Clk - Engine Care

[CLK?]

I recently bought a CLK 230 - Its a '99 and covered 120,000 Miles - Theres no history with the car, So im not sure what has/hasnt been done to it, Apart from Oil changes etc, What should I really get done to it to make sure itll be up to covering another 120,000. Cam belt change, or are these Engines chain driven ? Any advice on what I need to do would be well recieved ! Thanks in Advance.

 

[jimsinessex]

The camshafts are chain driven so no worries there.
Other thoughts that spring to mind are, in no particular order:-
1) Change ATF and filter
2) Check wear on propshaft couplings
3) Check for any oiliness on outside of steering damper, indicates it has failed. I am on my fourth one so far.
4) Take cover off air filter and see if any oil is present after filter where the breather pipe from top of rocker cover enters the filter housing. Read the thread "oil in air intake" by Balal to see why, also the DIY by JamesMc on sorting out the breather system This can happen any time after 70,000 miles and will put the MAF sensor at risk when it does.
5) Activated charcoal filter in fuel tank breather has almost certainly not been changed. Should be done at 70,000 miles, I left mine until 140,000 before my nerve failed. If it blocks the theory is that fuel tank can collapse (has anyone actually had that happen?) The filter is under the rear nearside wheel arch behind the wheel arch liner. It is a doddle to change, 3 pipes to pull off and push back on, different sizes so they can't be mixed up. Filter is pricey though, around £70 if my memory serves me right.
6) Stick a can of injector cleaner in the tank and brim it. Not only will the engine feel smoother and more responsive it will clean off any muck on the the tank level gauge senders. These are prone to fail on W208 CLK's and W202 C class cars. I use Wynns every 6000 miles.
7) If the steering seems to pull slightly to the n/s don't immediately assume the tracking is out. These cars are very sensitive to camber. Check on roads with camber to the right and also one that is dead flat. If the steering follows the camber or tracks dead ahead on the flat road then that is normal. To minimise uneven wear I use tyres that are NOT unidirectional such as Pirelli P6000 and rotate them around the car every 5,000 miles. The uneven wear is worse when mileage is predominately in towns (mostly cambered) and least on motorways (less camber)

Will stop there. that should while away a few hours. If anything else springs to mind I will post again.

Enjoy the car, I have

Jim

 

[bigasotonuk]

Hi,
I would also change the gearbox oil and filter, differential oil, engine coolant and brake fluid and check the pollen filter.
These items have a tendency to get left and/or forgotten about, even if the car has been serviced regularly.
Jim, where is this charcoal filter? inside the front wheel arch or rear? mine has never been changed as yet, not quite as many miles as yours yet though.

 

[Mr Teddy Bear]

I did'nt know about the charcoal filter Jim thanks.
There is a black triangular filter that sits on top of the cam cover I changed mine at 77k miles. Not mentioned in the Drivers Handbook. At 130 new plug's, go to Euro for those, identical to those from the dealer at half the price; same goes for Trany filter and joint. However buy the fluid from Merc' as its suppossedly fully synthetic; no way of checking because the bottles are labled up as Merc' proprietry item although we all know they don't own a refinery.
Have the brake fluid pumped through too.
Oh engine oil mine at 80k miles swallows semi-synthetic @ 1/2 litre per 1000 mile. I now use Shell Helix Ultra a 5W/40 with no oil use over 3/4 thousand miles, thats about it I think. Enough for now anyway!
Cheers,
Teddy Bear

 

[CLK?]

Excuse my stupidity... ATF ? Thanks

 

[whitenemesis]

Excuse my stupidity... ATF ? Thanks

Automatic Transmission Fluid

 

[CLK?]

Ah Ha ! Any good How-To Guides on the net or books you could recommend ? Thanks

 

[jimsinessex]

Hi,
Jim, where is this charcoal filter? inside the front wheel arch or rear? mine has never been changed as yet, not quite as many miles as yours yet though.

Rear N/S wheel arch

I did'nt know about the charcoal filter Jim thanks.
There is a black triangular filter that sits on top of the cam cover I changed mine at 77k miles. Not mentioned in the Drivers Handbook.
Teddy Bear

This is the upper part load to full load crankcase breather oil separator and is a mechanical device which can be opened and cleaned. There is no filter as such inside.
This is the breather I referred to in item 4 about the oil in air intake problem

Ah Ha ! Any good How-To Guides on the net or books you could recommend ? Thanks

The C class Haynes manual is useful as the CLK is based on C Class mechanicals. It doesn't specifically cover the Kompressor engine but the non-Kompressor 4 cyl petrol engine is covered which has many similarities. It also covers areas like suspension/steering, brakes, drive train in good detail.

Hope this helps,

Jim

 

[CLK?]

Just an update on the car, Changed all the fluids, the oil was lovely and clean to begin with, but thought I would do it all in one go ! Reading up on the foums, Would replacing the MAF be a good idea ? And which one should I buy ? Ive seen a few Bosch ones ?

 

[jamesmc]

With MAFs you should only buy from Bosch or from MB. I have added an eBay link below, but do not buy the cheap ones (circa £35.00) you see on eBay. They are cheap for a reason so wont last, if they work at all!

On my W208 CLK Cab (1999)
(On outer casing of complete MAF unit)
Bosch: 0 280 217 114
MB: 000 094 09 48

Availible on eBay for £149.90 + £6.50 shipping to UK or PT.
from: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/carpartsberlin
or
www.airmassmeters.com
email: info@airmassmeters.com
TEL: +44 208 462 2543
Mobile: +44 7984 404 739
Company name: Air Mass Meters
Address:
34 Hayes Garden, Hayes
BR2 7DG Bromley, Kent, UK


You can try and clean yours first of you wish. If so use a Spray Cleaner:
Isopropyl Alcohol Spray (Maplins/Radio Shack)

Refer to cleaning MAF's in the DIY section.

best regards
James Mc

 

[jimsinessex]

Just an update on the car, Changed all the fluids, the oil was lovely and clean to begin with, but thought I would do it all in one go ! Reading up on the foums, Would replacing the MAF be a good idea ? And which one should I buy ? Ive seen a few Bosch ones ?

If the car runs OK leave MAF sensor well alone and save your money.

At the first signs of any missfire then try cleaning the MAF sensor, this may well save it. In my experience once the car goes into "limp mode" the MAF has probably had it and that is the time to replace it with a genuine MB/Bosch one.

Jim

 

[SQ_W211]

Oh engine oil mine at 80k miles swallows semi-synthetic @ 1/2 litre per 1000 mile. I now use Shell Helix Ultra a 5W/40 with no oil use over 3/4 thousand miles, thats about it I think. Enough for now anyway!
Cheers,
Teddy Bear

I use 0w/40 oil in my car and haven't noticed it go down since changed about 6 months ago.

If there anything urgent that needs to be changed at 80k? When does the ATF needs changing? Also can someone advise what the purpose of a Pollen filter is?

 

[jimsinessex]

I use 0w/40 oil in my car and haven't noticed it go down since changed about 6 months ago.

If there anything urgent that needs to be changed at 80k? When does the ATF needs changing? Also can someone advise what the purpose of a Pollen filter is?

ATF, if it hasn't already been changed it is way overdue. I used to change mine every 50,000 miles (plus filter and gasket)and had no auto problems in 227,000 miles. Use the genuine MB fluid.

Pollen filter is above the front passenger's legs and cleans the air con/heater air. When it blocks heater output is affected. Easy to do, remove the passenger footwell air vent first.

Jim

 

[SQ_W211]

Thanks Jim, Oh by the i have tried Wynn's injector cleaner which has given the car alot more lively feel, Its alot more responsive when warm though. Couldn't feel much of a difference when cold.

Also for the first time i got 43mpg from mine on motorway (this was before i put Wynn's bottle in, so i would expect it to perform even better) wooo hooo

Cheers