Car D.I.Y.

[Bristolian]

Went out to check the Merc over this morning in preparation for heading off to the Netherlands for a couple of weeks to find the coolant expansion tank empty 😲 Uh Oh! having had head gasket issues a few months ago I'm starting to fear the worst but then I noticed that there's signs of water splash in a fairly well defined line from driver side to passenger side of the engine bay.

A few minutes of investigation shows coolant coming from behind the water pump and dripping down onto the crankshaft pulley. Must be the water pump bearing seal; remove the ancillary belt and sure enough I can feel some play. Rats!! Fortunately, a local parts emporium has a new pump in stock, not genuine Mercedes but an oem make so that will do.

What idiot thought it would be a good ideal to use safety Torx bolts to hold it on? And guess who doesn't have the right tool for the job? I've got the right size Torx bit but it doesn't have a hollowed out end ... well, it didn't have but it does now. Cheers to my neighbour that allowed me to use his pillar drill to modify the bit (and a few others for good measure ).

15 minutes later and the job is done No more leaks and we're ready for the off on Saturday (or will be when I've put some diesel in the tank ).

 

[Pinno718]

Went out to check the Merc over this morning in preparation for heading off to the Netherlands for a couple of weeks to find the coolant expansion tank empty 😲 Uh Oh! having had head gasket issues a few months ago I'm starting to fear the worst but then I noticed that there's signs of water splash in a fairly well defined line from driver side to passenger side of the engine bay.

A few minutes of investigation shows coolant coming from behind the water pump and dripping down onto the crankshaft pulley. Must be the water pump bearing seal; remove the ancillary belt and sure enough I can feel some play. Rats!! Fortunately, a local parts emporium has a new pump in stock, not genuine Mercedes but an oem make so that will do.

What idiot thought it would be a good ideal to use safety Torx bolts to hold it on? And guess who doesn't have the right tool for the job? I've got the right size Torx bit but it doesn't have a hollowed out end ... well, it didn't have but it does now. Cheers to my neighbour that allowed me to use his pillar drill to modify the bit (and a few others for good measure ).

15 minutes later and the job is done No more leaks and we're ready for the off on Saturday (or will be when I've put some diesel in the tank ).

What Merc? I've had 4. 2 good, 2 bad.

 

[Bristolian]

What Merc? I've had 4. 2 good, 2 bad.

It's a 2016 W212 E-class Estate, which I love to drive but the niggling issues are making it hard to justify keeping it. This is my second Merc, the first was a 2009 C-class estate which I also loved (and was reliable). We only got rid of it for the bigger boot space so we'd have room for the wife's mobility scooter without dropping the back seats.

 

[Bristolian]

Before I start let me apologise for the length of this post. I've tried to add some humour to make reading it a little less tortuous .

Well the E-class saga goes on. Driving along, minding my own business the other day and a message pops up onto the dash - hey stupid your front left indicator isn't working (or something similar). Sure enough the message is quite correct. Nowt to worry about, I hear you say, just pop a new bulb in and off you go. Well that just goes to show how little you know ; all the lights on this heap of Singelfingen c**p are LED and the headlight unit is sealed. A phone call to the local stealer goes along the following lines (but may have contained a few expletives):

me: My nsf indicator has failed, how much to repair?​

mb: Sorry sir, repair not possible you need a new headlight unit.​

me: Oh, how much is one of those?​

mb: £1600 plus 3 hrs installation - call it £2000 plus VAT .​

mb: It might be one of the control units that have failed. we sell those.​

me: Go on then, how much?​

mb: One is £80 and the other £120, plus VAT, of course.​

me: So which one controls the indicators?​

mb: Ah, well, they kinda work together. One is a power controller and the other is a logic controller, so you really need to buy both.​

me: So, if I buy both and they don't get the lights working can I return them?​

mb: Um, well, no. Unless you can show that they're faulty or we supplied the wrong ones they're non-returnable​

me: So I buy the control units for £200 plus VAT and if they don't fix the problem I still have to buy a complete light unit at £1600 plus vat? I can fit it myself.​

mb: Yes sir, that's correct. New light units need coding to the car as well so you will need access to a Star computer if you do the job yourself. Would you like to go ahead?​

me: Not happening, I'd rather scrap it!​

mb: Okay sir, Sorry we can't be of assistance. Don't forget to leave us a review on-line ​

Cue emails to several breakers to see what they can offer. Cheapest is £900 delivered ... still too much. Check on a well known on-line auction site and I'm relieved to see someone advertising repairs. Hmm, let's see what he has to say so I text (his preferred method of communication). He comes back with a question about whether the DRLs are still working, or not. I'm happy to tell him they are at which point he comes back and says sorry, not repairable. I'm confused, what difference do the functioning of the DRLs make? Apparently all the difference and he blocks me

All is not lost there are a couple of light units for sale on said auction site so I chat to the sellers and settle on one for £500 delivered, which arrived this afternoon

So, the plan for tomorrow is to whip off the nsf wheel and inner wheel arch to get access to the back of the light. Remove the control units from the existing light and swap them for the ones on the newly bought light to see if that does the trick. If so, that'll be job done and I'll put everything back and get on with life. If the indicator still refuses to work then the front bumper has to come off to swap the light units over (remembering to put the correct control units back in) and then off to my mate's garage to get the new light unit coded to the car.

Once this job is finished the car is off to the local valet/detailer to make it look nice and get some flattering photos then it's heading for AutoTrader. I've got one eye on a 2017 2ltr diesel Skoda Superb Estate locally as a replacement.

 

[CXRAndy]

The dealer repair situation is ridiculous these days. £2k to repair a headlight

I know these LED cluster with auto anti dimming features are fantastic, but as the car gets old, it pretty much makes a viable car scrap if you as you have found out.

 

[Pinno718]

Ouch. I gave up on post '98 Mercs a while ago. I've had 2 pre Chrysler merge Mercs and 2 post merger one's. Pre 98 = great cars, post 98; not great.
Make sure the virtual cockpit functions are all working on the Skoda. Also, be aware of slightly quicker devaluation than other makes in that class.

 

[Pinno718]

The dealer repair situation is ridiculous these days. £2k to repair a headlight

I know these LED cluster with auto anti dimming features are fantastic, but as the car gets old, it pretty much makes a viable car scrap if you as you have found out.

Audi's have to be the worst for obsolescence.
I have a friend who works at a breakers yard. they also sell damaged vehicles in various states.
He bought and Audi A6 for £800. 98k on the clock. Fully serviced, 9 year old car... with a cracked windscreen. To big to repair, next MOT failure.
I asked him why he didn't pay the excess and get a new windscreen.
Excess was a silly £300 and the screen has to be 'programmed' (!) as a load of sensors are connected to it. The only place with the software was Audi and he was quoted £800 by them.

My good friend (the then head technician at a VAG branch daan souf), told me a bloke came in with his 3 month old A6. He put the window down as he was driving during a heat wave, parked up in Brighton but couldn't get the window up so he went home.
He had to tell the customer that he could get the window up for him but he would have to wait for the revised software from HQ is installed before he could fix it as it was a blue tooth connection gone wrong.
That's why you can buy relatively low mileage used A6's for a song. Once an £85 to £125k car going for £10k, only 42k on the clock:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-de...de=DG9 0LG&transmission=&year-to=2025&fromsra

Former neighbour had a year old A3. The Auto box was leaking. Audi quoted him £3500 over the phone, without even looking at it.

If you don't want to go main dealer, you must have access to a good indie. They don't go wrong very often but when they do...

 

[fossyant]

Good god, some of these figures are insane, no wonder people lease. I researched my van for ages. Common parts, tonnes about, even the posh Zenon projector headlamps are £200 on ebay = OK. Rear lights, loads about, £100. Zenon bulbs under £100 from car factors. Brakes, engine parts all cheap and easy to fit (all be it access is a bit tricky (wheel and liner off job for some parts). The only expensive bit were rear seats - £1,000 a pop on ebay (for a single - more for the double). That's why quite a few vans were coming with five seats and not the 7/8 configuration.

That's just mad you've got to bin a not too old car for an indicator bulb.

 

[Drago]

Sadly Foss people using PCP to hire cars they can't afford has pushed prices skyward. They've pretty much ruined it for people that were happy to actually buy their cars.

Then, as you say, parts prices follow suit and actual owners suffer a double whammy.

Anyway, can you believe that I've had my van for getting on a year? Enquiries show the local VW commercial dealer has a labour rate of... wait for it...£196 and hour, plus VAT. I don't mind paying a reasonable amount for quality workmanship (I paid for the C70 to go to a local older Volvo specialist earlier this year and they did a wonderful job at a fair price) but being arse reamed price wise for a mediocre local dealer just isn't going to happen.

So I'll do it myself. 20 litres of VW 507.00 spec oil, enough for three services, was only £46 delivered to my door, so the savings are significant.

 

[fossyant]

Sadly Foss people using PCP to hire cars they can't afford has pushed prices skyward. They've pretty much ruined it for people that were happy to actually buy their cars.

Then, as you say, parts prices follow suit and actual owners suffer a double whammy.

Anyway, can you believe that I've had my van for getting on a year? Enquiries show the local VW commercial dealer has a labour rate of... wait for it...£196 and hour, plus VAT. I don't mind paying a reasonable amount for quality workmanship (I paid for the C70 to go to a local older Volvo specialist earlier this year and they did a wonderful job at a fair price) but being arse reamed price wise for a mediocre local dealer just isn't going to happen.

So I'll do it myself. 20 litres of VW 507.00 spec oil, enough for three services, was only £46 delivered to my door, so the savings are significant.

I've got a two year service and MOT deal on mine with annual services (given the van is on a two year interval normally) - I did double check they would service it each year. I'll be doing the basics myself going forward, but anything 'heavy' is off to my local Indi, who have a rate of about £80+VAT for small jobs. They don't overcharge for the bigger jobs either. My only worry with my Indi, is it's family run and they aren't getting younger - i.e. most are in their 60's.

PSA Specific 0-30 Mobil oil is about £55 for 5l from Arnold Clark (main dealer) - I'd need 6 but that's the cheapest by far. I can get the PSA Mannol oil for £75 for 20l (I have Mannol the 5w30 20l's for the other cars).

 

[Drago]

You might find this useful Foss, some good deals there at present...

https://www.pyemotoroil.co.uk/produ...MI6bKs4tS_jQMV3EcdCR1nZgGEEAEYASABEgJx0PD_BwE

 

[fossyant]

You might find this useful Foss, some good deals there at present...

https://www.pyemotoroil.co.uk/produ...MI6bKs4tS_jQMV3EcdCR1nZgGEEAEYASABEgJx0PD_BwE

Very good prices there ! PSA 0/30 £53 !

 

[Drago]

Yep, and delivery was fairly swift as well.

 

[CXRAndy]

I've got a two year service and MOT deal on mine with annual services (given the van is on a two year interval normally) - I did double check they would service it each year. I'll be doing the basics myself going forward, but anything 'heavy' is off to my local Indi, who have a rate of about £80+VAT for small jobs. They don't overcharge for the bigger jobs either. My only worry with my Indi, is it's family run and they aren't getting younger - i.e. most are in their 60's.

PSA Specific 0-30 Mobil oil is about £55 for 5l from Arnold Clark (main dealer) - I'd need 6 but that's the cheapest by far. I can get the PSA Mannol oil for £75 for 20l (I have Mannol the 5w30 20l's for the other cars).

I wouldn't worry 0W30 or 5W30. Hardly any difference is spec.

The far more important thing is regular oil/filter changes. If the recommended service interval was 12k miles, I would be doing mine at 6k miles. I service the little Citroën C3 every 5k miles for oil and filter changes

Buy your oil in bulk from specialist oil suppliers. I buy 5W30 in 50 litre quantities to get a far better price. I'm down to my last 8 litres now, so will be ordering some more. Get your filters too in bulk

I buy this https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-6362-mobil-1-esp-5w-30-advanced-fully-synthetic-engine-oil.aspx

 

[Profpointy]

The dealer repair situation is ridiculous these days. £2k to repair a headlight

I know these LED cluster with auto anti dimming features are fantastic, but as the car gets old, it pretty much makes a viable car scrap if you as you have found out.

I've recounted before a colleague ending up scrapping her modest Renault hatch back because a wiper motor failed. To be fair the part itself was a perfectly reasonable fifty quid or whatever but the labour required was over £1500 as half the car had to come apart to get at it. I later wondered if they could have more simply cut a hatch somewhere and mig'd a patch on it afterwards since it didn't have to look pristine given the alternative was scrappage