Stranded in PA and need a mechanic
 

Hello,

I'm in Brookville PA with an '85 500SEL that developed a rather huge problem in my opinion on my way back to Wisconsin.

The car is new to me and I had the car "checked" by a mechanic on the sellers end. Lot of help he was.

The car was getting horrible gas mileage and was smoking on medium to heavy acceleration. Little did I know the exhaust was getting VERY hot and a truck driver said he saw sparks out of the exhaust. I could smell gas in the engine compartment but no leaking gas on the ground.

I'm lucky the damn thing didn't burn to the ground.

Does anyone know of a mechanic who can even look at this near Brookville PA Zip 15825?

Thank you for any help.

Matthew

i suggest you pm brian carlton. he is in pa somewhere and might be able to hook you up with someone.

don't despair, the 500 motors are genereally known for their simplicity and toughness. hopefully the problem though serious will be easily fixable.

good luck

tom w

I've often wondered what I would do if I had a major malfunction in the middle of a long trip. I think I would rent a Uhaul truck and trailer and drive it home.

It will probably be expensive, but your odds of finding a mechanic who can fix it quikly are dwindling with the approach of Christmas.

Just my $.02

I had that same idea about the Uhaul. The 500SEL is too heavy according to Uhaul for it's equipment.

Good information to know before you have a problem.

Tom,

It looks like Brian is now located in NY. I'll try a PM anyway.

Thanks for the kind words.

Sounds like the catalytic converter is clogged. Big bucks from the stealership,(a couple thousand). And they won't have it in stock. Maybe Midas or Meineke can help. Or as a temporary fix, replace it with straight pipe, cheap, quick and effective.

I don't doubt the cat is plugged. The odd part is I have a service bill that shows it was replaced about 10k miles ago. Someone has been playing with vacuum lines under the air cleaner now that I have it off.

I'd assume it's not running right and that is what is causing the cats to fail.

Will a dealer cut the cat out? Or am I going to have to do my best to convince them?

Thanks

Dealer will not cut the cat out. You need to DIY or find someone who will do it for cash.

I don't doubt that Midas/Meineke can get the part and replace it today/ tomorrow, if you get there early today. Certainly alot cheaper than the dealer. Maybe $500 bucks.

If not try a local sevice station. Explain to them it's an emergency fix to get you home. Tell them no paperwork needed, as it is illegal to cut out the cat.

Doing it yourself will be real tough unless you got a place to work and the time to do it. Not to mention tools and the PITA factor. Best bet would be the Midas/Meineke replacement, if not then the service/gas station idea, a few extra bucks can go a long way dealing with these guys. ACT NOW|||

Don't wast time thinking about it, go find a shop now or you'll be stuck in PA. After tomorrow morning, you'll be outa luck till next week. GOOD LUCK.

rather than cut it out you could perhaps remove it and break out the ceramic center then bolt it back on. no modifications to your pipes. less destructive.

how much too heavy is the car? i have used their trailers before. it should work fine. i might be tempted to tell them it is a 500e or something smaller in order to get the trailer.

i have a truck and trailer, if you were closer i could help for part of the way (if i hadnt just had hip replacement and cant drive) perhaps folks here could set up a bucket brigade and those with trucks and trailers could put together a way home for you.

each taking you a ways and handing you off.

stranded on christmas weekend is a bummer!

tom w

Your best Shot: Hurry so they can order the Parts for today

Trust the Midas Touch. ... 814-849-8313 • One E Main St, Brookville,PA 15825

PS,,, Check your OVP relay, controls emissions/mixture ratio.

Hey Guys,

Where have the days gone where you could get a side job for cash? The gov't must really bust nuts when it finds out you've cut off a cat.

I decided to tow to Fred Martin Mercedes in Youngstown OH and have them take a look. If it's as bad as I think I've got a shipping company to get it back to Wisconsin.

I've never taken a Greyhound bus, something tells me right before Xmas I might just have the trip of my life.

Thank you guys, it really is great to have people you've never met trying to help you. I only hope I can return the favor at some point.

Matthew

Actually, the shop tends to frown in such activities because jobs like what you are asking for will endanger the shop. On my 91 190E 2.6, I had a bad air pump. We could have fixed it by going with the 89 model serpentine belt but emissions laws would have a problem so we couldn't do it in the shop.

Where are you at in WI?

Aklim,

I know it's not a great practice to do jobs like this for someone but you've gotta ask sometimes.

I'm in Green Bay, or at least I would like to be.

Oh, believe me, I do ask this all the time. I want to know who will do it for me for a smaller fee than I would pay but larger than they would get paid at the shop.

That is why I buy Ford, MB or GM since I know people that can help me from time to time on certain projects.

tell them its a honda..what they dont know wont hurt them...

Hey guys,

I thought you might be interested, I'm at the dealership now and they found my fuel distributor leaking and plugs fouled beyond function.

The interesting part is I found under the seat a receipt for 8 Bosch spark plugs just a few months ago. It looks like the thing has been running horribly and people just keep throwing cat's at it.

More in a bit.

good luck, keep us posted please.

Hey, MJM. Good luck with your car. Sorry to hear you're having these problems with it.
I was wondering how you were getting on the forum while you're stranded in foreign territory?

...until they unloaded it...:rolleyes:

Isn't a fuel distrib a very pricey part?
Did you pull any injectors? Would a new set of plugs alone get you home?

Good luck, and Merry Christmas.
I'd rather be in your shoes than stuck in Denver:mad: ;)

I think you can get those rebuilt. I mean, they do that with Injection pumps so why not the fuel distributor? They would have to take it out and send it out to the shop tho

OH NO, the stealership. They will probably charge him more than he paid for the car. Hope he has an update, curious on what they fix and charge.

Depends. I don't get ripped off since I make sure I am watching the mechanics work and will question them if I think something is not right. Since he is far away, it is going to be difficult to go to his garage and tinker till he gets it just right.

Hey Guys,

I'm sitting on the last leg of my bus trip home. What a time this has been. 23 hours to travel 900 miles.

Luckily I've had my laptop and a cell internet card, without this I would have had a terrible time with hotels, bus tickets and peace of mind.

I left the car at Fred Martin in Youngstown. They are a Mercedes / Ford / Suzuki dealer. They have three Benz guys on staff, one of them (Mat) has 23 years on the job and is a Master Tech.

I got to meet all of the mechanics and stand in the shop while they took things apart. The shop rate is $85 an hour compared to my home dealership of $99 or $70 Indy. No immediate answers were found since I didn't get there until near 3pm. Mat is on vacation next week and we all decided to leave the car for him to work on since he has experience with some Euro spec cars. The transport bill to get the car home would have been $695 so I figured I would be better to spend that money on hopefully fixing or finding out what the issue is.

Maybe I'm just happy to be nearing home but I really feel like they will treat me fairly. The mechanic gave me his phone numbers and told me he would be calling after he gets a full day in on the car. The service adviser bowed out of the process because he just doesn't know enough to converse on the issues I'm having.

At this point all they know are fouled plugs, plug gaps were all over the board, he leaned out the fuel mixture, fixed a broken wire on a roll over protection switch added in the federalization, fuel on top of the fuel distributor. Detonation is occurring in the cat making a "popping" sound. (New cat 10k miles go) And he believes that the timing is not set correctly.

I'm curious if this is enough information for anyone to give input. For the good news besides the engine issue everything else is solid and in nice condition. During conversation I mentioned that if this was a huge issue I might just part the car out since the body is 9/10 and has the Euro lights / bumpers ect. Everyone looked at me like I was nuts, then told me it's crazy to part out a car in this shape.

All in all I wasn't given any BS by the people at the dealership and they gave me a nice place to setup my laptop and charge cell phones. If you're ever stuck in PA or OH on Interstate 80 these people are your best bet, maybe your only.

I appreciate the people who are following this thread.

Matthew

Sounds like the timing is way off, or/and it is running extremly rich. You probably blew the cats if the exhuast got that hot. You need to fix the problem then see if the cats are ok.

How many miles and when was the timing chain last done? If there is no record of that might as well do that while you are fixing it.

Matthew,

You are in one of life's adventure's that when you look back on it, will be an interesting story on how and not how to do things. Good Luck in your adventure! I have had several of my own, as have others here reading your story and it's hopefully successful, in $$$$ terms, ending.

The car is in great shape, yes? You may have to put an engine and maybe some other repairs, now, to get home. If you have found a good group of people--sounds like they're interested in helping situation, even though they are an MB dealer, you may have hit the JACK-POT, because you will get the problem(s) fixed correctly now, and save yourself further grief, later. It may be cheaper other than fixing it yourself! You should have found a good gang like this and done a Pre-purchase inspection, and you may have avoided this and negotiated a price reduction, on the price and payed for part of the costs to repair it. 20/20 hindsight is great, isn't it? It's only money and your time, you are safe and the car can be repaired, it will work out OK. I wish I could help you, being in Michigan, but my health precludes this.

I don't know how many back and forth trips you will need to make, but you may want to find an older cheap and sound car to buy at your hometown of Green Bay, for this and when you are done, you can sell it in Youngstown, and not be out too much, as it will save on travel fares and wear and tear on your other car or friend's car. I've done it. A HD pickup and car trailer, if you or your pals own one will cost you as much in fuel costs driving back and forth, than buying a cheaper older car, like a corolla, civic, escort, etc.

Please keep us updated on this adventure. Something GOOD will come out of this.
Good Luck and Merry Christmas.

Matt, thanks for the play-by-play account of your "adventure" thus far. I hope everything works out favorably for you. It sounds like these folks are alright.

Keep us posted. I'd like to hear the rest of this story as it unfolds.

The trick is you have to call it an SEC. Seem dropping two doors brings it just under U-Haul's load limit for the trailer.

Matthew,

They say that the difference between an adventure and an ordeal, is the attitude. Sounds to me, like you are having more of an adventure, than an ordeal. :thumbsup:

thats where my cousin is stuck

Update
 

Hello everyone,

Well I had a very pleasant drive from Youngstown Ohio late last week back to Wisconsin. The car sailed home without issue and ran like a 500 should.

I must thank everyone again for the input during my initial attempt at getting home.

Fred Martin Mercedes in Youngstown/Austintown OH is excellent. The mechanic Mat really went out of his way to fix my car and communicate the process to me 700 miles away.

- 8 new spark plugs (the correct Bosch without resistor) / Old plugs were fouled and had gaps all over the board

- Oil change / Mobil 1 - At my request

- Fixed fuel leak on the fuel distributor / replaced seal (Previous owner had just put on a new fuel distributor, mechanic feels this was in vein but I won't complain about new parts)

- Timing was adjusted

- Idle control computer replaced / Air valve cleaned

- Warm Up Regulator was found to be broken and causing fuel pressure problems at all engine temperatures. New WUR is about $1300 from the dealer. I was able to find several rebuilt/new units for much less so the mechanic came up with a very nice solution for me. He manually set the fuel pressure with a clamp setup on one of the fuel hoses. I will have to take a picture to explain how he accomplished this.

The car ran rough cold but when warm it ran perfectly and drove like a dream. Now that the car is home I've taken it off the road and am waiting for the new WUR.

If I lived in Ohio and near Youngstown I would not hesitate to use this dealership for everything.

I will now move to the tech section because I have a few issues I'm digging into regarding getting the car back to the way it was in Germany before it was changed to meet US emission spec.

We are in the process of getting 6-8" of snow tonight / tomorrow but when the weather clears I will take some pictures.

Matthew

Thanks for your update, Matthew. I'm glad to hear things worked out so well for you. Your situation was one I have dreaded the thought of finding myself in. Your step-by-step account of the whole saga was interesting, encouraging, and informative, not to mention the fact that it's nice to hear that there are still plenty of good, honest, helpful folks in the world.