New daily driver for the family

[Jeff V.]

[Hans_GZP]

LOL. Nice try. I'll have it on a lift this afternoon. But it's most likely a $8 electrical connector that leaks trans fluid and causes some shorts. It's definitely electrical though. I can reset the adaptive learning on the trans and it drives like normal for a little bit. Luckily, trans parts for this are mega cheap

[Jeff V.]

I was wondering about that connector when we pulled it off my sister's car. Too bad it wasn't that simple in her case. Oh well...that event sparked some positive changes for her, so it was a good thing in the long run.

Hopefully yours is no big deal. If it's something serious, just go straight to a RennTech upgrade or something.

[Hans_GZP]

Well, got it on the lift today. For those that don't know, it has a transmission issue. Driving it away from the shop the other day it acted like it was in neutral. After resetting the adaptive learning on the transmission, it would drive for a bit and then act like neutral again. A quick check of the fluid level reveled it was way over full. Which I found weird since I had done the fluid and filter in it before.
So, I got it on the lift and drained the pan. The fluid was a darker brown color, not red. Looks like coolant is getting into the fluid. Which would explain the low coolant level light we had come on a few weeks ago. Basically, the Trans cooler that is internal to the radiator has a leak. When the car gets shut off, the Trans fluid pressure is zero while the coolant pressure is still around 13-15 psi. This allows coolant to force its way into the transmission cooler. That explains the high fluid level.
New radiator will be here tomorrow. I'll install that and flush the fluid and install another new filter. Apparently the radiator was replaced before and there is an issue with the internal Trans cooler in a certain brand radiator. This must be that brand. Not a terrible fix, but it still sucks.
It's forcing me to address a couple of other issues. I believe one of the cats are bad, so I'll be deleting them. And the driver side front strut lowers if it sits too long, so I'll change out my rebuild solenoid block in the front and bleed the suspension. I'm contemplating deleting the mufflers, but we'll see how long the other fixes take.

[Jeff V.]

Is there a relatively low effort option to switch to an external trans cooler?

[Hans_GZP]

It already has a factory external cooler as well. If there wasn't so much shit already in front of the car, I'd add a larger one. But there is already the power steering cooler, transmission cost, suspension cooler, heat exchanger, ac condenser, then the radiator.

[Hans_GZP]

It had also thrown a code for the thermostat. I'm hoping it has something to do with this issue. It's the first obscenely priced part for the car that I would need to replace. $400 my cost since it's part of the whole housing.

[Hans_GZP]

New radiator and rebuilt suspension valve block are in. Everything seems to be good again. I drove it around town all weekend doing errands and I totally know I'll never get to use this for daily use as long as Emilie has a say. The smile it puts on your face as you do a quick pull just makes you laugh. This tank really does get up and go with ease. I was really hoping someone would test me. But not many people are looking to race a big sedan :/
So, no more sagging front driver side suspension when sitting overnight. And transmission shifts like normal. The radiator is a bit of a bitch to do. It requires removing the front bumper, headlights, upper rad support, and headlight buckets. Plus a ton of little plastic duct trim pieces that are virtually impossible to access. It took about half a day to get it done and approximately $500 in parts to do both the radiator and suspension valve block rebuild. I'd take a stab at this job going for around $4k if it were performed through a dealer. Mainly because they don't usually rebuild the valve blocks, and replacements are pretty expensive.

[BATMAN]

Is there suppose to be a picture?

[Hans_GZP]

yea. Sometimes google doesn't update their shared pictures right away.

[BATMAN]

Several hours later.


Still no pikki!

[Hans_GZP]

It's just a picture of a radiator.

[Hans_GZP]

Busted a hydraulic suspension hose last week. Luckily Em was about a mile away when it happened. Ironically, right down the street from our local V12 biturbo Mercedes specialist (yes, that's a thing). We drove it over to his place to get looked at when he got a chance. The next day it started to snow, so I figured I'd better just take it to my place and have a look. I had a feeling it was going to be well over $2k fix with this guy after talking to him on the phone about it... and I ain't spending that. So, I'm driving this car in the snow, and it is not good in the snow at all LOL. I ended up sideways, across the road, into a ditch. But I throttled through the slide just in time to miss a boulder. Got the car to the shop and found the culprit.

A hydraulic line that goes nowhere. It's a pressure dampening hose that just forms a dead end loop. It's a common failure point and a real hooker to get to. And when it goes, it usually takes the hydraulic pump out with it. Our pump has been whining louder than an anti-Trump Liberal since we got it . So, I was already expecting to change that out at some point. But, it's a real bitch as well, so I wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

So, rebuilt pump comes in ($220) vs new at $2200. Got a hydraulic pump hose set from Mercedes for $430. 2 other hydraulic suspension hoses from Mercedes for another $200. And 4 liters of hydraulic fluid $60. 2 days of labor and this bitch is done. I may need another liter of hydraulic fluid to top it off, but that's far cheaper than it could have been. Now, the entire suspension (known faulty items) are replaced. And I'm hoping to not have to touch this thing for a while again!

I also replaced the headlight washer nozzles while it was in the shop. About $90 for a pair of those guys.

[DCIV]

Sounds like a mechanics special right there.


Coop

[Hans_GZP]

[quote=""DCIV""]Sounds like a mechanics special right there.


Coop[/quote]

They are a super complicated $120k car. Everything goes to shit at 70k miles. I'm still in it for less than 10% of MSRP, so I'm happy about that. If the car wasn't so amazing, it would have been up for sale a long time ago haha. But, you can't buy one of these unless you can either turn your own wrenches or afford to maintain a $120k car at a Merc dealer or Indy shop.