If it isn't one thing on a W124, it's another
 

Having only just replaced the 3-way heater hose on my 1993 300E2.8, the blower has now stopped turning.

The fuse is good, multimeter tested, and replaced (just in case my meter was lieing to me), and the blower motor itself is fairly new (less than 12 months old).

The multimeter also reported no voltage over the fuse terminals when I had the ACC unit on 'defrost'. Could this mean I have a dead blower motor regulator? Is there any easy way to tell without removing the blower motor from the car?

You have to start "decontenting" the car at some point or it will eat you alive. My theory is if the problem doesn't make the car propel forward, come to a stop, or change direction, don't fix it.

Mine is sitting in the garage with all wheels off (decided to paint brake calipers while I wait for my indie to free up some time to do the head gasket).

Too many other issues to deal with to get the car 100%...even if I had the money to do so, something would require attention...they are OLD cars!

Yes, but the blower motor is a necessity.

A/C aside (which I need) the blower is needed to defrost the window. It's a safety item.

My 124 car has less than 300,000 miles and it has required constant repair throughout it's life as compared to 800,000 miles worth of 123 cars that were virtually trouble free. Save for an engine rebuild at 380,000 miles which is understandable and a few other items that are common to wear out such as clutch, alternator, starter, etc. I just maintained and drove my 123's.

Where the 124 DOES have advantage over the 123, however, is when sitting in the drivers seat (assuming that nothing is broken that day.)

My $0.02,

Hey Larry, you're back!

Are you driving your 300E again?

Chances are "pretty good" it is in fact the regulator (IMHO it's best replaced with the blower motor if they're both original). It's been a while since I've done one on a W124, but there is a three-pronged plug/socket where the regulator cable ends, here you can test for 12V, ground, and control voltage to the regulator. (Control voltage is from the pushbutton unit, should be .2 to .8V, IIRC. Higher control voltage = greater fan speed.) If you have 12V to the regulator, ground, and a variable control voltage from the pushbutton (select different fan speeds to check), then you need a regulator (unless of course your new blower is kaputt... which is pretty doubtful). German aftermarket brands like KAE are a little cheaper, and are excellent IMHO.

cheers

Good to hear from you Paul!

Well I am sort of back. I am in the midst of a project that gives me a little time here and there while things are compiling and what not.

I have not driven the 300E in a few months, but I might drive it to a get together East of Austin the weekend after next. It is drivable but cosmetically not much to look at.

I bought an '06 Mustang GT with a manual transmission and that's now my daily driver. I can't bare to part with the old blue goose even if she doesn't look very good any more.

Keep in touch,

I keep on telling you the car doesn't look as bad as you say it is. :D

Did you get the front suspension problem worked out? You were complaining about a vibration.

Besides, you're so close to 300,000 miles that you have an obligation to reach that milestone. :rolleyes:

A manual 300E is nice
 

Good to see the group is back.
Only a few months till the June reunion.

Good to hear from you too Eric. June is right around the corner. I had dinner at Sonny Bryans with a friend who was in town about two weeks ago and it was no trouble. In spite of that, maybe we should try somewhere else. We can show Paul that we have food other than barbeque in Dallas.

Paul,

I worked out a vibration several years ago. My latest handling ill was plain old squirmy handling. In the course of that I found a marginally bad dogbone in the rear suspension, but that wasn't the problem. The suspension is as tight and well aligned as can be. I'm pretty sure that the cheap tires are the problem, but I haven't taken any further steps to confirm this since I'm not driving the car much.

My brother in law/MB Tech drove it and just thought I was being picky but offered up a set of wheels/tires to bolt on to see if it makes a difference. Maybe this Spring I will take him up on it.

The car is looking worse because I had to crack up the windshield very badly to get the wiper motor out to lubricate it. The guy that put in the windshield glued it to the wiper motor. If I ever get around to doing anything about the cosmetics, I will remove the wiper motor and leave it out while the windshield is put in.

Take car all,

Did you check the fusible link? THe manual refers to it as a fuse, but it is located outside the main fuse box and is just a thin metal plate. About $5.00 from the dealer. Mine went out a couple of months ago - very simple replacement but it took a few minutes to find the silly thing.

Ok, now I have one more thing to add to the list, a suspected B2 piston failure.

While driving the car home on Saturday night, there was a loud popping sound followed by the transmission only selecting a higher gear when moving from a standing start, then complete failure of all forward gears. My car had to be towed home - a very sorry sight.

I now have two questions - Do I repair or rebuild this transmission? My wife is the main driver of the car taking it to and from work (so I'm suspecting there's a lot of upshifts and downshifts with the traffic). The car has 175,500 miles on it, and has had no transmission work other than fluid changes since I purchased it at 97,000 miles. I'm leaning towards rebuilding, depending on how much work needs to be done.

Secondly, does anyone know of any good transmission shops in Kitsap County, WA? There's a transmission shop in town (Silverdale Transmissions, on Silverdale Way) and I've seen them working on W123's in the past, have any forum members taken their cars for service there?

300ce transmission
 

The best source for Mercedes rebuilt transmissions is Sun Valley transmissions is Sun Valley Ca. I have a 1990 300ce that the tranny went out on around 150k. Shopped around, the local mercedes dealership wanted @ 3,200 plus labor. Another foreign shop wanted around 2,500 plus. I found these guys, specializing in reman. mercedes trannys, $1,400 and change with the core replacement, sent to your dealership of choice, and freight prepaid return for the core. All in a nice bullitt proof high tech poly shipping container. On top of that, there was a 2 or 3 year unlimited milage warrantee. E-mail if you want more info! gregdhess@aol.com