W124 - Bringing it home (Part 3)

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 very rough shift between 1st to 2nd gear. He also noticed the knocking of the exhaust followed by the left-hand side bushing possibly worn out. He further said that the steering box may not have been properly overhauled and possibly some bushing in the rear axle.

After the short drive, he checked and showed me pictures of the issues.

For the works needed, I asked for a budget and how long he will take and he said it's within the range of RM 2,000. It's financially biting me at this point but seeing his capability, I decided to schedule a slot for the car to go in. On Tuesday, 29th Sep, it was warded.

This mechanic is good, he keeps me informed on the fixes that are being done by sharing videos or pictures and a description of the problem and what the fixes are, his only task is not to rush him, he will deliver as fast as possible without skimping on quality, I really think that is fair on the least. In the span of a week, he definitely turned the car around. What he did was:

  1. Replaced the idler arm bush
  2. Overhauled the steering box
  3. rewired the air cond
  4. rewired the aux fan where he got the two speed working again (instead of the always-on wiring previously)
  5. Replaced the fuel filter (which had fuel, black in color flowing out)
  6. Replaced the rear axle bushes
  7. Replaced the rear brake pads (the disc is new but the pads were not replaced when the disc was replaced)
  8. Belt tensioner and pulley
  9. Door retainer for the Rear Right side
  10. Welded the accelerator mount as it was rusted and made the accelerator sit in a very uncomfortable position
  11. A couple of bulbs to make the interior glow while driving at night
As I was picking it up, he did ask me to source a used original rear silencer for the E280, the current one on it was a shorter aftermarket one, possibly from a smaller engine that causes the car to lose power and increased fuel consumption. I managed to source one and passed it to him for installation.

The drive home is a lot more improved now from the time it went in, a lot has changed from the time it went in. There are a few more things that need to be addressed for the next phase of work:
  1. Replace the injector nozzles
  2. Replace the fuel tank as the current one is rusting ( i have found the replacement tank as well)
  3. Service the gearbox valve body and hope that will address the first to second gear jerk
  4. I have also managed to scout for the air duct that cools the engine mount
  5. The steering column to address the steering free play, it has definitely reduced, but I would like it to be near gone

Worn belt tensioner and pulley

Accelerator rewelded back in place

Fuel filter replaced as it was backflowing pitch-black fuel

Worn out rear axle bush, one of the main culprits to rough shifting

End of part 3...


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