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  #1  
Old 09-29-2004, 12:53 PM
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Location: chgo il.
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Unhappy please help 500sel blown head ?

Heres the story 2 years ago got a 79 280e runs SUPERB but burns a quart of oil every 60 days and the body is rusty and rear is saging (possible springs) euro model headlights manual windows 140,000 miles paid 1250.00 6 months ago bought 80 euro 500sel body well above avg. euro lights and kilo dash 245000kilos paid 750.00 what a steal (I thought) neaded alt and loosing coolant running hot well now the exhaust is coming out the resevoir tank blown head im looking for suggestions Im am a medium diy (changed axles brakes water pumps tie rods) 1 is this a job i can handle 2 should I pay 3000 to helmut&vito 3 should I junk the car and buy another benz maybe a 85 to 90 300e for 2000$4 can the engine in the 280e work in the 500sel (the body and interior are beautiful)5 put 2000$ into the body of the 280e.Im willing to read the posts on how to do the head but nervious and wondering if its worth the trouble.thanks to all ive been getting a lot of info from this forum ANY ADVICE WELL APPRICIATED THANK YOU MERCEDES FOREVER


Last edited by mtmacklin; 10-02-2004 at 11:26 AM. Reason: no replies
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  #2  
Old 10-02-2004, 11:28 AM
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any short opinion or reply would be greatly appriciated thanks
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  #3  
Old 10-02-2004, 12:51 PM
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I would attempt to repair the 500 engine first -- most likely you have a cracked head or blown head gasket, and the gasket isn't a terrible repair. This requires some special tools, I think, to get to the head bolts (although maybe not).

Easy enough to pull the heads and have them checked, as you cannot drive it now anyway.

Shoudl be a lesson to you to not run these hot, you can toast a very expensive engine in short order.

Peter
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1972 220D ?? miles
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  #4  
Old 10-04-2004, 06:55 AM
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thanks

i will give it a shot would the cd's on the 126 at fastlane give me a hand ?are there better cd's for this job
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  #5  
Old 10-04-2004, 11:03 AM
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Pretty straightforward job, with a lot of unbolting and bolting. There are lots of used heads around if yours is cracked.

The biggest risk is that you will strip one or more of the threads in the block. Then you are screwed because it takes a special jig to repair them.
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'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe
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  #6  
Old 10-04-2004, 11:36 AM
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Talking Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks thats the extra motivation and confidence boost I needed i will get started soon I hate to see a 80 benz with no rust junked
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  #7  
Old 10-11-2004, 04:00 PM
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Location: DFW / Collin County Texas
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Helmut & Vito

Moderators - I am posting this as a reply to the above info; please advise if this should go in another section.

Hi, I'm kinda new to this board and while browsing noticed you made mention of Helmut & Vito. Can I assume this is the same repair facility in Westmont, IL (Chicago)?

I lived in Chicago until about 6 months ago. In the fall of 2000 I brought my 560SEL to Helmut & Vito to replace the valve stem seals, due to excessive oil consumption and fouled spark plugs (had to replace every 2 to 3 weeks). Over the phone, the "owner" (don't know if it was Helmut or Vito) quoted me $300 for the repair, but repeatedly insisted a valve stem seal replacement wouldn't fix the problem; he said I would need a complete valve job and that replacing only the seals was a waste of time. I took this as a poor attitude from a mechanic who hadn't even seen my car yet. Anyhow, I had already done the preliminary inspection on one valve and determined that my guides and valves were OK - on this particular valve the seal was visibly brittle and cracking. So I guess I should have heeded the warning signs, but I didn't...

Helmut & Vito agreed to do the job for me after I specified that I wanted the valve stem seals replaced ONLY - no other work to be performed. When I called to arrange having my wife pick it up (I was in NYC), the bill was $800. I asked why? If I recall correctly, he said when he opened the car up there were a couple loose bolts that he had to remove and rethread. Though he couldn't specify which bolts in particular. Anyway, I was incensed because I specifically told him not to do anything outside of my original request before calling my cellphone and authorizing with me first. Which he clearly did not do. His response was, "OK, then let me remove the bolt I put in there!" I told him never mind, had my wife write out a check for $800, and she took the car home as they were closing up for the evening and he had waited around after hours so she could pick it up.

My wife told me the car was running rough, and I figured it was something minor (her translation of automotive problems isn't always spot on). But when I got back to Chicago I noticed the car was running TERRIBLY - I mean TERRIBLY!!! It wasn't misfiring or anything, but it was idling extremely rough and performing with far less power than when I brought it in - at some points it would barely stay alive. I called Helmut & Vito the next day and the person who answered the phone seemed familiar with the car - he told me "see - you should have had the full valve job done; replacing the seals was improper and that is why your car is now running poorly." After an in-depth half-hour long discussion It was clear they weren't going to work with me here. In my opinion they were trying to teach an educated MBZ owner that nobody escapes a high Mercedes repair bill. I was disgusted - I've been to all sorts of similar mechanics who try to teach you a lesson if you try to do things without indiscriminately spending big bucks.

My car did NOT need a valve job, just a valve stem seal replacement. It idled like glass when the plugs weren't fouled, and passed the IL emissions test with flying colors. I just didn't have time to do the job myself since I spent the week in New York on business. Not only was I sorry for not having done the repair myself, but now my car was messed up for who knows what reason. For all I know, they could have done something to it to teach me a lesson (I've had that done by know-it-all mechanics before). I realize that some mechanics don't like you telling them how to do their job, and can appreciate the thinking behind that mentality, but in my case I specifically told them what I wanted done - nothing more, nothing less. And they did not honor my wishes. So guess what - I stopped payment on my $800 check to them. They called once to speak to me, and then dropped the issue. I renewed the stop payment 6 months later as required by my bank, and never went back to Helmut & Vito. I ended up selling the car at a loss on Ebay - a tragedy! Looking back - maybe that wasn't the best thing to do, but as far as I could see, they weren't going to work with me to rectify the problem (they blamed it on my "cheap" approach and assured me nothing they did could make the car run so poorly), and now my car was actually worse than when I brought it to them. So from my perspective, they owed me money, not the other way around.

The moral of the story (in my experience) is: avoid Helmut & Vito's like the plague!!!
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  #8  
Old 10-17-2004, 05:07 PM
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helmut vito

thanks for the info i've read other bad stuff about their shop
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  #9  
Old 10-17-2004, 05:26 PM
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Such a nice long post. Really doesn't matter much your motive, your a thief and a fraud. You took the law into your hands. You are lucky that you aren't in jail.

The problem would have probably gone away as soon as the lifters got back compressed. The fact they are crooks and stupid besides doesn't excuse your behavior.
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  #10  
Old 06-13-2005, 03:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stevebfl
Such a nice long post. Really doesn't matter much your motive, your a thief and a fraud. You took the law into your hands. You are lucky that you aren't in jail.

The problem would have probably gone away as soon as the lifters got back compressed. The fact they are crooks and stupid besides doesn't excuse your behavior.
To say something would "probably" have gone away is irresponsibly ignorant at worst, and defensively optimistic at best, especially for someone who works on cars for a living. Do you perform speculative troubleshooting in your professional business as well? If I heard someone tell me my problem was "probably" fixed I think I would laugh right on the spot. For your information, I drove the car for many weeks afterward, and it still ran like crap. It also failed its next scheduled emissions test very badly. The car idled as smooth as glass and passed the emissions test with flying colors before these butchers had their way with it.

I can understand someone in the business such as yourself feeling as strongly about my actions as you do. But why defend hacks who give your trade a bad name? Do you condone this type of behavior or something? I've seen too many friends and relatives get ripped off by unscrupulous mechanics who prey on people who have little knowledge of the systems being worked on, and a fear of getting stranded when they least expect it. Because of my actions, maybe Helmut & Vito will think twice next time, before they scam another customer.

You're so quick to get all defensive, but have you given any thought at all to the customers who are getting ripped off en masse? What about the college kid who takes his car in for an oil change and gets handed a $1200 invoice for mystery repairs? Or the single mom who goes in for routine A/C service (on a working system) and gets told her compressor needs replacement to the tune of $900? Not everyone is willing to just roll over and accept what is diagnosed. Some of us dare to question what is being done and actually fight when we know we are being ripped off. And what do you do? You defend the scammers. So based on your accusations, I submit that YOU are the thief and the fraud.

I have been burned so many times by unethical mechanics that I now do about 90% of my own work. When something such as A/C or alignment service comes up which I can't do myself, I still cringe at the thought of sending my car to the mechanic. When the phone rings, I fear the usual - being told my routine service is going to cost some ungodly sum of money because "we found such and such needs replacement while we were in there."

The beauty of the internet and forums such as this one is that it educates people so that they don't get taken advantage of. It also provides an avenue to warn others so they don't have to suffer too.
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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
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86 W126 560SEL
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85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
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75 W114 280
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  #11  
Old 06-13-2005, 04:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gmercoleza
I stopped payment on my $800 check to them.
My judgement is of course based on honor not technical issues. Whether the shop is a thief is a judgemental call based on the hearsay evidence of a confessed thief. Its a whole lot easier to judge your statement than your one side of a story. The fact there are other thieves in this world doesn't justify your means. Without first stating a dispute with a person, cancelling payment on a check is against the law in the State of Florida. Its called fraud. There are probably similar laws in most states.

There are plenty of crooks out there, you are just a confessed one.
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  #12  
Old 06-13-2005, 04:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stevebfl
Without first stating a dispute with a person, cancelling payment on a check is against the law in the State of Florida.
The master of assumptions strikes again. Boy, you are good. I did in fact state a dispute with these people, and attempted to resolve the matter amicably. I stopped payment only after they denied any wrong on their part and stated that in no uncertain terms would they refund any money or take any steps to rectify the problem. I also documented the entire experience in a letter complete with timeline and conversations, etc. which I sent to them certified mail along with an invitation to see some middle ground, perhaps a partial payment slightly higher than the original amount they promised me. I never heard from them again - truth hurts. I even tried calling, and they would not take my calls.

That's fine; by your customized measure I am a confessed thief, just as you are obviously an unconfessed thief in denial, as evidenced by your sympathies for those who practice unethical business practices. Just because no law exists that says you can't rip people off in your business doesn't mean you're not a criminal.
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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280
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  #13  
Old 06-13-2005, 05:50 PM
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Since then, you change your plea and don't confess. Your broad brush, smear approach to my trade, makes your one sided plea for sympathy beyond my empathy.
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  #14  
Old 06-14-2005, 03:02 AM
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Nice rhetoric; sounds all lofty and such, but who's asking for sympathy here? I am simply responding in kind to your accusations. My original post was an account of my sour experience with a particular shop, intended to allow other members here to decide if they should take their cars there (hopefully not). Rather than just read and move on, you took an unnecessary personal shot at me.

Your hasty, uneducated, judgemental response is clear evidence of the deeply underlying attitude readjustment badly needed in your trade. In essence, you shoot first and ask questions later. So typical of most of the shops I've been to. It's no wonder so many people go to mechanics with paranoia and a big chip already on their shoulder. I have read many posts on this site from dozens of highly skilled technicians, but I have to say yours seem the most insightful. You are evidently very good at what you do. I think giving people the benefit of the doubt before offering harsh, unsolicited commentary (i.e. calling them thieves when they have done nothing to you personally) could only help things.

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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280

Last edited by gmercoleza; 06-14-2005 at 03:10 AM.
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