I don't know. I'm going to respectfully agree to disagree to this statement. Excluding the evaporator I had to change out this past summer the silver 95 E300 with 297k miles on it only gets fluid/filter changes, a brake job and new tires every now and then. In my opinion these are typical routine maintenance items for any daily driver. The wife puts at least 350 miles per week on it and we'd get in it and drive to CT if we needed to go there. All the while it returns 35 mpg on 100% biodiesel. Long way from being something I have to wrench on every weekend and everything works just like it did when it came from the factory.

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Jim

k = kilo = 1000's not sure what a K is.

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Remember, Safety Third!
'99 E300 Turbodiesel, '82 300TD, 1996 12V Cummins Turbo, '94 Neoplan - Detroit 6V92TA

At What Cost, Technology.

Just gonna draw the line here.

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

It is typical that the A/C in many of these older cars had a less-than-great output. That is because most of them had a GM compressor.

If you have a car that is set up for 134a, you might want to check out Freeze-12 refrigerants. The product has a higher boiling point (some will want to say a lower boiling point), which boosts the output considerably, using less horsepower. Everything technical relating to the product, is on the website. You can also phone them with any questions.

It's a mixed bag, but yes it is cheaper to have a GOOD old car and just drive it.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

Well, you should have referred it to an honest MB dealer. MB spent thousands per car to remove those things. They did it far beyond the warranty expired. I wouldn't be surprised if someone pulled one out of a barn somewhere today that had never had it removed, if MB took care of it for nothing even today, although that isn't likely.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

The compressor manufacturer has little to do with a/c performance. It is mostly determined by condensor capacity and air flow.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Really? I'm glad the old high mileage cars I've driven over the years never heard anyone say that. I drove 123 diesels to high mileage, e.g.; 280K, 505K. Drove them every day and didn't do much more than preventive maintenance most weekends. Even when I was driving 60K to 70K miles per year I rarely worked on them beyond preventive maintenance and occasional repairs no more frequent than my new cars.

My current work car will be 25 years old next year. It will roll to 325K miles probably this week. Doesn't look like much but I haven't done anything to it beyond changing the oil and rotating the tires since I put it back on the road last spring, and it's a gas car, '88 300E.

Even with an old car, if you stay up with your preventive maintenance you won't be "working on it every weekend, or even one weekend a month.

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

It would be very interesting for you to Search either the Tech Help or Diesel Discussion forums by keying in "Freeze 12." Try it and you might learn something.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

FULCRUM525, I am not sure what line you are drawing by showing the Terminator, since a skinny little guy and half pint Linda Hamilton defeated technology with an age-old hydraulic press.

AIR&ROAD, I was pulling Hatterasguys leg about GM.

I also didn't find anything really negative about Freeze-12 on the forum, other than "why use anything other than R12, since the car was designed for it."

They since replaced Freeze-12 with Freeze 12a. It looks like it has a lot to offer.

Freeze-12 Refrigerant, EPA Approved R-12 Replacement.

By the way Hatterasguy, do you even own an old benz, the target audience of this forum? If not, go buzz the folks at the Saab forum. There, you will actually have something to rant about.

Hatterasguy and I were on this forum tinkering with old MBs back in the early 2000s....

He jumped out of his old MB about a year and a half ago into a Chevy, and never looked back. I wound up doing the same thing, and well, am happy to say I made the jump.

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

Sigh..... Well, it looks as if you are going to make me write this for about the hundredth time:

ALL alternative refrigerants such as Freeze 12 OR Freeze 12a fall into one of two categories; flammable or blend (Freeze 12 and 12a are blends.) The downside to a flammable does not need to be elaborated upon. A blend may need to be described.

Blends typically consist of two, but sometimes more than two refrigerants. Typically one of the components provides oil circulation and the other provides heat exchange.

The disadvantages of the blends are numerous, but the main two disadvantages are that the components leak at different rates, and they cannot be recovered for service.

Since the components leak at different rates, upon servicing a leak, the remaining refrigerant must be completely recovered, the leak repaired and then recharged from scratch with a fresh blend charge. This leads to the second disadvantage:

Since after a leak, the charge no longer has the correct blend, it cannot be recoverd and reused. It must be recovered into a scrap container and a DISPOSAL FEE MUST BE PAID.

Additionally every system using an alternative refrigerant, by Federal Law, is supposed to have the proper refrigerant specific fittings installed. I've done a good bit of auto a/c work and I have NEVER seen anyone install the correct fittings on a converted system except for 134a conversions.

The down sides to these alternative refrigerants are numerous and given that R12 has come back down in price to a level not too far above 134a, price, alternative refrigerants are clearly more trouble than they're worth in today's refrigerant market.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

after recently viewing the rear damage of a W126 that had been stopped at a stop sign and rear ended by an eight ton dump truck doing over 50 MPH, I stop complaining about repair costs, additional wrenching in dealing with older cars, etc. I'm simply glad to have German safety engineering surrounding my old body.

Had the driver been stopped at a stop sign in a cheap domestic aluminum can and rear ended by an eight ton dump truck at over 50 MPH, there is no doubt in my mind they would have gone straight to the I.C.U and possibly the morgue.

1984 VW Rabbit 1.8L, manual trans. 26 MPG Hwy

2012 Chevrolet Corvette 6.2L, manual trans 26 MPG Hwy