Hi everybody, need some advice with my problem.
Car is a 1999 CLK320 W208 70,000 miles
Yesterday I stopped on the way home to put the top down and noticed a noise from the engine bay.
Raised the hood and had a listen and thought it was probably the cooling fan hitting the plastic shroud.
I had already, by pure coincidence ordered a new V-belt tensioner and idler pulley, which I fitted when I got home. While I was there I had a look to see if I could see the cooling fan fouling the plastic shroud, but couldn't find anything wrong, or re-create the noise from earlier.
I did however notice that the fan would operate as soon as the engine was started. I'm assuming that this happens because the air-con is in operation? Is this normal?
Today I drove a short distance and the noise started again. I stopped and found the noise seemed to be coming from low down in the front/right hand side part of the engine where the air-con compressor is. If I revved the engine, the noise would happen on the over-run. As a test I pressed the ECON button on the climate control panel and the noise stopped, even when the engine was revved.
So it looks to me as though the compressor is the top suspect. Though otherwise the A/C works perfectly and blows nice and cold. No warning messages on the dash at all.
So some questions.
1. Is it safe to drive the car with the air-con in economy mode? I don't want anything to seize and ruin my engine.
2. Does anyone know the part number for the compressor and are they common across all models, or does each model have a specific type of compressor?
3. Is it worth buying a used compressor, or will they all be trash?
4. Has anyone else encountered this problem and would like to share?
Thanks in advance for any help/advice
Car is a 1999 CLK320 W208 70,000 miles
Yesterday I stopped on the way home to put the top down and noticed a noise from the engine bay.
Raised the hood and had a listen and thought it was probably the cooling fan hitting the plastic shroud.
I had already, by pure coincidence ordered a new V-belt tensioner and idler pulley, which I fitted when I got home. While I was there I had a look to see if I could see the cooling fan fouling the plastic shroud, but couldn't find anything wrong, or re-create the noise from earlier.
I did however notice that the fan would operate as soon as the engine was started. I'm assuming that this happens because the air-con is in operation? Is this normal?
Today I drove a short distance and the noise started again. I stopped and found the noise seemed to be coming from low down in the front/right hand side part of the engine where the air-con compressor is. If I revved the engine, the noise would happen on the over-run. As a test I pressed the ECON button on the climate control panel and the noise stopped, even when the engine was revved.
So it looks to me as though the compressor is the top suspect. Though otherwise the A/C works perfectly and blows nice and cold. No warning messages on the dash at all.
So some questions.
1. Is it safe to drive the car with the air-con in economy mode? I don't want anything to seize and ruin my engine.
2. Does anyone know the part number for the compressor and are they common across all models, or does each model have a specific type of compressor?
3. Is it worth buying a used compressor, or will they all be trash?
4. Has anyone else encountered this problem and would like to share?
Thanks in advance for any help/advice