W124 - More work on the Rhino

Executive summary:
Taking the W124 in for more work to make it run smoother, involving the replacement of fuel tank, injectors, and a few other repairs.

Details:
After a short break from being away from the garage, I have admitted the Rhino back in again. This time, I would like to address/reduce some of the observations on it. To begin with, after the last repairs, the Rhino has been performing well, all of what I wanted out of it were addressed except the rough shift between 1 and 2.

This time around, there are a few items that I would like to address to bring it closer to a properly functioning engine. The first thing that was done was to have the valve body serviced, as a result, the car shifts better and crisper. The jerk between 1 and 2 has reduced but it is not completely gone yet. To have it removed completely, a gearbox overhaul needs to be done.

The air duct that was supposed to cool the engine mount, below the extractors were brittle like crackers, the used replacement I found was in a better condition. What bothers me is that the replacement may suffer the same fate as this engine runs hot. I may consider heat coating the extractors to reduce the heat in the engine bay - maybe when I plan to remove the head for painting. This duct is expected to prolong the engine mount's life span by cooling it down.

The rear power window was also fixed. It was earlier said to be caused by a faulty motor and regulator, but the fix was really to have the wiring repaired. It was also interesting to find a long nose plier in the door frame.

The speedometer was refurbished to give it a new life, it properly lights up now, the odometer was also sent for repair, I can now monitor my fuel consumption. The dimmer works too.

The car was sitting a little high on the front which made it look funny, to have that addressed, W124 can be tweaked to have its spring rubber pad to be replaced from #3 or 4 to #1 or 2, mine was on #3 that was replaced to #1. It was weird to see the 16-inch wheel look tiny when it was a step up from the earlier 15-inch wheel.

The rusted wheel tank was removed. It was discovered that the tank has been replaced. What I wonder is why would someone replace the tank with a rusted one, unless it was caused by a very dishonest seller who I believe had swapped a number of parts from this car out and had lousy replacements installed. As part of the work done in this segment, the fuel line was cleaned. The mech told me that the line was clogged and a blob of dirt was forced out.

Subsequent to that, the fuel injectors were replaced as well, the earlier ones were not working too well, it could have been caused by fuel that mixed with rust over time that clogged it. It could have also been aggravated by the clogged fuel line where fuel is not being properly delivered and the car may have been running lean. I did notice hesitation when I pushed it for more power and speed.

The windscreen washer tank was replaced as the earlier one was missing its cap. The new one looks a lot better and the washer tube has also been replaced and installed - it wasn't there before this. The windscreen washer now works!

There are a few more works that are being done before I bring the Rhino back, which are:
1. Checking and fixing the steering column to remove the free play
2. Replacement of the driver side door eye as the door would not shut without force
3. Replacing the horn with BM double frequency horn
4. Running it on a can of MB fuel additive on an empty tank as preventive maintenance

I collected Rhino on Friday evening, 6th November. Most of the work returned expected results, however, as there was some stale fuel in the tank, it causes the engine to stutter initially. The slight free play on the steering was caused by a worn steering wheel, on the steering mount/column, there was no play as such. The car now has a horn and the additive definitely did some magic to the engine.

It really needs a good drive for me to put some miles on Rhino, once the lockdown is relaxed, I look forward to taking it out for a drive as its home has been from one garage to another since I got it. On the drive home, I did try to give it some gas and it went all the way to 180kmph without any drama.

Injector nozzles removed for replacement

Checking steering column, no free play here

Refurbished instrument cluster


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