install about 45 terminals it adds up. Plus there are about 8 different part numbers involved for all the combinations of wire sizes and socket type and 3 or 4 combinations of terminal locks. In the end the Little Fuse unit will end up costing ~$150, If you get it right the first time, verses the Online LED unit for $20. I tried crimping a wire onto one of the terminals that came with the Online LED unit and I was able to pull it out very easily, because the terminal material was way too thin. Well you get what you pay for.

The first photo shows' the Little Fuse unit on the left and the Online LED unit on the right.. Second picture is of the Online LED terminals in the bags.

https://m.littelfuse.com/~/media/commercial-vehicle/datasheets/automotive-fuse-holders/powr-blok-modules-datasheet.pdf

vwnate1 · #**134** 09-22-2020, 10:05 PM

Copper I see, maybe soldering them would have done the trick .

As I get older I do more and more soldering in my vehicular electrical repairs, once and done .

Roncallo · #**135** 09-23-2020, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwnate1

Copper I see, maybe soldering them would have done the trick .

As I get older I do more and more soldering in my vehicular electrical repairs, once and done .

The thing is a piece of crap, not worth the time. Plus the only thing that hold those terminals in place is those rubber seals that go in the back. They have no locking tabs. When you install a fuse it feels like its held in with rubber bands.

I just ordered the terminals for the Littlefuse block. They were expensive, about $110 for all of them with about 20% of each style extra. The only problem now is that one of the terminal part numbers is on back order for 5 weeks. Not the end of the world. I only need 2 of those for the Aux fan which will no longer be required for another 6 months.

A note on soldering. The US military's will not allow the use of soldered connectors on their aircraft. Lots of testing was done on this and the crimp connectors were not found to be superior, But they were found to be certainly adequate, repeatable and most of all inspect able. Inspect able being the biggest factor. Too many things can go wrong with solder that you cant see. Especially when you upside down trying to reach that connector in the tail cone of some tiny fighter that parked on a ship in sea state 5.