vacuum repair myself

[D-money]

repaired vacuum leak myself, took apart my whole dash
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l149/dimonb16/DSC00466-1.jpg
this thing had a hole in it
thanks to benzaddict, showed me whats possibly the problem and gave me the replacement part
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l149/dimonb16/DSC00497.jpg

After i finished
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l149/dimonb16/DSC00077.jpg

[sensoryx]

wwwwwwwwwwwwwtf

i would never have the balls to pull smthing lik ethat

[chewiguy]

Seriously! The only thing I have to say is.. WOW.

If I attempted that, I would probably break more than I fix. >.<

[OzC36]

Good work D-money. Thanks for sharing the information and photos.

[xvvvz]

Congrats. It is the repair we all fear. How many hours?

[Cru328prod]

my heart just droppped when i seen the 1st picture.........i pray i don't have to do it

[alphanumeric]

why is it most Mercedes Benz owners are useless when it comes to mechanical and engineering skills..

I always say.. if a human put it together, a human can take it apart.

also labor is ridiculously expensive.. do it yourself and save hundreds, the money you save goes a long way.

;)

[D-money]

you guys are all over reacting. this job is nothing to fear. im like u , im 17, not a mechanic, dont work for mercedes, dont know how to do any car work. i just did some research and followed a small tutorial. (http://www.club202.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9835&highlight=vacuum+leak) do some research, learn where all the bolts and screws are, and just about anybody can do this.

anybody needs help with this, holla

[D-money]

Originally posted by xvvvz
Congrats. It is the repair we all fear. How many hours?

taking the dash off took me 3-4 hours.
the whole process took me 2 days, cause i had to wait till next day to get replacement part from benzaddict.

[D-money]

i never got a quote from the dealer if they were to do this. does any one know or have a general idea of how much i saved by doing this myself instead of going to the dealer?
i live in WA

[jnolte]

well the dealer charges from 100-120 an hour

[DRM]

nice work, what did the vacuum leak sound like? I have a noise in my far left air vent when the a/c is on it kinda sound like humming, was hoping i wouldn't have to do this but it seams easy enough.

[xvvvz]

Isn't the book time for this something like 8 hours? That doesn't include parts either. Serious $$.

If anyone is going to do this procedure, you need to visit this link:

http://www.club202.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12406&highlight=removal

[D-money]

Originally posted by xvvvz
Isn't the book time for this something like 8 hours? That doesn't include parts either. Serious $$.

If anyone is going to do this procedure, you need to visit this link:

http://www.club202.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12406&highlight=removal

yup, this was the procedure i used .

[D-money]

Originally posted by DRM
nice work, what did the vacuum leak sound like? I have a noise in my far left air vent when the a/c is on it kinda sound like humming, was hoping i wouldn't have to do this but it seams easy enough.

as seen in pic the little pump thingy had a hole in it, so as the tubes kept trying to suck air through it, as the air was escaping, it was making a snake like hissing sound in the right side of the dash(as circled in pic)
and yes, if your almost sure you know what the problem could be and where it could possibly be located, you can do this on your own, just follow the procedure posted above and you'lle get this done
good luck

[benzonline]

DAMN!! Give warning before posting pics like that haha.

I only seen this type of job being done on W140s with evaporator issues and if I ever had to do this on my w202 Id just get a W140.

Excellent job though! Any rattles or squeaks when put back?

[MTI]

One of the hidden joys of owning a Mercedes is when you start working on them yourself. You find out why the engineering in the cars are legendary. Even the W202 can be substantially "de-boned" with basic hand tools (screwdrivers , metric sockets and wrenches), and average skills.

You constantly think to yourself, or say out loud "now, that makes sense."

[D-money]

Originally posted by MTI
One of the hidden joys of owning a Mercedes is when you start working on them yourself. You find out why the engineering in the cars are legendary. Even the W202 can be substantially "de-boned" with basic hand tools (screwdrivers , metric sockets and wrenches), and average skills.

You constantly think to yourself, or say out loud "now, that makes sense."

exactly
thats what my experience was like

[benzonline]

That is very true. I mean I havent done a job like this one but even fixing or taking apart a small thing you can see the common sense that was used to put it all together.

[ryhi]

i had a leak somewhere and eventually my pump fried over time. ive been getting in and out of my car like a honda civic dx and got pretty damn used to it. i cant imagine how good it would feel to finally fix the problem. i really need to do this..

[martattack]

I feel your pain. I had to replace one of my vacuum actuators. I didn't pull the entire dash out.. just enough to reach the actuator which you can see in the second picture here:

http://pictures.mkosonen.com/d/1372-2/IMG_4728.JPG

http://pictures.mkosonen.com/d/1375-2/IMG_4733.JPG

[D-money]

yup, benzaddict told me about you (boominbenz)

[RacerXofFL]

my pops installed min in about 15 minutes, hes a dashboard jedi, used to do the 124 evaps in like 3 hours...

[RacerXofFL]

same one as both of you, defroster right?

[benzonline]

does this leak effect 99 C230k with the manual climate control?