Did you clean out that rubber drain system? My car has always lived in this area, and had a real variety of leaves that had been eaten by the fan. :eek:

I am lucky where I am, no leaves to deal with. My engine bay is really clean. But yes, I did clean the two drain hoses...I stuck a garden hose in there.

I took a lot pictures of the A/C overhaul as usual, but my PC crashed..I lost about one year worth of pictures.

Hmmph. Blue car AND no leaves to deal with...

Envy.:mad:

Glad you got it going. Sure is nice having heat with no lingering aroma, eh?

I'd take my hat off (if I had one on) to those who took the plunge on replacing their heater core on a w201. After years of fogging windows, odd intermittent odors of coolant, slightly damp carpets, and etc., I picked up all of the parts (don't forget those o-rings!), downloaded all schematics and diagrams, printed posts from other members about the job, and moved the lawnmower, the snowblower, the motorcycle, the wife's car, and everything else I could to make enough room to move around the car with both doors open...

And then... Temps dropped to 20 degress and it started to snow. I moved more stuff around so I could get the garage door closed. Then I went and got a garage heater, and a good halogen light. I pulled the pad on the steering wheel to remove it, and saw that the giant allen-type head of the bolt had been stripped round- as if someone used an impact wrench on it. I tried everything, and eventually gave up on the job and enlisted the professional services of an MB guru here on the board.

I enjoy working on my cars, and I'm proud of what I've been able to do, but I have no regrets at all about handing that particular repair off to someone who has done "probably hundreds" of them. Every time I turn the temp knob and flick the fan switch to warm the cabin, (it's a euro model) when it's sub-freezing temps outside, I am grateful because it works beautifully, doesn't leak, clears the windshield and makes my current 2 hour commute less awful.

Seriously, I think on the w201, a replaced heater core should add $1000 to the resale value...

It's also nice when you dont manage to bust your knuckles, too. Did you replace the steering wheel bolt while it was apart? Amazing what you can find done wrong on a used vehicle.

I'm glad I did this job. Better to have spent $200 than 8-900 bucks anyday. When I do it myself. I think of the job everytime I turn on the heater. (My A/C is still out, but dont use it.)