Just secured a 450 SEL 6.9 after bit of a chase (years)

[rumb]

Might find the hoses here

https://www.mercedespartz.com/page/1/?s=W116+hose&post_type=product

[andrewk]

Well, this whole set of work has blown out of proportion with the intake replacement.

The process to separate the lower ball joint from the control arm/wishbone has been gruelling. They have obviously been installed with an excessive amount of torque, causing the spindle of the ball joints (TRW brand with 90s date code) to be stuck in the hole. I now have pain in both of my arms from the hammering.

So far I have separated one of the joints but I had to dismember it and hammer, drill and yell at it for three hours (after i'd already spend hours trying with ball joint tools and conventional methods, breaking a brand new Kukko tool in the process, one Chinesium ball joint tool turned to glitter as it was tightened).

Today i'll attempt to get the other side apart and then press out the ball joints from the steering knuckle, get those blasted and powder coated and install fresh genuine joints. Hopefully I won't have to do this job again any time soon.

I had the fan blasted and painted with Cerakote which has turned out really well. Small wins. Hopefully i'll have the car back together in a fortnight or so; I really am keen to just drive it for a while without leaks, creaks and annoyances.

[daantjie]

Oi, yes indeed, I think we've all been stuck in suspension work purgatory before, it's usually ugly with lots of colourful language involved always amazes me when I see shops do suspension work.  It's almost always a dude with a BFH (Big effing hammer) giving the part in question a couple of smart wacks and out she comes.  I guess it comes with experience as I have pretty much always had to resort to tons of heat and an inordinate amount of force on all the pullers and separators to get them to let go, usually with a loud bang and pop!

[Jed]

Oh Andrew,

I feel for you! That ball joint makes MY hands hurt!!

One trick that has not failed me yet is to use a pneumatic impact gun and hit the side of the connector (where you would hit it with the BFH).  Works every time but can make the end link less than pretty when your done. Of course so does the BFH, but this is a lot less work.

I spent Saturday taking down the entire front suspension on a W108 and the mercedes gods smiled on me.  Not a single rusted/broken or seized bolt.  Must have been a first for me.

[rumb]

Fan looks much better.  Why did you choose Cerakote?  Looks like an interesting product.

[andrewk]

Fan looks much better.  Why did you choose Cerakote?  Looks like an interesting product.

Giving it a try as the finish is nice, high chemical resistance and very high heat resistance so it should look good for a while. Seemed to be a better option than powder coating in terms of durability and the guy who does it here in Sydney is a good guy. (Sydney Cerakote). He is also doing a lot of work for Porsche shops and the finish keeps the Magnesium alloy fans looking great, so I assume the Benz fan will be a similar situation.

A friend gave the left hand ball joint end link a mighty whack and it came out last night.

[andrewk]

I just received some bad news about the HPF regulator from Martin.

The housing, near fittings is cracked and will not be usable in the car.

Curious to know if anyone has one of these in good condition that I can send for rebuild? Also the valve block, I will probably obtain a spare of that too. Everything else in the system has been rebuilt now.

[andrewk]

Happy New Year to all of you - and thank you again for all the assistance and support provided over the last year.

Well, I finally have the parts ready for reinstallation on the 6.9.

I had the replacement (and original lower section) intake manifold vapour blasted and cleaned it thoroughly. Unfortunately the intake manifold still had pinholes in the crankcase ventilation pathway, and the entire section was full of Carbon, glued together with oil vapour and blasting garnet from the initial repair. The welded section is also leaking, so I sealed it with high temperature clear RTV after exhaustive washing of the channel - it now passes water and solvent without leaking.

I also sealed the EGR intake port with a M26 x 1.5 plug, and used Permatex sealant on the threads. The upper to lower section rubber seals have also been replaced, and the throttle body cleaned, ready for assembly. The plug was sourced from Sparex and is good quality, works perfectly in that thread. I also sealed the inside with clear RTV to ensure it does not leak.

Tomorrow i'll assemble the intake manifold and get that ready for installation. I'll also start to re-assemble the suspension - although I still need to change the upper control arm bushings on the driver side - they are difficult to access.

One other thing, it seems that the upper control arm to chassis bolts were installed the other way round. Service manual suggests there was a change from the bolts going from front to back - to back to front, with the nuts on the front side of the strut tower chassis area. Can anyone confirm which is correct? As they have been installed with bolts from front to back (nuts to rear) in the past.

The only thing missing now is the water pump gaskets. I have ordered them from two different places so I have a template, but as yet - nobody has delivered. I also have some Klingersil 4430 gasket material in order to cut a better quality gasket once I have a drawing created.

What an involved process this has been - and far greater expenditure than planned. But I see no point in doing this half baked. I want to be able to enjoy the car regularly and reliably.

One last thing; it seems the air injection pump was removed at an earlier time. That means there were many sources of air/vacuum leaks not corrected. Now that I am removing the entire EGR system, i'll hopefully be able to improve reliability with this system no longer a source of issues.

[UTn_boy]

YOU'LL Need to buy a chain tensioner for engines without secondary air injection, and you'll need to source a set of cylinder heads that don't utilize secondary air injection.   It's not plug and play!

Upper inner control arm bushings are mounted with the lock nut to the rear from production start to production end. 

[andrewk]

YOU'LL Need to buy a chain tensioner for engines without secondary air injection, and you'll need to source a set of cylinder heads that don't utilize secondary air injection.   It's not plug and play!

Upper inner control arm bushings are mounted with the lock nut to the rear from production start to production end. 

Australia and USA use different components. I have been advised that it is possible to delete both the air injection system (which was already removed long ago) and the EGR system. Just changing the ignition timing to ensure it is adequately advanced. I have a Bosch engine analyser (ignition and fuel) so I can dial it in perfectly.

Do you have any literature which states that the heads are different? Air intake manifold is different from Euro models but I see no difference in the heads or chain tensioner parts.

[andrewk]

Intake manifold is now completely rebuilt and resealed, ready for installation.

Also have the steering knuckles and components back on the car. I just need to figure out how to get to the right side hydraulic accumulator and then get all the lines connected.

This forum has been so helpful for all the little bits of information which are not obvious or in the service/technical literature. Thank you all for your help.

Now, I hope the whole system works without leaks. Fingers crossed.

[daantjie]

Wow that intake is a show piece! Well done

[Nabstud]

Who cares if it works, looks bloody fantastic!!!

[andrewk]

Who cares if it works, looks bloody fantastic!!!

Thank you. Has been the definition of a "labour of love".

Intake is now reinstalled.