Hello to everyone!
I’m new to the forum and likely going to be buying a clean one owner 94 E320 wagon w/ 112k miles this weekend, provided it checks out okay. I’ve been reading everyone’s posts and articles like a madman for 3 days and feel as though it’s a pretty solid car for the money….save for the harness and actuator replacement costs.

Then I started thinking, what if they can be rebuilt?

Now I’m not claiming to be an electrical engineer or some sort of guru, but I’m an engineer and an experienced do it yourselfer. Is that a word? I’ve worked on Subaru, Saab, BMW, Audi turbos, VW’s and a little on older Porsches but this will be my first Mercedes (again, assuming nothing scares me off Saturday).

I’m very curious as to what causes the throttle actuator to fail and whether or not it can be repaired. The harness failure is obvious, but it doesn’t look like an overly complicated harness, so I wonder if that can be rebuilt with any success as well. I figure the price of a new one is all the motivation I need to dig in and see if a less expensive repair could exist. Of course I would document everything and report my findings to the list. If there is a fix, everyone else could benefit by referring to the procedure/pictures I document. Like I said, just want to try and find a solution to a costly replacement part.

If this has been done before, please stop me here, but if not... and anyone who has replaced their harness or actuator still has them lying around and would like to donate to the cause, I’ll gladly pay for the shipping and packaging.

I figure a donation to the cause of old Mercedes rehabilitation sure beats throwing it in the trash.

This may just be “pie in the sky”, but I figure it’s worth a shot.

Any input concerning the rehab project idea or my purchase would be welcome.

Thanks,
Steve Hauptmann
Columbia SC

Visit www.v12uberalles.com for an interesting article on rebuilding the wiring harness for the throttle actuator on a v12 motor. The M120 (if I've got my model #'s right) V12 motor is just 2 M104's "joined" together, so there may be some similarities.

The guy that created that site is a real detail-oriented individual determined to fix things the right way, and fix them only once.

Maybe there will be something you can glean from his space.

Check out MENU#24 for qualified sources for the re-build of an ETA. You, being an engineer, should be able to do a re-build yourself for the 'wiring-harness' since it's just a lot of hard work. Mating of the various connectors will be the biggest problem.

The ETA is another story since it difficult to test it after being rebuilt. That might be best to have done.

__________________
Regards . . . . JimF
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'94 S500 Cpe

Visit my Mercedes Web Page

I rewired two of these--one successful, one not. Hardest part is dissecting the connector so it can be used again. See attached pictures.

Attached Thumbnails