We are planning a trip through the Rockies in August. We won't be taking the routes with the steepest climbs, but it is still mountain driving... up and down and left and right. The car will be heavily loaded, and the areas at the lower elevations can get really hot (90-100 is not uncommon).
So, the push is on to get a number of repairs done. The good thing is they won't drag on for months and months like they normally would have without this added incentive. We have gotten a lot of things done already, which I will describe mainly to make myself feel like we are accomplishign something.
Feel free to jump in anywhere with advice, even if it's to tell me to take a jet instead :-)).
1. We managed to get the airconditioning charged with R12 yesterday (pro bono even!). It blows cold, but it doesn't seem like the fan is blowing hard enough. I don't think it would blow cold all the way to the back where the dogs will be. Most disturbing was that with the air conditioning on, the car heated up to around 100 when going through stop and go rush hour traffic yesterday. It would cool down to about 90 if I got some momentum going. I think the auxillary fan isn't working. I'm hoping that's something simple like a fuse. The car also has noticibly less power with the airconditioning running! That's the price to pay I guess.
2. We flushed the old coolant out and replaced with MB coolant. We have an intermittent coolant leak (before the change too)... it will be fine for days, then one day there is a little puddle. It is not coming from the radiator, but the passenger side, about a foot back from the front. I guess it's probably a cracked hose, but the intermittent thing is puzzling.
3. The self leveling strut was leaking, so hubby replaced it with the one from the parts car, but even then it was only lifting up once in a while and not staying up. Then he tightened the control arm, and now she stays up! It was still pretty bouncy, but the front shocks were totally shot. He took the ones out of the parts cars (a real painful job as we couldn't find a star socket so he used a closed wrench and intsy wintsy little turns... I would never have had the patience!). The ones from the parts car seem pretty rock hard. I couldn't find a date, but they say 'Made in WEST Germany', so they are probably original. Do shocks wear by use, or will they just age sitting? They are Bilsteins and have the Mercedes logo, so probably good ones. Anyway, the drive is much much better... but still a little bouncy I think. I wonder about the accumulators in the back? It could be the seats (which bottom out), which leads me to another question. The seats in the parts car are much firmer, but black (Belinda is tan). Can the upholestery be put over their frame? Would I have to have an upholestery place to this?
4. The differential is leaking at the rubber boot that leads to the split axel. Would it be best to replace the whole differential (I assume it's a big job), or just the rubber boot? Or maybe the axle? The one in the parts car looks fine. Hubby also wants to grease the rear axel bearing, as he thinks it's making noise.
5. A few weeks ago hubby removed the disc brakes from the parts car, and replaced the brake shoes with new ones. It brakes okay, but pulls to the right a bit when brakign. Actually it was pulling when driving too, but it seemed better last night after he replaced the strut. The tire pressure is even, but the tires may have worn unevenly due to the worn struts.
6. We just discovered that the muffler is split at the tailpipe connection. The muffler in the parts car is a Mickey Mouse thing so that's not a choice (Belinda still has a Mercedes muffler). Would JB weld be sufficient to weld the tailpipe back on?
7. The previous owner had installed this radio and hotwired it right to the battery. Hubby took the Becker radio out of the parts car and now the connections work as they should. But, the front speakers aren't working... any suggestions? Added bonus is the antenna lowers once again... but not completely. It lowers to about one foot. Any suggestions to make it completely retract?
8. The roof rack on Belinda has some rust, but the parts car looks great. It doesn't look that easy to replace though. Is it welded in place? Has anyone replaced one?
9. The door struts in the hatchback were replaced with the one from the parts car and now it stays waaay up. Yeah!
10. My biggest anxiety over the whole trip is the transmission. We probably won't have room to pack a spare.:p We had the transmission flushed, there's no leaks and it's working as it should (maybe needs the timing adjusted somewhat). Anything I should do to make it easier for the transmission? Can I pack little ice bags around it or something?:p
As you can see, the parts car really has been a gold mine!
Sorry this is so long, but I preferred this to many short posts!
Thanks,