Mercedes-Benz Forum banner

95 C-280 saga

2K views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  bsorcs 
#1 ·
~130k miles, formerly mothers's sole-owner car, stored spring 2006 Xmas 2007 with little or no running, several multi-thousand-miles trips.

Recent shop work: AC recharge, w/minor parts; front suspension re-build, major parts; water pump replacement [rotor came apart], anticipated parts; transmission rebuild, anticipated parts. Home work: radiator hoses,fan clutch w/shroud, thermostat, belts.

Transmission repair shop knows their onions, based on discussion of transmission numbers and parts. After he finished the re-build he called to ask if there was some sort of trick he needed to know to start the car, having had some issues in the past that required things like pushing in the cigar lighter, etc. Told him no and he spent the next week tracing and isolating the harness wires on the transmission side. Needless to say, the insulation was toast and I'm certain he was pulling out his hair. Bottom line was that he got it starting and running, and he didn't charge me for the frustrating exercise. He wants it back in 500 miles to ensure all is indeed well. So, a harness is next. Need to identify the chassis number for part selection, I think.

Now, after the rebuild, the car is running hot in stop and go and 80+ on the road. Additionally, the engine is idling at 1500. Checked the fuses on the fan relays, both good. Will check fan operation when I get a cold engine. No idea on the idle; hoping it is not related to the harness. Not sure how to evaluate vacuum integrity.

Suggestions, other than running back to my excellent but pricey mechanic.

bill
 
See less See more
#2 ·
If you want to measure vacuum, I'd say to get a mityvac. It will be a useful tool to have in possible eventual vacuum system failures, and it's not expensive! It also doubles as a vacuum gauge. The high idle is probably caused by degrading wiring inside the throttle body harness. Unfortunately, the harness is hardwired inside the throttle body, but they are re-wrireable. A decent alternative would be to buy an UPDATED used throttle body, that's what I did on my car, I think I paid something like 200$ for a throttle body manufactured in 2006.

Of course, you should for vacuum leaks and such. Honestly there are a lot of vacuum connections on this car, and many people on this forum come to find lots of them were undone by previous work done on the car. Age also does a number on all the rubber connectors, particularly those close to the engine.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the feed back.

Thought I'd address the temperature issue first. On cold start, the viscous fan was turning at a rapid rate. When the temp hit 80+ C., I turned on the ac...no electric fan activity and the temp did not rise appreciably. Drove around the block...no change. Drove for ~10 minutes...~7 blocks to a bakery and back...temp was between 100 and 120 [closer to 100]. and the neither of the electric fans was running. Looking at the fans I see no leads/plugs immediately accessible in the vicinity of the fans. When it stops raining I'll take a look at the relay end. If the relays are good, I'll figure out how to feed 12 volts to the fans individually to see if they run. Beyond these checks I'm back to square one.

bs
 
#5 ·
Many thanks for the tip. For what it's worth, I had a bad experience with RA when I changed out the fan clutch. They advertised one clutch but delivered something else...twice.

bs
 
#6 ·
Ouch.... that would make me skeptical too. They are almost local to me so I use them sometimes, no problems yet but anybody can make a mistake....making it twice though.....

I didn't have enough experience with the part #'s and compatibility, or EBay would have been an option also, and Autohausaz.com is great. I wanted a new one anyway for peace of mind and helped cross a potential issue off the long list of tiny related gremlins in my much neglected multi owner 95c220 project.
 
#7 ·
It's possible your electric fans are dead. They should turn on if A/C pressure exceeds 17 bar or engine temp reaches 100 degrees. They are variably controlled starting MY 1996, before they were 2-stage. However, they are just auxiliary fans. Most of the cooling will come from the main fan. It sounds like you already found your issue, the clutch.

Autohausaz and FCPeuro for parts. I don't trust rockauto because the website just looks too suspicious. ECStuning sometimes has the harder to find stuff. It's also worth checking out your local dealership if it's nearby. Mine has good prices (a hard thing to get in Canada).
 
#8 ·
I use rockauto all the time at work, only because their prices are literally half of what my cost is through my local parts vendors, and that is with my discount. Every so often I do get stuff that needs to be returned, maybe one out of ten parts, but so far its never been a problem. I also have found that Amazon is just as cheap as RA, then with the prime shipping option it makes it even cheaper. But you do end up getting alot more parts that have been opened up and obviously returned before. If you have time to wait, its worth the hassle, but thats not always the case
 
#9 ·
Well I'll gladly pay the shipping and duties to get my parts from the U.S. because in Canada we're getting major league shafted on car parts.

Problem #1 Local parts stores sell their own rebranded ass-quality parts and fluids, only stock crappy parts for Hyundais and Hondas for people on shoestring budgets, and are completly unwilling to help. The ONLY exception to that rule is BumperToBumper, they genuinely shift mountains to get you the good quality parts that you need, and are extremely helpful. But they suffer the same lack of parts supply as the rest of Canada,so they won't be able to get most things for German cars.

Problem #2 Canadian online parts stores are EXPENSIVE for just about everything. It's like they all colluded and decided to MILK THE BALLS off Canadians. (Except Bilstein.ca, at least we can get epic shocks for cheap and free shipping).

Problem #3 It's like nobody has ever heard of any of the OEMs for German cars. In the U.S. you have to be actively trying hard to end up with a low quality part (like URO or whatever). On the other hand, in Canada the best we can find is John Doe's Rickety Parts inc. If you ask anyone for a part built by Bosch they just say: "Bosch... like the dishwashers?" Yeah...

So importing all my parts from the U.S., even counting the extra shipping and duties, I still end up only paying 1/2 the price of something local.
 
#10 ·
Gotta find one first...but we can sort that out when that day comes...

I have relatives in Toronto that visit in the summer....I always blame the metric system and bagged milk for all their complaints....

And yes Bosch dishwashers....

But we are derailing this poor guys thread, sorry.
 

Attachments

#11 ·
It's always something...

1-Cool/heat fan stopped in the middle of a 350-mile round trip Sunday...low to mid 90's. Venturi effect from opening the sunroof rear flap greatly helped cool-air inflow, so it could have been worse. I pulled the under dash air filter...much dirt and leaves... and fan+resistor. Question re the fan. I put 12 volts to it and it turned. Put LPS-?30? on the bearing ends and it turned a bit easier by hand. How easily should it spin? Question re the resistor. How can I test it?

2-It appears that the auxiliary fans are not running...~85C on the highway, up to 115-120C stop and go, ~90C at 35 mph in town w/o stops. Tried a combination of 10-plus-seconds button pushes the following morning...no joy. Will try to put 12 volts to 'em and/or check for run with ac on at operating temp. If they run with the 12 volts, I guess I go to the controller. Need to find a diagram with location and image.

Onward and upward.

bill
 
#12 · (Edited)
Progress.

Fan ran smoothly and quietly w/12 v external supply, so I put add't'l lube on...TSI 321, a synthetic that I use on fishing-reel-spool bearings... and it turned even more easily and smoothly. Re-installed and tested...lots of cold air. On to the aux fans.

bs
 
#13 ·
'95 C28...two questions

1


Just replaced the radiator...went out w/o any hi-temp indication prior to giving up the ghost. What I'd like to do for the moment is to 'hardwire' the aux fans, which have been determined to be working, with a relay to have 'em run continuously at low speed. Might anyone provide detailed guidance re this...relay specs, wire gauge, relevant sites under the hood, etc.?

2
I'd like to keep the car, but I know that the wiring harness needs replacing,and it probably need a new throttle body. For what I have recently put into it, I can pick up an '02 clk 435 convertible with about 30k miles. Even with it's remarkably good condition, it's an old car sans warranty...a situation I am quite reluctant to get into. Sort of fool me once shame on you; fool me twice shame on me. Any thoughts on such a purchase?

bill
 
#15 ·
New issue: left tail/parking lights not working. Fuse #16 passed continuity check; continuity present between the copper tab and the frame for both of the lowermost sockets; new bulbs do not light; swapped bulbs from working right side...no joy.

What next?

Re aux fans, trying to id the part number for the controller. Will look at the existing one to see if a cleaning will remedy the no-run situation.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top