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  #1  
Old 04-28-2010, 10:12 PM
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C230 Kompressor Tune Up

I know I'm asking for trouble here. I am way to poor to own a Mercedes, and yet I do.
I can handle simple things--the brakes and oil changes I have done myself. I would really like to do a tune up on this thing. Please don't tell me it's too hard for a non-mechanic--I've been doing it myself on all manner of vehicles for thirty years.
Is there somewhere I can see some pictures of this being done without paying a fortune for it? What is the best way to get under the supercharger to the plugs and wires and whatever else MB put under there?
This forum was great help when I needed to know what kind of tool to use on the calipers (7mm) and I appreciate the help. Thanks

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  #2  
Old 04-28-2010, 10:23 PM
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What year?
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  #3  
Old 04-29-2010, 12:42 AM
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I can't advise on the supercharger, but otherwise, the M111 engine is super easy to work on. However I don't know if that is what you have. There is not much left to a "tune-up" anymore. I think it is actually a bogus term used by mechanics on people who don't know any better. There are filters. There are spark plugs. There are fluids. Those are the wear items. You could argue spark plug wires have some fixed life, but how long? A MAF wears, but there is no particular life span. There is nothing to adjust. No points, no cap, no rotor. I really feel there is no such thing as a tune up anymore.
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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra
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  #4  
Old 04-29-2010, 04:30 PM
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Is that the engine I have then? I'm not up on the MB terminology.
I have 99 C230 Kompressor. Your tag line said you had a 98, so maybe it is the same.
But that's precisely what I was thinking about when I said tune up--plugs and wires.
If I can get under the supercharger and find the plugs and wires...I'll be set.

What's an MAF? I also thought I read that--even though it's all electronic ignition, that something in the distributor cap should be looked at.
thanks

Last edited by oldestgenxer; 04-29-2010 at 04:31 PM. Reason: new information
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  #5  
Old 04-29-2010, 09:00 PM
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On a 99 the wires and plugs are underneath a cover on top of the cylinder head that is sercured down with allen headed capscrews (5mm hex). If you take the cover off, you will find two coil packs and two plug wires (each coil services a spark plug directly and another via a plug wire).

The mass air flow sensor is on the driver's side of the engine bay, between your intercooler and intake manifold on your model in the intake piping. They are prone to getting contaminated with oil on your model due to a design nuance. Failures in the air mass sensor tends to generate check engine lights and crappy running (misfires and poor throttle response).
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  #6  
Old 04-30-2010, 06:12 PM
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This is...maybe I'm a little emotional, but this is a revelation for me. Thanks!
I have perused some other sites, looking for answers--sometimes they don't load fast enough and I have a short attention span. But I have seen enough online to see that problem (rough idle, misfires, and so forth) is common and yet not many people seem to know the answer.
My intention then is to change the MAF, and, with 122k miles on it, at least check the plugs and wires for wear. I'll report back when I get to it--it may be a few weeks.
Thanks again!
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  #7  
Old 05-01-2010, 12:02 PM
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I found the spark plugs. So simple, and yet, deceptive. And I'm fairly certain I've found the MAF sensor. I think I'm going to take it out and try to clean it before replacing it. Here's an odd thing--I saw one priced for 25 bucks, and then the next one up is over 200. Oh, I'm sure there's a world of difference between the two. But I'm a 25 buck kinda guy. I'm going to pull it out and see if cleaning it helps first.
Everything I work on with this car is a voyage of discovery. When I first started working on Japanese cars, I found them to be incredibly logical and straight forward--but ultimately just an improvement over American cars. With this MB, it's different. It's radically different and yet...it's genius. Everything I've found is genius. It's so brilliant that I have trouble figuring it out at first because of my old ways of thinking. Anyone else feel the same way?
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Old 05-01-2010, 12:15 PM
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I wouldn't replace the MAF on a whim without having the car scanned for codes and working through all the other issues that can cause fuel trim/misfires. Granted, MAF's deteriorate over time and become less responsive to throttle and their base value can drift. Also, if you have already retrieved the codes from the ME (motor electronics) and have them written down, you can disconnect the MAF while the car is running crappy and if it improves you generally have a bad MAF (it will generate a code for MAF signal when its disconnected so you will have a check engine light if you didn't already have one, and will need to clear the codes after you reconnect).
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  #9  
Old 05-01-2010, 02:24 PM
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Yes you have the M111 engine. But you have the Kompressor and I don't.

Yeah, what did you think when you pulled the cover off of that engine and it was factory clean inside? Take a look under the hood of a Toyota and see the difference, rusting parts here and there. The Japanese have been living off their reputation for years. It is especially evident at 10+ years of age, when Japanese cars ARE designed to fail.

Anyway, I will assume your CEL is not on? What specific symptoms are you having?

If it is a bit of stumble/hesitation, I would change the plugs and the connectors that are under the coils. That worked for me.

And I think you have a PCV valve on that one that needs looking at. (I don't have it on my car)
__________________
1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra
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  #10  
Old 05-02-2010, 12:26 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mpolli View Post
Yes you have the M111 engine.

And I think you have a PCV valve on that one that needs looking at. (I don't have it on my car)
Yes, the Kompressor engine has the two PCV valves that stick plus the oil trap that gums up and the vacuum lines that go to the PCV valve under the intake manifold that break off. A smoke test plus visual inspection of the MAF for oil generally reveals these problems.
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  #11  
Old 05-02-2010, 12:59 AM
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Thanks all, for the help.
Yeah, the CEL is on. Of course.
I found the MAF sensor by looking one up to buy it, so I could see what it looked like--it was easier to find. I had read something about cleaning them, so I sprayed it off with a hose.
Just kidding. I tried to blow it out with some canned air, and I also, tapped the connector and some dirt came off. I put it back to together. At first I thought it was better, but it's still basically the same.
But I wonder why does one cost 22 bucks and one cost 250? Hmmm.
These are the symptoms--and when I read this it seems obvious it needs plugs/wires:
when it is cold, it runs rough. Lack of power on the take off. Occasionally it will jerk a little, like a misfire. After it warms up, it runs fine until I give it some gas. At a light, after it is warmed up, it sits there running rough--so I shut it off. I turn it back on, and it's smooth, like it "reset" or something. If I baby it, it runs okay, but any mild acceleration causes it to hesitate and then its back to that. Shutting it off and restarting it resets it. I don't want to keep doing that, obviously.
If I give it gas it hesitates, but if I get on it a little, it gets past that hesitation and runs. No problem.
It seems obvious now that its the plugs. Do I change the wires and coil packs as well? If I go into an MB shop, what are they going to try to sell me for that?
I realize that I didn't get the codes tested yet. I'm not sure what i was thinking, but I wanted to make sure I could get at these very simple parts first. I'm going to run the codes, and I'll let you know what it says.
Thanks.
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  #12  
Old 05-02-2010, 01:58 AM
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You can buy the parts here on Allpartsexpress. The plugs are 5.08 each and the connectors are 12.30 and you need 2 of those. But check out those PCV valves and hoses also. On the MAF's there are Chinese knock-offs (surprise!). I have read that they don't work. You can get the Bosch here for 202.00 and then you get free shipping also.
__________________
1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra
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  #13  
Old 05-03-2010, 04:27 PM
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I did stop by autozone and get the codes checked for free. it says misfire on 2, misfire on 4, and random misfire. It is running rougher than it was before I took off the MAF and messed with it, so yay for me.
When I took off the cover where the plugs were, I notices a couple of small pools of oil in there.
Should that be there, where did it come from, and is that messing with the ignition system causing the misfire? These are the questions I have.
I priced the parts at 60 bucks. Is that with the coil pack as well, and the 12 is just for the wire? Should I replace them all together, or is it okay to just do the plugs and wires, and then if it's still funny, replace the coilpacks?
I'm going to check out that website. Thanks.
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  #14  
Old 05-03-2010, 07:21 PM
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In my experience if the coil is bad then you got big problems, like it feels like the world will soon end. So you probably can just do the plugs and connectors. But you can change the coils if you want, since they may go "someday". Coils are like 50.00 I think.

__________________
1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra
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