Latest on my W202 C230K aka ''Rough Rough''

[John Jones Jr]

5. Fit new front discs & pads - received.
6. Fit new rear discs & pads - received.
7. Replace key batteries - order.
8. Local garage: Replace x 5 exhaust bolts & nuts - received. Repair N/s & O/s spring perch.*
9. Polish H/lamps - done.
10. N/S/F Slow puncture.
11. Spring Perch top plates – received.


Hopefully this is one of the last updates before leaving the car into the local garage. After that I'll give it a good shakedown and book the M.O.T..

Here's a few photos of the spring perch plates and how they will sit after being welded to the top of the perch and to the inner wing. They will possibly require a touch of the angle grinder to give them a slight trim but it should be all straightforward. After welding, it will just be a matter of cleaning them up, undercoating and painting.

The last of the new replacement brakes arrived too. So, that's front and rear discs & pads, sensors along with replacement bolts (x4) for front ABS sensor mounts. I've got new fitting kits somewhere too and some fresh brake grease. This will be a doddle of a job as I already had stripped and cleaned up the old brakes over the Christmas holidays, so no seized bolts, dirt or any nasty surprises to encounter. Even the disc back plates have been cleaned and painted.

Getting there :bannana:

 

[sicelo]

To hijack your thread .. which OBD tool you have? Does your vehicle have the 38-pin round connector? Lastly .. are you sure your vehicle is Euro-spec and not perhaps imported from USA? Asking because I really would like to obtain some OBD reader for my C230K, but not too sure if it will really work.

 

[John Jones Jr]

I use a very basic scan tool, an Autel AutoLink AL319 OBDII. Yep, it has a 38 pin connector and I purchased a 38 pin to 16 pin adaptor cable which works perfectly (engine diagnostics only). The car is an original U.K. supplied R/H/D C230K manual Sport. HTH.

 

[sicelo]

Thanks for the response.
Mine is South African, RHD too. To all intents and purposes, our market follows UK spec, at least in the 124/202 era.

I guess one of the ELM327 should therefore work too. If you've ever tried it yourself or know for sure that it works or not, please let me know

Just looked at a video of your particular reader. Which protocol does it choose for the vehicle? Also, can it read live data, or trouble codes only? Sorry for so many questions.

 

[John Jones Jr]

No problem about the questions, glad to help.

The RSA version should be exactly the same as the U.K. one with the exception that most if not all RSA cars came with leather and a sunroof as standard equipment from what I understand?

Yes an Elm327 will work. And yes, it can can read live data (that's why I purchased my one) too.

 

[sicelo]

Thanks very much. I will be getting mine too, although still considering Carsoft too. ELM327 is convenient and "cool" though

Now you've made me even more curious .. how did you know about the leather and sunroof? If there's somewhere one can find that info I'd be obliged.

It's true. Basically all W202 C230K in our market were manual trans, which is why I looked specifically for it, instead of C280 L6, which I also love, but here all of the 280 have auto trans. All C230K had sport suspension too.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Now you've made me even more curious .. how did you know about the leather and sunroof?

Possibly because I'm just sad person that knows mundane facts like this.

Ah, the truth is I've a pal in RSA who happens to own a C230K Sport among several other cars. His 230K is modified also. If you want I can point you in his direction if you need on the ground assistance, he knows his motors.

 

[sicelo]

If you want I can point you in his direction if you need on the ground assistance, he knows his motors.

Great, thanks. I would be happy to get his contacts for sure.

I envy the love your 'K' is getting Wish to do same stuff on mine at some point.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Great, thanks. I would be happy to get his contacts for sure.

I envy the love your 'K' is getting Wish to do same stuff on mine at some point.

I can't PM you yet, as you'll need 30 posts.

Don't be envious, I just like wasting whatever spare time I have (not enough) messing about with this car, mainly as it the first S/charged car I've ever owned. Actually, I'm wasting both time and money but enjoying it when things go right!

 

[sicelo]

I qualify now, whew! so you should be able to PM me

 

[John Jones Jr]

I qualify now, whew! so you should be able to PM me

Hi. For some reason I still can't PM you. So, I've sent a message via email.

 

[sicelo]

Many thanks. I'll look at my CP .. maybe I have bad settings

 

[John Jones Jr]

You're welcome.

 

[John Jones Jr]

5. Fit new front discs & pads - Done.
6. Fit new rear discs & pads - Done.
7. Replace key batteries - forgot!.
8. Local garage: Replace x 5 exhaust bolts & nuts. Repair N/s & O/s spring perch. Done.

10. N/S/F Slow puncture & 4x4 wheel alignment. Done

A little update.

Nearly completed the current (modified & edited) list/lists. The big news is I replaced two interior light bulbs which have been blown since 2014! I splashed out on a new Bosch wiper blade too! The brakes are far better which is no surprise but I'm not happy with initial feel, just on very light braking but I'll live with it as there's nothing wrong with the system. I'll mark it down as a characteristic of the car.

The new springs have had a major positive impact on the handling overall at the expense of a slight bit of comfort at low speed, a fair and expected trade off imo. Steering feel is sharper accompanied with less body roll but I'll need to adjust the front shocks - make them a tad softer. Cornering speeds are up too. Ideally a set of thicker anti roll bars might be worth fitting, I suspect they would complement the shocks and springs but I'm not too sure I'll bother.

Other than that the old machine is flying, in actual fact it's never been as quick which is mainly to do with having the throttle adaptations reset. The old problem with the S/C disengaging @ sudden WOT has not occurred since clamping the MAF with a zener, fingers crossed it stays that way. Also it seems so far, the fuel trims are staying fairly close to 0%, previously the LTFT was between -10 & -16%. Max boost pressure is 10 PSI, up from stock by 3-3.5 PSI. I wouldn't be surprised if she is now knocking an honest 185+ bhp @ the wheels with torque to pull a house down. Not that it really matters as I'm currently happy with the performance.

I had an MOT carried out Friday, it passed without one advisory. That's nothing to write home about in itself but satisfying all the same.

So, now the time has come to put a few miles on the old girl and see how she handles a bit of roasting! Ultimately that will determine here longterm faith.

 

[sicelo]

how are you measuring boost pressure?

 

[John Jones Jr]

how are you measuring boost pressure?

I'm using a simple boost gauge, 'T'ed from the FPR. See photos to give you an idea. I've now mounted the gauge down to the side of the central console so it's out of sight but clearly visible through the steering wheel and I re-routed the boost take off pipe so it runs the length of the fuel rail and follows the path of the other vacuum pipe along the bulkhead.

 

[John Jones Jr]

I've been driving the C230K now since the 1st April, almost exactly four weeks. In that time I had the H/lamp alignment adjusted and a 4x4 wheel alignment carried prior to the MOT due to the new and slightly lower springs that I fitted early in the New Year. On the subject of the new Eibach springs, overall I'm happy except at sub 40 mph on some roads and now have reservations about not keeping the original Sport springs, all I needed to do was clean and paint them if I felt like changing back at some stage.

So, what's the old gal like to drive after clocking up a thousand miles since last driving it seven months ago? Well, great really as it pulls like the proverbial train, totally in it's forte between 60-120mph, this is an A road car or motorways when I don't mind being bored to death. On B roads it's o.k. but it's no hot hatch, no surprise there as it was never designed to be unlike the Clio 182 I drove the other week comprehensively proved, I've got to admit they are a cracking little car and real value too. There's several other larger cars than the Clio that would be better also on B roads than the Merc. Another example was the new Golf R I also drove recently, that would eat the C-Class for breakfast and look for a second helping. In actual fact the Merc wouldn't know which way the Golf went, no loss. Hand on heart neither of those two disgrace the old Merc as they are not really comparable. Apples and oranges come to mind mighty and all that modern hot hatches are.

Having said all that for a light'ish car (1350kg + driver) it's actually rather brisk and could be classed as quick if one was keeping things in context for 90's but I'll stick to 'rather brisk' even if it has c.30 bhp & 40 lb ft extra over stock as things have moved on in the past fifteen years.

Overall, I'm happy. Happy enough to insure the car permanently for twelve months anyway (must look into my options on that front) and happy to do a bit more tinkering on it as there's few other bits I'd like to upgrade including experimenting with an adjustable FPR, different plugs and try one or two different MAF's but nothing more major as I simply don't know what my long term plans are for her.

Of course being worth sod all is naturally having a bearing on this even if it only owes me a modest sum, man maths working it's magic again . Still, with three years and 14,000 miles use so far the man maths is sort of realistic. Then again I'm itching to try out water/meth injection and/or fit a piggyback ECU and add a couple of extra injectors along with a smaller S/C pulley etc. That little lot would be a few quids worth but a great (and no doubt frustrating) learning curve.

That's it for now.

 

[vijilants]

I felt the same when I had my c230k....it ws sad to part with it, and it is extremely rare that I hold a car for as long as 9 years.

They are a lot of car for very little money, great fun to drive, and I do miss the whine from the supercharger as it spools up.

Hardly see any c230ks around on the road any more.

 

[John Jones Jr]

They are a lot of car for very little money, great fun to drive, and I do miss the whine from the supercharger as it spools up.

Yep, that's a fair summary alright

 

[John Jones Jr]

After taking some advice the first item on the list is to keep an eye on boost pressures and see if there's any tell tale sign of something amiss prior to losing all boost and importantly what the actual max pressure is. So, to that end I had a great excuse to buy a boost gauge. When for a Stack, expensive (65 quid including delivery) for what it is but I'll have no reason to doubt the boost pressure readings unlike buying a £10 Chinese one or a TIM at £25. I'll mount it discreetly if I decide to have a permanent display reading.

Well, that ^^^ did'nt work out too great. The Stack boost/vacuum gauge started to mis-read, under reading boost pressure but reading vacuum pressure correctly.

Being a relatively new gauge at eight months old I started to fear the worst that I had boost pressure issue and worse again as there's several factors that could cause it, some minor and some major. Initially I didn't think it was the gauge but then again the car was driving very well. Checked all the obvious possibilities and couldn't find a fault. So, I rigged up the gauge from a fuel pressure & vacuum test kit in place of the boost gauge, vola. The test kit gauge was showing full and correct boost pressure. Relife!

Now, here's the annoying part. Prior rigging up the test kit gauge I pressurised the Stack gauge. Used the spare wheel, dropped the tyre pressure to approx 1.5 Bar/21 PSI and connected the boost gauge to it and got a reading in or around the same figure. That made me think there was nothing wrong with gauge, I was almost convinced my problem was elsewhere. What I didn't do was check the gauge @ 0.5-0.7 BAR/7-10 PSI, which is usual operating range of the S/C.

I'll return the gauge to Merlin Motorsport and let them take it from there, I've no doubt they will deal with the issue in a positive manner as my previous experiences with Merlin has always been excellent.

Anyway, lesson learnt. Don't accept read outs as gospel even with new equipment.