Sounds like a truly awesome ride!! Winner winner chicken dinner! Kevin in Lexington NC Sent from my iPhone
> On Jul 5, 2024, at 6:40 PM, Floyd Thursby via Mercedes > <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > I had ordered stuff to fix the $2500 09S550 -- headlight bulb, brake pads > (break pats), AC blower, front axles, and a lower control arm (ball joint on > one was shot). > > Rear brake pads were fairly simple, I did have to remove the calipers but not > a big deal, just required a bit of persuasion. Rotors were good. Front > break pads were fine, looked nearly new. > > Headlight bulb required removal of wheel and fender liner but then was easy > to swap over. I had the wheel off anyway to check the brakes. > > The AC blower was pretty crapped up and somewhat corroded on the squirrel > cage shafts so I cleaned all that up. The diagnostic said the regulator was > bad so I ordered another of those along with another fan. After putting all > that in, still no joy, so I checked the 40A fan fuse, which tested OK for > continuity. I swapped another one in anyway, and presto! JOY was had as the > fan started working. I kept the new fan in but put the old regulator back in > and kept the new one for a spare, was only like $35. I kept the old fan, > even with cleaning it all and lubing it well, it was still a little slow. > > The axles were a real pain. I made up the tool I shared to use with the > slide hammer kit I borrowed from the auto parts store. Finally worked. > Putting in the new ones required a lot of finessing due to how much room > there was along next to the LCA to slide the spline into the hub. Not fun. > I also had a huge problem with the nut on the end of the air strut, there is > a torx hole in the end to hold the bolt end of the fitting to keep the whole > thing from turning, and of course that stripped out. Took forever to get it > sorted, had to order new bolts (which were the wrong size), a tap and die set > (14mx1.50 should you care) to chase the bolt and nut. Lots of torching etc > to get it all loosened up and on and off. I finally got it all back > together. The new LCA fit in pretty easily. > > Did a quick shakedown drive and all seemed great, axles were good, no rattles > or looseness. I did have no ABS/ESP due to wheel speed sensor fault and an > airmatic fault for RF wheel. I had a wheel speed sensor so put that in right > quick. Both sensors plug into a socket together, I messed with them some but > still had the fault. Not sure what that is about, seems like some sort of > connectivity issue but I couldn't see anything. I could drive the car but no > cruise control, and the airmatic seemed fine. > > Next day I drove it to Missisippi, about 500mi the first day, then the rest > of the distance the second day. I made a stop in Augusta to pick up 3 > wheels, I found 2 others wider for rear, so now I have a staggered set plus a > spare. Nice AMG design wheels. I hope they fit the rear without rubbing on > the fenders. I was a bit concerned about the difference in circumference of > front/back due to tire sizes to fit the different width rims and how it might > affect the 4matic but reading up on it it seems like it should be OK. Not > going to put them on any time soon anyway but they do look nice. The tires > that came with the car are only like 1.5yo now, good BFGs. > > Had no cruise control which was a bit of a pain, watching my speed constantly > because 90 felt like sitting in an easy chair and it was easy to creep up on > that if not paying attention. Traffic was moving 80-85 most of the way so I > kinda just went with the flow. (I did have a couple of ohshit moments when I > passed a cop hiding in the median) AC BLEW ICE COLD which was good because > it was 90s-100F most of the time. No issues whatsoever with the car other > than those sensor problems. > > I got like 21-24+mpg running at 80+/- the whole way plus some other highway > driving 60-70. That is pretty damn good for a big car with a big engine. > > Miles. Gal. MPG > 458.9 19.2 23.9 > 312.2 15.1 20.7 > 170.3 8.1 21.0 > 129.3 6.1 21.2 > 233.1 10.4 22.4 > 342.0 14.0 24.4 > 192.7 9.3 20.7 > > Roads in MS were really good, AL almost as good, GA OK, SC sux big time. You > would think "poorer" states would be worse but I was really surprised. > > So anyway that was 1800mi or so of driving, the car was amazing. I am > totally in love with it. Big, fast, comfortable, quiet, everything you want > a Sonder-Klasse to be. Huge amount of trunk space, huge back seat space. > And the black/black W221 looks amazing too, lots of "presence." I am tall so > have my seat all the way back so I can stretch my legs out, there is still > ample room in the back I could probably fit behind driver seat. AC kept > temps 70-72F the whole time, and cooled down fast. Engine temp never went > above like 85-90C even when sitting with AC running. Sound system is great (I > had to get some adapters to plug my iFōn into the DVD sound jacks but it > works). And for maybe $3200 all in now with the parts and acquisition cost it > is an amazing deal. > > So, the story of the cheap S550... > > -- > --FT > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
