For the first time.

I have been purchasing a/c parts from a large a/c parts house for a number of years now. Anyway, over the past few months the a/c has been going out on the E300 and finally gave up the ghost. I called my a/c parts house and had a new compressor delivered. It came in a box that was marked on the outside "New Compressor" and it indicated that it was made in China. Started on the job Saturday morning (I fit it in) by removing the refrigerant from the car and then opened up the compressor. Well guess what, the hose connection on the new unit is not what I needed. I boxed it up and shipped it back to them. Called the dealer and got one coming from them.

If the Chinese compressor had fit wonder if it would have lasted as long? Other than the hose connections it looks just like the one coming off and the quality visually looked good.

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Jim

Generally,
It seems though the ChiComs/PRC attitude about Q.C. is:
"What are the round eyes gonna do?","Ship it back to us and Whine?"
"Ship the S**t OUT and get OUR money from them!"


Unsolicited Rant:
It's about 2 generations too soon for me to purchase ANY parts alleged to be
"O.E." quality "For Mercedes" from the Far East.

Much less ,My Feeling like I'm Validating the Architects of Tiananmen Square
by purchasing from them(AND enriching) their economy.

I must admit I've refused/sent back everything mechanical ANYONE has sent
me that I believe may have been made/produced/assembled in the PRC.

Why Risk Your/My Mercedes with what up to now have proven many times
to be inferior quality replacement parts.

You do get what you pay for.

I do not buy any electrical parts from any of the U.S. retailers for the same Q.C. issues.
(I.E. "Mexican Bosch Remans" from Autozone,Advance.O'reilly's,Etc.)

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

I could have covered the difference between the Chinese made compressor with the one from the dealer with a $100 bill so the savings is not worth it either, in my opinion.

__________________
Jim

Bad news, when I pulled the compressor there were remnants of metal shavings in one of the ports so I have decided to go through the whole thing with the exception of pulling the evaporator. I should be able to flush the evaporator out. I was shocked at the condition of the air side of the condenser. I will be replacing it along with some of the hoses.

For anyone that is curious about seeing how badly plugged the condenser was I have started another thread with pictures showing the build up.

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Jim

How much is a new condenser? It was about $200 for an ACM for my 210.

The condenser was around $300. The shocker was the inlet/outlet hose at the compressor at ~$900 (biggest hose in the picture). Needless to say I will probably just have it rebuilt. Can anyone tell me what the "can" looking thing is that is built into this particular hose?

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
Jim

Isn't that an inline filter?

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

It's an accumulator, apparently they sometimes use those instead of a drier.

The older I get the cheaper I get and man are parts expensive. I'm going to have around $1000 for parts alone - new compressor, exp vlv, condenser and dryer, not including the oil/refrigerant.

Any issue if I reuse the hose set with the built in accumulator. I would think it is there to provide room for more refrigerant/oil if anything. Will it be ok just to blow it out? There doesn't seem to be much restriction when I blow through.

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Jim

The accumulator is also a drier, the desiccant inside has absorbed lots of water already, so it isn't going to be very effective.

Finished up today. Everything seems to have come out good. Now on to replacing the turn signal lever.

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Jim

that large protrusion in the line appears to go between the compressor and the condenser. so it would be a muffler, not a receiver or a accumulator, not even a dryer. if it's in the gas line, it's only function would be muffler.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Isn't it a fuel cooler before returning to the fuel tank?

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'85 300D Turbo - CA Version

I drove the car around some today and it blew ice cold just like it is supposed to. It is a pretty straight forward job for anyone considering it on this chassis.

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Jim