Dev's Thoughts on Experiences, Projects and Lessons

It's Saturday, 26th Sep 2020 and I am scheduled to meet an Old Skool Mercedes mechanic. I do not know him but from the stories that I have heard from Tarwin, I thought I would visit him. I have come to a point now that I would like to meet people who would rather repair instead of replacing. This car is old, some new parts are no longer available, and hence, repairing or replacing with the used part is the only option left. When I got there, the mech was a little busy working on Tarwin's car, but he took the time to look at the Rhino. The first thing I told him was "the idling is not steady and I was told I need to replace the ECU", he replied, "No, let me check first". With the engine running, he adjusted a knob at the engine bay, the CO I think and that made all the difference. Finally! This was the kind of person I was looking for... I requested him to take the car out for a drive for me to know the situation better. The first thing he noticed was the ver...

The following day after picking up the car (Saturday, 5th Sep 2020), I got a call for a body and rust assessment appointment. After a quick cup of coffee, I was at the body shop where they hoisted the car up to check. There was rust, but the good news is, it is not bad. Now that is a relief as I was prepared for worse. The next appointment was to look for a mechanic who can diagnose what was wrong with the air cond fan. I visited a Mercedes mechanic who is located near the Klang Connaught Bridge for a check. After a quick check, he referred me to a wireman who is located nearby. At the wireman's place, I met a senior gentleman who was excited to see me pulling in a W124 and has a lot to speak about it. He was in to fix a faulty wiper washer pump of a w210 that he bought a month ago. After a quick chat, it was my turn. I clearly remember the scene, the wireman took his testing tool, poked in 3 places in the engine bay, cranked the engine on, walked away to get a clip, with a cigaret...

Executive Summary: Bringing the W124 home, and the assessments were done to determine the actual condition. Details: The W124 was due for collection on the 4th of Sep, 2020. I went to a dealer in Kampung Subang (i.e the Conman) to collect the car. It was pouring heavily and a regular 20 mins drive took 45. As we reached, we got the car, we noticed: The engine oil was short by about 2 pints The gear oil dipstick was missing The gear oil was low The car had an almost empty tank No toolkit for tire replacement Hand brakes were shot Brakes started to an only bit after the halfway mark We started the journey by filling up the tank, it took 50 liters of petrol. Next, we headed into the rush hour traffic from Kampung Subang towards the Federal Highway. It was Friday, after work hours and raining, the traffic was very heavy. 20 minutes into the journey, I noticed that the temperature was almost hitting the red line. Pulled the car to the shoulder to check and found that the aux fans were not w...