Project Smokey Wagon 2014! - Mostly just noob questions inside. W123 1985 300TD - Page 16 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

WarTowels · #**226** 12-20-2016, 04:20 PM

Annoyingly, on top of my brain failures when I went to pick him up the battery was completely dead. This seems like really poor performance for such a large battery. The only thing that should be running is the clock?

My battery is slightly over two years old. I've tested for parasitic loss with a test light and it didn't glow at all.

16 days in 5-50f weather outside. Thoughts?

Battery couldn't crank at all and did nearly nothing when connected via jumper cables either.

funola · #**227** 12-20-2016, 04:42 PM

Battery should have started the car after 16 days in conditions you stated. Test light may not be the best for checking parasitic drain. Use a digital ammeter in series with either battery cable. Mercedes clock should draw around 5 ma and if that's the only load should have started the car. You must have a drain much greater than that.

WarTowels · #**228** 12-20-2016, 04:46 PM

I'll bust out the multimeter and get an actual reading and post back in a few days

kerry · #**229** 12-20-2016, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarTowels

Embarrassing details:

I went on a one week trip out of town. I always go to the same bus stop to get to there. Only this time I missed the bus by just a few seconds. So hopped back in the car and drove to the next bus stop beating the bus there.

Then my one week trip turned into a two week trip, coupled with numerous flight delays, a sleepless night spent in the airport, I returned to my normal bus stop instead of the one I had raced to two weeks prior. When my car wasn't there, the only conclusion I could come up with at 6:30am in the freezing rain was my vehicle had been jacked.

Two days later, a light bulb went off in my head about what I had done!

So... no stolen car. Just massive brain failure on my part. UGGGGH.

But hey, my boy isn't being chopped up in a garage somewhere by some punks! So happy ending, even if embarrassing =)

All's well that ends well. And you've gone a long way in making people feel better when they lose their Mercedes in a parking lot.

Plus I'm sure you gave the cops at the precinct a good laugh.

WarTowels · #**230** 12-21-2016, 12:56 AM

Definitely had a draw, so much for the quick test light test.

Multimeter said .11A pretty solid and I saw up to .16A. Traced it down to the rear antenna motor. Once I unplugged that dropped to .01 Amps. So I think that explains the dead battery after 16 days!

Next up on the list of things to solve, but haven't had much motivation with the cold is a leak from the rear passenger quarter panel window and an unfound leak I believe from the front right.

The rear window one probably won't get touched until spring... looks rather annoying!

kylemason · #**231** 12-21-2016, 07:23 AM

Better a brain fart than a chop shop!

Glad to hear Vin is back in action!

Kyle

vwnate1 · #**232** 12-21-2016, 12:25 PM

Greg ;

Not to worry, everyone makes mistakes, some are too afraid to admit them .

I assume your ingress of water is puddles in the tool/jack well ? .

Before attacking the window grommets look closely at the small drain tube in the filler neck ~ that came lose in my '82 240D and gave me fits before I discovered it ~ I was trying to find the backlight's water leak and there wasn't one

.

WarTowels · #**233** 12-28-2016, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwnate1

Greg ;

Not to worry, everyone makes mistakes, some are too afraid to admit them .

I assume your ingress of water is puddles in the tool/jack well ? .

Before attacking the window grommets look closely at the small drain tube in the filler neck ~ that came lose in my '82 240D and gave me fits before I discovered it ~ I was trying to find the backlight's water leak and there wasn't one

.

Yeah, I'm getting water in a few places =(

I've seen some water pooling in the rear hatch once in a while and when opening it some will leak out. Unsure how that's happening.

The other worse location is the jack/tool well area. I can plainly see someone has messed around with the window seal, applying that black "gunk" around the rubber. The metal around the window is also noticeably corroded and has been covered with primer. I can see a little rust around the rubber window seal area as well, towards the bottom.

So based on that evidence, I think what I may be dealing with is a bad gasket and a shoddy attempt at sealing it which has since failed. =(

I'll check the filler neck though~

Also, couple days ago my reman caliper in the rear failed on the passenger side. One of the pistons seized, shredding the pad and rotor. Unfortunately, I had to put 100+ miles on it this way to get home from a function. So new rotor, pads and a new caliper will be going on the rear today or tomorrow.

The place I got the caliper from (NAPA) has a lifetime warranty, but on the specific caliper I got they no longer stock any in the whole country... cool.

It's an ATE style caliper, so I assume I can swap it out for that same style caliper from a different reman company? Pad and bore of the piston should all be the same, I would think. Going to pick up the caliper they have in stock and compare with the dead one today.

Cheers,

Greg

vwnate1 · #**234** 12-29-2016, 12:25 AM

Keep us posted ~

Most (?all?) ATE W123 calipers have steel pistons, some boob put a Phenolic one in my TD so of course it failed as I was driving down a greasy ramp towards a heavy closed steel security gate IN THE RAIN....

(glad SWMBO wasn't driving !

) .

Peach Parts gave me to Oeky-Doke for a MOMTH then gave me a CHINESE shyte one.....

If they'd asked I coulda bought and delivered a good used German ATE core caliper from the Junk Yards 5 miles away....

.

This kind of B.S. is why I never, EVER turn in my cores until the job is finished to my satisfaction .

WarTowels · #**235** 01-07-2017, 04:53 PM

I actually had a surprisingly hard time getting a replacement rear caliper, I didn't realize the TD's had a special caliper and apparently last time i ordered they just happened to have some in stock. Bunch of places said there were none in the country.

Pep Boys of all places hooked me up and they got me a Mercedes caliper too; sweet.

Installed her yesterday, but I think air got in the system despite my attempts to prevent that. I tried to lazily bleed just the rear passenger caliper (since it's the farthest) but alas, no dice. Brakes feel terrrrrrible, much worse than when it was running on three calipers!

Sadly, no garage for VIN at the moment and it's snowing outside so 5 days of waiting for a caliper and now a few more waiting for decent weather so I can get under and bleed them all! Harrrumphs!

kerry · #**236** 01-07-2017, 05:39 PM

Just open up the bleeders and let it sit overnight for the air to flow out.

WarTowels · #**237** 01-07-2017, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

Just open up the bleeders and let it sit overnight for the air to flow out.

I've never heard of that method... wouldn't that let air and moisture into the lines?

ROLLGUY · #**238** 01-07-2017, 07:50 PM

I use the bleeding method that uses a clear plastic bottle with a rubber hose connected to the bleeder, and the other end in the bottle with at least a couple inches of fluid in the bottom. With the bleeder open, pump until you see no more bubbles coming out of the hose. This can be done with one person. Once you see no more bubbles, close the bleeder and do the next one the same way. Be sure to make sure the reservoir stays full.

kerry · #**239** 01-07-2017, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarTowels

I've never heard of that method... wouldn't that let air and moisture into the lines?

I believe I learned of that method from TomW here. He's used it.

WarTowels · #**240** 01-07-2017, 08:22 PM

^ That's much more in line with how I do brake bleeds. Though I typically employ a helper to do the pumping; so I can open and close the valves in time with the pumps and speeds the process slightly.

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