Do It Yourself (DIY) repair thread and wheel and tyre thread

[zukamb]

Tutone and Flavio, thanks for the comprehensive advice. My car is a Gen I euro; 117961 engine type. There are no air distribution tubes for the injectors; no EGR valve in the manifold; no rear control valve at the back of the engine (that I can see); no idle mixture adjusting screw like the one present on my Gen II euro 420SE EFI with full pollution controls. The Oxygen sensors are present one at each exhaust manifold down pipe and connected to a two prong wire on each side. The spark plug wires are BERU and look recent and all are firing properly when pulled off engine running showing strong spark. Instead of the idle adjustment screw (Gen II) I see a large size half a dollar size cap with a notch on one side atop what I think is the fuel pressure regulator or idle valve and which I think is adjustable with some special tool. One hose with an inline electric valve of some sort goes to the fuel distributor. When I got the car the plug in connector to this valve was disconnected; if I connect it; the idle speed goes really bad. This car starts at the first click every morning and cold start valve seems working alright; idles fairly smooth with a noticeable small shake and starts good when warm.

[flavio81]

Why has this thread been left out of the sticky section? What is going on here? Bring it back to the sticky section!!

PD: Zukamb, i'll check my engine manual when i get more free time.

[86560sec]

If you're quick with soldering, this shouldn't take more than about 10 minutes a side (you can use quick connectors instead, but that might take longer). This assumes there is a wire coming from your new socket. If not, solder one on to it (about 8 or so inches long).

1. Find a couple of tail-light sockets. I found mine on eBay ($11.99 + $5 shipping).

2. Remove tail-light assemblies from inside the trunk (two tabs that twist to release each assembly).

3. Unplug the plugs (two plugs on driver's side, one on passenger side). Everything else is the same on both sides.

4. Remove screw from outlet under big plug, remove plug.

5. Pop off the metal strip with all the sockets in it (three squeeze-type clips, and yes, they are most likely brittle).

6. From the back side, push the extra socket into the empty hole at the end of the strip (toward the middle of the car). There's a tab on the socket that fits in a long and skinny rectangular hole in the strip.

7. Route the wire (careful to keep it away from where the strip snaps back onto the plastic housing) along the back, through to front to existing brake light (the one with the reflector behind it).

8. Solder new wire to existing brake-light connection on front (or use quick connector, making sure the connector won't be in the way when it's reassembled.

9. Snap the metal strip back into the black plastic piece.

10. Reattach the plugs (don't forget the screw on the big plugs).

11. Install a new bulb.

12. Install whole assembly back into trunk.

13. Have someone push on your brake pedal while you stand behind the car so you can see the formerly dead red sections closest to your license plate light up.

(Instructions are more detailed than photo, so these numbers do not correspond to numbers on photo, which is the driver's side assembly.)

[MBZ300CD]

Just thought I'd post the original instructions for those interested. Additionally, buying the kit IS cheaper/easier than - your time + gas + $ for sockets + lights + wires (correct color & length) + connectors.

[mckellyb]

I replaced 'just' the tie-rod ends, the center link, and the steering damper...after a one mile test drive...wow. I merely thought the steering in this car was slop-free before. This is incredible!

It wasn't all that difficult, though to remove the center link, I asked my wife to run to the auto parts place which loans tools to get me a 'pickle fork'. I just couldn't get a decent smack on the center link's 'bolts', and after working on it for about 10 minutes, I knew a pickle fork was in order.

Using said tool, it took, literally, two minutes to remove both sides of the center link. The non-angled side goes toward the joint. If you're planning on re-using parts, beware, if you use a joint remover (pickle fork), it usually destroys the grease boot, so the part is hosed afterward.

I have a tad of toe-out now, probably due to less slop all-around, but the car is going directly to the alignment shop then the tire joint for new shoes. I may tweak it a bit, just so I feel better, but it's so nice to be able to brake firmly and not have to 'chase' the front-end's movements, albeit small ones, with odd steering inputs.

Looking at the guide rod bushings, it appears they can be backed out from behind...but that's too easy.... I can again hear them clunking, which was gone before thanks to other play in other front-end parts.

To do this job requires a 13mm socket & box end wrench (for the clamps on the tie-rod ends), 17mm (outer tie-rod end nuts), and 19mm sockets (inner tie-rod ends) (a 3/4" interchanges, BTW) and a 17mm wrench which is small enough to hold the top side of the steering damper bolts. The open-ended Mercedes wrench which I have from my wife's '81 123 diesel was perfectly sized. Oh, and a mini-sledgehammer is nice to have, too, to remove the tie-rod ends. To remove the center link, you'll have to rent/borrow/get a loaner joint seperator. A digital caliper is nice to have, so you can measure the distance the new ends need to be threaded into the tie-rod's to match where the old ones were, but it's not 100% necessary. Also, the tie-rod ends which have the smaller bolts threading on to the flexible joint's stud are on the steering spindle end of the tie-rods. The 19mm nut ones attach to the steering link from the steering box and the slave steering arm which is in front of the passenger's feet (LHD). Each will go into the hole, but I'm matching up what was OEM. The inner ones appear to be a little bit beefier.

One last thing, the tie-rods have the wheel-end joint going up through the bottom of the mount, the steering linkage end's tie-rod joint goes in through the top. It'll make sense when you look at it. Make certain you get them to be 'neutrally' aimed so they're not under stress all the time and the boot doesn't get stretched/pinched for no reason.

I took my time, and including cleaning up, test drive, and going from closed tool box to closed tool box, it was about 3.5 hours. Although, a solid 45 minutes of this was dead time waiting for a joint separator. I needed the break, anyway, so.... Plus, I'd made mistakes in aligning the tie-rod ends to attach properly to the steering spindle and the linkage, so I had to redo it. No giant deal, but it likely wasted about 20 minutes.

[300se126]

Let me first address the concerns that a few people have voiced about this type of modification. It has been suggested (not by me) that wiring in a kickdown switch override or auxiliary kickdown switch will wear out and/or destroy one's transmission.

I don't think this is true, and here is why. Sure, if you just spliced the wires leading to the switch together so the car is always in kickdown mode, you would probably prematurely wear out the transmission. Fair enough. However, I believe that having a switch wired in properly that activates kickdown mode under less than full throttle is relatively harmless, for two reasons.

First, kickdown is a misleading term in the case of these transmissions; what actually happens is that the transmission's shift logic is altered, allowing downshifts under less (seemingly about 50% less) throttle and holding lower gears longer. Thus, having this operation take place under half throttle would seem to be less stressful than the same action taken under WOT. The kickdown solenoid may wear out faster, but it is relatively cheap and very simple to replace. How could half-throttle downshifts be worse for the car than full-throttle downshifts? Besides, the car downshifts without the kickdown anyway.

Second, I performed this modification 50,000 miles ago, and have experienced absolutely ZERO problems. I have changed my transmission fluid and filter twice in this time, and there has been no bizarre shrapnel in either. So, my own experience suggests that this is a perfectly safe thing to do. I have also heard from people around the world who have done the same with similar results. That said, this is a non-factory modification, so perform at your own risk, blah blah blah.

So, let's get started. First, it is very important to wire this switch in the manner shown in the diagram I provided. Crossing the wires will leave the car in KD mode all the time, and wiring the OEM switch out of the equation will prevent kickdown from occurring under typical kickdown conditions (with the switch off.) Splice one wire into each of the wires coming out of the kickdown switch (located under the gas pedal.) Then run these wires to any simple two-pole switch of your choosing. This switch needs to be a toggle-type switch, not a momentary switch. The circuit must remain closed while the switch is in the on position.

I personally prefer to make any modifications look like expensive, rare factory options, so I decided to go with a factory MB two-pole switch. The only switch that fit the bill was a rear dome light switch, so I ordered one on Feebay for five bucks. Installing it was simple; I removed my rear antenna switch since my aftermarket stereo controls the antenna anyway. The antenna switch needs to be connected to its' plug to keep the antenna functional with the stereo wired as I have it, so I simply cut the octopus leads on the switch and plugged it back in behind the climate control panel, out of sight and out of mind. Sure, I could have spliced the correct wires together instead of just putting the switch back in behind the panel, but this works just fine. You can take the switch out without removing the panel, but the panel needs to come out anyway to run wires to the kickdown switch.

From there, I decided that I needed a decal or emblem of sorts to indicate that the switch triggers "sport" mode and is not simply an upside-down dome light switch. In the interest of combining a sort of "MB inside joke" and making the car look to the untrained eye like it has an expensive factory option, I selected an original-style AMG logo. The size of the Affalterbach emblem on a set of valve stem caps I found on Feebay seemed right, so I bought a set. The logo looks pretty cool on the switch - the photo shows the switch in "AMG" mode.

As for the 50,000 miles I have logged with this switch, I tend to only use the switch when needed rather than leave it on all the time. Downshifts occur when the economy gauge nears the middle of its' travel - I suspect that "AMG mode" may also help fuel economy a bit! It is a great addition to my 300SE, letting the M103 take full advantage of its' power band. I use the switch for rapidly merging onto freeways, passing on rural highways, or just generally smoking lesser vehicles like so much Nova lox. It is also fun to convince passengers that your car has the super-rare "AMG transmission" that only you have to know did not exist!