calling all bay area mechanics

[chimchongdlight]

so on my way to work this morning as im pulling into the stoneridge mall parking lot, i work at the mall. My car started to over heat and the needle shot up to 90 to almost 100 degrees. Ive been having problems with it lately with it, but nothing like this, i just now saved up enough money to get it fixed. As it was smoking i hurried and parked my car and turned it off..now im stuck, I know i need to get a headgasket done due to oil leaking into my coolant. now im stuck at work til about 6 when im off

my question is, does anyone reccomend a shop or a mechanic who can do the work? I just moved here to dublin from sacramento so im kind of stuck not knowing anyone that can work on the car or a good reasonable shop. im going to have to get it towed somewhere tonight, so now im just trying to figure out who and where. anyone want to help me out or guide me the right way? much appreciated for sure

[chimchongdlight]

anyone every heard of benztek motorsports in livermore?

[hvmercy]

sorry to hear you're having this problem.

I've never heard of Benztek.

Since i'm closer to the peninsula I have many choices nearby me. Most notably All Mercedes located in Oakland. For other major things I need to get done
on my cars I'd go to Smythe European or Park Ave motors, both are run by the same company.

Good luck.

[chimchongdlight]

So my cars been in the shop for 2 weeks now and he hasnt even gotten the head pulled off yet. He said i might have waited a little too long to bring it in. He said whoever worked on this car before hacked everything up. Bolts and screws were missing and or stripped. My coils werent even bolted down, they were just sitting there. Etc. he said everything he has touched has been damaged. These are the pictures he sent me this morning
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e208/chimchongdlight/69e3cd15.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e208/chimchongdlight/90b40001.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e208/chimchongdlight/9ef88a8d.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e208/chimchongdlight/2e907785.jpg
Im pretty scared to see what the final bill is. At first he was saying 16-1800 hundred. Now who knows what in looking at. Hope its not more than what i bought the car for. Hopefully when he opens the head, its not too bad. It is an i6 c280 so lets see how stron this motor really is. This is a very sad day

[atikovi]

so on my way to work this morning as im pulling into the stoneridge mall parking lot, i work at the mall. My car started to over heat and the needle shot up to 90 to almost 100 degrees.

What do you mean, "Started to over heat and the needle shot up to 90 to almost 100 degrees." The car has a 87 degree thermostat thats not even fully open at 90. 90 to 100 is normal operating temperature. There is a red mark on the gauge to indicate over heating and that is above 120 degrees.

[chimchongdlight]

Well yea. After that. It kept going higher n higher. Then smoke started coming out. Thats when i was able to park my car

[MikeD]

If he's just changing out engine parts for that much then trash your current motor and swap it for another m104 from an E320 or C36. I mean with over 2 grand you can do a lot.

[atikovi]

Engines are $200 at Pick&Pulls around here.

[taz069]

I'm with Miked on the motors swap!! Check my thread in performace called 1996 c280 head work. With all the problems you have mentioned so far your shop bill gonna be super pricey. And yes pick and pull is a great place for parts and pieces but a motor that you cant crank?? Might just walk into the same problem again. Now here is a note for ya. Item# 270908193432 is of a ended auction on ebay, ac comp seller motorcityautomotive. The dude's email is (sgtjoker1964@gmail.com) his son wrecked his low milage 94-95 c280 and they are parting it out. I bought the ac comp and headliner. Drop them a email he might let the motor go cheap. And it was running!

[chimchongdlight]

The motor is still goot. He called today and said he finally got the head off and it looks better than he thought. It was my cooling system that was all crudded. And since my car came from the eastcoast. It wasnt lookin good. As of right now. Im looking pretty good. Gotta keep my fingers crossed

I never said my motor didnt crank. It starts right up!

[taz069]

Not that your motor didn't crank the ones from pic and pull. Sorry for that.

[chimchongdlight]

Hey so 2 months and $2160.50 dollars later ifinally got my car back this morning. Everythings running good except he said my EGR might be going bad. He said when he tested out the car the light came on and he pulled the codes. It went off though he said and it never came back on. And if it does to being it back. I need to pass smog by the 28th of august. Maybe if it doesnt come on by wednesday, my day off, ill take it in to smog it.

These are the things that got done on the car:
Cylinder headgasket set
Valve cover gasket
Radiator hose
Radiator hose
Heater hose
Thermostat kit
Coolant hose
Power steering hose
Gasoline (lol i brought it in empty)
Guardol ect motor oil
Expansion tank
Coolant
Transmission fluid
Radiator

On the recommendations of what i should get looked at next is:
Lower control arm bushings
Right sway bar mount needs to be welded back on (???) not sure what that means
Front rag joint coming apart

Also he said that i should drive it for a couple days and monitor my check engine light. He said it came on then he pulle the codea and it said that it was my EGR. He said it turned off, so if it comes back on to bring it back, i need to get my smog checked by the 28th of august so since its not on right now, maybe i should pull out the EGR and clean it then take it to get smogged hu

Well other than that, my cars got 190,142 on the odometor and still running very strong at this point. This is the first time ive ever had to get it serviced with such drastic repairs

[anf6789]

i just cracked my right swaybar mount, welded it yesterday. or you can replace the piece. no big deal.

Im glad to see you saved the C280!

[chimchongdlight]

Thanks man!! Yea since the motor is still strong and durable i wanted to keep it running. I could have easily swapped the motor to something super sick. But its ok

Ok so i can just replace the sway bar mount? Thats good. Ill be in the market for these little suspnsion components soon. Change out all the bushings. Might as well do my ball bearings and shock absorber too. And gear shift bushing. Also need to fix my fuel filler hose bc its leaking gas when i fill up. Might as well do the fuel filter while im at it. Haha damn and my AC needs some work since its leaking somewhere

Well. I guess i cant be to mad right?

[anf6789]

Might as well do my ball bearings and shock absorber too. And gear shift bushing. Also need to fix my fuel filler hose bc its leaking gas when i fill up. Might as well do the fuel filter while im at it. Haha damn and my AC needs some work since its leaking somewhere

Well. I guess i cant be to mad right?

hence why im trying to sell my 94 for a 97 C36. too many things to fix haha

[chimchongdlight]

Haha yea. I was thinking about it. But since the car was already broken. I wouldnt get much for the car. And i got 190xxx om the odo. So its not valued as much. So i might as well keep fixing it and keep it

[chimchongdlight]

So im having a little play in my gear shifter. I read you can just replace the bushing correct? Well on autohausaz it shows two of them. Which one is the right one? I have a 96 c280

This?
http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=afkqcuy0hzssydnt0mqnmn2h&makeid=800016@Mercedes&modelid=1195488@C280&year=1996&cid=33@Transmission/Transaxle%20System&gid=11004@Auto%20Trans%20Shift%20Linkage%20Bushing

Or this?
http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=afkqcuy0hzssydnt0mqnmn2h&makeid=800016@Mercedes&modelid=1195488@C280&year=1996&cid=33@Transmission/Transaxle%20System&gid=2329@Gear%20Shift%20Part

[chimchongdlight]

Same thing with fuel filters

Which one?
http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=afkqcuy0hzssydnt0mqnmn2h&makeid=800016@Mercedes&modelid=1195488@C280&year=1996&cid=22@Fuel%20%26%20Air%20System&gid=6200@Fuel%20Filter

And will i need the fuel filter seal?
http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=afkqcuy0hzssydnt0mqnmn2h&makeid=800016@Mercedes&modelid=1195488@C280&year=1996&cid=22@Fuel%20%26%20Air%20System&gid=11157@Fuel%20Filter%20Seal

[chimchongdlight]

Would anyone know why my CEL would come on. But when i take it to the shop, no codes are present, whats up with that?

[wichipong]

Would anyone know why my CEL would come on. But when i take it to the shop, no codes are present, whats up with that?

CEL light on no codes read by reader means its a mb only code... try to go to someone with a star diagnostic tool or something like that..

[wichipong]

unless its like oil level or something like that...

[chimchongdlight]

Ahh i didnt know that. Well after i left the shop the light turned off so ill drve it around more and see if it comes back on. I wanna take it to smog right now while its off. Would u think thats smart? I dont have a day off til wednesday anyway so the lights got til then to come back on

[wichipong]

i could also mean gas cap is loose...

[chimchongdlight]

ill check all those, thanks wichi...for now though, the light hasnt come back on. i'll wait til wednesday to figure out what to do, since thats my day off

also, can someone post up a pic of a sway bar mount? my mechanic said its broken/cracked but i have no idea what it looks like. i live in an apt so i cant just jack up my car and check it out.

what are some good LCA bushings out there?