1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel - W210
Some Basic W210 Specs
My E300D W210 Specs
- VIN - WDBJF20F1VA373390
- Model - 210.020
- Engine - 606.912
- Automatic Transmission - 722.600
- Differential - 3.46:1
- Options :
ETS - Electronic Traction System
Manual Transmission Info
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| Some specs on man. trans type 717.417 |
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| Some specs on man. trans type 717.412 |
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| Some specs on man. trans type 6-speed |
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| Mercedes 90s Models - part number reference list : |
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Inherited Problems : Leaky Axle
What I find most interesting about buying a used car, is the state of mind of the seller. Almost always cars get sold because of sudden expensive problems, prohibitive to keeping the car. How bad things had to get, and how negligent and uncaring the owner had to be, before finally throwing in the towel? And when the decision is finally made to sell, how greedy he wants to be on price, and what problems hes comfortable with secretly unloading onto others.
This car was quite noisy, coming from the driveline. I soon discovered that the axle was wet & empty, it'd leaked all the fluid out. Likely from the two output shafts, possibly out of the main aswell. How long was the owner driving it empty, and how much damage was done, no idea. Im going to assume the bearings have burnt out and theres nothing left of the seals. The magic moment came when I went to open the filler plug - seized, and mystery solved. At some point some mechanic likely informed him theres no way that plug is coming out, might aswell drive it and hope for the best.
Inherited Problems : Noisy Transmission
Inherited Problems : Rusty Front Suspension / Spring Perch
Common problem with W210.
Inherited Problems : Butchered wiring
Wires dangling everywhere, radio was not driving a pre-amp out thus bypassing the amp, the shifter cannot go into the low gears.
Cleaned up all the wiring. Need to figure out why shifter isn't working, also shifter sheathing is missing.
To remove from the car :
- Put the gear in N or D, it'll be easier to access the clip underneath.
- Remove the negative battery terminal before you start.
- Make sure the parking brake is ON
- The clip underneath is a bit tricky. It would help if you did the clip by starting in the passenger seat. Unscrew from the three hex bolts.
- Put it in D manually and then tilt the unit towards the driver side so you can see the clip underneath.Use pliers hold the clip from the sides, it simply slides off but you'll need to try a couple of times.
- Put some sort of electrical tape etc around the shifter underneath incase the TCM moves when you change gears. Tape around that lever and tape the other end to something inside the car. This way when you take the clip off, the shift rod won't drop down making it difficult for you to grab it again to put the clip on again.
To reset the car afterwards :
- when u put the battery back on, lock / unlock the car with the key, and then, the ABS/BAS lights will remain on.
- turn the steering wheel from extreme right to extreme left 3 or 4 times, and the lights will go off.
- for the windows, simply keep the window up button pressed for each window for more than 4 seconds for each window after all the windows are already fully up. that will sync the windows too.
- for the sunroof, once the sunroof is closed, keep the button pressed towards close side for another 4 seconds.
Inherited Problems : Broken Column
For some reason the steering column has been monkeyed with. The switches spin around the column, and the previous owner decided to blotch black paint over parts of the column.
Was able to find a doner W210, and salvage the steering column trim, plus switches. Replaced all broken/damaged parts, good as new.
Inherited Problems : Headlight Malfunction
Half the headlights dont work. I tested the voltage to the plug, and theres no power going to the left side, so theres an electrical problem.
W210 Fuse lists, Headlight pinout :
Turns out just the parking bulb socket was broken, and the low beam was just burnt out.
Inherited Problems : Exhaust Noise
