New owner of A180 cdi w169 with couple of prob's

[malluboy77]

Our W169 has been in the family long time now and enjoyed the car. Common issues are...

1. Noisy blower is a common one. Don't know if this is the problem you have. I ended up replacing my blower fan unit; but there is a cheap fix to it. See this facebook page please,



Forrera, Mercedes A Class Specialist
January 11 at 8:28 PM ·
How to fix a noisy/squeaking blower fan motor.
Remove wiper arms.
Remove scuttle panel, wiper mechanism and slide up and remove pollen filter housing.
Use an oil can with long thin tube and apply a few drops of oil on dry bearing through fan blades as in last 2 pictures.
Noise gone.
Put everything back.

2. Is your engine running at the correct temp? It should warm up 85 degrees with a few miles. Changing the thermostat involves a lot of labour as it is deep within the engine bay. Pretty common fault on these cars. Running cold does mean the engine stays at higher RPM especially with heating on.

3. Always worth changing the glow pulgs and checking the intake systems when you do the thermostat. I am deeply regretting not having the glow plugs changed when I had the thermostat done. Would have done it if the mere specialist had given me a clue!

 

[Nikola0803]

Thanks for the link and advice.

The car is running at correct temp. It also starts up great even cold, apart from faulty glow plugs.

As far as their replacement, i plan on doing them in the next 10-15 days and also clean EGR valve and intake system check/clean. At least when that's being taken care of i don't want to miss opportunity to clean it all up

 

[GLK]

Of course i want to That's a silly question haha. I'm planning on installing reverse camera for the 'future' mrs, and multimedia. Im looking at other options on what to do next after that.

Well, here's a couple of pics to get you started:

 

[Nikola0803]

Nice! Which camera did you install and multimedia? Also, is it me, or is the cam working together with steering wheel so it show's where you would go when you turn the wheel? If it's an aftermarket that's what i'd be after for sure!

Very nice car btw, i was chasing black but ended up purchasing Dark Gray Metallic in Avanguard . Everything is in perfect condition apart from gear shift lever which has small dent upfront, which i plan to replace soon, and Audio 5 radio which will go soon after i get back up on the feet after replacing all tires, glow plugs, and anything else if it needs replacing.

On the bright side, this car may be bit more expensive to fix here but it's a lot cheaper than in the UK. Retail service is maybe inflating some fixes with Hours of Labour but it's still 24-25 Euros for them, while others have a lot smaller fees, so it's not that bad at all when i think about it

Here's one of my car, the only one i have in my phone actually.


My plans for it after fixing those small issues are:

- It's already polished, maybe do extremely fine polishing and Wax it with carnauba wax or add ceramic coating.
- Clean all leather part's and steering wheel, there is really nice leather cleaner and conditioner which will prevent leather from cracking, if i can say the name here ill write it down below. I tried it once and it's amazing how much shine, grease and what not it takes from the steering wheel without damaging it at all, i can recommend it to everyone.
- Repaint the wheels, there are two scratched ones and i'm a bit perfectionist.
- I'm not a big fan of cold light in interior so i wouldn't go for Cold white LED's but maybe warm white color for the interior
- Add multimedia with reverse camera
- My passengers front seat has small tear/scratch on the textile part right in the middle, it's cheap for an almost brand new seat so that's thing that's drawing my attention a lot and i really need to replace it
- Remap, most companies here offer improvement from 109 to 140/150 HP, which is maybe a lot, but if engine really is in perfect condition it will improve my MPG a lot for city commutes and highway, and i think it will really make the car work totally different. And actually this is what i can get for free in exchange for Web dev services
I think thats about it

 

[GLK]

As far as I'm concerned, this is the best colour you have there! All my cars have been grey, until this one - the choice was very limited ...
It's a very nice looking W169 you have there.

Yes, the head unit is getting data on steering wheel position via CANbus, and that's what on the screen - I chose the camera specifically without built-in "parking guide".
The head unit is now nearly three years old (well, two and a half), still works perfectly fine, and the latest addition of CarPlay (via dongle in the glovebox) keeps it looking fresh.
I might replace it soon with a newer model - I like how the latest ones got the screen recessed, rather than sticking out. As long as it is a model-specific unit, everything should work "out of the box" - Chinese quality and reliability notwithstanding.

I used Gliptone for leather treatment - cleaner and then conditioner - great stuff.

If you're replacing Audio5, you'd need a new A/C controls surround, and you'll have to move the controls down - the mounting holes should be there for lower position.
Let me know if you want a link to this surround - I just looked it up for someone else recently.

Remap sound good, unfortunately not an option for petrol non-turbo model I have.

As to lights - all my interior and most exterior lights are LEDs / COBs.
The ambient lights inside are blue - hardly noticeable, but create a nice errr ... ambiance
Footwell lights are on all the time, door handle and grab recess lights comes on with instrument cluster.

 

[Nikola0803]

Yesh, i was already looking for central part to lower ac controls. Can you link me or send me a message for surround ? And also if you have for cam

as far as lights in the foot area, are there electrical lines placed already or should i maje new installements ?

 

[GLK]

The A/C control surround (with or without controls and lower buttons):

2007 MERCEDES B CLASS W245 B180 HEATED SEATS PDC CONTROL UNIT SWITCH A169820891 | eBay

MERCEDES A CLASS W169 A150 2008 HEATER CONTROL PANEL A1698301985 | eBay

MERCEDES A150 W169 A CLASS HEATER AIR AC CONTROL PANEL A1698300585 | eBay

MERCEDES B CLASS W245 HEATER CONTROL TOWING PROTECTION SWITCH A1698208710 | eBay



Camera pictured no longer available, I just got a replacement - the old one misted on the inside after two years and one overenthusiastic car wash ...
US $19.68 36% OFF|GreenYi 170 Degree Fish Eye Lens Starlight Night Vision Vehicle Rear / Front View Camera low light level 15m visible Car Camera-in Vehicle Camera from Automobiles & Motorcycles on AliExpress

The footwell lights - the mounting holes are there, I bought OEM light holders, fitted blue LED bulbs and generic plugs.
No existing wiring, but easy enough to sort - plenty of space and close to power source.

Like I said - hardly noticeable:

 

[wongl]

In that case you'll have to check the fan, it might be something got stuck. Maybe @GLK knows how to get to it.

Best to check if the pollen filter is present or not. If the pollen filter is missing, it is possible that some debris got trap in the fan housing and fouling with the fan blades. As the car warms up the debris trapped in the fan housing can 'soften' and stop rubbing against the fan blades.

Checking the pollen filter which is very easy to do on the W169, and this will at least eliminate debris being trapped in the fan housing hypothesis.

 

[Nikola0803]

Took out pollen filter, it was bent on the right side on the bottom quite a lot, and debries could have passed there. I took the vacuum cleaner and cleaned it all up, fixed the filter a bit till i buy a new one. I dont hear anything altough i couldnt get to the fan without taking everything appart, but the noise isnt present any more

 

[Nikola0803]

Well few updates since i last wrote .

Yesterday i went to get Chip tune / Remap done, and the guys did an amazing chop of pre-tune checkup. Ran a complete diagnostics of the car and told me about couple of issues that the guys at retail service didn't mention at all...

That small loss of power above 2.5k RPM was because of some error code with an EGR valve. It was probably getting stuck. He advised me that with the current situation and fuel quality in Serbia it should be turned off without taking it off, since it's electrical and not mechanical.

Apparently i don't have an issue with all 4 glow plugs, just the relay, so sorting it will fix my current issue.

We did an increase of power from 109 hp to 150 hp tested. Major improvement. Power is delivered linearly all across the RPM without any issues. Loss of power went since we turned off the EGR valve and all i can say, it really transformed the car. I also think that ( maybe it's me ) that the engine runs a lot smoother in idle and when driving i don't notice that the engine is as noisy as before.

I also swapped front tires now with an all season one's to spare some cache and all in all im really happy with everything so far

Will check the fuel economy but from the dashboard it looks like it droped for almost 1l on 100 km

 

[GLK]

Sounds like a great result all round!
Regarding the fuel quality: Mercedes had an option for an additional fuel filter on 169/245, for that exact reason.
It wouldn't be fitted, if the car was originally delivered, say in Germany or UK. Perhaps worth checking if this is present, and if not, fit one?
Unlike the main fuel filter inside the fuel pump assembly, this one sits outside, so easily retrofitted / accessible.

 

[GLK]

Here's the part number

 

[GLK]

D'oh! Just realised - the above is for petrol engines

 

[Nikola0803]

Yeah, diesel one has near the Airbox . There is higher quality diesel on two gas stations, but car works bit strange with em to be honest. I really don't like how it behaves with that fuel.

 

[svethod]

Hello, there! I’m struggling to find scuttle panel for my a150 2005. Do you have idea where I can looking for this part?