W210 a/c weak blower fixed!
 

The regulator was bad, there are several threads detailing the adaptation of a W140 regulator to the newer car, but in a nutshell I modified the harness to fit my car and after a simple remove & replace of the blower with the new regulator (saving the old motor) I once again have an AC system that would keep an eskimo happy! Thanks to Phil and the mercedesshop.com members who took time to detail their repairs.
the "normal" way to fix this would replace the regulator, harness, mounting plate and the perfectly good motor - totaling over $1000.00! My repair cost $300 including Fedex overnight! I am pleased to say the least.
The Part# 140 821 84 51 is $270 here - check with Phil to be sure your car uses the same motor). BTW,I found it cheaper elsewhere but I opted to spend the extra $ for my gratitude - karma, you know.


If your ac blower fan is not blowing hard enough to feel it in the back seat, you should replace the regulator. It is an amazing air conditioner on these cars! We have 100 degree days here and the car cools off in thirty seconds - I timed it. Hard to believe but it's true.

P. S. Here's a thread that may helphttp://65.38.163.85./shopforum/showthread.php3?t=85573

Glad to hear that your AC is back in business! If your AC blower wasn't putting out enough air did you check your cabin filter? I find that my cabin filter is dirty at 15K miles, so I replace it every 15K miles instead of the recommended 30K miles.

Mercedesshop is amazing, I have saved thousands of $ fixing and maintaining my Mercedes over the years. With the knowledge of the members and being able to order part on-line through Phil it has been a blessing. I just smile when I receive a "coupon book" from the local Mercedes dealer - their prices can choke a horse.

Anyone have an idea where the cabin filters are on a '97 210?? I looked under the dash - not there, tried getting the glove box out, got a little nervous since I have the touch of a blacksmith, not sure where to look next??? A little help, please. Thanks - y'all are the best!!!

Yeah using the part from the W140 will work fine as long as you lengthen the leads. I had the same condition, even on high there was only low-medium fan speed...so I waited and on eBay I found a genuine MB part someone was selling still sealed in the bag...picked it up for $130 I think. It comes with the heat conductive grease and a larger heat sink than the old one had so it will probably last as long as the car will now.

As for the location of the cabin filters in the W210, they are accessed from behind the glove compartment, you do have to remove it. There are 2 of them...plus a charcoal filter but it is expensive and it's not necessary to replace it unless you use it. The cabin filters will be grey to black if they haven't been replaced in a year or so...the new ones are snow white.

There is also a charcoal filter under the dash, there is a latch which makes a trap door lower and the charcoal filter is on top of that.
On the regular dust filter (behind the glove box) you just have to make sure ALL the screws are removed, there is 1 or 2 near the glove box light, the hole is quite long to get to the screw heads. After the screws are all out, yeah then the touch of a blacksmith will come in handy. I would normally brace my arm across the glovebox door (with it open) and "pop" it out, it's better doing it that way than trying any kind of prying tool, it pops out nicely.
Gilly

Thanks Gilly, I couldn't tell if there were screws in those holes on either side of the Glovebox light. Yikes, glad I didn't tear out the dash. I was putting a lot of muscle on the box to try to get it out. Thanks again.

You no doubt noticed the 2 under the oval covers in the "floor" of the glovebox too?
Gilly

Once you get the glove box out, I highly recommend that you snap off the 2 plastic tabs from the top. This will make it much easier to remove the next time around.

yeah, i agree with the tab removal. really doesn't serve any serious structural purpose that I can imagine.

pics here
http://forums.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=168643

Great pics in that link, however they recommend filing or using a dremel to change the shape of the tabs. I just grabbed them with pliers and snapped them right off.

I left the tabs in place on mine. It stuck in there, but not so bad that I want it to be easier. I'm worried about creating rattles down the road.

Nah, It's not gonna rattle, they have more screws in that thing than the hull of a nuclear submarine.

Thanks everyone. I did see the 2 screws under the tabs, but thanks for pointing that out. I haven't had a chance to wrestle with it this week. I'll get after it over the weekend. I think I'll be removing the other tabs as well. Thanks, I'll let you know how it goes.

I finally got around to changing the cabin filter, surprisingly, they weren't very dirty (128K mi). Anyway, put in the the new filters, still very weak air flow from the fan on the old W210.


The Texas summer's coming and I'm getting scared!!!

Waht do you all think? Regulator? Any advice / pics would be greatly appreciated.

Put the fan control on maximum and check the input voltage to the regulator. If it's 6V as it should be, the next step is to wire 12V to the blower (this can be done with the car turned off). Then you'll know for sure.