I was at work and found that they had some seat covers for $12 all black. At first I though it was a waste of money but i ended up changing my mind and pick up a pair. I was thinking about putting it in my Blue Accord but I felt it would look out of place in a blue car. I decided to install it in my 190E to protect the seats for now.
Yeah I know they look funny
I was looking at this picture i found on the internet of this mate black Evolution2 and it got me thinking. I wonder how much would it really cost to paint my Evo2 replica flat black. If it was cheap enough I'd paint it flat black.
My Chassis 2 class has 3 Alignment racks that we can use. The class only has about 10 people in it so we can use the racks pretty much as long as we want. Seeing how I haven't aligned my car since i got it, it would be a good idea to take advantage of it.
I was at class about to take my car in when just out of no where just started to hail small ice.
I was worried that even tho my car is higher my rear bumper might scrape when going up the ramp. I was fine. Yeah I was kinda scared going up the ramp. I brought my new Tie-rod center link to install. It should be easy as it only has two bolts to remove. Sorry no pictures. Turns out we couldn't remove it as it would not want to come off. So i just reinstalled the bolts and itghtened it back up.
The picture above is the after shot when my classmate noted my two outer tie-rods are lose. I Thought they where ok when I installed them 6 months ago. Turns out it was major lose, more like dangerous lose. The bolt sticking out on the top wasn't visible when I installed it. What we did was use a pry bay to apply tension to the bar this made sure that the inner bolt doesn't spin. With an Impact wrench we spun on the nut on a low setting. We did all four bolts. I spent more than 2 hours just fixing the tie-rod ends, I pretty much had no time to align my car.
In the two+ years of owning this car I haven't been able to get it on a car rack and look under it. This is my first time. My flex disk is crack, maybe I have a small leak in the front cover, and my rear sway bar link is missining a bolt (Not pictured).
^This was the damage done to the under side of my car when the pinion seal was leaking diff oil.A funny thing was happened in class that day.
Turns out one of my classmates was a guy who worked on my car before. He tested the car like 3 years ago for an emissions test, the funny part is he told me a story of when he was was doing an emissions test; that the heater core blew up and started to leak coolant inside the car.
Some new stuff came in the mail, I received: four sensors, a steering dampener, two load carrying lower control arm ball joints, and two shock absorber cover. Once the rain stops I'll get around to replacing the sensors.
Time to replace some sensors.
Watch out for some coolant spilling on the floor.
I hope that replacing some of these sensors will fix my high idel problem.
While working on my Honda Accord outside I let my 190E idel in my driveway for an hour. At first i thought i was hearing something for the person next door. But it turns out i could hear my exhaust from 15 feet away making this funny cracking/scraping sound from the exhaust.
I don't know what it is!
Sorry guys for the lack of updates I've been working, school, and its raining here so the weather wont allow me to work on my car. Any ways My camber plates are going to come in the mail some time this week and I need to pick up my bolts from the dealership. Yeah my next project will be removing the lower control arms by 3-9-09. By then I'll install my new Load carrying ball joints in the front with brand new sway bar bushings.
For those who don't know I'm currently taking an Alignment class at school and we have the newest up to date machines. The Hunter Machine as 12 different specs for the w201 alone. AMG 3.2, Sport shocks SLS and non SLS, Evo 1/2, 2.3-16v, 2.5-16v, ect.
Lets try the Evo2 spec.
I don't want to imagine how I'm going to get on to the rack when i lower my car soon. I might need to remove the front bumper. Anyways The screen above and on the right shows my specs on my car. Everything is messed up on my car really really bad.
The car drifts to the right since I installed my new suspention.
The steering wheel shakes.
The steering wheel is crocked.
Car sags to one side??
The big bolt on both LCA mounting points is a 22mm bolt. The bolt is off centered which allows us to move the LCA to adjust for Castor and Camber.
Messing around with the bolts trying to get everything in to the green
After two hours this is the best we could do. We didn't have enough time to do the rear. Yeah my rear tires are pointing to the right which is the cause of my car going to the right.
Overall the difference is huge it feels like the car drives faster now. Yeah it was tricky getting everything in to spec for now. I'll try the 2.3-16v setting on 3-16-09 I'm sure by then I'll have the camber plates and I'll be able to get the caster in to spec much easier even with lowering springs
Any one who is going to go in for an alignment I would recommend that when you visit a shop you should ask some questions first.
1. Can you do an Alignment on a Mercedes?
2. Do you have a Spreader Bar for the front Suspension?
^If they say No just leave and find someone else.
If they say yes make sure to ask them to use it and have them put that on the work order. If you catch them not using it call a manager over and tell them that all hunter machines require a spreader bar for ALL Mercedes. Since it's on the work order it plays in your favor.
The spreader bar pushes on the inside wheels of the car applying 25 foot pounds keeping everything still while being adjusted. This tool is needed and required by all the Hunter alignment machines.
This is my cheapo spreader bar. I haven't tried it yet so i don't know if it works.
My Honda Accord is sitting on jack stands in the garage so i can't work on my benz to install springs in the time frame i need. My LCA ball joint replacement will have to wait till fall of 2010 as that will be the next time I'll be able to take my Alignment class again.
I tried to do a quick spring change and that didn't go good and i just gave up for the lack of time as i had other stuff to do that day
My camber plates came in today. These camber plates will be installed and the front of my car lowered by March 23 2009.
I tried to do a quick install today before my auto class. I thought i could toss them in fast but turns out it's not as easy as i thought they would be. The steering dampener I'll install at school.
If you look closely at the tire you can see small cracks. That was caused by my messed up alignment and poor toe setting.
to With the Mercedes spring compressor in place along with a jack i was able to safely remove the front shock absorber.
The haynes repair book requires that I get brand new bolts as they have a special tread locking compound. I went to the dealership and paid $17 for four bolts. I'm pretty sure i could just use Thread locker but if the repair book calls for it; I'll do it.
Maybe it was a good idea that i replace that rubber protector.
^if you look closely you will see a crack and i think thats the reason why my camber plates didn't sit flush. That could also be a reason why my passengers camber couldn't come in to spec. Sorry i ran out of time and didn't get a chance to take more pictures. I'll post them up soon
^My only concern is now the the shock absorber may bottom out^
If you look closely you can see the strut mount stick out but on the picture on your right its not visible. This picture is taken on top of the ABS box
the lack of tread that is exposed is kinda of concerning to me. I have new bolts on the way as I'm not supposed to use the OEM bolts.
Something interesting i found on the youtube. Maybe i could use this to get over speed bumps
Something interesting I saw. Using a cellphone to make a HUD on the windsheild.
I've been really tied up with a lot of other things lately so I haven't been able to do much. I took my smiley plate and put it on my passengers side visor for fun. I got the idea from a coworker.
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