when you work on an engine (or anything really) that has a lot of similar looking hoses (vacuum or not) that plug into other similar-looking nozzles, how do you keep them all straight to avoid mixing them up when you reassemble it?

what is your method? do you use a digital camera? do you use pencil and paper? do you somehow label what goes where? how do you do it?

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Jennifer
90 350sdl

Jen-

I don't generally need to worry about mixing up hoses as , at least in my mind, are all straightforward in all the vehicles I own. It helps to understand the system you are working with- how it operates and flows.

However, I am frequently at a loss on electrical matters and often will use duct tape marked with a Sharpie permanent marker to label where things go when I start ripping into circuits.

A digital camera is also helpful to record things, but I find that it gets in the way of what I am doing if I pick it up frequently.

Rick

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

note that the stripes on the sides of the hoses are different...(i think) and will help you trace them.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I let them do whatever they want as long as they are flexible
Seriously, I use a digital camera now, but the best method overall for me has always been drawing crude diagrams with notes in a notebook with a pencil.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Any of that confusing stuff, like electrical wires, or fuel linkages, and I use my digital camera.

I take pictures first, and then I *look* at the pictures and make sure I can see the things that I'm going to be working on. Digital pictures are free if you have the camera, so take a bunch. With and without flash.

Over the years I've found that I'm much better at taking stuff apart than I am putting stuff back together. I bet I still got "extra" pieces of my first car someplace...

- Patrick

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1982 240D. 198k, Marine Blue/Blue, 4 Speed, Crank Windows, No Sunroof, No Rust, No Oil Leaks
2001 TDI. 197k, Lagoon Blue/Black, 5 speed, Chip, G60/VR6

I have done both in the past, digital camera and labeling ends.

Nowadays I must be having good luck because everything usually goes back together on the first try with no problems

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1980 500SE/AMG Euro
1981 500SEL Euro
1982 380SEL
1983 300TD
1983 500SEC/AMG Euro
1984 500SEC
1984 300TD Euro
1986 190E 2.3-16
1986 190E 2.3
1987 300D
1997 C36 AMG
2003 C320T 4matic

past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350

I take alot of pictures when I am taking one apart to document locations.

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Jim

I don't have a camera, and I can't take pictures well anyway. It's ironic, because my sister is a professional entertainment photographer (and a damned good one, too). I've always used the narrow masking tape & magic marker method of labelling. I find it best to keep it simple, too. The first thing I disconnect will be labelled with a "1" on both ends, the second with a "2", and so on. This also helps with the order of putting things back together, because I can just start with the highest number and work my way back down to "1". I once helped my stepbrother with a head gasket replacement on his former late 80's Acura Integra with dual overhead cams and incredibly complicated-looking fuel injection. I don't think I would have been able to keep that mess straight with only pictures.

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1982 300D, black w/ palomino leather, 203K
2001 E320, champagne, 105K (Mom's)
1999 Dodge Dakota, squeaky & battered, 142K

Depending on the type and size of items being marked, I've had good luck with numbered clothes pins, too. Less tape-stuck-on-tape to remove/fight with, and reusable,too.

I have a brother labler I use to tag every line and wire along with the place it came off of.

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche