A few of you great people have seen me around either going a few years back working on getting my Son's (Ps2cho) 300TE and 260 upto speed and fixing issues, and my own "cheap'n'cheerful" 1984 190D that is ongoing...
Well, the 190D seems to have slipped from my grasp into the hands of various children, and as it is so loved by them(they are paying their own gas!), I just don't get a look into driving it.... But am expected to fix it!
So, I was kinda looking for something for me... and maybe to pass on to my next driving child(16 now) next year.
I looked at some 300sdl's I liked but what I wanted I cannot afford, and what I could afford was not what I wanted!

I think I struck some gold!
I found this stunning 1991 190E with 88k miles! A California babe I named "Peachy".



No history in my hand yet, but it seems to have spent a lot of its life being pampered and under cover.
The paint is all original from the look. No sign of repair or damage aside from a few chips and door dings. I plan to clean, claybar and lay down a deep coat of wax in the next week.

The interior is immaculate. Seats and carpet are super clean, dash is uncracked, and no sign of the fading that I see on so many. No sign of it having been smoked in. A nice Sony CD player is working nice. Only thing I spotted so far that needs fixing is the drivers seat side needs reattaching to the frame.
All the electric windows work, as does the Moonroof!
The A/C is not working, but the good news, its still R12, so unmolested! A sticker under the hood tells me it was recharged 5 years ago, and dye added, so I will check pressures, and break out the UV lamp.

Mechanics, look good, Oil pressure is 3 bar at anything over 1500rpm and a bit over 1 bar hot at idle. The oil looks ok but I will change it in the next 2 days. Not sure if I will go sythetic or just good old Rotella.
Engine is super clean in general, but signs of some weepage on the valve cover and maybe front cover... all normal stuff.
The Ignition system will be gone thru as its needs it, and the Hoodpad needs replacing.
It is as clean as a whistle underneath, and looks like it had a complete exhaust system recently with a Cat too! Fresh Bilsteins all around bode well too!
More to come later, but wanted to share as I am very pleased!

__________________
2009 Mercedes ML320 Bluetec

So, going thru Peachy today and making a fix list...
My AC tools are in storage, so I will start on some other stuff.

1/ The Power locking is not working at all... I searched for a troubleshooter here but found nothing on the 190... anyone got some pointers for me?

2/ The Exterior mirror foot/mounting are crazed a little... anyone know where I can find them?

3/ Whats is the best Transmission fluid... my son says Redline?

__________________
2009 Mercedes ML320 Bluetec

Great car, they handle nicely.

The locking problem could be the electric vacuum pump underneath the rear seat. Check to see if it's working.

The rubber exterior mirror boots are cracked on mine as well. As far as I can tell you can't buy those things without buying the whole mirror assembly. $$$ Let me know if you can find them separately.

Yes, I would definitely say that Redline D4 Synthetic is the best ATF for the car. Redline anything is ultra-great stuff. I use Redline Shockproof Heavy in my rear differential as well.

I used Shell Rotella Synthetic 5W-40 for a couple of oil changes, it was fine I suppose. However I just switched back to Mobil-1 Synthetic 10W-30 High Mileage and the car seems to like it better. The Rotella is cheaper but seemed to need changing more often. Other people with cars running the M103 engine swear by the Rotella. It's probably all pretty much the same.

__________________
'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

I found a filter and Rotella-T 15-40 locally so i did that yesterday.
The oil I drained didnt look too bad but I love to start with a baseline of fresh fluids all around.
I will order some redline and a filter with my stack of other items.
Changing the oil is always easier with the airfilter housing off, and I wanted to look around and check stuff too.
In doing this I found a vacuum nipple on the front LH side of the intake manifold exposed and sucking air... took me a while to find the pipe that should have been connected and Hey Presto, the Vacuum locks are working again!
I pulled out the plugs, they are the correct non resisters, so clearly someone knew what they were doing at it last service!
Here is how they looked... no deposits from Oil burning I have seen in the past on M103's!
They are in order so note the #1 plug is an odd one because someone had taken it out, and we could not find it.
Here is how they look:


The Plug leads look brand new, so I will strike that from the list for now. The OVP looks fresh as well.
After changing the oil I sat and listened to the engine at idle... its the smoothest M103 in our fleet, and I bet I can balance a quarter on the valve cover!
One thing I did spot is cracks in the front shock mount rubbers... so adding those to my shopping list!

__________________
2009 Mercedes ML320 Bluetec

While I wait for my service stuff to arrive I am gonna figure out some other issues...

Power locks still not working properly and I have questions...
FirstlyI only have the "round headed" key which I believe is called the valet key.
Where can I get a replacement master key?
Should this key unlock the other doors and trunk, cos it will not... and I cant open the gas flap either. I can open the front doors with the key, but the rest do not open, but when I lock it I hear/see all the actuators work inc the trunk.
Without access to the trunk(which was open before..) I cant open the fuel door!
I did search the forums and found this thread dealing with the W124... does this apply to the W201?
W124 Lock System Question

I cant hear the pump running....
Does the pump apply pressure and vac, or only pressure, and vac supplied by the engine?

__________________
2009 Mercedes ML320 Bluetec

I think the vac pump is there to supply vacuum to stuff like the door locks when the engine is off. Take the title to the dealer and get yourself some new keys. I never hear the pump running either but that may just be because it's quiet. Take the rear seat bench out and use the key on the driver's door or trunk and see if you can hear it run. However, since you only have the valet key that might be the trouble right there.

__________________
'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

Looks great!

__________________
1989 300CE

The hoodpad was falling apart, so today I stripped it and replaced the whole thing with a M?B OEM pad....
Looks bad...


Looks good I think!


The Valve cover is starting to peel, and I want to do the Idle/emission hoses..
They are as hard as rock!
I pulled off the Valve cover to do the gasket too..
The internals are IMO "stunningly" clean!




I gave the rest of the intake and FI a clean up and here is how it looked.


Its looking good, and I am pleased with my purchase!

Tomorrow I will do the Idle hoses, and check the FI pressures, now its cleaner.

__________________
2009 Mercedes ML320 Bluetec

Look, the intake valve spring of cylinder 5 and 6, something brown looks like rust?

No, its the factory paint spot...
Speaks volumes that the whole thing is so clean inside you can still see them 20 years later!
Clearly the oil was changed regularly!

__________________
2009 Mercedes ML320 Bluetec

Better view of #6 intake spring..

__________________
2009 Mercedes ML320 Bluetec

Nice find, looks to be good inside out.

I'm liking the wide angle lens too

__________________
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

Thanks!
The camera is new(my other one failed the washer and dryer test conducted by my GF), and I had not spotted the fact that it as a wide angle lens!
Its a Sony H55 compact 14.1mp... I like it!

The hose from the Valve cover to the head was so brittle it snapped like candy when I pulled it off!

__________________
2009 Mercedes ML320 Bluetec

That is a great looking car, looks like it has been cared for mostly. Glad to see you fixing "Peachy" up!

Its coming along, but we have had a glut of stuff that is ahead on the priority list. My Daughter will not be getting the car before this summer, so no rush really. Just working thru my list of stuff.
Next pressing issue is my GF's sons Subaru Outback... popped a HG, so the engine has gotta come out to do that properly..

I did the transmission service because I wanted to refresh the whole fluid gamut, but also I had noticed a slight flair and noise on the 2/3 shift.
The fluid change did not cure it, so today I am draining the fluid again and putting the K1 shift piston in.

I gotta own up to a mistake too..
In an impulsive moment I stopped by my local Smog station over Christmas, as the car was running faultlessly and warm, I told them to "Pre-test it"..
I had just done a run up to LA, in the traffic with the A/C on and the car did 25mpg... I thought it would sail thru!
What they didn't tell me was that the CA Smog test has changed and everything is now done "Online"... There is no "Pre-test" now... They test it and wait for the numbers back... Pass or fail is sent to them!
Anyway, it failed... and got a GP mark. I was pissed, because they didn't tell me.
Stupidly, I had not put in the new plugs yet, and I had not checked the Duty Cycle...
Here are the numbers:
Pass Limit is bracket number.

@15mph:
Co2 =14.2%
O2 =0.7%
HC =244 PPM (114)
CO =0.49% (0.73)
NO =1519 PPM (549)

@25mph:
Co2 =14.2%
O2 =0.7%
HC =248 PPM (88)
CO =0.45% (0.61)
NO =1350 PPM (507)

So my HC and NO is way out of wack.
The tester told me that he "thought" it might be the EGR valve.

I have checked that the valve opens by applying vacuum, and it opens fine.
I read that the tube between the EGR Valve and intake can get blocked..
With the car running at idle I applied vacuum to the EGR valve and watched it open, and the idle became unstable, so I think its working, but the valve is switched electonically, so maybe something is up there.

I checked the Duty Cycle after, and it was about 30% but because I have a Sears MM, I am not sure if that reads inverted, but I did pull it back to about 50%.

Thoughts/ideas?

__________________
2009 Mercedes ML320 Bluetec