daveenty wrote:

though http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php? has a lot of helpful people.

Some of us over there do drive AMGs, with several of us spending most of our time modding them.

Well I've just had a look and registered on there too, it does look to be better organised that the MBclub site, and there looks to be more users as well


And as for driving and modding an AMG, you my friend have got to be as rare as me for driving a Manual ML  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Didn't realise there were so many MBCLUB members on here

For a minute i thought i was on MBCLUB  2014 SDV8 Autobiography

Gone: 2012 RRS SDV6 HSE, 2007 RRS TDV6 HSE

We wont tell  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Well Ownership has been interesting so far...........

I have discovered that it's about 25% more economical to run

I have suffered a major case of "Black Death" which was a bit of a pain to fix, got there in the end, but had to use Honda copper washers and reduce one of the clamp bolts by 4 mm....... But the whole job cost less than £20

And I burnt out a clutch ...... But to be fair it wasn't 100% when I brought it...... I had to buy a new one ..... £151 inc.

And then the fun began..... on stripping out the old clutch we discovered that the transfer box was in a very bad way, and the rear drive flange was wobbling all over the place.... PANIC Tried to get a rebuild kit... turns out that Merc have an agreement with the factory that makes them and they can't supply parts A whole box only £1800 + So I started to look at S/H boxes 100-250.... but would need a rebuild before fitting..... Looking at the transfer box and wondering what I should do... I gave the flange a wobble and paid close attention to it all, and discovered that the shaft had no movement in it at all, it was just the flange that had come loose. So a quick zap with the air gun and all was good

So there we were, 11 o'clock at night, using a ramp at my pals work, and we had everything out..... And then we opened the box that had the new clutch in it, and it looked nothing like the clutch on the car , offered the 2 covers together and no holes lined up WRONG BLOODY CLUTCH And I had ordered it with the Merc part numbers

So that was the end of that game..... went to Eurocarparts the next morning, suffering from a scene of humour by-pass, and got them to try again...... the following morning it turned out that Sachs made stuck the wrong part number on the box Muppets

All went back OK, except..... Someone put the gear selector linkage on the gearbox up side down.... couldn't move the gear leaver Fortunately I was able to rectify the mistake working blindly on tip tow without having to remove the gearbox again, just dropped the cross member.... 4 bolts  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

All I can do is offer my sympathies!

I would get shut of it now, the Black Death can slowly spread and will lead to other issues slowly arising down the line.
For £2k you can get a good WJ V8 Overland
Yes fuel economy can suffer a little with those extra cylinders but once your moving you'd be surprised how much it can have behind it and still return reasonable figures.
Knowledge on them is massive and the V8 engine produces more power and torque than the 2.7cdi(the same cack unit is fitted to your merc) owners club members and the FB group are really helpful and spares are super cheap and plentiful. Some dealer sourced bits can be a little bit expensive but then they are worth the money when you buy from Crown or Mopar specialists. They can take a beating and the auto boxes are built to last.

Let the ML go before it makes Range Rover wallet sycophant behaviour look amateurish as they are much cheaper for a reason  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

......

I fixed the Black Death...... bit of a pain, but fixable all the same.... the biggest problem is Mercedes use 1 stretch bolt to secure the injector, and when the black death occurs the thread in the head gets bunged up with carbon. Which stops the bolt from going all the way home, and causes reduced pressure on the injector and the whole cycle starts again

I spent hours cleaning the thread out with a bolt with a groove cut in it, but the crap kept on coming out, so in the end I reduced the new bolt by 4 mm so that it didn't bottom out. There is a lot of scope for improvement in the design..... I feel a fix coming on..... Clamp-o-Matic  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Really the easiest way is to get the top of a jet wash at the top or the hole while the injector is still fitted and give it a short blast or two after an hour or more of the coke soak.

Most of the long term guys on WJ and even WH clubs who have had CRD's end up going for the 4.7 as its a much easier life to lead even with the MPG 👍

If I ever pass your way with mine I'll let you give it a whirl with one of your porta poops on the back albeit mind is a good bit modified but the drivetrain is pretty much standard still! FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.