what tool do you use...i know its 10mm....but what in the heck fits back there...??


compressor was easy after i removed the sway bars....drier easy....belt a royal colloassal pia. i think i should have removed the shroud and fan.... it took 2 of us about 90 minutes....

if i can get the expansion valve , i can flush vaccuum and charge.....

thanks all....

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

I don't remember it being a 10MM. I thought that it was about a 5MM or 6MM allen, but it's been a year or so since I changed one. It is a challenge to reach in there but it can be done. It seems as if I used just a plain old fashioned L shape allen and some time, but I can't remember for sure. I may have used an allen socket and ratchet.

With that kind of job it just takes persistence, patience, a good variety of tools and an occasional foul word to get 'er done. Even with it where it is, it is easier to change than many TXV's that I've seen.

Good luck,

The nut is 10mm and the allen head bolts are 3 mm. You just need some 1/4" extensions and universal 10mm socket, shallow drive. I also sometimes use a little 10mm wrench I cut to be the right size and then ground down to be the thickness I needed. Don't recall why I cut it so it is open, must have used it on a fuel line or something.

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crazy....i'll give it a go again tomorrow.....

at least if i don't get that far, the car is driveable again with a new free-wheeling a/c compressor.

thanks guys.....

i also checked some previous threads...i understand it is do-able..maybe not just with my tools.... i see how a wrench might work, but a socket just won't fit...at leaast the way i see it...


BTW.... loosened the alternator...to do the belt.... actually you take the lower bolt completely out ...loosen the top a bit... then the alternator swings.... just like the old days...
tension seems to be fine upon re-tightening.... of course this is a new belt...

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

I think i will have to look at some special tools.

Standard 10mm socket nor open end or box wrench gets in there....

...maybe thinwall or offset open end will work....

so close to A/C, yet so far...

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

I don't remember having any tool problems, but from your description it sounds as if you need a 10MM box end that is thin around the outside. I have one that is very thin around the outside and that might be why I don't remember encountering any problems with a 10MM hex size bolt.

If this is the case and I were you, I would buy a cheap 10MM box end wrench and grind it around the outside on the bench grinder until it is thin enough to fit.

Good luck,

Or maybe a 10mm flare fitting wrench? I know my flare wrenches are way way thinner than standard open end wrenches...

__________________
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

thanks...that's what i will try.... i just have to find my cheap 10mm.... it's hiding somewhere..... ha-ha-ha...

i may also just go out and by some flare wrenches.....

i briefly...oh so briefly entertained the idea of going without a new expansion valve...how stupid....

anyway, tonight, i am going to pull vacuum to make sure the system is tight... i will probably proceed on saturday... i have all the parts.

its definetly 10mm.. i had a wrench on it briefly...but no room to turn... i thought if i could crack it i could undo it by hand... no such luck

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

You must be using different flare wrenches than I have ever seen. The ones I have seen are quite thick. They have to be thick since they don't have the strength of a fully enclosed box end wrench.

Hi Larry, I have a set that are thin but have a thick cross section, about 1.5 times as thick as my standard combo wrenches. They are made by Craftsman and were purchased about 10 years ago.

__________________
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

for those who might be following this thread, I got the expansion valve out in about an hour..

i gingerly moved things around until i could get a 10mm socket with a quarter inch ratchet...that was for the nut.

BTW, i always had a magnet on an exptender to grab the nut and screws as they were being taken out.

i used a 3m 3/8" socket and ratchet to get those hex screws out..

for what it is worth, my expansion valve does not have any fragments or gunk in it.... i will now flush the evaporator.

while my compressor did lock up at the pulley and it did die before that... i am not sure if it ever froze and threw metal fragments.... with all this labor, better to be safe with a 28 dollar valve and 15 dollars of flushing material....

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

well.... i replaced the expansion valve..... thought i pulled a vacuum....

i started to put refrigerant in on the low side..... i hear air escaping around the expansion valve...

i have now had tightened, loosened , tightened the expansion valve several times.... put in new o-rings....

still.... sounds like air escaping from valve.... however..... it's not cold around the expansion valve....like you might expect if refrigerant was leaking....

i am stumped.... this is taking too long.

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

When I've first pull some freon into empty system before there is enough to get compressor to go on I too can hear the sound of freon at the expansion valve. Are you sure it's leaking.


Also I've used an o-ring that was to big which caused an air leak at the expansion valve but that was when I pulled a vaccum.

well....the system seems dry..

i am going to pull the expansion valve again on Tuesday... i wonder if i crimped the backside o-rings that form the seal between the copper pipes of the evaporator and the o-ring.

if that doesn't work...i'll have to take it in and have someone else do it...

what is me is that the other expansion valve is clean as a whistle..probably never needed to come out.

live and learn.

i'll post agiain Tuesday afternoon.

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

Make sure that the o-rings are the correct size and use Nylog on them instead of refrigeration oil. The Nylog will hold them in place during assembly plus it will make them seal very well.

Best of luck,