I normally keep fairly detailed record of any vehicle I own - by detailed, I mean every last receipt ends up in a sheet protector in a carefully selected Chinese made binder. I suppose it satisfies this perverse satisfaction I have knowing anything I say about a car is documented and should anyone question it, "Well you see, Chapter 10 Article 15 says oil was changed......". If I have previous records for the car, everything is organized by date/mileage and costs will be tallied up by year and left on a small sticky note at the beginning of the year. It's always nice when I don't get anything for records, as I only have to start from my day 1 experience. Let's my wallet hit the ground running I suppose.
Anyway, the idea here is that in addition to my binder buddy system - I can throw everything down on the blog in hopes that maybe it will deter or encourage someone looking to buy a high mileage W211 (or any car for that matter). It'll demonstrate what it'll take to keep a car like this roadworthy and what someone could expect when blowing the doors off of the notion that "Nothing is more expensive than a cheap Mercedes." In some cases this is absolutely true - usually not. All in all, it gives me something to do and it gives someone something to read while on the throne - everyone wins.
4/11/2017
Mileage: 272638
Agenda: Spark Plugs, Valve Cover Gaskets, House Cleaning
So, I always start on the more difficult side first. I'd much rather hate my life starting a job, than hating it when I'm about to finish.
Here we have a pic with the engine cover, intake and associated tubes out of the way to expose our high miler M113.
Here we have a pic with the engine cover, intake and associated tubes out of the way to expose our high miler M113.
A T30 torx bit will remove the ignition coil fasteners and you need to use a 17mm open end or the appropriate plug lead remover wrench that you can find on Amazon or eBay for relatively little money. I just use a regular 17mm open and get the coils out of the way.
Here's the first plug I removed. I'm not sure what the mileage is on these plugs, but the rust on the threads and the electrode being fairly worn down is screaming "forever:. On the bright side, the burn is looking pretty decent!
Here's the first plug I removed. I'm not sure what the mileage is on these plugs, but the rust on the threads and the electrode being fairly worn down is screaming "forever:. On the bright side, the burn is looking pretty decent!
The plugs that were in it were: Bosch F8DPP33 which are OEM plugs for the car.
The plugs I replaced them with are Bosch FR8DPP30X. Believe it or not, those original plugs aren't being sold by MB anymore. Huge bummer, but we'll see how long these last as the original plugs are double platinum and these are single platinum. I'm fully expecting these to only keep their optimal efficiency to about 30-50k miles, over the 100k the factory plugs are supposed to achieve. Honestly, I don't really mind, if the car makes it another 50k miles, hallelujah!
These are the 6702 plugs - the 7422 would be the direct equivalent replacement for the OEM plug.
Here's the collection of plugs removed the car -1. Burn is looking pretty decent throughout the engine, happy!
Better shot of the original plug # found in the car.
They've served their purpose and will live on for the rest of eternity as who cares they're in the garbage.
No real pictures of the valve cover stuff at this moment - oily hands and cell phone isn't a good combo.
Valve Cover Gaskets (Elring) $9.25ea x2
Spark Plugs (Bosch 6702) $3.29ea x16
Total: $71.14
Labor Time: 2 hours
0 comments:
Post a Comment