w124 exhaust

[fnkhan68]

just finished with my client and jumped in the car to go home. lo and behold my car didnt quite seem right as it was driving quite sluggish so whilst driving i opened my window to see if i could hear anything and to my suprise my car was sounding like a sports car with a really deep throaty note coming from underneath the car. ive managed to work out the fact that somewhere along the line my exhaust is leaking from somewhere but isnt this suppose to be a gradual thing as the car was driving perfect all day long, also since i have never changed the exhaust on any of the cars i have owned, my question is does a leaking exhaust affect performance? is it advisable to use oem parts or are the replica parts just as good from euro parts and will they affect the performance?

thnaks in advance.

 

[Ian B Walker]

In answer to your questions. yes a leaking exhaust will affect the performance of the car as the engine needs backpressure to perform correctly. I have inder my 260E a Bosal system. No problems with it at all and was a doddle to fit. If its a cat problem Mercedes want £660 for a new one. The rest of the pipe work comes to somewhere arround £300. I really do hope that your leak is repairable though.

 

[Karl]

From my experience a leaking exhaust will have a negative effect on performance.
The aftermarket exhausts sold by GSF and Europarts do the job but will not last as long as OEM.
In 1999 I fitted an Italian aftermarket exhaust from Europarts on my W124 230E and it is still sound. Not bad considering it was a fraction of the OEM price.

 

[fnkhan68]

managed to get the exhaust checked today and found out the middle section after the cat has developed a leak which is very fortunate as i was afraid it might be the cat. anyway i rang europarts and have been given a price of £92.53 which isnt too bad but i was asked what chassis my car was? i didnt know but after quoting my reg no. i was told it was a 126 chassis. does anyone know what that means and were there various chassis types on the w124 saloons?

 

[Shude]

i was told it was a 126 chassis. does anyone know what that means and were there various chassis types on the w124 saloons?

It's a 124 chassis, obviously

 

[PJH]

.... i didnt know but after quoting my reg no. i was told it was a 126 chassis. does anyone know what that means and were there various chassis types on the w124 saloons?

Can't be right, a W126 is an old old S class.
http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=17758&highlight=w126

 

[Howard]

It's a 124 chassis, obviously

LOL !

 

[fnkhan68]

thanks Shude, thats exactly what i thought, maybe the guy i spoke to was trying to be a smart alec and confuse me, thats why i thought i'd check it with you experts. cheers.

 

[Dieselman]

In answer to your questions. yes a leaking exhaust will affect the performance of the car as the engine needs backpressure to perform correctly.

This used to be correct where an engine used a carburettor, but not if the engine has EFI. Reducing back pressure on a carburettor engine generally causes the mixture to go lean, hence the drop in performance, an EFI system recognises the additional airflow so adds more fuel.

Back pressure pushes the engine output power higher up the rev band but will reduce total output.
This is why sports exhausts are freeflow types.
No back pressure is best as that then allows the engine valves to control the timing, not the exhaust.

An engine designer will incorporate the back pressure in the tuning charecteristics.

 

[grober]

w124 chassis no and where to find it.

In reply to fnkhan68's question about the chassis number. Here's a picture of where to find it on a Mercedes W 124 series E class 1985-96 years.

A bonnet slam panel this is the Vin plate or Vehicle Identification Number Plate contains the Chassis Number. Riveted on so can be changed by the thieves etc

B Chassis Number stamped into the sheet metal. not so easy to change!

C Chassis Number under windsceen on offside (if you dont want to open the bonnet!) also not easy to change. maybe present only on later cars??

there should also be a vehicle data card atttached to the back cover of the mercedes maintenance/service booklet which details among other things the chassis number, the engine number, the paint code etc etc.
the number will start with WDB 124-------------

 

[fnkhan68]

after getting the middle section and rear box changed on my car the mechanic revved the car to make sure there were no blockages in the exhaust. to my disgust it revved once and then the engine died. tried to start the car, starter motor turning over fine, battery was ok but then the car wouldnt start and there was a burning smell coming from the car with smoke. cut the long story short the diagnosis was a burnt out dist. cap and broken rotar arm holder hence no sparks. i explained to the my mechanic that these components had been changed within the last 2 months but according to what he showed me he stated that they looked like they had never been changed and that the mechanic who had done this job had obviously fobbed me off and probably not fitted them correctly. i had no choice but to get the parts ordered by mercedes and fitted as i cannot do my job without my car but the dilema im stuck in at the moment is who's telling the truth as ive had to pay for the same job twice within the 3 months. i confronted the other mechanic who previously did the job and he said that the parts were ordered from eurocarparts and that they were definately changed along with the ht leads and i can believe him as i had previously posted a thread titled '' loss of power'' where this was the case with my car but after i had rotor arm, dist. cap and ht leads with this mechanic my car was up to scratch and driving the way it should but after what the 2nd mechanic showed me the parts do not look new at all and are burnt out. bearing in my mind my car had a major b service carried out in aug 05 i dont know what has caused this to happen and obviously gutted as to what has happened. i havent paid both mechanics as of yet as i know them both of them on a business basis and its a case of fix now pay later when they deal with me but i really dont want to be paying for the same job twice. does anyone have any opinions on what i should do?

 

[grober]

Check Invoice

IF the first parts were incompatible( wrong distributor-rotor arm combination) or defective then maybe thats what caused the "burnout" Initially it would feel OK but too much arcing caused overheating. Now you have the right parts (Merc supplied) things should be ok. the first mechanic maybe fitted them in good faith and your complaint is with euro-car parts. On the other hand maybe they were incorrectly fitted. I have seen a loose ht lead in the cap causing excessive arcing but thats unlikely if the car subsequently runs ok. CHECK YOUR EURO CAR PARTS INVOICE!
euro car parts list
distributor cap part no 404220010 BERU
and
rotor arm part no 405220040 BERU

FOR CHASSIS NO 124.0126 103.940 W124 2.6LITRE 1992

 

[Dieselman]

Why-o-Why do people fit non genuine parts? They are usually inferior and I have found ECP to be more expensive that the dealer.

 

[Sp!ke]

Not sure I agree with you 100% Dieselman but I know where you are coming from.

The Beru Plugs the main dealer gave me were utter cr@p. Had to change them for NGKs within a week.

On occasion, ECP have managed to source the genuine part (complete with MB packaging and hologram) much quicker than the main dealer network and considerably cheaper. (MB quoted three days... ECP got my part not a common part either in two hours)