Your fleet running reports

[Sundayjumper]

Be interested to see how you get on with it, and if it can do full merc coding stuff we need to talk

I will keep you up to date. What year is your car ? I've ordered the C3 iteration of the system which apparently covers up to 2014. Newer versions get increasingly expensive.

[integrale_evo]

Had a reasonably productive weekend. Had to do boring house stuff for a couple of days

Compact osf calliper cleaned up, piston and seals replaced, bled and all working nicely. Gave the engine bay a quick rinse while I was there



Finally swapped the front winter tyres off the merc and gave the brakes a quick look as a warning had pinged up. Will need disks and pads at the front soon but not an emergency, just a very early warning.

The sud got the majority of the attention.

It’s always been very scruffy under the bumper line with smears of various under seals and muck on the textured stonechip valances. It’s always kind of bugged me, but it will never be a show car so not that much.



Anyway, I’ve always wanted to put a stainless exhaust on it as it’s all quite visible hanging below the back end and even past the wheel when viewed from the side. I don’t think anyone makes one, certainly not for sensible money, so made my own.

It was actually really simple, I’ve bought bits to do the whole system, but really it was the back box which was most desperate so I concentrated on getting that done and moved on to some more ‘while you’re there’ work.

I’d noticed a lot of the old wax underseal had finally started drying up and flaking off. Glad I was cautious about using it over winter. The rear beam suffering the worst. Only very very light surface rust and just wire brushed and painted for now. I’d like to drop the whole lot off and do it properly later in the year as several of the bushes are looking a bit ancient.


I added some seam sealer to replace the old cracked stuff between quarters and rear panel, cleaned up the black gunk off the lower lip, cleaned up what I could and gave it a fresh lick of paint.

Looks a million times better, makes the whole car look so much cleaner and brighter. I’m just annoyed I hadn’t done it sooner



I did black out the spare wheel well again afterwards, but terrible at taking work in progress pics

Unfortunately while it was up on ramps I got the angle of the dangle wrong, and the tailpipe has got a bit of a droop, so I’ll probably cut, twist and reweld it at some point. I purposely shortened the S so it doesn’t sit so far behind the rear wheel, and left the tailpipe piece a little longer.




Then tightened up the osr wheel bearing I’d noticed some play in. Rather worryingly it was because the nut hadn’t been staked against the axel and was only finger tight! Gave the pistons on the rear calliper a good working in and out while I was there with the wheel off.

The next day I moved onto the front.

Similar story to the rear, just a bit grubby and sad looking. There were a couple of dents I managed to get out, and a couple of others I managed to improve slightly but access to the inside is pretty restricted with the engine in. A job for another time.

Actually looks like it’s dropped off a jack or stand at some point as there’s a sharp upwards dent dead centre just under the numberplate plinth. The whole panel is bowed up very slightly and pushed against the crossmember. I straightened it out as best I could given time, access and equipment restrictions.

Painted it and cleaned and stone chipped the subframe and arb which are fairly visible from the front.



Going to tape the plate directly to the plinth to tuck it up nice and tight instead of using the crusty bracket

[integrale_evo]

Be interested to see how you get on with it, and if it can do full merc coding stuff we need to talk

I will keep you up to date. What year is your car ? I've ordered the C3 iteration of the system which apparently covers up to 2014. Newer versions get increasingly expensive.

2006 c209 clk

Access to coding and diagnostics is why I decided to retrofit aftermarket hids into the factory xenon housings because it was a lot cheaper and easier than fitting it all then find and pay someone to code them in the proper way.

As you say, seems very strange and restrictive when you’re used to BMWs!

[jamcg]

I guess you've wiggled the connector (assuming you can even reach it) in case it's just shoogled loose or got dirty?

This. Or full of that diesel it’s been pissing everywhere

[Sundayjumper]

I guess you've wiggled the connector (assuming you can even reach it) in case it's just shoogled loose or got dirty?

This. Or full of that diesel it’s been pissing everywhere

That is a very good point ! I've not had a look yet.

[Beany]

Give it a wiggle.

Then go out to the van and check the wiring.

[tim]

So the Rover was in for a pre-MOT check. In all it's life it's never failed an MOT but I suspected this might be different, so I got them to check it over without actually doing it in case it only needed minor things and the history could be preserved. But sadly it turns out the rust monkey has been at work and it's not really economical to do anything with.

It seems a crying shame to scrap a fully functional car that's in pretty decent condition otherwise, but there we are.

Best offer so far is £200.

Jag is due back Friday morning <takes massive pinch of salt> but in any case I have their Hyundai Getz turbut-denzil loaner until the Jag is properly done. Has a hair trigger clutch a wierd smell and is unseemingly brisk on boost.

[16vCento]

Ah thats a shame Tim.

Have you tried car take back? They seem to give a decent price usually from what I've seen.

[tim]

Have you tried car take back? They seem to give a decent price usually from what I've seen.

£275! Good call, thank you!

I'm wondering what I can remove from it and flog on eBay for a few extra quid

[Simon]

Have you tried car take back? They seem to give a decent price usually from what I've seen.

£275! Good call, thank you!

I'm wondering what I can remove from it and flog on eBay for a few extra quid

The petrol?

[Simon]

Ta, I'll try and reconcile my general laziness against a reluctance to spend money on consumables. The eternal quandary of time vs. money.

In other money news (this time on assets, a totally different budget ) I've been forced to buy techy stuff. I fitted a cruise control stalk to the van, very easy physical installation, but the van needs to be coded to activate it and I've had no luck finding someone to do it. Even Gavster's friendly garage that happens to be a Merc specialist can't do it. I've been spoiled by years of BMWs where coding is quite straightforward and the kit is readily available. Coding the F01 & F10 was just some easily-obtainable software and a £10 (ish) cable. Mercedes seem to have a much tighter grip on things. So I've taken what feels like a very large risk and ordered a kit from AliExpress. £200 ! Plus import duties if I get stung for those. I may have to start a side-line doing Mercedes coding to pay for it.

Be interested to see how you get on with it, and if it can do full merc coding stuff we need to talk

My friend bought a kit from the same place for his W212 E Class, and he does the coding with it on that. Even got the version with it's own laptop. Spent £500+ on that setup.

[tim]

Have you tried car take back? They seem to give a decent price usually from what I've seen.

£275! Good call, thank you!

I'm wondering what I can remove from it and flog on eBay for a few extra quid

The petrol?

Already siphoned out

[16vCento]

The Cat, if it's original it will probably be worth the same again!

[Simon]

Take the HVAC controls out too for all those Pagani Zonda owners whose controls are broken and need replacing.

[Sundayjumper]

My friend bought a kit from the same place for his W212 E Class, and he does the coding with it on that. Even got the version with it's own laptop. Spent £500+ on that setup.

I do seem to have bought a Panasonic CF52 Toughbook so that I can have a dedicated Win 7 machine for running this old software and also so I don't mind chucking it about with other tools & stuff unlike my day-to-day "indoors" laptop.

[tim]

The Cat, if it's original it will probably be worth the same again!

That's classed as a major part so can't take that.

I've got the spare wheel/toolkit and 40 litres of unleaded out. Lorry is on it's way.

[speedingfine]

The Cat, if it's original it will probably be worth the same again!

That's classed as a major part so can't take that.

I've got the spare wheel/toolkit and 40 litres of unleaded out. Lorry is on it's way.

Three thousand word end of term review please Tim

[Ascender]

Looks nice, where did you go?

Up to the Rest & Be Thankful taking it pretty easy, and then down the Cowal Peninsula. The moment you turn off the A83 onto the A815 it’s like 28 Days Later from a traffic perspective, with plenty of opportunities to zip past slower traffic that you come across - 3rd is good for this.

Nice one, I like it up that way.

Give me a shout next time you fancy some company, need to get out and drive more this year

[mik]

Looks nice, where did you go?

Up to the Rest & Be Thankful taking it pretty easy, and then down the Cowal Peninsula. The moment you turn off the A83 onto the A815 it’s like 28 Days Later from a traffic perspective, with plenty of opportunities to zip past slower traffic that you come across - 3rd is good for this.

Nice one, I like it up that way.

Give me a shout next time you fancy some company, need to get out and drive more this year

Will do

[V8Granite]

Glow plugs

Have a virtual Curly-Wurly, you were right !


7BAA2797-8F3C-4660-857A-CBCFD46FF835.jpeg

Take the car out for a run before changing a glow plug, if it’s had short runs in it’s life the tip can be pretty gummed up with carbon and not come out easily.

Dave!