The AC receiver/drier needs always replacing when servicing the system.
Luckily the receiver/drier is the most easily accessible and easiest component to change when servicing the AC system. It is located behind the front headlight in the engine compartment of the w123. If you were following my Part 2 of the AC system series, you might already have read that you always need to replace the receiver/drier when changing the compressor. The failure of the drier might have been the cause of failure of the compressor in the first place.
For preparation you need not to do much else than emptying the AC refrigerant at a professional workshop, get a new receiver/drier and have some basic tools ready.
Parts
New Receiver/Drier (it comes with the necessary gaskets)
New high pressure AC hoses if they are cracked/worn/old.
Tools
Socket tools
Spanners
Procedure
If you haven’t emptied the AC refrigerant, take the car to a workshop and get them to empty and properly dispose your old refrigerant. AC refrigerants contains highly volatile greenhouse gases and needs to be disposed properly!
When back at your own garage. Start with opening the hood and disconnect the battery since you will be disconnecting some wires. Locate the receiver/drier behind the right headlight. It is the small canister with two hoses connected to it. Start by disconnecting the two high pressure AC hoses. Again this will mark the importance of emptying the refrigerant before, since we are dealing with high pressure systems and volatile gases. You might not be able to access both of them while the drier is connected to the chassis, then loosen the drier until you can access both hoses.
Old AC Drier
As a tip the holes to the bolts going through the thin metal in the chassis might have started to rust. To avoid holes in the future you might want to get rid of the rust and paint over the area.
Disconnect the electrical wires connected to the receiver/drier, but remember how they were connected by marking the wires or taking pictures before. One is a pressure sensor for the compressor and another is a temperature sensor which controls the auxiliary fan.
The Pressure sensor inlet has a protective cap which has to be removed.
The sensors do not come with the new receiver/drier, so these sensors have to be taken off the old one and put back on the new one before proceeding further. Be careful not to break off the brittle electrical connector pins, since they can be quite fragile. If you break it you need to find new replacements components since the AC system will not work without them. Also the pressure sensor will need a tight seal with the receiver/drier otherwise refrigerant will leak out. The pressure sensor has a small O-ring, replace the old one with a new O-ring that comes with the new receiver/drier as seen in the picture under.
The pressure sensor gasket
The temperature sensor sits at the top of the canister and can be removed with a 19mm spanner. It does not require any gasket. The pressure sensor can be removed with a 27mm spanner. Remember to replace the gasket before assembling it with the new receiver/drier.
Temperature sensor placement
After the the sensors are transferred you can install the new canister. Start by replacing the gaskets for the two hoses and tighten them onto the canister.
Replace the high pressure hose gaskets
Then finally secure the canister to the chassis with the two bolts to the chassis. If you have other AC components to change this is a good time to do it. For example you can replace the expansion valve which also is a common wear item on the AC system. Although the receiver/drier are more common to change.
At a workshop they will pressure test and fill up the the AC system and find any leaks if they are present.
2017 has been a fantastic year for this website, almost 100.000 visitors have found it’s way to this site. That is absolutely amazing and I thank you all for the support by reading. Lets hope 2018 will be even better and with more high quality articles.
I will continue to publish DIY posts and other classic car related posts in this year to come, so stay tuned.
What new can you expect from 2018? DIY for the W140 S600 as something new and exiting. I hardly find any information for these cars on the internet. Some long awaited videos will come up around Q2-Q3 where we will take a spin in some Mercedes classics.
Too hot or too cold engine will result in power loss and inefficiency in the combustion process. In the worst case total engine failure. The thermostat is actually a wear item that should be changed every 5-8 years. In some cases even between every season if you are living very far north where the winter temperatures varies extremely much between the summer season. I think this applies even for Norway especially in a Diesel where it’s difficult to get the engine warm in the winter.
So how do you change it? Is it difficult? I will tell you all if you hang on with the article.
Preparation
Parts you will need
New thermostat. Thermostats have different temperature ranges where it is fully open, check with the manufacturer/ owners manual what is recommended for different ambient temperatures. For cold weather thermostats that open later are common, i.e. it will open at a higher engine temperature.
New upper radiator hose and clamps? Evaluate the condition of the upper radiator hose, change if it’s worn. Since a broken radiator hose might cause catastrophic engine failure. Also the hose clamps might break if they are old and rusted.
Engine coolant.
Tools
Screwdriver
coolant catcher/pan
Funnel
socket tools
Wire brush
Procedure
Start with emptying the radiator coolant. There is a plug on the underside which can simply be open by a screwdriver. When it is fully drained don’t forget to put the drain plug back in. Then go to the next step.
Loosen the Upper radiator hose.
Now you have to remove the upper radiator hose. Each end is attached with hose clamps. Hopefully the hose clamps tightener are easily reachable. They usually can be loosened with a small socket or a screwdriver. Choose the socket if you can since you might just destroy the screw notches if it’s stuck. Be aware that more coolant might come out when you loosen it so be ready to catch it.
After removing the upper radiator hose you have access to the thermostat housing. It is attached with 3 bolts. These on the M110 engine is usually ok to get out, but on some other engines like the OM617 they are terribly constructed. Now you have to take extreme care not to ruin the bolts otherwise your quick fix will turn into a long and unpleasant affair. The aluminium housing of the water pump housing will stick to the steel bolts after some time.
Unbolt the thermostat housing. Notice the heavy deposits of aluminium oxide on the neck.
After the housing is removed, you have access to the thermostat. Just pull it out with your hands. Also note the placement of the rubber gasket. This have to be replaced by the new gasket which comes with the new thermostat.
If you really want you can test the old thermostat by boiling it in a kettle with an accurate thermometer. When the spring opens is when the thermostat is heat rated. Probably your old one has deviated slightly from it’s original heat rating. If you are totally paranoid you can the test the new one as well!
Clean the housing of dirt and oil residue before putting the new one in.
Clean up the housing before putting the new thermostat in the water pump housing. Put the gasket on top of the thermostat as seen below.
Before putting it all together you have to clean off the oxidized aluminium from the thermostat housing. It is important to avoid coolant leaks in the future. This is easily done with a simple wire brush.
The aluminium oxidizes when in contact with water when air cannot reach the surface, such as here between the neck and the rubber hose.The oxide comes off easily with a wire brush. Now it will make a much better seal with the rubber hose.
The bolt on the thermostat housing should be tightened down until both the surface of the metal meets. Do not over tighten the bolts since you will end up stripping the soft threads in the water pump. Then you will be in big trouble. Use only a small ratchet to avoid the large torque. Get your new upper radiator and clamps ready.
New upper radiator hose and clamps.
After fitting the new upper radiator hose. You have to refill engine coolant. This is not as simple as just pouring in new coolant and closing the lid. You have to let coolant circulate and get out the air out from inside the engine.
Start by turning the heater on MAX inside the car. This will allow for coolant to circulate the entire system. Ideally you should have a large funnel which can be screwed down into the radiator, but this is a specialized tool which most of us don’t have. So start pouring coolant until you see it forming though the opening, but don’t make it full. Now you have to turn on the engine with the radiator cap open so air can escape from the engine. CHECK for coolant leaks!!! Did you remember to tighten the radiator drain plug? While the engine is running you will probably see the level decrease slightly while the engine burps, but bear in mind that coolant also expands as it heats so a level change might not be visible. When the engine starts to get warm and has burped some, try filling until the minimum mark and close the radiator cap.
Then go for a short spin. Observe the temperature gauge closely. Mine increased suddenly until over 100°C then did a sudden jump back down to 80°C when the radiator popped open. I might have had some air still in the engine and the thermostat might have been slow on the first opening since it was new. It never run above 80°C after that one time. To be on the safe side, stop the car if you see such sudden peaks in the temperature gauge.
When you are back. Let the engine cool down at least one hour, before tempting to open the radiator cap, since most likely coolant will pour out and scolding your hands. After one hour open the radiator cap and refill coolant until it reaches the maximum mark.
Is your compressor crappy? Dried out for the 15 last years and making squeaky sounds and for sure not giving any refrigerations at all? Well in this second part of the AC system we will embark on the journey to change the broken compressor. A critical part and the one to often fail due to the mechanical nature of operation and lack of maintenance.
This guide will only cover the York type compressor in an M110 engine.
Theory
The AC compressor pressurizes the refrigerant from a vapor state into a liquid state and at the same time increasing the temperature of the liquid by drawing mechanical energy from the engine via a drive belt from the crank shaft.
Some compressors are lubricated by the refrigerant itself, but the York R4 compressor has it’s own lubrication by oil inside the crank. Lack of lubricating in the compressor crank in combination of little or old refrigerant is the most common reason for these to fail.
Preparation
To change the compressor you need to make a lot of preparation even though changing the compressor is not such a big job in itself. This will include emptying the AC system of refrigerant at a professional workshop. You cannot do this at home because the refrigerant can actually deplete the ozone layer (if it’s an old type of refrigerant, this is common in old cars) and they are all extremely potent green house gases that should be disposed of properly. Also a big preparation is getting hold of new spare parts, not only the compressor, but also a new receiver/drier, new gaskets for hoses/connections and compressor oil. You probably need a new pulley for the drive belt as well. You will also need some special tools to finish the job.
Parts and Preparation:
Empty refrigerant at a workshop!
Get a refurbished or new compressor, can be quite expensive
Get new gaskets, they are like 2$ only…
Compressor mineral oil compatible
New Reciver/drier (must always be changed when changing the compressor)
New pulley bearing for drive belt
New AC compressor serpentine drive belt
Tools:
Big selection of long and short spanners, also ones with ratcheting mechanism to reduce time
Socket tool set
3/8 inches spanner
Clutch/bearing remover (to remove the clutch from the compressor shaft)
Small funnel
Brain: Some ingenuity to loosen the clutch (not easy since the compressor shaft and the clutch will rotate together)
Practice
Getting access to the various bolts and nuts around the compressor is not easy. They are awkwardly placed and there is not much space to get leverage for the spanners. Be prepared test your patience! This job is not super difficult, but will save you tons of money compared taking it to a workshops, since they will use a few hours just to remove and assemble the compressor, unless they know the car really well. And lets face it, no one knows the car like you do yourself.
Disassembly
WARNING: Do not proceed unless the AC is emptied of refrigerant!
Now that is out of the way, let’s proceed to the fun stuff. Disconnect your battery to avoid shorts! Locate your compressor, it’s the big thing hanging off the passenger side of your engine. The compressor probably has a serpentine drive belt if the AC has been in use before. This must be loosened first by using the adjusting screw on the AC pulley, which located on the upper part at the front of the engine. If you are not using it after, then just cut it off with a knife to save time, the compressor should have a good belt otherwise it might just slip. There is very little room between the pulley and the fan housing, but you do not need to disassemble anything when replacing the pulley.
Start by checking the pressure in the AC system, it should be empty, but just to be sure use a pin and press on the Schrader valves sticking out on top of the AC hoses. There might be a slight fizz due to a small pressure building up in the empty system.
Compressor fitted on engine, notice the location of first bolt and wires on the right side of the compressor. (This is a new compressor f.y.i. and the AC hoses should always be disconnected, not shown here!)
Then you can start unbolting the compressor mounts, there should be 5 bolts holding the compressor in place. On the right side there is a supporting rod holding it on the corner, start by unbolting this. You must also disconnect the wires to the clutch actuator.
Location of bolt on the front side. There is one like it under the clutch as well (not pictured here)
Two are located on the front left side, one above and one below the compressor. Until now these were the easy bolts, now the hard part starts. There are two more bolts located on the back left side of the compressor, and these are pretty hard to gain access to. Also you will have little room for the spanners, so if you have spanners with a ratcheting mechanism you will save tons of time here.
Location of 2 last compressor bolt location. Tricky location.
The bolt that is lowest actually is a long long with a cylinder, that comes off going all the way through the exhaust manifold. Don’t loose this cylinder part, and be prepared to save all shims and remember the bolts’ locations, since they are not all the same, use pictures and notes if necessary.
Notice the long compressor bolt and its’ cylinder.Just before the last bolt gets loosened completely you can detach the compressor and stop if from falling, it’s quite heavy so don’t crush your hand when it might fall unexpectedly.
Don’t loose the bolt or any of the shims! They are there for a reason….
Now that the compressor is off the engine, you can begin to remove the bracket that is attached on the right side of the compressor. This is pretty straight forward and requires little explanation, it is just attached by a few bolts. There is also a bracket still on the engine block, it is not necessary to remove this, but you can if you want to clean the area around it etc.
PROTIP: Since the compressor is removed, now you have the perfect opportunity to replace the lower radiator cooling hose, which is nearly impossible to replace when the compressor is mounted.
AC Compressor bracket attached to engine block. Not necessary to remove this.Bracket hold in place by 4 bolts (the bolts are removed in this picture).
Since your new or rebuilt AC compressor does not come with a clutch and the clutch magnetic actuator, we have to transfer the old components over to the new compressor. Removing the clutch is the most difficult part of this job, since the compressor crank shaft will rotate when you try to loosen the clutch center bolt. You need a way to keep the compressor shaft from rotating while loosening the clutch bold. Easier said than done.
This will not work… Trying to loosen the clutch bolt…everything rotates…duh!
I ended up placing the compressor housing in a large wise, then using some large welding pliers (adjustable) to grab onto the inner clutch plate and while holding it still then also unbolting the clutch bolt. It was not the most elegant solution and I recommend you to find a better one, since in my case the outer plate got slightly scuffed by the pliers.
When the center bolt is loosened, the clutch is still pressed on the crank shaft. You need to find your clutch/bearing removal tool, it looks like some spider joint out of a horror movie. Unfortunately it’s a tool that seldom gets used, so don’t put too much money into a tool like this, borrow from a friend if you can. I think I only used it once earlier when I removed the center drive shaft bearing. Place the outer spiders around the clutch wheel and start tightening the center screw. This time you can use a long rod between the spider legs to act as a lever while you tighten the spline, you will hear a loud pop when it comes off. It has probably rusted in place after so many years.
Pulling off the clutch from the compressor drive shaft. Prepare for the big pop when it comes off.
The last part to disassembly is the magnetic clutch actuator. It is held by 4 bolts on a bracket, but be warned, they are Imperial sized! This is the first time I have come along imperial sized bolts on my Mercedes, but the York compressor is not made by Mercedes and this is just how it came from the original manufacturer in the United States. You actually need a 3/8 inches spanner, if you don’t have imperial sized tools, go out to get only this one spanner. I almost rounded out one bolt at first since I was dumb enough to try a metric spanner which didn’t perfectly fit.
3/8 spanners required, notice the almost rounded out bolt since I used metric spanners.
After the clutch assembly is off, you can start by assembling the new compressor.
Everything disassembled from old compressor. The old compressor you can deliver in for a rebuild and get a few dollars actually. Don’t throw it!
Assembly
WARNING: Do not forget to refill the York Compressor with mineral compressor oil before assembly, otherwise it will break!
Forgetting the above step is pretty serious. So before anything else, let’s go through how we refill and measure the right quantity of oil. Also keep the protective dust caps on the compressor fitted at all time until the very end.
Make your own dipstick from a piece of steel wire, make a marking at 57mm and 41mm from the end.
On each sides of the compressor is one small bolt in the middle, these bolts are the filler holes for the oil. They are quite small so a small funnel needs to be used. You need at least 355ml of fluid (12 oz) which s corresponds to around 57mm on the dipstick and it should never be below 177ml (6 oz), 41mm on the dipstick. Use normal mineral compressor oil, some even use engine oil, but do not use ATF.
The compressor comes with a small quantity of oil in it already, pour this out before pouring in the new oil, it is not important to get all out. Put the dipstick in over the crank case at 45deg as shown in the image to proper measure the fluid level, the crank key should be facing up, there is a small nob on the shaft. It should not be hard to crank it by hand.
When filled up to the right level, start assembling the compressor. Now in opposite order of the disassembly. Remember to keep the protective intake and outtake protective caps on until you are ready to connect the AC hoses back on.
There is no need to over tighten the clutch center bolt since it will also tighten itself over time when the clutch is actuated.
When the compressor is mounted on the car, remove the protective dust caps and make sure there are fresh plastic gaskets on the inlet and outlet holes on the top of the compressor. Tighten the hoses firmly, but do not over-tighten them, the workshop will make sure the gaskets are not leaking when filling your AC system with refrigerant. Over-tightened gaskets will need to be replaced.
Next step
You cannot change the compressor without also changing to a new receiver/drier, otherwise your new compressor might fail too early and all the job you just have done might be in vain. This is the next part of the AC series, so stay tuned for part 3.
Back ground story
To be honest my AC system has not been operational in the last 8 years or so due to a broken compressor. I just didn’t get to the job of fixing the AC system until now, because you know… (Norway is cold most of the time and you really only need AC like 3 months of the year, but then it’s really nice to have on those few really hot days)
