Waken up Mercedes!
Discussion
Hi all.
This should interest you, no matter what you own, the principles are the same.
This is a lovely old Mercedes, owned by a PHer, in the workshop last week for various bits and bobs. It's also very rare being a W126 300 SE with a manual gearbox!
In fact MB in Glasgow tell me it's the only one they have ever had a request for parts, and it's certainly the only one I've ever seen in Scotland; the others were in Germany.
Among the faults was a heater control malfunction caused by an item called the duo-valve. All Mercs for many years had the same system whereby hot water taken directly from the pump is sent to this valve which serves a dual purpose. It separates the flow to both sides of the car so that driver and passenger can have different temperatures from the heating system. It also stabilises the temperature at the warm side by passing water from one valve to the other.
The first pic shows the valve complete; the next with the core removed, and the third shows what is almost always the problem with these valves. The rubber diaphragms perish through age and people running the cooling system on plain water instead of a proper coolant mixture. You can see the diaphragms have completely split around the solenoid bodies.
Now Mercedes used to do a repair kit for these and it consisted of the 2 main diaphragms, 2 sealing washers, 2 filters, which you can see just behind my forefinger, and 2 circlips. This usually would solve the problem and was a straightforward, if fiddley job. The kit from memory was around £22.
Not anymore! They only supply the whole valve. VOR order only, no discount, that'll be £387.00 plus VAT thank you!!!
The whole concept of mass production is that the development costs of the item are met early on by the mass of numbers sold, and therefore the price per item is relatively low. On top of this is the perception that Mercedes frequently promote that they sponsor low prices on many of their older cars. Now I have to say that I often get a pleasant surprise at some of the stuff from MB: but this valve is totally out of order. Mercedes have made literally millions of these for many years and fitted them to dozens of models. The price should be at an all time low, not extortionate!
I find this happens all the time with many manufacturers and I think they seriously lose out in the long run to others who manufacture aftermarket stuff at vastly reduced prices. We would all love to fit genuine equipment to our pride and joy; but not at these prices!
J.
This should interest you, no matter what you own, the principles are the same.
This is a lovely old Mercedes, owned by a PHer, in the workshop last week for various bits and bobs. It's also very rare being a W126 300 SE with a manual gearbox!
In fact MB in Glasgow tell me it's the only one they have ever had a request for parts, and it's certainly the only one I've ever seen in Scotland; the others were in Germany.
Among the faults was a heater control malfunction caused by an item called the duo-valve. All Mercs for many years had the same system whereby hot water taken directly from the pump is sent to this valve which serves a dual purpose. It separates the flow to both sides of the car so that driver and passenger can have different temperatures from the heating system. It also stabilises the temperature at the warm side by passing water from one valve to the other.
The first pic shows the valve complete; the next with the core removed, and the third shows what is almost always the problem with these valves. The rubber diaphragms perish through age and people running the cooling system on plain water instead of a proper coolant mixture. You can see the diaphragms have completely split around the solenoid bodies.
Now Mercedes used to do a repair kit for these and it consisted of the 2 main diaphragms, 2 sealing washers, 2 filters, which you can see just behind my forefinger, and 2 circlips. This usually would solve the problem and was a straightforward, if fiddley job. The kit from memory was around £22.
Not anymore! They only supply the whole valve. VOR order only, no discount, that'll be £387.00 plus VAT thank you!!!
The whole concept of mass production is that the development costs of the item are met early on by the mass of numbers sold, and therefore the price per item is relatively low. On top of this is the perception that Mercedes frequently promote that they sponsor low prices on many of their older cars. Now I have to say that I often get a pleasant surprise at some of the stuff from MB: but this valve is totally out of order. Mercedes have made literally millions of these for many years and fitted them to dozens of models. The price should be at an all time low, not extortionate!
I find this happens all the time with many manufacturers and I think they seriously lose out in the long run to others who manufacture aftermarket stuff at vastly reduced prices. We would all love to fit genuine equipment to our pride and joy; but not at these prices!
J.
Hi Jith, MB do a mono-valve repair kit part No. 0008350644 for £81. It consists of the seal and the plunger.
I imagine if you bought two of them it would solve your duo-valve problem
and work out cheaper than having to replace the whole valve assembly.
I find the whole MB discount system for older car parts to be a bit confusing. Apparently if the part is still used on post 2000 vehicles there is no discount available for pre 2000 vehicles (10 years+) no matter how old your vehicle is.
As an example:- Narrow bumber end caps for G wagens are not fitted to post 2000 G wagens so they cost £35 each from MB.
Wide bumper end caps are fitted to pre and post 2000 G models so they cost £320 each
for virtualy the same product.
I imagine if you bought two of them it would solve your duo-valve problem
and work out cheaper than having to replace the whole valve assembly.
I find the whole MB discount system for older car parts to be a bit confusing. Apparently if the part is still used on post 2000 vehicles there is no discount available for pre 2000 vehicles (10 years+) no matter how old your vehicle is.
As an example:- Narrow bumber end caps for G wagens are not fitted to post 2000 G wagens so they cost £35 each from MB.
Wide bumper end caps are fitted to pre and post 2000 G models so they cost £320 each
for virtualy the same product.How do you think they could aford to buy R.R. , or was that B.M.W.
Supose they use there own seals and not an outside suppliers.
ARMOUR ALL would rejuvenate them if not perished or cracked.
Does wonders on hardend dashes after six applications.
SOAKED in overnight, if they dont fall apart , and you can
wrench them around without cracking up, should b satisfactory.
Looks like the kaboodale needs removing and cleaning.
Most overhauls of un buggered machinary ARE stripping /cleaning and Reasembly.
Nowadays most wait till theyve fallen to bits or stopped working.
Its NOT life threatening. Brake cylinders a workshop would replace
as theve been sitting and look grotty , stripped cleaned , honed with 600
and orig. seals (AS there not dry cracked or perished) refitted after
CAREFULL cleaning of of deposits.
Std. overhaul tool , a wire brush / wheel . IF the machine hasnt been GOT AT.
Dismantle Inspect. reasemble Like Aircraft. ALLWAYS cleaned to crack -test ,
critical components . Maybe hypothermia is critical and life threatening.
In that case, I woulnt have used japanese parts , once. Maybe theyed be happy shareing (temperature )
Even one from wreckers should follow said proceedure . Saves having to remove agian to do when it stops
working from neglect = internal !
Supose they use there own seals and not an outside suppliers.
ARMOUR ALL would rejuvenate them if not perished or cracked.
Does wonders on hardend dashes after six applications.
SOAKED in overnight, if they dont fall apart , and you can
wrench them around without cracking up, should b satisfactory.
Looks like the kaboodale needs removing and cleaning.
Most overhauls of un buggered machinary ARE stripping /cleaning and Reasembly.
Nowadays most wait till theyve fallen to bits or stopped working.
Its NOT life threatening. Brake cylinders a workshop would replace
as theve been sitting and look grotty , stripped cleaned , honed with 600
and orig. seals (AS there not dry cracked or perished) refitted after
CAREFULL cleaning of of deposits.
Std. overhaul tool , a wire brush / wheel . IF the machine hasnt been GOT AT.
Dismantle Inspect. reasemble Like Aircraft. ALLWAYS cleaned to crack -test ,
critical components . Maybe hypothermia is critical and life threatening.
In that case, I woulnt have used japanese parts , once. Maybe theyed be happy shareing (temperature )
Even one from wreckers should follow said proceedure . Saves having to remove agian to do when it stops
working from neglect = internal !
Edited by M Spencer on Monday 28th June 11:30
bigblock said:
Hi Jith, MB do a mono-valve repair kit part No. 0008350644 for £81. It consists of the seal and the plunger.
I imagine if you bought two of them it would solve your duo-valve problem
and work out cheaper than having to replace the whole valve assembly.
I find the whole MB discount system for older car parts to be a bit confusing. Apparently if the part is still used on post 2000 vehicles there is no discount available for pre 2000 vehicles (10 years+) no matter how old your vehicle is.
As an example:- Narrow bumber end caps for G wagens are not fitted to post 2000 G wagens so they cost £35 each from MB.
Wide bumper end caps are fitted to pre and post 2000 G models so they cost £320 each for virtualy the same product.
That's interesting bigblock. The only thing I'm not sure about is if it would fit and if the solenoid is calibrated to respond correctly.I imagine if you bought two of them it would solve your duo-valve problem
and work out cheaper than having to replace the whole valve assembly.
I find the whole MB discount system for older car parts to be a bit confusing. Apparently if the part is still used on post 2000 vehicles there is no discount available for pre 2000 vehicles (10 years+) no matter how old your vehicle is.
As an example:- Narrow bumber end caps for G wagens are not fitted to post 2000 G wagens so they cost £35 each from MB.
Wide bumper end caps are fitted to pre and post 2000 G models so they cost £320 each
for virtualy the same product.I have often questioned the sanity of the MB pricing structure on old stock. I was told that although you seldom get a discount at the counter, the price is already heavily subsidised by the factory. This is certainly the case with some of the fast moving parts such as brake discs; these you can buy at motor factor prices.
I love the G wagon. I don't think there is anything to touch it in terms of quality in a 4x4, but some of the parts prices make your eyes water and, as you say, it is stupid things like a plastic bumper cap that are priced at 4 times that of an engineered component. Too many subs adding their bit on as the part gets to completion.
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