Air Filter

My air filer was VERY dirty. I believe this part is available only from the dealer at this point. Not too bad, only $37. The following pictures should be sufficient to show you how to do the job. All you need is a flat-blade screwdriver. Note the notches in the filter and the "V" in the filter housing (and there's one on the underside of the cover) that have to be lined up.

Resolved?

Sears couldn't get the leak to express itself. They replaced all of the return line fittings. The replacements were metal- much bette rthan the old plastic ones. They also managed to replace all of the return lines and were so kind as to replace the power steering pulley and put on a new belt for free (I paid for the parts). They gave me a Hyundai as a loaner car :)

I'm a little bit bummed that I didn't get to do the serpentine belt, but it's on eless thing that I have to do.

Serpentine Belt Tensioner

My serpentine belt tensioner was different from the one shown in All Data. It looked like the one to the right. You use a Torx T60 to rotate it counter-clockwise, relieve the tension and remove the belt. If you want to hold it in place, insert a pin as shown(an allen wrench works great). There isn't much clearance so you need a serpentine belt tool and a low profile T60. Ones mounted in chrome sockets may not have enough clearance. I used a Lisle brand. A Craftsman 41831 serpentine tool works great. $29.99 is quite reasonable. While you have the belt de-tensioned, make sure that both rollers rotate smoothly.

Brake Fluid and SBC

MB call for DOT 4+ brake fluid. What's that? Well, it's just DOT 4 with slightly higher performance specs. DOT 4 works just fine. Amsoil makes a good product. As for the Electronic braking system on the Benz, you can simply unplug the SBC unit (picture at right) when working on the brakes or use the detailed procedure outlined here to disable it. Flushing the brake fluid seems a bit silly as any water absorbed by the brake fluid will be either evenly distributed in the brake fluid through brownian motion or greater in the fluid reservoir. I always just use a turkey baster reserved JUST for brake fluid (we don't want any contamination!) and suck as much fluid out of the brake fluid reservoir as I can and replace it with fresh fluid about once a year.

Brake procedures are below

Rear

Front

Wear Sensors

Fuel Filter

If you notice, the fuel filter has a small black plastic port on top. Why is this there? Hah! Genius! The port is there so you can attach a Mity Vac and suck the air out of the filter (which is then replaced by fuel) when you install a new one (first loosen the knurled plastic fitting). Bravo MB.

Also, notice the clamps have to be cut off and replaced with standard hose clamps.

More Dealership Incompetency

After having my vehicle for 4+ weeks and FINALLY fixing the cold start problem (they put the wrong glow plugs in because the parts catalog had the wrong part number listed), Sears Imported Autos returned my vehicle to me in January. To their credit, they gave me a C-Class loaner car for the duration of the repairs.

I assumed that they were competent and didn't check their work. Today, because I am leaving for a 3k mile trip in a few days, I decided to check things out and remove the mysterious "dark cover" over the engine (you need a Torx T30 and an 8mm socket). What I found was a marvel of engineering. The oil and fuel filter are delightfully accessible and the injectors are right on top. What a joy! More on that later.


The bummer was found under the foam injector cover... Leaking fuel injector(s)!! and a return line fitting busted by the shop and then JB welded back together. What shoddy workmanship. They didn't even bother to replace the rest of the fuel return lines. In the image right you can see the dark black of fresh diesel on the plastic and the black return line (new) at upper left and tan line (old) both exiting the top of the injector.

Here was their attempt at a repair to the plastic return line fitting. No, the JB Weld didn't hold.

Serpentine Belt Replacement

My power steering belt mysteriously had a large chunk taken out of it. This split the belt down the middle. As a result I need to replace the Pump pulley (MB part # A 611 230 0115) and the serpentine belt (ContiTech part # 6K2260). Continental has a great free T-shirt offer!

Anyway, here's the routing for the serpentine belt and all of its assciated components. This is one thing that you DON'T want to forget.