Charcoal Filter Question for Grober..

[crammy69]

The Minister for the Interior has been complaining about a very strong fuel smell whenever I have left the 124 running on the drive. I personally dont notice it myself, but given the liklihood that the Charcoal filter hasnt been changed,so is some 50k miles overdue, and (more importantly) the possibility that changing it could help the erratic idle I am still investigating, I want to change it.

So... thanks to the thread below I know what its likely to look like, but can I ask does the wheel have to come off to remove the inner arch to access it? or did the whole near-side wing have to come off? Any suggestions on removing arch/wing / fitting are most welcome

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=30280&page=2

 

[grober]

The answer is no the wing or wheel doesn't have to come off. However it does help to jack up that side of the car and put on full left lock since that increases clearance between wing and wheel. If that doesn't help enough than you will have to remove the wheel. The wheel arch liner is held on by nylon nuts so care must be exercised when tightening up not to strip the threads. You can usually leave the final 1or 2 nuts where the wheel arch liner is possibly attached to the plastic trim/mudflaps. see picture #11 in the thread you linked to.

 

[crammy69]

Thanks Graeme, by the way, I see the filter is about £60 at Inchcape Mercedes, is it a bosch part? did you buy it from Mercedes or is there likley to be a cheaper alternative from GSF / Euro car parts?

Cheers

 

[grober]

I bought it from Inchcape Mercedes since I couldn't source it anywhere else at the time. the old one was plastic the new one metal

 

[crammy69]

Many thanks. Sorry! one last question, you say full left lock, the filter is behind the liner at the front of the wing then?

 

[grober]

No I may have got this back to front and my memory is playing tricks but turning to full left lock the rear part of the wheel moves inwards the front part outwards. Its under the wing towards the bulkhead. In the pictures I'm pointing the camera towards the rear of the car. The old plastic casing filter was made by Mann no 4900065915------ MB no A1244700859

 

[kth286]

Much much easier with wheel off.