In reply to Knurled. :
lol
In reply to Knurled. :
lol
There actually is one pic of a 190e with them that comes up in google image search, but I think its an early one with small brakes, and they stick way out in the front. They aren't terrible, but just don't match the design of the car very well.
I don't think they fit - and by fit I mean look good - the 201s but here you go:
I'd personally would go with R129 (SL500) 16x8 wheels:
In reply to Slippery :
yeah after seeing the Bundt on a 190, not what I want. I guess I need to look at 16" wheels.
To answer yupididit's earlier question, my budget for wheels is $200 or less.... basically I'm shopping craigslist.
Ugh, the wheels look perfect except the offset is all wrong. What a bummer.
In reply to Slippery :
the red Benz looks cool...I'll take four of those for $200 ...
Doc Brown said:In reply to Slippery :
the red Benz looks cool...I'll take four of those for $200 ...
I dont know if the late w126 ones are the same size/offset, same looks though. I bought four at the junkyard for $80.
Just make sure you get the wheel bolts as they are wheel specific. They are really long, like 6” long! Otherwise they would be sunk in and you might not be able to tighten them.
They will work with regular lug bolts if they are the right length. The weird long ones are actually not made anymore because they are too easy to snap.
Tk8398 said:They will work with regular lug bolts if they are the right length. The weird long ones are actually not made anymore because they are too easy to snap.
Good to know. They were the weirdest thing I have ever seen amd completely different from what my early w126 on Bundts used.
Thinking back, I think the late w126 wheels are 15”. Check the offset though, not sure they work.
The w126 wheels are definitely 15s. My 300sdl had a set of those on it when I bought it, and I put a set of centra t31s on it just for the better tire size. Once I drive it enough to make sure it's going to last a while I want to find some less ugly wheels though lol.
I love these cars. I’ve got a 16v version, but always wanted a turbo diesel as a daily.
I agree that “gullideckel” style wheels look best on these cars, and the R129 16x8” is probably the one to get.
Slippery said:I'd personally would go with R129 (SL500) 16x8 wheels:
I think I sold a pair of these to a GRM member for like $150 back in 2014/2015.
It's raining today, so I reckon it's time for an update.
DAY 15
According to the metric temperature gauge the engine was running between 40 and 60C. I had no idea what this translated to in real temperature, so I looked it up. Hmmm 140F is a bit cold so I went ahead and ordered a thermostat.
Let's take a look..
Draining the cooling system was rather easy and I give Mercedes a big thumbs up for the clever setup.
Access to the thermostat was also user friendly. 
Whelp, there's your problem.
Beck and his buddy Arnley get a twenty dollar bill for a new stat..... If this were a Chevy, three bucks buys a lot of thermostat.
Ready to install...
While in the neighborhood, I figured I would check out the snail crawling up the side of the engine.
T U R B O ! !
I blasted 20PSI of compressed air into the actuator to verify the wastgate gizmo was working. Oh Ohh! looks like the wastgate is stuck. Now the question is ..... is the wastgate a little stuck or a lot stuck....
Wastgate thingy (circled) . This lever is somewhat difficult to get to, but I have a plan.
The official Mercedes OM602 wastgate service kit... LOL
The good news is the wastgate was a little stuck and the 'service kit' saved the day.
Stay tuned!
Fuel filter service ..........
The fuel filter on the car was looking a bit crusty and since the car had been sitting for four years, I reckon it was time to do a complete fuel system service. The crusty old filter did not have any sort of identification on it... hmmm .. 'El Cheapo??? on a Mercedes???
Filter is removed by undoing this bolt. Once loose the filter will spin off. Sort of easy.
The old filter looked fine, I guess I was expecting to see real dirt with such a hefty filter.
The car is also fitted with a pre-filter. Although it looks a bit grungy, the filter was surprisingly clean.
The low pressure fuel lines were in terrible condition. The hoses were marked with the Mercedes logo and were probably original. This is sort of a clue, as to who has been maintaining the car.... Most likely this car has not seen the inside of a Mercedes service department in 20 years.
This is interesting.....
Made in Russia... this is the only Russian product I have ever seen. Whelp, I'm glad they ain't commies any more. Duck and cover!
The unknown fuel filter was loaded with, you guessed it... fuel. Anyway I do not have a proper way of disposing of the fuel, so I did this.
May the eternal flame of the unknown fuel filter burn bright.
Stay tuned!
Diesel PURGE !
Diesel purge works best at full strength, so according to the internet you must run the engine on a mini fuel tank filled 100% with this stuff. I used a old soap container and some makeshift fuel lines. Basically I plumbed the fuel lines into the inlet of the injector pump and the other hose was connected to the line normally used to return fuel to the tank. This closed loop system enures the diesel purge has a chance to clean the injector pump to high standards. Also since the fuel is looped back in such a small system the diesel purge picks up a lot of heat which also helps clean the injector pump.
This is the only photo I shot with the mini fuel tank attached to the car. It is a pretty simple procedure and takes about a half hour of run time to deplete the container.
The diesel purge video. The GRM linky thingy isn't working today. I will edit this link properly soon.
Stay tuned!
The proper coolant for those is blue, I probably wouldn't use the normal green stuff in it.
Checking the injector pump timing.....
The OM602 and other late model Mercedes diesel engines were built to use a special tool to check and set the injector pump timing. The picture above depicts the tool installed in the side of the pump. The theory is you install the tool and rotate the engine counter clockwise until both the A and B light illuminate. At this point you would check the timing marks on the damper pully. The official MB timing should be about 14.5 + or - 1 degree.
Word on the street is the Mercedes tool is rather expensive and there are other methods for checking the timing.... Because I often take the road less traveled, I invented my own method.
Let's take a look.
This is where you would install the Mercedes A/B tool. The problem is, I ain't got the tool.... but I have other stuff.
A Lap top and a USB endoscope should do the trick. The endoscope is a ebay special and runs about $25.00. Anyway I got it for free years ago and never used it until now.
With the access bolt removed, the endoscope slides right up into the timing port.
As I move the endoscope into position, I can monitor the action with the laptop. Once everything is in position, I rotated the engine counter clockwise until the timing blade was centered on the camera.
Inside the bowels of a Mercedes injector pump.... This patient needs more fiber...... Anyway you can clearly see the timing blade exactly center... I love it when a plan comes together!
Once the timing mark was centered in the pump, I swung the camera over to the damper pulley. Hmmm 14.75 degrees... That is within specs.
Not to shabby....
Stay tuned!
With the fuel system fully serviced I was disappointed that the car still had a surge exactly at 3000 RPM. The surge would happen right around the time the transmission was trying to shift to fourth gear. My gut feeling led me to believe this was a turbo problem and not a transmission problem.
This is sort of hard to explain.... In a perfect world, boost pressure from the manifold is routed through a series of valves and eventually the pressure is applied to a device known as a ALDA thingy (103 in the picture) The pressure on the ALDA will modify the fuel trim to compensate for the additional airflow. Long story short, this is how power is made on this turbo diesel engine.
From what I gather, the path to the ALDA is always clear, unless the ECU detects a problem. When a problem happens, the path is closed and without pressure on the ALDA the engine will fall on its face and make no boost..... or something like that. Anyway, I spent several days checking for all the issues that would cause a no boost condition. In the end, I could find no reason why the boost circuit was not working correctly.
As an experiment, I bypassed all the junk and plumbed the boost line directly into the ALDA. Shazam ! we have boost!
Some folks at the Mercedes camp encourage this type of shenanigans and some do not. The trouble is, without all the gizmos, the engine can eat itself in the event of a wastgate problem.... or in otherwords, overboost can happen and the E36 M3 will hit the fan.
I have a plan so this will not be a problem....
This collection of valves hoses and whatnot is the gateway to boost, however if something ain't right, NO BOOST FOR YOU. As you can see these parts are better off sitting on the garage floor.
Stay tuned!
Doc Brown said:NO BOOST FOR YOU
i hate Illinois Boost Nazis!
In reply to AngryCorvair :
LOL,
DAY 81, 2365 miles.
Yesterday when I started the Mercedes, the engine rumbled into life in its usual fashion. The car was engulfed in a cloud of smoke and and the engine rattled like it was about to throw a rod. A co-worker heard the ruckus and asked what was wrong... "Its a diesel" I said.... the co-worker shrugged his shoulders and walked away. I guess in this day and age of bro-dozer trucks, folks find it odd that an automobile can be just as obnoxious. Anyway the Benze is a bit of a drama queen when it wakes up, but it settles down in short order.
This car hails from an era when Mercedes built cars that last forever. The basic mechanicals of ths car are a tribute to the cold and calculated German engineering philosophy. The extra bits like the climate control and other odd ball gizmos are proof that Germans are not clever..... Basically nothing on this car works except the engine and transmission. That's fine, I not a big fan of gizmos anyway.
At this point in the man/car relationship, one has to ask.... is it worth it? .... let's just say diesel car owners are an odd bunch...
Lets's look at some pictures...
As a matter of course, the fuel injectors need to be serviced every decade or so. These injectors can be rebuilt on a bench by normal people, so I figured I would give it a try.
Turbo injectors are 135 Bar or 1950 psi in freedom units. This means the injectors will not open until 1950 psi of pressure is applied to the injector. That is a lot of pressure!
The injector can be opened up quite easily and the precision ground flat surfaces can be cleaned with 2000 grit wet/dry sand paper. This time around I limited my procedure to a basic cleaning, however I may go back and fiddle a bit more soon.
Once the injectors are cleaned, they need to be 'pop' tested on a special pump thingy. The idea is to confirm the injector will open at 1950 psi and the spray pattern is acceptable. This tool costed $95.00 on ebay but it arrived with a broken reservoir. The seller refunded a portion of the payment because of the defect, this making this tool a really good deal.
Stay tuned!
Glow plugs........
The glow plugs on this engine tested ok, but I felt compelled to replace them anyway. The procedure involved in replacing glow plugs is somewhat involved but well within the ability of a shade tree mechanic. On the OM602 engine, replacing the glow plugs requires removing the intake manifold and all the high pressure fuel lines. This was a bit intimidating at first, but actually turned out to be quite simple.
This was one of the old glow plugs. Anyway, after years of working on gasoline engines, I find it disturbing to see black carbon.... but this is perfectly normal.
The new glow plug is a pencil tip type? I'm not really sure of the significance. Anyway this is the correct part.
Before the new glow plugs can be installed, it is recommended that the glow plug cavities be reamed to clear out any carbon deposits. This kit cost $28.00 with free shipping.
All five cavities were reamed, however I didn't find any significant resistance. Seems like this engine was in good order prior to this service.
Since I was in the neighbor hood, I went ahead and checked the compression. This diesel compression test kit was $30.00 at Harbor Freight. The kit allows checking compression via the glow plug holes or the injector holes. The compression ranged from 350 to 310 psi. The lower acceptable limit is something like 220 psi, so this engine is very healthy!
Stay tuned!
I didn't realize HF had a diesel compression tester. I might need to pick that up. My OM617.950 is either low on compression or my glow circuit isn't working correctly because she DOES NOT like starting. I bet an OM603 in a car as light as a W201 is a lot of fun.
Harbor Freight sells two types of diesel compression test kits. They have a kit for $120.00 and the 'El-Cheapo $30.00 kit. The cheapo kit seemed perfectly acquit for my application.
I am in no way an expert on diesel engines, I only know what I have read on other forums. Sometimes hard starting can be attributed to air in the fuel system. One of the tricks I learned is to temporally replace the return fuel line with 5/16 clear vinyl hose. The idea is to watch the fuel as it cycles through the line and see if there are any bubbles while the engine is running. The second part of the test is to shut the engine off and wait about 12 hours. After waiting, have a helper start the engine while you monitor the fuel line. If you see bubbles after the start up, you may need to replace the delivery valve O-rings.
On my OM602, there were no air bubbles in the system after start up, however I did discover a problem.
The fuel warmer thermostat had a minor leak. Apparently this device is not necessary so I threw it in the bin along with a lot of other unnecessary parts.
After pulling the fuel warmer out of the system, I discovered the car started up a lot faster.
You'll need to log in to post.
