Lady In Distress!! Lol

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sandyhen

New Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
28
Location
Sunny Wigan
Car
SLK 230K
Hiya, Great site, loads of info

Can anyone help me with my SLK230 (R170 - 97) I have had the car for 19 months and adore it. For about the past 8 months I have felt the car has lost some of its "umph". Last week the coolant level indicator came on and despite the fact the water level was okay, the light has come on intermittently since. I therefore gave the car to the garage to do a diagnostic on it and they stated the car had stored faults for the gear box, air conditioning, and cooler system. They cleared the faults and they have since stayed clear. They did however give me an estimate for the replacement of the kompressor, poly v belt, spark plug etc, stating that the clutch was failing to kick in (how would they know this??) and that this is what would be causing the loss of "umph". Cost for this being £3k. My boyfriend is often found under the bonnet of his own cars and is willing to try and sort the problem out with the help of this thread, before we could possibly be throwing a lot of money away, we were wondering whether it is possible that the coolant level indicator is sending a fault signal to the ECU to prevent the supercharger from kicking in, in a sort of "self preservation" mode. All help and advice will be greatly accepted and appreciated. Spanners to the ready! Thanks, Sandy :confused:
 
Hi Sandy,

Welcome to the forum :)

Where abouts are you located and what garage was it? Is the Kompressor not engaging at all?

The following thread might help you in your diagnostic tests http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=3356&highlight=kompressor+stopped

On the front of the Kompressor in the engine bay is a pulley that is controlled by an electromagnetic clutch. When the ECU wants the Kompressor to be engaged you should hear a slight thud and the front of the pulley will start spinning. On models such as my old C230K this happened around 1500RPM or so.

If we can establish if the fault is the Kompressor not engaging at all or whether it is engaging, but the car is down on power it will help with the investigations :cool:

Good luck,

Will
 
Thanks Will, A reply after only a few minutes, at this time of night, fantastic.

The garage is a couple of guys who are ex-merc mechanics who have recently set up on their own. I am located in Liverpool.

We will have a look tomorrow evening and will come back to you. Many thanks.

Sandy
 
Sandy
This is the first sign the air recirculation flap motor is going South. Change it before it shorts out the ECU as it did to Grahams car.
 
Seconded!
 
Thank you to all, Next question, where is this located and can you advise me where to go to get the part?
 
Side of airbox and a MB Dealer if I were you.

DSCF0776.JPG
 
Graham is it the big silver bit. If so can you read the part number??
 
Part number for air recirc flap for W202/210/R170 is A1110980009

p/n for W203 is A1110980109

They are completely different to each other.
 
:) Thanks for the part no. and I will do some checks with my boyfriend tomorrow night as regard the advice from Will, Dieselman and Graham.
I will advise when we know further. Once again thank you for your help. Much appreciated.

Sandy
 
Regarding the water level indication it might not be the radiator level sensor playing up.
I'm sure I've heard of the washer bottle sensor causing the rad level to be read as low.
 
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Hiya, Sandy here,
Just packed tools away, here’s what we did.
1) Checked the washer bottle (Cheers Dieselman) very low, so filled it with a lot of water, took the car out for a 15 min cruise……..no light! We just can’t believe that the washer and coolant warning light could be interconnected someway, but looks like it was. Thanks D-Man.
2) Did a little rev testing, this is what we did, and these were the results.
I sat in the car and Chris (B/F) took notice of what happened under the bonnet.
(Cheers Will)
  • We let the engine warm up.
  • I put the car in neutral and revved the engine slowly to 1500rpm- Result komp clutch did not rotate at all.
  • I then revved up the engine until a clutch movement was noticed – Result, this seemed to be at around 4000rpm, but the clutch only rotated once but very slowly.
  • Once we proved a slight movement at 4000rpm, we decided to go for it and hold the revs up for 2-3 secs over this point to see if we would get “full spin speed” Result- the rev limiter seemed to be cutting in at 4500rpm (bouncing) with no spin of the clutch. So……Hmmmmm lol? Does everyone elses fly round at this point?
3) Other noticeable points were ; after removing the lower engine scoop/cover/guard? Chris noticed a few drops of water ( but may I add that this was not from topping up spillage) from what he thinks might be the intercooler gasket? It was really hard to be exact and even had to remove the full air intake system to get a closer look. We think it’s the intercooler, but he describes it like this…….. It has a black hose to it, a solid Ali pipe out, its top left of all the other belts, and it’s the wheel that protrudes furthest, almost “coned ” shaped. Not sure if this could be pointing us in the wrong direction though, as our efforts need to be focussed on the komp?
Any suggestions from those in the know? Thank you, we appreciate your help.
 
You need to know if the compressor clutch was being energised by a 12v input. There is a connector behind the front engine cover.
This will have a permenant 12v feed and a line that drops to zero when the clutch should engage.

Engagement should be at about 1200rpm.

If the 12v feed is Ok but the other side never drops then the ECU isn't pulling it down to Gnd. If it does drop then the clutch is knackered and a new clutch is required.

If the ECU isn't pulling it down it may be the air valve is faulty.
 
I'm not good with oily bits, but here goes...

Is it an auto by any chance? If so then it could be as simple as pick up being blunted due to the adaptive nature of the transmission - steady driving will encourage the car to behave in a more sedate way. An ECU / transmission reset might be a sensible thing to do - especially as it costs nothing!! Just do a search for ECU reset for all you need to know about it, or click here to go straight to one such thread.

Was the mechanics quote for replacing the supercharger due to you reporting that the car was lacking oomph, or because they found a specific problem? It sounds like a lot of money to me to proceed without firm evidence or at least exhausting other possibilities.

By the way, my understanding is that the supercharger clutch will not engage when the vehicle is stationary, to protect the engine from excessive temperatures, and so if the road wheels aren't turning then the supercharger won't spin.

PS By "lacking oomph" I assume you mean slightly less responsive in feel, rather than painful to make progress?
 
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Dam your fast D !

Thanks lots. Could you explain the above a little more plz D, we have a multi-meter, but what do you mean by " line drop" ? He has seen the connectors behind the cowel, any chance of a step by step method? or is this asking too much?
P.S
Just joined the Merc Owners Club, nice show at Tatton, red hot day too. :)
 
Dam your fast D !

Thanks lots. Could you explain the above a little more plz D, we have a multi-meter, but what do you mean by " line drop" ? He has seen the connectors behind the cowel, any chance of a step by step method? or is this asking too much?
P.S
Just joined the Merc Owners Club, nice show at Tatton, red hot day too. :)

Connect eh Neg lead to the car Gnd/body. set teh meter to 12v dc range (probably 20v).
Push the red probe into the connector, both sides should be 12v with ignition on, engine off.
Start engine, both sides should still be 12v, rev engine to engage s/c clutch and one side should be pulled to Gnd (active low). That's it really.

As a quick check do a resistance check through the s/c clutch coil it shouldn't be open circuit.

A similar test is to meter across the connector but if the initial 12v feed is missing then you're going nowhere.

Did the clutch attempt to drive but slip or did it just flop around as if there was no intention to drive.

Try disconnecting the connector and applying 12v directly to the clutch, it should bang in and be solid.

Any good?
 
Thanks Diesel, dam your quick.

We have a multi meter, any chance of a step by step guide D? what do you mean by "line drop"? He has (Chris) seen the connections behind the cowel. Thanks.

Cheers too Bob D, Mercs Auto, car was on axle stands when tested, rears on the floor. Hmmm how to say im not really a "steady driver" without it sounding like im a loony! If Chris can suss out what Diesels suggesting, I think that will get to the bottom of the prob, its just translating the meter readings that we may fall down on?
I asked Mechs to do a "once over" due to lack of power, they suggested I could still run around happily without the Supercharger due to the engines size anyway.


Below is their Invoice & Estimate.

Carry out short test,
Check electrical system,
Check noise from rear, (exhaust)
Check gear selection £30 (Done)

Carry out B service........... £280.00
Renew spark plugs.............. £64.45

Repair Instructions

E1.1900 Complete system R&I 1.00
J3.0800 Driveshaft 2.70
C7.0100 Supercharger 2.00
B1.0500 Spark plugs 0.50
N2.0600 Generator Drive/Serpentine belt 0.40


Parts Required

Catalyst 756.25
Rear silencer 260.84
Poly v belts 35.40
Driveshaft seals 5.88
Kompressor 1590.46
Sparkplugs 34.45

Parts £2683.28
Labour £396.00

Total £3079.28
 
The clutch looked as though it just could'nt be ****d to get out of bed (Chris's description) Thank you.
 

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