I've been asked to copy/paste my loom rebuild into the knowledge base...
Well, it was bound to happen... It's a '92 500SE with almost a quarter million miles on the clock, so the original loom did pretty well!
All was well untill I took the car off the road for a month to fit the hydraulics (story to follow in a few weeks). I must have disturbed something, as the car would start-up and run OK until warm, then one bank would shut down. Not good. I figured it was the loom (as most people on here seem to have come across this common problem at one time or another), so took some covers off, and indeed, things were not looking good:
I enquired at the stealership for a new one - £532, which is just over $1000 US. Bugger that, I'll make my own...
When I started to strip it down, I realized just how bad the original loom was - how was this working at all?!
Trying to figure out how to get all the connectors apart without breaking them was the biggest challenge, and the main connector to the body was the most awkward. It took an hour of very carefull prying to get all the glue/waterproofing out before I could pull the wires through enough to expose both sides of the connector.
Then there was the problem of getting each pin out. By pushing into the little slot each side of each pin with a modified (ground down) pair of tweezers, I could release each pin in turn:
Same method was used for the injector connectors:
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'92 500SE...Two CCE competition pumps, 6 inch rams all round and a shed-load of strengthening.
'95 S280 as the daily along with a '77 Mazda 323 (currently being stripped for track use).
I carefully cut all the knackered wire from each connector, then soldered in new wire. Here are two injector pins with new wire:
And back together:
What better place to repair the loom than on a Mercedes v12 coffee table in my front room. Luckily, I have a very cool/understanding wife!
A couple of the connectors required some head scratching on how to get them appart. This 4-pin connector at the front on the engine was one of the more interesting ones!
Carefully cut around with the Dremmel:
New Wires soldered and in place:
And melted back together with the soldering iron:
Yeah, I know, not the neatest job, but it is strong, water tight and you really don't notice it back on the car.
OK, the MAF sensor... With thanks to one of v12Uberalles excellent "how-to's", I knew how to get this connector appart - unfortunately, I'm an impatient kind of chap, so cut it open with the dremmel!
It actually cleaned up nicely when put back together - honest!
Now I know I used all black wires, which may cause issues if I ever need to trace a fault, but I figured that there are only 22 wires to the main connector which would never take too long to trace, and one roll of black wire costs way less than 22 rolls of multi-coloured wire!
Main connector coming back together:
Completed loom!:
And back on the car, it's all looking fairly good:
Only made one small error - the wires to the front-of-engine connectors were very slightly too short (note to self: measure twice, cut once!), and would have been a little tight through the original ducting, so they now come out a couple of inches further up, but it still looks neat enough:
Pic of main connector installed with new cables:
On starting it up, I couldn't believe the difference! The engine has always wobbled slightly when idling - now it just stays completely solid. It seems to want to rev more more freely, and there is definately more power (especially low down torque). And even after sitting in traffic for a half hour, it just purrs contently! I guess the old loom had been on it's way out for a long time...
2. Unbolt oil filler pipe ,at transmission and from engine, be careful not to destroy bolt at transmission (it took me 2 days before i could get mine out ,torch ,hammer,wise grip,use Allen 6mm),replace o-ring,use dealer for part. Attachment 169317
5.Detach transmission cable for park shift lock,unbolt left and right oil lines,
remove shift rod , take off clip lock for this purpose ,remove vacuum lines. Attachment 169319
7.Unbolt front propeller shaft,bolts are 19mm-use wrench and a socket.
If shaft needs to be rotated put transmission in gear and rise rear wheels,rotate shaft.Use pry bar to move shaft away from flex-disc. Attachment 169335
8.Unscrew hexagon bolts of torque converter at driven plate. Attachment 169327
9.Unbolt transmission-bolts thats around,starter...you dont have to remove exhaust,just try to find your way around.
Unbolt plate under transmission mount(at the of the transmission) Attachment 169328
10. To secure transmission from dropping on the floor ,I use dolly and some wood to get as high as possible to transmission.Take transmission down and out at an angle,you might have difficulties with shaft being on your way.
Watch out for torque converter ,it is very heavy. Attachment 169334
The reason ,I took transmission out was an oil leak ,but it gave me opportunity to reseal transmission,rebuild front pump,replace rear engine seal.
DIY will follow ,soon.
If you have an oil leaking from the front of the transmission ,you will have to rebuild ,or replace oil pump.New pump costs around $300-$400,rebuild-gaskets around $130.
2.remove pump bolts,note that theres two vacant holes on each side.
3.Screw two bolts into threaded holes and use them to pull out front pump. Bolt_to-_take_p_out.jpg pump.jpg
INSTALLATION NOTE:
Clean surfaces,replace pump gasket,do not use any sealant.Use non hardening sealant and torque bolts to 13Nm.
4. Remove two Teflon rings.
INSTALLATION NOTE:
Insert two new Teflon rings with TRANSMISSION ASSEMBLY GREASE.
Assure that the ring gaps remain together. teflon_seals.jpg
5.To remove spring plate and springs(total number 20) ,you will need to make a tool.
I used 3" in diameter pipe(from your local plumbing store-Home depot),and later i did cut a window to get access to a snap ring,12" bolt with washers and nut, and any kind of metal plate (drill a hole for bolt). tool.jpg Snap_ring.jpg
6.Clamp,until snap ring is exposed,remove snap ring ,remove plate and springs.
I found that the best DIY'er friends are white paint-when disassembling something,to mark positions,and zip bags,to keep bolts,nuts,washers ;
in this case springs from ....
7.Mark and pull out B3 piston.
INSTALLATION NOTE:
Replace Lip seals,apply oil to the seals,make sure that the lip pointing towards the rear.
When inserting piston make sure pin and the hole coincide,make sure not to crimp seals,when installing piston. leap_seals.jpg
8.Remove pump front cover.
INSTALLATION NOTE:
tighten bolts to 20NM no_k1.jpg
9.Top and bottom of pump gears differs,make sure you reinstall them right ,bevel points towards radial seal.
Install new radial seal(red seal in the first picture-front pump seal) inside_pump.jpg
10 Replace pump O-ring by installing it into the groove. seals.jpg
1. Remove fan shroud.
2.Use groove pliers to lock fan clutch pulley (lock lips of the washer)and unbolt fan clutch.
INSTALLATION NOTE:
Tighten the small fan clutch fasteners to 10 Nm and the large fastener to 45 Nm. FAN_CLUTCH.jpg
I've read up and I would definitely use Mercedes official power steering fluid. I did this job because mine was low and I had added Valvoline stopleak power steering fluid from autozone (they checked their fluid hotline and said anything standard was fine, not stuff for Hondas.) I searched a little and everyone coughs up for Merc fluid and that is what the OEM sites sell (Autohauz), so I decided to flush.
For w140 there is no room for a jug next to the return hose per procedure. I found a T (with a cap at autozone) for the half inch hose and bought another length of hose to connect and get out to jug (got a 4 pack of clamps). You'll want to have a battery tester (a large turkey baster you can buy at autozone) to drain the reservior. You'll want a little shallow margarine container for when you disconnect return hose so you can catch what dumps out of reservior. I went ahead and pulled the filter so I could turkey baste out almost all the reserviou. A nice size rag would work in place of container. You probably can leave the filter out for flushing since you will be pouring clean into the reservior. Once you have return hose in place you are ready to go.
You must have two people. The fluid will drain really fast so have your bottles open and turn that wheel lock to lock while doing this. Have things layed out nicely so you don't start knocking over containers and pulling the hose out of your jug. I used cheapest fluid from autozone which was clear. I then followed with one quart of the Merc fluid. (Might be nice to have a clear half inch drain hose (Lowes) to watch the fluid go clear with cheap stuff and then back to amber with the final quart flush with merc fluid, don't know if pvc tubing at Lowes would work or just leak.) As the fluid runs low you will not be able to turn wheel and you will hear creaking before this. Proceed and drain all fluid. Reconnect everything and add your merc fluid per procedure.
Things were foaming coming out during the flush and then as I added. I had extra fluid so I basted out some of the foamy solution in the reservior. It would probably disipate with time as you let it run for a while. (Foam probably from air in system as it went low at end of flush.)
My fluid looked like used motor oil (not diesel used though) and probably had not ever been done in the car's 250k miles.
My assembly probably has been leaking for a long time. Back 4 years or so a new mechanic wanted to replace it where I go and the owner said it is a waste as merc pump/stearing box like to leak a little bit. Mine probably had not been checked in the 100k I'd had it (easy to check, just unscrew and make sure between min and max.) I noticed funky steering sound in snow and checked (it was about an inch below min.)
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1993 300SD, 250,000 miles and counting
Car burns a quart every 600 miles which apparently is the norm and has been the case since I got it at 145,000. Many tricks to these. Ask. I've learned the hard way.
For the HVAC controls, you can quickly set the temp to 72f by pressing both the warm and cool temp switches at the same time. This works for both driver and passenger controls (not the rear HVAC, obviously).
This also works on W202 and W210 models with the same digital HVAC setup.
I noticed as I was reading through this thread - that some of the earlier posts pics are coming up as red 'X's - so I've gone through and ripped all of the articles in the knowledge base up until this point to .pdf just so that we have versions of the articles with the pics 100% in tact and also for some it will be a little easier to print these out.
Haku
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~ 1996 S320 ~
19" carlsson/lowered/crystal LED tails/crystal LED side markers/crystal indicators/S600 walnut steering wheel/S600 grille/anthracite black interior/sunroof
,use Allen 6mm),replace o-ring,use dealer for part.
722.5 transmission oil pump rebuid DIY 
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