W124 wiring harness/head gasket fixes
 

Greetings,

Spent most of yesterday perusing the forums - great resource, thanks to all who contribute.

I'm in the market for a W124 wagon, and have a line on a couple 95 E320's. Based on what I've read here, the engine wiring harness and cylinder head gasket are two areas that seem to have the biggest hit to the pocketbook.

Question - plenty of info here on what to look for regarding these two problems, but I couldn't determine whether these are one-time fixes, or something that might need doing repeatedly if keeping the vehicle for many years.

Has the wiring harness been updated with new materials to prevent the cracking? Any change to the cylinder head gasket, or is the coolant/oil leak problem a design issue that can't be completely resolved with updated parts?

Thanks,

Bill

There's a guy on this forum who has a black '95 wagon for sale. It has high mileage, but everything's been done to it: wiring harness, head gasket, etc.

Also, look out for climate control issues. The aluminum OEM evaporator core was prone to failure (replacement is copper). Replacement costs are high due to labor involved in ripping the whole dash out in order to access the evap.

Cooling system components begin to deteriorate as well. Coolant pump and radiator neck crack are the most common. Replacement radiator has a metal reinforcement metal insert in the neck.

Smaller issues are the variety of senders (oil pressure, coolant level, etc.) Also, some minor power window mechanism parts give problems. Same with the power headrests. Most are all inexpensive to fix and DIY in an hour or less.

I would add that of the major issues mentioned, a good example with more than 100K miles will most likely have had those major items replaced.

Thanks for the quick replies.

And wow...what a morning. After taking the info here and checking repair prices with my local Mercedes mechanic ($1100 for the harness, $2100 for the head gasket), a guy called back on a car I was interested in. Saw it advertised on craigslist a couple days ago, left a message, but never got a call back - thought it had sold, as it sounded pretty minty at a good price.

Turns out, the guy had been out of town, was calling folks back, and had a number of people coming over this morning to look at it. Hopped in the car, raced over to check it out, took it for a test run, and returned to see the next guy had arrived and was anxiously eyeing the car as I pulled in. Got out of the car, and told the owner I'd take it - much to the other fella's chagrin... :eek:

She appears to be quite a peach...2nd owner, 76K miles, perfect dog-friendly MB-Tex interior (except for that rippled veneer they all seem to have by the gear shift), 3rd seat, zero rust, and all records since new. Exterior is 95% - couple of minor chips, and one small area where it looks like the clear coat is coming off. I'm not sure what the color is called, but the wife and I really like it - it's kind of a dark charcoal color.

There's no indication in any of the records that the harness was swapped out, so I bought it knowing that bill could be coming. No mention either of the cylinder head gasket being replaced, but the oil and radiator fluid looked fine, and there are zero obvious oil leaks.

Drove it home about 60 miles - runs and drives like new, with two minor issues. The auto-raising antenna is busted, so the radio sounds like crap. Also, the cruise control almost works - it doesn't set or accelerate when you lift the lever, but it sets fine when you lower the lever. It shuts of fine when you brake, and resumes fine.

Picked it up for just under $10K...around here, that seems to be a good price based on local ads I've seen. Most are $1.5-2K more, with more miles, fewer records, and inferior interior/exteriors.

Almost forgot - a few pics are HERE.

Thanks again for all the help...I'll be back for more. :D

Bill

The auto antenna is an easy replace. There are always several on eBay. The less expensive new ones don't have the halfway up feature. All the way up or all down. If that matters to you.

The intermittent cruise control may be an indication of a bad throttle actuator $1400.

I may have the same wire harness problem with my w124 94' E320. My MB certified mechanic here in Long Island NY, said it would cost me about 1T. He's giving me a huge labor discount. Just this morning, the first symptom came (engine sputters), he did some splicing and found one wire with insulation problem.Being resourceful, he mended this particular wire and told me it would last for a while, for now. My car is running very well , i just had the signal/heater/emergency power relay replaced ($117), rear flex disc,trans mount, diff mounts, rear sway bar links, front wheel bearings kits and valve cover gasket done for $650. MB dealers would have milked me for more than double. I saw a hirschmann power auto antenna at ebay for $50 (brand new), not the original but a replacement of the same manufacturer. Anyway, to own this piece of marvel will cost $$$ but the satisfaction one gets is something only an MB can give.

__________________

'98 Ford Explorer 34,000M
'92 Lexus Ls400 136,000M
'95 Ford Mustang 94,000M
'93 Astro Van 133,000M
'94 MB E320 148,000M
'96 Jaguar SJ6 66,000M

Here are the instructions for wiring harness replacement:

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/M104WireHarness

If you really want to save money, rewire it yourself with high temp wire and heat shrinkable tubing.