[CLYDE]

Hello everybody,

I have a 1996 W124 (one of the early made-in-India cars), now in Mysore, Karnataka, which I bought from a person in Bombay on Christmas Day 2016. When I got the car here, she was idle for two months while I got the bodywork done, and then in March 2017, I changed the engine oil, the oil filter and the diesel filter since no records had been kept regarding the maintenance of the car.

The car runs around 2,000 km. a year max., just on weekends, just to keep the fluids moving and the systems running.

INDIANOIL says that the engine oil is good for 10,000 km. That will be around 5 years of running time for me.

I need to know how often I should change the engine oil, the filter and the fuel filter. Should everything be replaced every 2 years? Waste of oil...

Would it be OK to simply replace the oil and fuel filters at say, a 2-year interval? Retain the oil till 10,000 km. rolls around?

Hope to hear some thoughts about this... Thanks in advance.

CLYDE

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by CLYDE

Would it be OK to simply replace the oil and fuel filters at say, a 2-year interval? Retain the oil till 10,000 km. rolls around?

If you would check the owner manual it is very likely to advise replacing oil and oil filter at least every year or at a certain given mileage.

I have certainly gone two years with some of my classic cars on oil and filter replacements. Add the fact that these engine tend to be pretty bullet proof the chance of anything happening is very small indeed. On the other hand it is a very small job and if you use the cheapest oil with the correct specification it wont cost much either.

Having said that, check out this post where I cut open the oil filter and see how contaminated it is:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...ml#post4421957

I am not sure what the Mercedes manual says about the fuel filter. But on most cars it is usually somewhere between 50-100K kilometers. On all of my cars they have lasted much longer.

Check out this post where I cut open an fuel filter which has been on the car for many, many years;

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...ml#post4423301

As long as you have clean fuel, your fuel filter will last forever, or at least very long. Of course, in India you can not always count on the quality and containments of the fuel.

So, on the oil and oil filter you should be ok, but you might still want to consider chaning at least once a year. Fuel filter is no problem

Jeroen

[benz220]

I bought these off eBay for a RHD car. Absolutely perfect fit and looks to be good quality as well. Dealer prices were ridiculous!

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

Thank you. But I am unable to locate the place in map. Is it Automec or Automech?

+919325079059
Ask for Abdul

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by benz220

I bought these off eBay for a RHD car. Absolutely perfect fit and looks to be good quality as well. Dealer prices were ridiculous!

Brilliant.
Share the purchase link please.

[benz220]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Brilliant.
Share the purchase link please.

Unfortunately bought a while ago on eBay and no history. They were about USD 60 for the pair and the seller had a 100% rating and I think it shipped from Thailand.

Regards

[CLYDE]

Hello Benz220,

Great looking mirror boots, sad you cannot remember the source. I keep finding pairs on eBay, but cannot determine if they are for the Left-hand or the Right-hand drive vehicles. Sellers are sometimes clueless.

Did you take any pics of the items before installation? Would be really good if you had...

CLYDE

[benz220]

Sorry, no pictures, definitely Thailand seller, and he specified RHD.

[Kartik Deshmukh]

Hi everyone,

I recently acquired a W124 E220 silver, it is a good one and I was on a search for quite sometime. Initially the car had some issues like the ac relay and electrical issues. Got them fixed (hopefully) so far so good, but it goes like a dream!!

But few things are still there to haunt me like:

• The SRS warning light comes up when I turn on the headlights.
• Windshield washer tank leaks whenever I try to use the function.
• Safety headrest does not work.
• Front suspension groans a bit (not too sure if I need to check the bushing).
• Fog lamps have stopped working.
• Speedometer & Tachometer does not function (don’t know why).

It has been a month since I have acquired the beauty and I have driven it for nearly 1000kms. Any advice folks on these above mentioned issues Also I am attaching a few pictures of the car. Cheers!!

[DudeWithaFiat]

So, after many months, I managed to take the W124 to the service center to fix the center AC vents which was not blowing enough air. I remember DeepakMenon from this thread and many others in various Mercedes forums saying that it could be a vacuum leak. I had checked all the vacuum lines in the engine bay, removed and re-connected each one, but still the vents weren't throwing enough air. At the service center, the technician did the same, checked some lines under the engine cover too. And...20 mins later the center vents started throwing the air properly. The fan speed 2 is now good even for the humid Kerala summer. The rear headrests started working too. All for Rs.600/-. Don't know whether it is my mind, but after this, the car seems much smoother.

This was done at 'MRC motors' in Kochi.

While I was there, I told them of my ABS light which is always 'ON' and I already knew that my OVP relay is gone. When I told this to the technician, the first thing he asked was whether the tachometer is working. It indeed does not work. He said if we replace the OVP relay with a good one, it will fix the ABS light and tachometer. Does it make sense?

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

.

While I was there, I told them of my ABS light which is always 'ON' and I already knew that my OVP relay is gone. When I told this to the technician, the first thing he asked was whether the tachometer is working. It indeed does not work. He said if we replace the OVP relay with a good one, it will fix the ABS light and tachometer. Does it make sense?

No expert on the W124 Systems, but in many cars the ABS sensors are used to measure speed as well.

On an automatic you are likely to have in addition to the ABS sensor speed also another speed sensor on the gearbox output shaft.

So yes, the could be a correlation.
Jeroen

[benz220]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Brilliant.
Share the purchase link please.

Hi All:

I just found the link - it was sold by an ebay seller called Kam_fai. He currently has a pair for sale at $100 for a RHD car. Not sure if i am allowed to post a link here but will try in a separate post.

[benz220]

Originally Posted by benz220

Sorry, no pictures, definitely Thailand seller, and he specified RHD.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Side-View-M...YAAOSwceNZTNXp

Here is the link for a set of mirror boots for sale

[benz220]

The OVP relay controls a bunch of stuff....I would not be at all surprised if it fixes your issues. I had random lights flash on and off, replaced the OVP and all are gone. Did this a few years ago and no issues since.

Good luck. Also sent you a PM as requested!

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

So, after many months, I managed to take the W124 to the service center to fix the center AC vents which was not blowing enough air. I remember DeepakMenon from this thread and many others in various Mercedes forums saying that it could be a vacuum leak. I had checked all the vacuum lines in the engine bay, removed and re-connected each one, but still the vents weren't throwing enough air. At the service center, the technician did the same, checked some lines under the engine cover too. And...20 mins later the center vents started throwing the air properly. The fan speed 2 is now good even for the humid Kerala summer. The rear headrests started working too. All for Rs.600/-. Don't know whether it is my mind, but after this, the car seems much smoother.

This was done at 'MRC motors' in Kochi.

While I was there, I told them of my ABS light which is always 'ON' and I already knew that my OVP relay is gone. When I told this to the technician, the first thing he asked was whether the tachometer is working. It indeed does not work. He said if we replace the OVP relay with a good one, it will fix the ABS light and tachometer. Does it make sense?

[benz220]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

Thank you. But I am unable to locate the place in map. Is it Automec or Automech?

Sent a PM to you with his number

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by benz220

The OVP relay controls a bunch of stuff....I would not be at all surprised if it fixes your issues. I had random lights flash on and off, replaced the OVP and all are gone. Did this a few years ago and no issues since.

Good luck. Also sent you a PM as requested!

Originally Posted by benz220

Sent a PM to you with his number

Thank you benz220. I got the number and have spoken to him already. He did sounded a gentleman who knows the W124. I`ll meet him in one of the coming weeks.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

No expert on the W124 Systems, but in many cars the ABS sensors are used to measure speed as well.

On an automatic you are likely to have in addition to the ABS sensor speed also another speed sensor on the gearbox output shaft.

So yes, the could be a correlation.
Jeroen

Hope that is the case.

So the latest:

I reached Pune from Kochi in the W124. A long 1,500 km drive.



Only the last 120 km on the highway could've been better - with traffic jams due to road construction. We were stuck in a non-moving traffic for about 1 hour and it took almost 4 hours to cover the last 120 km. The drive itself was good and I mostly kept between 90-100. Occasionally touching 120 kmph. We stayed over at my brother-in-law's place in Bangalore and started to Pune from Bangalore sunday early morning and reached our place in Pune the same night.

So, the next day (monday) around 11 am I was unloading stuff from the trunk and started the car again just like that and idled the car for sometime. A few minutes later, I saw the car was dripping diesel. So I opened the bonnet and it looks like the diesel was leaking from the fuel filter. This morning when I checked again, the leaking seem to have stopped and the area around the fuel filter is dry. Not sure whether the leaking had started after the long drive on sunday or when the car idled Monday morning. I`ll take a look in the evening today to see if it is leaking again after I start the car.

P.S:- The 'E 220' instead of the 'E 250' was done on purpose. The original RC book said E220 even though it said Diesel and having everything else right (the engine size, number, cylinders etc). While renewing the registration last week, I didn't want any complications, so I took out the '5' out of '250' and stuck in a '2' which I had collected long back from somewhere. I`ll put the 250 back on it.