Re: V8 Crossfire Conversion Diary
Hey guys, I have been out of town since Sunday and just wrote up a big update but somehow deleted it before I was able to post it. Long story short, is that forget what I wrote about the the ML ECU's maybe working. Right now we are looking at the inconsistant starting which starts easily sometimes and up to four cranks sometimes. We don't believe this is related to the swap but rather probabaly a cam sensor (we already swaped the crank sensor) the cam or crank sensor wiring or the ECU. We will be able to eliminate the ECU as the problem when the replacement arrives. We will check the wiring with an OHM meter and I will change the cam sensor with the one from my V6 if needed. This type of problem isn't very suprising if you consider the donor engine sat around for 7 years after getting totaled out in a wreck.
The only probelem with using a start button is that we also lose the cruise control. It comes down to the fact that the R170 is the only Mercedes chassis to send the start signal to the ECU through a standard 50 circut and use the Bosch ME2.8 ECU. All other MB's that use the ME2.8 ECU send the start signal and cruise control through the CAN. I found this strange becuase the na Crossfire ECU is used in every MB that had a V6 which leads me to believe that the operations of the pins changes with different varient coding. We haven't given up on getting it to start from the key and have some pretty smart people trying to figure this out which inlcude Beckmann, Krausse, Rudy and Karim.
If you don't need cruise control and don't mind a starter button, then this swap is pretty much proven and actually operates the same way as the Brabus/Startech V8 which also uses a starter button and does not have cruise control. I don't think this is a big deal, but I like the challenge of finding a better solution. I am looking at three possible solutions and will be updated when we find something that works.
Here is a cool picture of a 430 engine with supercharger and a ML55 AMG engine cover. I like this engine cover when using a turbo. I enjoyed reading the ideas related to choice of V8. I went cheap becuase I didn't know if this could be done. Knowing what I know now, go with all you can afford but don't worry if you don't have a ton of cash as the 430 and 500 are well suited for a turbo over even the factory supercharger. There are now three V8 Crossfires with two of them in Germany and one in the USA.
Keep in mind to that when I sort out these last two issues my car is not done. It will just be at a new starting point. With the exception of the two other V8's I am pretty sure I have one of the very very few na Crossfires with a unmodified engine that can fry the tires at will from a roll. When you guys are loooking at HP don't forget about torque. The stock 500 engine has more torque than the SRT and when you combine this with the better gearing of the na you will notice a big difference. FYI, for you guys with lots of money, get the 55Kompressor and add SLR cams, headers, and a pulley and tune and put a Needs Wings intake on it while you are at it.
Last edited by LantanaTX; Nov 25, 2009 at 11:50 PM.