Changing Spark Plugs on W210, E320,2001
#21
12-12-2009, 11:58 AM
Does anybody know whay type of tool is required for remove radio panel from E430 2000. I can see two small slots on the bottom of this panel. Dealer told me that is takes some time to remove this panel. Also I want to remove panel below that shows all the heaters setting because I lost light in it so I will have to replace lights in it.
Thanks for any information
Thanks for any information
#23
12-16-2009, 01:53 AM
Changing Spark Plugs on W210 E3202001
sweet now i know what i am looking at. ive changed many spark plugs in my life and have never seen something like this. would you recomend changing the wires too?
#24
01-06-2010, 10:30 AM
Does anybody know whay type of tool is required for remove radio panel from E430 2000. I can see two small slots on the bottom of this panel. Dealer told me that is takes some time to remove this panel. Also I want to remove panel below that shows all the heaters setting because I lost light in it so I will have to replace lights in it.
Thanks for any information
Thanks for any information
Well, it's been awhile, but in case you haven't found out, they're called 'radio removal keys'. When inserted they compress the spring loaded catches that keep the radio and CC from being pulled out. In my opinion the best ones are from the dealer (Becker). But plenty of aftermarket ones of varying quality. All are inexpensive.
#25
01-06-2010, 10:36 AM
The long nose pliers may not have the angle that you need to get to the spark plug boot to pull it straight out.
I bought a Husky 4-piece double box wrench from Home Depot for $12. It came with 4 double headed wrenches (8-9mm, 10-11mm, 14-15mm, 17-19mm) then used a bolt cutter ($20) to cut half of the 17mm head. The resulted tool looked and worked much like that famous and expensive Hazet # 2771. If you don't have a bolt cutter, a saw might do the job but it takes longer. I was very careful when cutting the wrench's head. The metal fragment would fly out at random. I positioned the bolt cutter onto the wrench, placed a cloth towel over before I cut so the metal fragment would fly nowhere.
http://i35.tinypic.com/5o9rmc.jpg
I bought a Husky 4-piece double box wrench from Home Depot for $12. It came with 4 double headed wrenches (8-9mm, 10-11mm, 14-15mm, 17-19mm) then used a bolt cutter ($20) to cut half of the 17mm head. The resulted tool looked and worked much like that famous and expensive Hazet # 2771. If you don't have a bolt cutter, a saw might do the job but it takes longer. I was very careful when cutting the wrench's head. The metal fragment would fly out at random. I positioned the bolt cutter onto the wrench, placed a cloth towel over before I cut so the metal fragment would fly nowhere.
http://i35.tinypic.com/5o9rmc.jpg
#27
01-07-2010, 10:27 AM
They're pretty easy to find. I don't know where you're located but Harbor Freight Tools has a set which includes the radio keys and the pulling hooks to remove the instrument cluster (about $15 I think), PepBoys and Autozone also have sets of keys for several different cars but one pair works for MB. Some people have made their own out of aluminum sheet and one I guy said he used his wife's nail files (not recommended). The nicest ones have a little notch on one edge which catches the edge of the opening for the latch and rings on the other end to slip your fingers into for pulling. Pulling hooks are also handy since there are several bulbs on the back of the cluster as well that may need changing.
Good luck.
#29
01-20-2010, 10:40 PM
My experience with changing plugs
I followed all of the great information here to corrrectly change the plugs on my 2001 E430 wth 60,000 miles. Bought the best Bosch plugs and took my time to do the change out carefully. I have changed lots of plugs on most of my cars, trucks and MC's over the last 50 (?) years and I have never had any problems. But this time I had a bit of a problem that I thought I would share to offer another perspective.
When ordering the plugs from AZautohouse, I though about getting new ignition wires, but based on the advice here I decided to forgo the new wires since it was sugested that the old ones should be good. The install went well and the car seemed to run great when I took it for a test ride. It ran better than it has run in years....I was all smiles. that was yesterday. Today I went to get it smogged for the registration requirement in CA. It was only 8 miles to the place, it was raining, and the trip was brief, except that after riding 5 miles in the rain, the CHECK ENGINE light came on( first time this has happened in 9 years) and the engine began to run rough. Oh **** I thought, what could this be. My gut said that it must be electrical. I also knew that I had been very careful with this plug change and that I had put everything back as it should be, so what could it be? It sure seemed to be electrical since it was pretty good case of the shaky running problem, it was quite rough running at idle. I considered my options; 1) no sense of going to the smog test center...it sure would fail, 2) I could go home and try to figure it out, but if its electrical I would have a tough time diagnoising the problem since I do not have a code reader, so, 3)I decided to go to my dealer and have them diagnois the problem. Since I know a guy there I was able to get immediate service and walla! it was an ignition wire problem.....and one of the senior mechanics indicated that it was quite common for the wires to fail after plug changeout for wires 9 years old, ever if the mileage was only 60,000.
So, my advice is when you change the plugs, change the wires too. I would normally have done this....but I mistakenly decided not to change the wires when someone indicated it should not be necessary. It's not cheap, the dealer quoted $450 for the set, but AZautohouse is about $160 for a comparable set, and doing it right the first time is alot easier than having to re-do it all over as I have to.
I thought it would be helpful to share my experience to help others.
When ordering the plugs from AZautohouse, I though about getting new ignition wires, but based on the advice here I decided to forgo the new wires since it was sugested that the old ones should be good. The install went well and the car seemed to run great when I took it for a test ride. It ran better than it has run in years....I was all smiles. that was yesterday. Today I went to get it smogged for the registration requirement in CA. It was only 8 miles to the place, it was raining, and the trip was brief, except that after riding 5 miles in the rain, the CHECK ENGINE light came on( first time this has happened in 9 years) and the engine began to run rough. Oh **** I thought, what could this be. My gut said that it must be electrical. I also knew that I had been very careful with this plug change and that I had put everything back as it should be, so what could it be? It sure seemed to be electrical since it was pretty good case of the shaky running problem, it was quite rough running at idle. I considered my options; 1) no sense of going to the smog test center...it sure would fail, 2) I could go home and try to figure it out, but if its electrical I would have a tough time diagnoising the problem since I do not have a code reader, so, 3)I decided to go to my dealer and have them diagnois the problem. Since I know a guy there I was able to get immediate service and walla! it was an ignition wire problem.....and one of the senior mechanics indicated that it was quite common for the wires to fail after plug changeout for wires 9 years old, ever if the mileage was only 60,000.
So, my advice is when you change the plugs, change the wires too. I would normally have done this....but I mistakenly decided not to change the wires when someone indicated it should not be necessary. It's not cheap, the dealer quoted $450 for the set, but AZautohouse is about $160 for a comparable set, and doing it right the first time is alot easier than having to re-do it all over as I have to.
I thought it would be helpful to share my experience to help others.
#30
01-21-2010, 09:47 AM
Just a few tips (sorry if I'm repeating)
You definitely want the Hazet wrench or equivalent. It is the perfect tool for pressing off the very tight spark plug boots in a very tight area. Can be used for pressing them back on as well. I bought mine from the dealer ($35). Another handy item is a universal adapter.
Plug wires rarely go bad unless abused. There is a resistance spec for testing but I don't recall what it is.
Torque for Coil Pack mounting bolts (T30) is 8Nm. Plugs are 28Nm. If you don't have a torque wrench, Bosch procedure for flat seat plugs is finger tight plus 1/4 turn (to compress seal). You will probably have trouble finding a 16mm spark plug socket. 5/8" (15.875mm) will work well.
Do not use anti-seize compound on newer Bosch plugs. They have a special coating which makes it unnecessary.
Good luck and enjoy the savings. Some report dealer charge is north of $500.
You definitely want the Hazet wrench or equivalent. It is the perfect tool for pressing off the very tight spark plug boots in a very tight area. Can be used for pressing them back on as well. I bought mine from the dealer ($35). Another handy item is a universal adapter.
Plug wires rarely go bad unless abused. There is a resistance spec for testing but I don't recall what it is.
Torque for Coil Pack mounting bolts (T30) is 8Nm. Plugs are 28Nm. If you don't have a torque wrench, Bosch procedure for flat seat plugs is finger tight plus 1/4 turn (to compress seal). You will probably have trouble finding a 16mm spark plug socket. 5/8" (15.875mm) will work well.
Do not use anti-seize compound on newer Bosch plugs. They have a special coating which makes it unnecessary.
Good luck and enjoy the savings. Some report dealer charge is north of $500.