A Story: Stranded by the road side all afternoon.... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Fulcrum525 · #1 11-22-2009, 08:36 PM

I'm working on a little written project for school and one of the aspects that I wanted to cover with it was the transplanting of Mercedes diesel engines into older Land Rovers. I had heard that a few people had done such conversions but I was happily surprised to find that someone right here in CT had done one. I emailed the owner and asked if I could see the truck and talk a little Mercedes/Land Rover with him. He agreed and today our schedules finally lined up so I headed out to check out his truly amazing work. He lives in my favorite little corner of the world On the way there though I decided to try a new route that I had never taken before.

Fulcrum525 Invades Litchfield County.

But....I didn't quite make it there. Last Friday I started to notice that from time to time whenever I would come to a halt the left side of the dashboard warning lights would start to pulsate between half on and off. When I accelerated the lights would all go out so I started to assume that my alternator was about to give me trouble in the future...I just didn't realize how soon that would be. The car ran without any issues all weekend and I even did an oil change on Saturday. Then today on my way out to see the OM617 Land Rover I made a wrong turn and had to do a quick turn around on a very quiet road. That's when everything went wrong....

A few seconds after I made the turn the cd changer/radio started cutting in and out. I thought the disc was just skipping so I played with the controls but nothing happened. Then my ABS and SRS light kicked on and I got scared. I pulled off to the side of the road and poped the hood. No odd noises and nothing looked out of the ordinary but I chickened out and did something I shouldn't have done....I turned the car off. I checked a few things trying to figure out why those two lights came on and when I didn't come up with anything I tried to turn the car on again.....nothing, not even a click.

Well I knew then that something was wrong with either the battery or the alternator because I had very little power left in the system. Now as I had taken a new route I really wasn't sure where I was so I called Jim to let him know that I was stranded and that he shouldn't expect me anytime soon. We talked on the phone for a few minutes (Trust me when I say that where I was it was a miracle that I actually had a signal) I told him were I was and it turned out that he was only a few miles away and he elected to come and help me out. (What a guy

)

Jim brought his pick-up truck, a set of jumper cables, and a battery pack. After several attempts we got the engine to turn over but there just didn't seem to be enough juice to get my 603 running. So we ended up chatting for a few a decent amount of time. In the meantime a few passersby offered their assistance. (Two where in Volvo 240's) We tried a few more times to get my car running but it seemed to be futile so Jim left and I called AAA. I said that he might be able to jump start my car but to be prepared to flat bed me home. I really felt bad about the 2nd possibility because I was really a very long way from home and would hate to have to bother the driver with that long of a trip.

At this point I must say that I couldn't have picked a better place to breakdown. I was right next to a lovely barn and house on an extremely quiet road with nothing but woods around me (Only when I got home a few minutes ago did I realize just how isolated a spot I had found... ) Sunny skys, birds chirping on a nice warm day....it was actually quite pleasant. Interestingly one of the people who had driven by in one of the Volvos earlier on came back to check and see if I still needed help. I told him that AAA was on there was but we ended up chatting for a while until the truck arrived. Nice kid and an excellent photographer as his site can testify by.
http://www.litchfieldphotographyscenes.com/

Now here is the interesting part.....the AAA driver plugged in his own battery pack to my car and wouldn't you know she started right up with barely any hesitation

The best part about a diesel is that once you get it going there's no stopping it

For the drive home I didn't want to risk turning on any unnecessary electrical sources so I drove the car with EVERYTHING off. At this point it was around 3:00 so I knew I still had a little time. I finished the task that I had set out to do and was able to see the OM617 Land Rover 109

http://www.seriestrek.com/109.html

Sadly I couldn't stay too long though because the sun was going down and I was very worried about making it home before dark in case my lights didn't work....its a good thing I left when I did because except for the brake lights they didn't come on. I drove straight to Sears to pick up a replacement battery under warranty only to have the door closed in my face. (Which pissed me off more then the person who was driving 30 in a 50 half way through Litchfield....) I knew by now that I really needed a new alternator but the batter was flat as well but at this point it was really getting dark out and I didn't want to drive the last few miles without any lights. Either way I had no choice so I stuck to the brightest side of the street at all times and i'm really glad that I made it home just as the sun finally went down. My baby gave me a very interesting present for her 264,000 mile birthday today so tomorrow I'll repay her with a new alternator and new battery.

(Also a special thanks goes to Iwrock who attempted to give me some pointers from the other side of the country)

tbomachines · #2 11-23-2009, 12:37 AM

At least you made it home! Before attacking the alternator, try a new voltage regulator, much cheaper.

Also, I'm not in CT too much anymore (will be for the holidays though) but if you want I can PM you my phone number so if you get stuck again I might be able to give a hand.

Fulcrum525 · #3 11-23-2009, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbomachines

At least you made it home! Before attacking the alternator, try a new voltage regulator, much cheaper.

Also, I'm not in CT too much anymore (will be for the holidays though) but if you want I can PM you my phone number so if you get stuck again I might be able to give a hand.

Are you talking about the over voltage protection relay (Replaced that no more then two months ago)

I'm not sure where the voltage regulator is...

scottmcphee · #4 11-23-2009, 12:53 AM

Fulcrum, no, the voltage regulator is mounted on the alternator and is a separately serviceable part. Your alternator windings and bearings, etc. could very well be good. I think that is what he meant.

Fulcrum525 · #5 11-23-2009, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottmcphee

Fulcrum, no, the voltage regulator is mounted on the alternator and is a separately serviceable part. Your alternator windings and bearings, etc. could very well be good. I think that is what he meant.

I'll check it out first thing in the morning before we even attempt to jump start it (Hopefully it won't be too cold out)

tbomachines · #6 11-23-2009, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottmcphee

Fulcrum, no, the voltage regulator is mounted on the alternator and is a separately serviceable part. Your alternator windings and bearings, etc. could very well be good. I think that is what he meant.

Yup, exactly. I would think it is the same on the 603 as the 617, it is the black plastic part held on by two screws on the back (opposite of pulley) of the unit. Very easy to replace and usually what fails before the alternator itself. On fastlane. Might be able to get it at the parts store too...

knowing where you are, I'll throw in a good word for napa middletown, they have a huge warehouse and stock almost EVERYTHING. Plus I used to work there

MTUpower · #7 11-23-2009, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbomachines

At least you made it home! Before attacking the alternator, try a new voltage regulator, much cheaper.

X2

bustedbenz · #8 11-23-2009, 09:20 AM

Before attacking any charging system repairs, get your volt meter out and see what's actually happening at rest, at idle, and at road RPM (somewhere around 2K is plenty, actually) so that you can successfully prove which repair (because you never fix more than one thing at once

) actually solved the problem. No sense throwing money at it without some science to back up your reason for the expenditure.

Yes, by the thread, it's blindingly obvious that your battery isn't being recharged. That's pretty clear. But... when you do get it working again, it's nicer (for me, anyway) to say "Yes, I know it's working now because I see 13.8 volts coming to the battery" rather than "Well, it hasn't died in a week so I guess it's working again."

Just my 2 cents.

funola · #9 11-23-2009, 09:21 AM

Before you do anything, check belt tightness and charging voltage. If you pull on the belt forcefully and can make the belt slip on the pulley it's too loose. Should be above13.8 v charging voltage. A loose belt, bad alt/ v reg won't give you that. .

Hogweed · #10 11-23-2009, 09:40 AM

sounds like you made it an enjoyable experience for yourself. very handy trait to have access to

funny about those dual battery jumper systems on the wreckers! i had a similar thing happen last year. guy showed up and put his jumper box to work and-nothing! i asked him to use his jumper system and he assured me the box was "just as good if not better", but he relented just to humor me and viola! it started right up! i want to install one in my rollback but i have no time.

ohiomike · #11 11-23-2009, 01:48 PM

Its the voltage regulator. With that many miles on it and the exact same thing happened to me once upon a time. This happened in three different Benzes, one was in the middle of a busy intersection. It about $45 and aten minute fix.

Fulcrum525 · #12 11-23-2009, 02:33 PM

Yep...it was the voltage regulator alright...sneaky little bugger isn't it?

Did the swap this morning. My local independent parts store had it for $40. Not much more then the price listed here but a heck of a lot cheaper then a new battery or alternator, thankyou all for the help with this one!

LitchfieldPhotography · #13 08-31-2012, 07:36 PM

Hey,

Nice story. I am the guy that stopped and talked to you on College Street in Cornwall, that day. I can't believed that I remebered that. Thanks for a taking a look at my website. I now drive a 2001 outback.

Jeff Pudlinski.
Litchfield Photography Scenes

vstech · #14 08-31-2012, 11:23 PM

heh, small world, nearly 3 years ago!