Help with motor mounts/oil cooler project...not going too well - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

pawoSD · #1 04-02-2005, 01:16 AM

So tonight I managed to remove my oil cooler from the car, with lots of dremeling the bolt and lots of penetrant the top fitting came off rather easily, and all the threads are intact, I was able to remove the bolt while it was still in the car, the bottom one was not as cooperative, I fought with it for a while, then I sawed the hose and pulled the cooler out of the car, once on the floor I dremeled the bolt for a while longer, then applied a steady pressure of the wrench, it began turning, no crunching sounds, so I assumed good to go and steadily and slowly kept removing it.....upon removal I found that about 80% of the threads are flat/not there, they are inside the bolt I took off.

There's still a couple threads at the back of the fitting, and about 1.5 threads right at the tip, but thats all, the rest are mashed down....is this done for? I really don't want to spend $470 (that I don't have) on a new one as I doubt I'd find one any better here in a MI scrap yard....

Is it possbile to have these repaired? Could a machine shop weld on a new fitting to the cooler or rethread it successfully? Also, I am having a hard time figuring out how to remove the rest of the hoses, unbolting them from the oil filter housing....HOW? I can't reach in there, what is the best method for getting those off?? I was following some stuff I'd found in the searches but its not helping too much.......

The other problem I have is how to get the motor mounts out, I'm not seeing a way to get a socket into the inner bolts that hold the mount to the frame......there's not any room.....

Also I noticed that my 17 year old radiator is seeping a little bit of coolant around the seam at the top

so I will probably have to start looking for a new one of those too.....not good times right now.

Any help with this stuff?

Johnhef · #2 04-02-2005, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

The other problem I have is how to get the motor mounts out, I'm not seeing a way to get a socket into the inner bolts that hold the mount to the frame......there's not any room.....

Any help with this stuff?

The ones from the underside? All you need is an 8mm allen socket and an extension and some ooomph! I haven't run into any trouble undoing them before.

As for your cooler, same thing happened to mine when replacing the hoses. I ended up replacing my cooler with one from www.pgauto.com

rs899 · #3 04-02-2005, 08:35 AM

I cut through the "nut" on the last oil cooler hose refurb and still lost some threads. In my case, I judged that I still had enough threads to reuse my cooler.

Next time ( I still need to do my 300SD) I think I will try to make 2 cuts 180 degrees apart and pry the nut halves off the oil cooler.

Too late to help you . I would not be afraid to buy a used cooler from a boneyard for $20-$30. U-pull it here has them for that kind of money. I think the odds are in your favor at that kind of price - but I wouldn't pay $100 for a used cooler unless you can already see the threads.

Ramblin · #4 04-02-2005, 10:21 AM

As a recent veteran of the motor mount job (last saturday) I will say that it is not always that easy..The 6 mm bolts holding to the frame were badly rusted and one stripped out immediately...However with the diligence of my brother and a torch (absolutely necessary in this case) we finally got them out. I would have given up except for the fact we were using a lift and the torch. Of course when we got them out we realized that although they were in one piece they seemed more like jello than motor mounts...By the way there was much less vibration transmitted to the cabin with the new ones so it is well worth the effort.

pawoSD · #5 04-02-2005, 11:40 AM

Thats what I am worried about, a couple of the hex bolts for the mounts look really rusty, so it will probably strip out, I hope it doesn't....

Also, what is the most effective way in getting the oil cooler line bolts off of the oil filter housing?

pawoSD · #6 04-02-2005, 01:55 PM

I found and bought an oil cooler on ebay for WAY less than what the one on fastlane is, and its OEM, brand-spanking-new

Also, I have decided I am not going to mess with the motor mounts, the dealer has a "Set price" of $250 labor for doing those, and I already have the mounts, so I'll just let them do it....I am however going to finish the oil cooler/lines myself, I kinda have no choice

However, I still need pointers at getting the lines off the filter housing, anyone with tips on this??? I read on a thread that cutting the lines off at the bolts, then using a 27mm socket to remove them and the filter housing fittings, does this work well? Thats the last step of what I have to get off.

SD Blue · #7 04-02-2005, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

......Also, what is the most effective way in getting the oil cooler line bolts off of the oil filter housing?

When I pulled mine, I made a flare nut wrench out of a 1 1/16" box end from harbor freight. It worked like a champ. Be sure and use a backer wrench on the coupler that screws into the oil filter housing. If you cannot find a line wrench, you may have to grind down a wrench and make it thinner. This is a job where the inexpensive wrenches can be modified without sweating the cost of a replacement.

rg2098 · #8 04-02-2005, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

...The other problem I have is how to get the motor mounts out, I'm not seeing a way to get a socket into the inner bolts that hold the mount to the frame......there's not any room....

Take off the engine shock mount (2 bolts) and you can stick a socket down through the hole under the mount to reach the inner motor mount bolt.

Hatterasguy · #9 04-02-2005, 11:12 PM

[QUOTE=pawoSD]it began turning, no crunching sounds, so I assumed good to go and steadily and slowly kept removing it.....upon removal I found that about 80% of the threads are flat/not there, they are inside the bolt I took off.

There's still a couple threads at the back of the fitting, and about 1.5 threads right at the tip, but thats all, the rest are mashed down....is this done for? QUOTE]

Yep mine did the exact same thing, I even heated the fitting up until it was red and shocked it with a hammer. The problem with a junk yard cooler is every other car up their is going to have the exact same problem, you would need to find a southern junked car. My cooler was "only" $250 it wasn't to bad.

As to the engine mounts I found you have to undo one bolt at a time and move the heat sheild a bit. It took a little work but they came out. However my car is different from yours.

Radiators leak, at least 300SD radiators are pretty cheap.

pawoSD · #10 04-02-2005, 11:16 PM

And what if the two bolts holding on the motor mount are REALLY rusty? I fear they're just going to spin out if I try to loosen them, the ones up inside the crossmembers from underneath are ok, but not the ones above....they're in bad shape.....I tried just getting the hex socket into the hex bolt, and I came back out with a glob of rust material on the tip of the socket....

I'll give it a try, but I fear the worst for getting them out.....

coachgeo · #11 04-02-2005, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

... I'll give it a try, but I fear the worst for getting them out.....

Spray PB Blaster on them the DAY BEFORE. Tap on them best you can. Repeat as often as you can for up to a full day before attempting to remove the bugger. This will help (so Ive been told and thus far it has helped me out. )

Hatterasguy · #12 04-02-2005, 11:24 PM

They are probably full of junk, just spray some carb clean on them or some oil. If the dealer strips them they will charge you $100 an hour to get the stupid things out. I ruined the head on one of the bolts on the mount under my turbo. But MB thought of this and I was able to get the entire bracket off the engine block rubber mount and all.

A vice and hack saw later and the bolt was out.

Engine mounts are a pita job.

pawoSD · #13 04-02-2005, 11:53 PM

At my stealership they have a set price of $250 to do the mounts (for the labor) and I have had issues before where they did my front brakes/bearings ect....and they quoted me $220, it ended up taking twice as long and coming to a grand total of $358, but I had a signed quote, so I only paid what the quote was, I refused to pay what they had added on and they said "thats fine"

rg2098 · #14 04-03-2005, 01:31 AM

I really don't understand why everyone has such problems doing motor mounts on a OM617. I had mine done in 30 minutes with out a single problem. Bring your cars to me, I'll do them for only $100!

Johnhef · #15 04-03-2005, 01:54 AM

I'll do them for $50

stealership?

ow that hurts hahahahah (but hey it pays the bills)
don't feel too alone though, they screw the techs as much as they do the customers.
We are currently at $103 an hour. I think thats just ridiculous.

oh and fyi, if I was working on your car at the dealer and stripped out those bolts, I wouldn't tack on any extra hours, I'd just do what I needed to do to get them out and take the loss, but then again, thats just me and I like working on the old junk

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