Hi guys and gals, havin a problem. the alternator packed in on my 98 E280 V6 so i bought a brand new one and a strange thing started happening with the car that did'nt happen before. every bulb i.e external and internal started flickering when the engine is running and the engine did'nt run smooth either so i removed the alternator and brought it back to the suppler and they ran a test on it and found a fault.

They gave me a brand new one and the same problem, i replaced the battery with a new one thinking that might have something to do with it but of course the same problem i.e the light bulbs are still flickering and the engine is not running a 100%.

Have any of you comeacross this before or can you help. another faulty alternator perhaps? cheers Paulie

 

Hi,
I think the question may be...Where are you buying you NEW alternator from?
Very unusual for a NEW MB part to be faulty.

Suspect we are not talking MB genuine part or even NEW but "rebuilt" / remanufactured or similar to".

The fact that the lights are changing brightness highlights that the voltage regulator is not working correctly.
It is the voltage regulator or brushes that usually give problems on alternators. Sure it was out of a sealed box?

Suggest you get this second alternator checked and dependent upon results maybe get your money back so that you can try another source.

 

Is your idling speed OK?. It
should be about 750 RPM.

Regards

Syed

 

Hi stuart, its been a while. you guessed right the new alternator was not a mb or bosch part. the alternator gave up on me last mon so instead of getting it reconedi bought an new one, So i fittedit tothe car and it seemed fine ontill i was out driveing that night and i noticed the bulbs flickering in tandom with the engine. interior and exterior.

To cut a long story short and three alternators later the problem is sorted. The dealer gave me a 90amp and it should have been a 115amp but they had no 115amp just a 150amp so i fitted it. Job done. no more flickering.

stuart i wish that was all, I've had a hard time with the merc lately, The auto box blu up and then the power steering pump had to be replaced and then the alternator....... They say things happen in 3's

stuart do you think i should worry about getting a total rebuild done on the gear box? I got it done and it was expensive, I noticed a small drop of A T F close to opening on the gear box were you can see the tork converter while doing the power steering pump. the box is guarnteed for 3 months and im starting to worry.


Sorry stuart, I had to get that off my chest. Hows the weather

 

Hi Paulie:

Gearbox: How long is q piece of string?

Model?
Year?
Mileage?
Blew up? What went wrong and what was done to make it better!
Leak. more details. Was box run with low oil level?
etc.

MB gearboxes IMHO usually last 150k + min miles although control boxes seem prone to issues and especially when doused in soft drink/coffee.

A small leak adjacent to the electrical connector is common but will not be seen under the car due to the drip tray. A leak seen below the car is usually more significant.

Stuart

 

Hi stuart, were do i begin. I usethe merc as a cab in dublin, theres 225,000 miles on the car now and i suppose i have probabley done well with the car up to now hence the auto box giveing in and the alternator. its a 1998 E280 V6 avantgarde. I was out working when the box blu, strange that the car drove great all that night and bang! it was like i hit a brick under the car with the noise and that was it the box said good luck.

I was going to get rid of the car after that and then i decided to get a total rebuild done on the box at a cost of 2500 G's Something snapped in the box and damaged the tork converter. That was three weeks ago and when i was doing the power steering pump i noticed a small leak comin from the gear box at the opening were you can see the tork converter. The car is going back to the shop that fixed the box to get repaired next mon. I changed that electrical connector that gives trouble last year and that was fine so i dont know what cause it stuart being honest. I suppose with the mileage on the car i should expect things to happen. I could nearley write a book at this stage. stuart i've added a photo of the car. Paul

[IMG]local://upfiles/10700/5D6C0C2F686C4ED880AD02A5F6FA9BF2.jpg[/IMG]

 

Hi Paulie,
225k miles. Thats a good distance and since the car seems in such good shape body wise it would be sad to scrap it.

However if you use it for work you need to face up to the fact that at this mileage things are beginning to wear out. OK they can all be replaced, at a cost, but the question is...Is it worth it? Only you can answer that.

WRT the gearbox. OK something snapped but you have already paid for a rebuild as I understand it. If the "full rebuild" was done right the gearbox should be almost as good as new. If it has only done a small distance and developed a new fault (leak) looks like the rebuild was not very good or the leak is just "one of those things" and after correction everything will return to normal.

Get the shop to fix the oil leak (for free!). However you may have to face up to the leak being engine rather than trans fluid. If it is engine oil then I suspect that the gearbox rebuild people will say the oil leak has nothing to do with them. However when they refitted the box they should have identified a leaking rear main engine seal should that turn out to be the problem.

Out of interest what is your oil consumption? This gives a good indication of overall vehicle condition.
If oil consumption is lets say 1 litre in 10000 miles (approx oil change point) I think I would persevere in getting the car sorted.
If you need 1 litre every 1000 miles I guess the vehicle has come to the end of its useful life.

As I said before. How long is a piece of string?

Good luck,

Stuart

 

good luck

 

225k miles, im jealous, that car is definately holding up

good job

 

hi stuart, Thank you for the reply. I change the oil every 6000 miles and i do the long life plugs every 60,000. She does burn a little oil but not much, i'd say about a ltr and a half between each service, im not a 100% sure but i think any mercedes automatic will burn oil.

Last year i changed three o rings that started to leak in behind the silver unit thats beside the oil filter, i can't remember the name of it. I have to say stuart the engine does sound sweet as you would expect from a V6. that leak at the gearbox is without dought a.t.fluid. I reckon they rushed the job and when they were putting the gearbox back into the car they pinched a seal at the tork converter. Dont worry i'll let you know what happens when i get her back stuart. I take it that you drive a merc yourself stuart...