97 MB E320

[roughneck]

I worked at a MB dealership in Indianapolis. An older woman came in as I was leaving for the day in her E320 saying it was overheating and making a funny noise. I opened the hood, the harmonic balancer had completely disintigrated, no belt turning anything, rubber flying everywhere. The engine was about to melt down :!: Not exactly an uncommon thing for the 112 and 113 motor to have problems with the harmonic balancer, but that is the worst I have seen.

[shadetree]

Hey roughneck, just wanted to say welcome to 10W40. I don't know much about MB's , heck don't know anything or even had a close look . But we can always use another cyberwrench around here :wink: ,right Dude,crank and willnick?
Make yourself at home and thanks for helping out

Shade

[tac]

roughneck Wrote:Not exactly an uncommon thing for the 112 and 113 motor to have problems with the harmonic balancer, but that is the worst I have seen.

Anything special I need to know about an '01 E240?
Maintenance and repairs are covered by the company (company car), but I still like to know what to look out for.

Had a heck of a time trying to give a jump start. Couldn't find the &^$#@ battery. Yeah, under the back seat. But couldn't figure out how to release the rear cushion. Finally found the little box with a "+" on it under the hood which is a positive terminal and was able to connect a cable, but it was a 40 minute escapade and I never did get to the battery! If I ever need to change it I guess I'll have to have it towed to the dealership. Like I said, everything's covered by the company, but what a pain...

Obviously, Mercedes did not intend for people to work on these things themselves without some specialized tools and insider knowledge.

TAC

[roughneck]

You mean an E320? Not much to tell, except it is a pretty nice car. I like the 210 body style E class. Keep an eye out for leaks, the rear diff is known for leaks. Make sure you keep up on your A and B services. The dealership knows about that and will give you the information. The battery is a pain, isnt it? To get to it, look under the cushion on both sides, there is a little release for the right and left. then pull the cushion forward and up. You will see the battery on the passenger side. I dont really recommend jumpstarting them anyway, not with another car anyway. But you can in a pinch. The M112 motor in them is really solid. Six bolt mains, aluminum block, SOHC configuration, chain driven oil pump. Hope you enjoy your car. It will give you problems, but in my opinion this is one of the better cars MB has put out. Oh, hope you dont ever have to replace a headlamp(the whole unit), the front bumper has to come off! Have fun.

[tac]

roughneck Wrote:You mean an E320?

Actually, it's an E240 (which is really a 2.6 liter) Since I'm on a rotation in Germany, I see a completely different set of engine configurations over here. You can't even get a 5 liter M class without doing a super-special order. People are driving E180's all the time - hard to believe. Itmay take them a while, but they get them up to 120MPH on the autobahn all the time.

When I get back to the US, I might even consider a diesel - I understand MB will start importing them again. The new ones are incredibly smooth and quiet, and with the different diesel formulation over here they don't seem to make any more exhaust than gas cars do. HP is up from older models, and of course, there's all that torque

TAC

[roughneck]

Ok, your in Germany, that explains it. I know the 240 motor.