I took off my Dist. Cap and the poles were carboned up more than I had ever seen in any car in my life! HORRIBLE! I took the cap off(my wires have little white number rings on them and the cap is numbered also(Bosch). I took a picture of the Dist cap connected, then found the numbers on the wires BEFORE I took them off. I spent two hours cleaning the poles of the dist Cap (a new one is on the list as well as a new Rotor.(clenaed it too.) Plugs are next, if i can find them. if not I'll regap the ones in the car. That couldn't hurt, but new plugs are on the list too.
My wires appear to be fine. I tried to buy Non Resistor plugs today at the local parts store(Bosch, or NGK) all their plugs that were called for my model(1984 380SE) were resistor plugs. I will try tomorrow at another parts store.

Registered my MB today and now have to get the idle problem sorted out so I can get it smogged. Luckily the PO non-opted it in 2003 so it didn't cost an arm and a leg to transfer and register the car. Just got to smog it and return to get my tags. I HOPE to fix the idle quickly.

My dis cap has numbers on top
I'll wait til I get the wires & cap as my wire boot tops will probably break if I try to take them off..

I don't want resistor so I have to e sure & I might have to wait til I find them
They should say resistor or not
that makes it hard esp when ordering online.

My car has recommended plugs written on label on valve cover
W8 sounds about right
but wouldn't WR 8 mean resistor

You might have arching if you have so much carbon in the cap

So thats fatter than I thought
I wouldn;t see the prongs
but I didn't see a cylinder like that

I wonder that this cylinder is
that seems to have 2 open prong holes on top & threads
Is there something missing?

Arcing is what causes the carbon build up. This was pretty bad so I'm sure I need new plugs. I always do plugs, Dist Cap, Rotor, air cleaner, change all the fluids, etc when I buy a used car. This gives me a baseline to operate from.

When it idles like it is supposed too, it's a very good ride. I think I can get it sorted out.

The arching just came into my head
I don't know why
so I said might as I wasn't sure
but seems I have a dormant car brain in my head...

Idle can be faffected rom different things
but its important

I have a idle problem on start up

idle problem I think in park
but I have a wierd setup
& I was running w cracked vac hoses & one not attached.

So will take it out tomorrow
see if its better

Got m new radiator cap
Whoopee

I just got my car & it needs wires
I;ll get dis cap & rotors
I'll getplugs & if I can't do it get someone who can.

don't know exactly what the resisitance difference really boils down too.

Maybe our engines were before the tech
doesn't mean its inatley bad
but if the oem dis cap & rotor etc were designed for a particular plug
then the introduction to something different could foul things.

not doen w research yet
but the non resisitor can't hurt

Acton must be a goodplace to run the car.

I relearned to drive up by palmdale
they took me there so as to spare the safety of LA

:D

You weren't kidding when you said you worry too much! LOL

Very good idea to become friends with the guys at the parts department at the dealer. If they like you they can really help a lot, and sometimes they will even give you a discount. (Maybe if you walked in with the bird on your shoulder heh heh!!)

I'd be worried if you made friends with people in the SALES department.:eek:

No reason I could think of to especially rust proof or paint the license plate brackets. No real rust danger down there, and the license plates will cover them up. Maybe get a pair of nice metal Mercedes dealer plate frames from a dealer that has nice looking ones, they are free....it will dress up the car well.

When yoiu install them don't forget my avatar motto, "Measure twice....."
Good to have them centered perfectly. too bad the Previous owner or curbstoner took away the brackets that were on the car in the lst place and put you through all this.

Rusty at BuyMBParts in Atlanta is good, and reputable, I have bought parts from him and would do so again.

Another good mail order parts source is German Star in Arizona. The owner there, Ron, posts regularly there and must be on the computer all the time. I ordered my antenna and grommet from him, and I swear, the VERY next morning, BANG BANG BANG on the front door, the parts were at MY FRONT DOOR in less than 24 hours. I could not believe it. It was teh fastest delivery I ever had in my life, and price was very reasonable too.

I give him the highest recommendation. Definately something to think about. www.germanstar.net for Mercedes Benz parts.

It sounds like if you are getting the vacuum hoses, plugs, rotor, distributor cap, plug wires, and
air idle control valve, and maybe an air cleaner. Once those are on the car, it should run really sweet, and you have established a baseline for future maintenance, and you won't need to worry about that stuff till the odometer reads about 225,000 miles, which is a LONG time away probably.

On to the hood pad, and "monitor" for timing chain rattle on start up, or have Enrique pull the left valve cover and look in there to inspect the condition of the timing chain, guide rails and tensioner.

Get the brake fluid flushed, and the pads inspected, and I would think you are ready for a trip! Maybe Anza-Borrego or Joshua Tree National monument, or even Sequoia if you are feeling really bold.

Or feel rich and take it to Fashion Island at Newport (Jamboree Drive), the car would fit in real good there. Who knows maybe it had been there before.

I heard a rumor that every Saturday morning at Fletcher Jones Mercedes
(at the bottom of the hill down from Fashion Island)
they give free car washes and people come from all over for them, it is a social event, and if you never saw that dealer, it is really a fancy place, and worth a visit just for fun. A pretty easy trip and great exercise for the car, and a way to show it off a little bit, and give it much needed highway time.

Lots of Mtn. roads up here. Soledad Canyon, Sierra Highway, Angles Forest Highway, and of course the 14. I have one loop I drive to test my MB and it's about 12 miles in all. No freeway and very few stop signs.

I need to test the Idle with the ICV disconnected to see if it makes a difference or if it'll even start with it disconnected? That could be my problem. Also does anyone know how that Idle Control Valve is supposed to be connected. i.e. the black and green wires, mine has the black on top and green under neath the black......Old dummy here, I unplugged it when I cleaned it and did not remember which way it was connected before. I did look at the wiring as it goes into the loom and it looked like it had never been twisted and the black is on top of the green... so that is the way i reconnected the plug.

Jim B,
I could just see driving my MD into Fletcher Jones MB tomorrow for a car wash.......with the big red 10 in the back window. :eek: I'd never live that down. :cool:
I can't wait to get this thing fixed so I can smog it and get the red 10 out of the rear window.

I have a local guy that is going to detail mine. He does a really great job and low price. his second job is detailing cars for a couple dealerships in Palmdale.

I can see the beru ign wiores look better

I will get a bosch dis cap
I like the beru rotor better
but wondering if its compatable with the bosch cap

Do you think there is a problem with mixing the parts?
:confused:

The back bracket will fit it lines up with my template

Front may fit too but not optimally
may have to alter
have to get screws nuts & washers first
no bigg
I got pl;ates wired on

Will be nice to finally get the car stabilized
She has been a bit neglected the last few years
but she should befine

I hope

yes the timing chains looms in the back of my mind

Drizzle tomorrow
Hope to get out this weekend
anxious to see if my toils has made an improvement



Night

Lucky you, with a good detail guy. I could use a guy like that, have not found one. The roof on my car has clearcoat issues on the top.

Your car is every bit as good as the fussy new SLK 230 ones IMO.

I understand about the red "10" in the back windows. It is rural in some areas around here, and you should see the meth heads driving old Datsun pickups with those in them. Somehow, they get them extended over and over, and they are all over the place, probably an accident just waiting to happen.

But the FJ dealer in Newport Beach is really something, it has wifi, expresso, capucchino, biscotti, a clothes boutique and you can get your shoes shined, and sip latte drinks while you chat with other customers about your tennis game while you are waiting for your car.

I had my car serviced there once, what a trip. I think they had a CLK Brab us coupe of some kind there for sale. It was the fanciest Mercedes dealership in California I have ever seen, and I have been to a lot of them, Downtown LA Motors, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, San Francisco, Marin County, Santa Rosa. It made Calstar Mercedes in Glendale positively look like a garbage dump by comparison.

Ordered parts online
 

Split the order by best prod/price

Wow..Adds up

I didn't get the beru wires
I got bosch as they were $58 less
so I got the hood pad for free..

I figure with a bosch dis cap & rotor
the setup is configured to the bosch anyway
The way I use or don't use the car the bosch should run fine

I hope
they retail for the same as beru.

$350 for parts but got alot I think

Qty Brand Sku Description Price Total
20.00 :PUD 4K200-18664 (20) - 25 Amp. 0.23 4.60
2.00 AAA: B2020-73183 Vacuum Hose 2.09 4.18
1.00 AAA:COH B2020-12368 Vacuum Hose 3.31
7.00 AAA: B2020-15635 Vacuum Hose 2.36 16.52
1.00 AAA: B2025-73184 Vacuum Hose Connector 5.71
1.00 AAA:BOS F1020-14177 Ignition Wire Set 77.95
1.00 AAA:BOS F2010-24483 Distributor Cap 37.53
1.00 AAA:BOS F2020-24519 Distributor Rotor 11.30
1.00 AAA: B2020-15634 Vacuum Hose 2.28
9.00 :NGK F1000-37064 Spark Plug Bp5es Ngk 1.85 16.65
1.00 AAA:OES F1060-14598 Ignition Wire Holder 2.61 extra in case break
1.00 :FEB B2025-26557 Vacuum Hose Connector 3.58

Part Number Brand Name Part Description Quantity Price
001-094-7804MH 094 Air Filter 1 $17.01
000-545-8234 545 Fuse 8A flosser 20 $0.33 ea $6.66
000-545-8334 545 Fuse 16A flosser 20 $0.33 ea $6.66
001-545-4034 545 Fuse blade 10 flosser 1 $0.33
000-824-2527 824 Windshield Wiper Refill 1 $9.43
201-540-0845 540 Overload Protection Relay 1 $51.48
126-682-0226 682 Hood Pad 1 $57.33
110-159-0540 159 Ignition Wire Holder 2 $2.70 ea
000-158-1435 158 Vacuum Hose 3 $2.40 ea


Now to get them installed...

:scream:

Ok I did the ICV test this morning on a cold engine. I disconnected the ICV and the car started right up , no foot on the Accelerator. Idled at about 1100 cold. Shut it down. plugged in the ICV and no start, tried, caught, but would not stay, died. tried again. unplugged the ICV once again and it started right up and again at 1100 cold rpm. I Shut her doawn and plugged in the ICV because I had to go look for spark plugs in Palmdale. Started the car and it idled fine all the way to my first stop in Acton. idled fine in the parking lot at the P.O. When I restarted it it didn't want to idle. Drove about 100 feet to stop sign and it idled fine. Drove it to Palmdale with no problems at all and the heat gauge stayed at about 82-85C. Idled fine at the stop lights and in the parking lot of the parts store. NO non resistor plug by Bosch, or any other except Champion and those copper plugs were what is called for a 500sel in my owners manual. (they were spec'd for the 380SE on their computer though. Fo 6 bucks and change I bought them. Didn't want to idle when I started it at the parts store, died 3 times before the street. all these starts are with accelerator help. Stopped at anoi\ther parts store to look for Bosch Wiper blade refills....NONE! Started up and idled fine. idled fine at the stop lights and on the way home I jumped on the 14 for about 10 miles and was able to blow some of the carbon out of her. no problems the rest of the way home. Would not idle in my driveway, Water temp. never got above 85C the whole trip and even the 80mph plus dash down the freeway. I unplugged the ICV once again with the engine warm (85C) to see if it'd start. it did without out the accelerator, but idled at 1500 rpm. I shut her down, plugged in the ICv and again no start, or hard start with the accelerator.

I believe the ICV is the culprit. I do have an OPV relay in the mail. Looks like I'm going to have to mail order parts for my baby. Looking at German Star per Jim B's suggestion. they have refill wipers for $9.00 each. My MB has the Bosch arms with the little black side tabs....YEAH!

When this old girl idles right she runs good. She was as steady at 80 plus as she is at 55.
I did buy the Champion plugs. They are N11YC not the N12YC listed for the 380SE in my owners manual. I would guess that these are hotter??
Will these hurt my car? I know I'd rather had Bosch or anything but Champion, but I had to get what they had.
I will install them in the morning.
I guess I'll go looking for an ICV too.

You are a pretty canny shopper, CS. Really did your homework. Those are REALLY good parts prices. Mind sharing with us where you got such a smokin' deal? That from the dealer or some on line parts place?

C'mon, fess up!!


What a price on that air filter. I'd happily eat the shipping costs for that, wise of you to really buy that many parts at once.

You are showing us that the kind of person who can make this work. :D

Impressive.

If manual recommended that champion guess its OK

Hey is it raining up there?

I ordered bosch wiper refilss
said left & right for $9
so I thought it was a pair
guess I will have only one....unless I can update the order...

Glad you are getting a handle on the idle problem
could still be that in combo w something else

Well it took forever to compare & scope out the best

$75 order have FREE shipping too :D

Rusty is the ignition stuff as he had the matching distrib part number
& alot of his prices were the best.

The other is that site you gave me w the license brackets
germanimport...they have some really good prices
except I guess I messed up on the wiper refils
saif left & right
so I thought it was for left & right

:scream:

So, you used www.germanstar.net and www.*************** (Rusty) that is what you are saying?

I am starting to accumulate parts, but am gonna need help getting the antenna, fire extinguisher, ans so forth actually on the car.