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 Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums
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 OT: A small victory, the Mercedes lives!		  New Topic  Topic Locked
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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts
Initially Posted - 05/19/2012 :  18:36:01  Show Profile  Visit delliottg's Homepage
So, Rita's old Mercedes diesel stopped starting a few weeks back. Since I'm not working, this hasn't been a big deal, she can just take my Jetta wherever, and we still have the truck as a backup. However, it's been nagging at me for a long time, and I was pretty sure what was wrong. I was relatively sure that the glow plug relay had died, but it could have been a couple of other things and I didn't really know how to diagnose it.

I spent about a week off and on trolling Mercedes forums looking for solutions and finally found a forum that seemed helpful to nuggets and started asking questions. Pretty soon I had an online manual for my car, diagnostic steps to take and third party alternatives to the problem.

My diagnosis said that the problem wasn't actually the relay, but the glow plugs themselves. This is a common problem with older Mercedes and the alternative solution is to run the glow plugs in parallel with newer style plugs, rather than the OEM serial plug arrangement. I removed the glow plugs (which had been replaced by my mechanic in the past year with crappy Autolite plugs) and found that 4/5 of them were a dead short across the plug, and one was about 3-4 ohms (about what it's supposed to be).

I ordered the new style glow plugs through my local auto parts shop, and purchased some 8 gauge wire & copper lugs to replace the OEM resistor wire that originally connected them. I spent about 45 minutes yesterday soldering up the new jumpers, and putting nice heat shrink ends on them. The plugs came in today and it took me about 20 minutes to install them. I needed Rita's help because my hands are too big to easily work where the plugs are screwed into the block. The standard mantra when using the new style plugs is to simply ignore the glow plug light, count to three slowly, then start the car. Worked like a charm, first turn of the key and the car started right up.

Just wanted to crow a bit, I'm quite pleased with the repair. It was about $100 worth of parts, 2-3 hours of my time and it's running again. No idea what it would have cost to have it done in a shop, if you could find one that was willing to do the custom work to make it work.
David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor


Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --
Edited by - delliottg on 05/19/2012 18:36:51

Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts
Response Posted - 05/19/2012 :  19:13:39  Show Profile
I took a Mazda 626 in for service a number a years ago at a dealership that handled Mazda, BMW, Mercedes and Jaguar. They had their hourly rates posted; the BMW rate was twice the Mazda rate, and the Mercedes and Jaguar rates were two and a half times the Mazda rate. Playing on ego can be very profitable. Of course a friend just paid almost $500 to have an upstream oxygen sensor replaced on his Honda. Let's see, $65 diagnostic charge (plug in the code reader), $85 to reset the computer (push a couple of buttons on the same diagnostic tool), and the balance to unscrew and replace the $40 oxygen sensor with a $10 special socket. You probably saved enough for new sails.
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Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts
Response Posted - 05/20/2012 :  06:47:02  Show Profile
Nicely done David. Those older diesel Mercedes will run forever if taken care of.
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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts
Response Posted - 05/20/2012 :  11:45:24  Show Profile  Visit delliottg's Homepage
Thanks guys, we're going to go shopping later on today and I think I'm going to take the Mercedes just as a test. However, I'll be keeping the can of ether handy just in case.
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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.