Hello from another new clk owner :)

[spoddy_clk]

Hello everyone

My name is Ronnie and I am the proud owner of a 2004 Mercedes 200 CLK 1.8L cabriolet.
Was mostly a Mazda man, owning a mazda rx-8 for 11 years and owned a lovely little mx-3 import for a good 16 years. Then came the decision to move onto something a little bit easier to get into and out of, now I am in my mid forties lol, so got the clk.

It's very tidy bar a few paint chips, a dark blue with blue soft top and cream leather interior. With the roof down the car looks a million dollars, but then you all probably know that.

My father had a 1994 W124 300D with a turbo fitted and loved how it was so refined and comfy to drive. Everything felt so solid and the auto box was so smooth. He has a 2006 e-class 220 cdi which is a lovely car in the silver, so thought I'd try out these Mercs for myself.

Look forward to chatting with you all and any help you can give me in looking after these beautiful cars will be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[A.J.]

Hi spoddy, welcome to the form Once bitten there is no going back, excellent choice

 

[SmartAmg]

Firstly welcome you old git,
mid forties (I wish)
sounds like a nice motor you've got there.
Pics when you can.

 

[spoddy_clk]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the welcome. I'll add some pics when it stops raining lol.

I had to replace the wind screen wipers with some Bosch ones, the passenger one seems to sit a little low to the bottom of the windscreen, dunno if the arm can be adjusted easily. The driver's wiper arm position seems fine.
Everything works, bar the headlight washers, they might need taken out and cleaned out of any gunk or maybe it's in the washer pipes and stopping the fluid getting through. Maybe not used that much etc, windscreen washers are fine.

I don't want to ask too much in this section of the forum, but some things have me scratching my head a bit.

The car had been sitting with fuel light on so we got a short test drive. Gearbox changed smoothly and seemed quick etc.
No CEL lights or other lights, just the foot brake needs a toe under it when pulling the hand release or the parking brake red light stays on. A typical fault and read you can adjust under rear seats or add a little spacer?

Unfortunately we ran out of petrol driving home from the dealers when we got to the top of our road. So had to get some in a small jerry can full and the car started ok. Went to get more petrol from Texaco and added 20 litres.
Then when running the engine over at idle while demo'ing the electric roof to the family, noticed the CEL was on. Pulled the code with a little code reader, P0172. Smells rich too, so thought maybe bit of dirt affecting the injectors as no light on driving home.

One other thing is when out today on a drive to see a Mercedes specialist around 10-15 miles from me, the temperature digital bar seemed to sit at just above 50, then when putting the car into the garage at home it was at 80.

So is this normal or could a thermostat be stuck and suddenly unstick or would I need a new coolant temperature sensor?

Again apologies as not the right place, but any suggestions would be welcome. I plan on booking the car in for a service.
I noticed the air filter and box had alot of fly corpses and dust/dirt, so cleaned the box and the air filter and replaced.
Was going to clean the MAF but looks like you have to remove alot of bolts and hard to reach clips to take the whole box out, so maybe leave as part of a service.

But what a lovely car to drive, it'll take a wee bit of getting used to an auto again and all the controls but you seem to float along in them, some power in sport autobox mode too. Dad thought it sounded like a six cylinder lol.

Thanks again for the welcome.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Welcome, lovely car and auto is the business, never go back
Sounds like a thermostat issue

 

[LostKiwi]

Hi and welcome. P0172 can be caused by a number of things :
1. Bad injector
2. Bad coolant sensor
3. Bad MAF
4. Bad O2 sensor

You need to look at live running values to determine which. Remember that a bad device upstream can cause a bad reading downstream.

The coolant should be at 80 degrees C under normal circumstances - check to see what temperature it actually is with a laser temperature guage to check whether the sensor is reporting correctly or if the thermostat has failed.
This may be contributing to your fault.

Given you've just bought the car I'd be talking to the seller and having them sort it.

 

[Blobcat]

Hello and welcome

 

[Wighty]

Welcome from a fellow CLK owner of 8 years now

 

[spoddy_clk]

Thanks guys.
First convertible and what a make to go with.
I suppose the car is trying to warm up quicker if more fuel being added. I take it a thermostat is an easy job to do. What's a good make to go with or is the mercedes part the best.
I noticed the mpg on a short journey started to come up to early to mid 20's.
Was wondering if things start to stick sitting too long at a garage and just needs a good drive to free up.

 

[Srdl]

Hi Ronnie and welcome to the forum and the world of Mercedes.

 

[Kev555]

welcome

 

[John Tinsley]

Welcome. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

 

[Wighty]

Thanks guys.
First convertible and what a make to go with.
I suppose the car is trying to warm up quicker if more fuel being added. I take it a thermostat is an easy job to do. What's a good make to go with or is the mercedes part the best.
I noticed the mpg on a short journey started to come up to early to mid 20's.
Was wondering if things start to stick sitting too long at a garage and just needs a good drive to free up.

I used an MB thermostat after finding an ECP purchased one didn’t fit right . Think MB was £40 a couple of years ago , yes it was an easy job

 

[spoddy_clk]

Few pipes had collapsed under the airbox and one was gunked up with oil. The Cat is rattling so getting one for it. It's the one under the car. O2 sensors were checked and ok. Handbrake had seized up so it's working now properly now. Cel came on again, the mechanic said to get Cat replaced at an exhaust company near by which should resolve it.
Think it takes a few drive cycles to settle everything down and cel to remain out.

Once I get the replacement Cat then will take for a good drive. He said thought running bit cooler would be ok and the engine is running over perfect now.

So hopefully nearly there. I noticed when driving out of the garage from cold start up, it drives out very quick was told this is normal?

 

[bembo449]

welcome Ronnie , I note you owned an RX8 for a long time but tell me , how many of those years were you able to actually drive it ? , im just teasing , I spent a good part of last night watching vids of LS1 powered RX8's

 

[spoddy_clk]

Thanks. I still own my rx8 ,drive every year and look after it, very reliable if you look after it like all cars. Sure it's getting me around reliably while the Merc gets sorted.
LS1 just defeats the purpose of the car tbh rx - rotary experimental, not a piston.

 

[spoddy_clk]

Mechanic plugged in the code reader which gave a lot of info, showed me the MAF signal was not reading correctly. Also said the engine should be at 80-90 C and should warm up after 5 mins so getting the Thermostat replaced and those Cam shaft sensor plug adapters put on to prevent the oil leaking into the plug connector and wiring harness. Oil was cleaned out the first time, so mechanic gonna clean the harness and MAF to ensure its all gone as was some slight oil on the longer ECU harness connector. Also gonna replace a few hoses around the Kompressor and a valve?

Hopefully it'll not run rich due to the Thermostat and the MAF and that CEL light will remain off so I can get out and enjoying the car. I have enjoyed the drives to the mechanic though, car drives quite well with the hose replaced under the air box it seemed better.

 

[daibevan]

Get thermostat from MB Grangemouth. Say you're a member on here for a discount.

 

[spoddy_clk]

My mechanic is ordering the bits n bobs thanks. He said with that engine it's normally the air pipes cracking/crumbling, thermostats stick open and that cam sensor oil leaking issue into the wiring loom. So it needs lots of contact cleaner and blown out with an air line and to clean in around the ECU connectors and MAF connection etc.

I was trying out the sport gear setting and noticed a second or so of a delay coming round a corner onto a straight road then whoosh like KITT in knightrider's turbo boost lol.

The thermostat replacement will get the car warmed up quicker and stay at 80/90 C while driving, so that should really help. I got about 27 mpg tonight according to the dash computer with a mixture of driving styles, so gradually getting up to the 32/33 reported, will get better when everything running right.

 

[spoddy_clk]

So got the air pipe with the little plastic valve replaced. There was a crack in the pipe on the left side. Also new thermostat is in. Car warming up quicker and staying at 80/90 degrees Celsius.
Also got those camshaft pigtail adapters put on.
Car drives nice when warmed up. Cel light came back on still p0172 and wasn't running correctly at cold start up.
So next is the O2 sensors as reckon oil got into them. Was told the MAF is ok.

Anyone know an easy way to remove the O2 sensor in the engine bay on the exhaust manifold.

I was going to blast the sensor plug with electrical contact cleaner first. To see if that'll get this damm cel light out. Just spoiling my enjoyment of the car as once warmed up the idle is better and is changing gears very smoothly.

Thanks.