Hello all,
Recently picked up a 1995 C220 locally for free. Old owner was in the process of slowly fixing issues and got bored with it. I picked it up as a father/son project to have some good times and hopefully be a good learning experience.
I spent a good week combing over this site before I picked up the car and I'm impressed with the amount of knowledge here, loving the valuable resources and already saved money. Reason the car was free was the prev. Owner was positive it had thrown a rod because it rattled like a diesel.... 30 minutes here steered me to the belt tensioner shock, a bit of pressure on the shock with a stick and the rattle stopped immediately..... showed the owner but he insisted we take it anyway.
The good..... absolutely perfect interior....looks showroom new, body has 2 very minimal door dings, and some slight rusting in rear wheel arches and behind the front fenders, but in Wisconsin where the roads are literally made of salt, it's impressively well maintained. After we get the car running well it would be absolutely worth investing in minor rust repair as the other paint and body work are perfect. Under the hood looks pretty clean, trunk is perfect, etc.... brand new tires, brakes, shocks, glass is perfect and everything works. Also the owner installed a new engine wiring harness, so the big $$$ is all done.
I drove it home in 2 degree weather for 50 miles, 30 mph, some interstate at 70 (totally guessing as the speedo/odometer does not work.) no choice as that free price tag involved getting it out the door that day.... anyway several issues were apparent However the ride, steering and braking were excellent, quiet interior, no shakes or vibrations beyond the motor running awful. Transmission does shift with some serious authority but not rough, just very firm when colder. Engine temp hit 90 and stopped like a stone never fluctuating. CEL and SRS lights are on though.
The bad.... 179k miles on it (at least). CEL and SRS lights are on, speedo/odometer are not working, the outside temp display is super dim, not scrambled pixels in the LCD, just super low light (almost none). Engine ran ok at idle, started right up after sitting for several months. However once it warmed up wow.... has a huge delay/stumble from idle when in gear, very rough running at times like it was misfiring under load. However there were a few minutes on the highway at 2000 rpm it ran perfectly and had impressive power. No smoking, but using gas like crazy. Old gas was 87 octane, not sure if previous owner ever used premium fuel.
So, stopped by local parts store plugged reader under dash and got the following codes.
P0141- O2 sensor heater circuit.
P1700. ?
P0133- O2 sensor slow response
P0303- misfire cylinder 3
P0304- misfire cylinder 4
P0300- multiple cylinder misfire detected
P0505 Idle air circuit malfunction
The car nearly didn't start back up after driving for around an hour, very slow cranking, later that evening once I cleaned the garage for the impending tear down/inspection...just a selenoid click, dead battery. 10.7 volts present.
When stone cold the engine runs well, once it warms up it gets bad....shaking, surging, stoplights with the brakes applied it idled at 1100 rpm and really tries to push hard.
I pulled the plugs and plug wires, 1-3 looked old, tan and worn, #4 was completely black carbon and had a much tighter gap. Plug wires are Mercedes brand, but look very new.... but I cannot believe they were replaced by the prev. Owner, doubt he would spend the $. Small amount of oil around #1 plug recess, not down the hole, just puddled in the valve cover recess. Coils look original as they are slightly oxidized looking with peeling Bosch labels. Engine harness wires look brand new and shiny with new fittings, wrap insulation etc... way to clean to be original.
I'll attach some pics I've taken so far, and I look forward to your guidance on what is the logical way to proceed. Just want to say thanks in advance... the adventure begins!!
Recently picked up a 1995 C220 locally for free. Old owner was in the process of slowly fixing issues and got bored with it. I picked it up as a father/son project to have some good times and hopefully be a good learning experience.
I spent a good week combing over this site before I picked up the car and I'm impressed with the amount of knowledge here, loving the valuable resources and already saved money. Reason the car was free was the prev. Owner was positive it had thrown a rod because it rattled like a diesel.... 30 minutes here steered me to the belt tensioner shock, a bit of pressure on the shock with a stick and the rattle stopped immediately..... showed the owner but he insisted we take it anyway.
The good..... absolutely perfect interior....looks showroom new, body has 2 very minimal door dings, and some slight rusting in rear wheel arches and behind the front fenders, but in Wisconsin where the roads are literally made of salt, it's impressively well maintained. After we get the car running well it would be absolutely worth investing in minor rust repair as the other paint and body work are perfect. Under the hood looks pretty clean, trunk is perfect, etc.... brand new tires, brakes, shocks, glass is perfect and everything works. Also the owner installed a new engine wiring harness, so the big $$$ is all done.
I drove it home in 2 degree weather for 50 miles, 30 mph, some interstate at 70 (totally guessing as the speedo/odometer does not work.) no choice as that free price tag involved getting it out the door that day.... anyway several issues were apparent However the ride, steering and braking were excellent, quiet interior, no shakes or vibrations beyond the motor running awful. Transmission does shift with some serious authority but not rough, just very firm when colder. Engine temp hit 90 and stopped like a stone never fluctuating. CEL and SRS lights are on though.
The bad.... 179k miles on it (at least). CEL and SRS lights are on, speedo/odometer are not working, the outside temp display is super dim, not scrambled pixels in the LCD, just super low light (almost none). Engine ran ok at idle, started right up after sitting for several months. However once it warmed up wow.... has a huge delay/stumble from idle when in gear, very rough running at times like it was misfiring under load. However there were a few minutes on the highway at 2000 rpm it ran perfectly and had impressive power. No smoking, but using gas like crazy. Old gas was 87 octane, not sure if previous owner ever used premium fuel.
So, stopped by local parts store plugged reader under dash and got the following codes.
P0141- O2 sensor heater circuit.
P1700. ?
P0133- O2 sensor slow response
P0303- misfire cylinder 3
P0304- misfire cylinder 4
P0300- multiple cylinder misfire detected
P0505 Idle air circuit malfunction
The car nearly didn't start back up after driving for around an hour, very slow cranking, later that evening once I cleaned the garage for the impending tear down/inspection...just a selenoid click, dead battery. 10.7 volts present.
When stone cold the engine runs well, once it warms up it gets bad....shaking, surging, stoplights with the brakes applied it idled at 1100 rpm and really tries to push hard.
I pulled the plugs and plug wires, 1-3 looked old, tan and worn, #4 was completely black carbon and had a much tighter gap. Plug wires are Mercedes brand, but look very new.... but I cannot believe they were replaced by the prev. Owner, doubt he would spend the $. Small amount of oil around #1 plug recess, not down the hole, just puddled in the valve cover recess. Coils look original as they are slightly oxidized looking with peeling Bosch labels. Engine harness wires look brand new and shiny with new fittings, wrap insulation etc... way to clean to be original.
I'll attach some pics I've taken so far, and I look forward to your guidance on what is the logical way to proceed. Just want to say thanks in advance... the adventure begins!!