These guys work on commission, with a smooth tongue these guys can talk a tire rotation into an engine rebuild and you won't feel a thing, until you see the bill.
I never trust the word of the service advisers generally, lying comes easy to them. They get a percentage of the bill as bonus, and those with a conscience do not last long as they get fired and are replaced with people who can lie with no qualms. Its all about profit, never forget that.
The dealership or garage you get to trust most is generally the one that lies to you the least.

 

Hey Max, do you think it is possible that you have virus in your ECU ????
Just kidding ( although you are probably not in the mood for kidding )

BTW: stopped by and visited with Carville & son at his palatial estate on the river last Saturday ( BLACKSRT-6 )
Anyone else have THREE SRT-6's in the family ?

 

Any more updates?

 

As a matter of fact, yes.

After 5 days wait, they called to tell me:

1) Only 1 Intake Mani gasket was sent. It would be at least 5 days to see the 2nd. (These are available for ~ $4 at at least 5 different vendors)
2) Please return the rental van or I would be over the $175/issue limit.

When I had it home, I stared at it for a while, then squirted a full can of MAF cleaner around and then attacked it with my trusty plumbers torch (not lit, of course!). I couldn't find any leaks. Do you think the dealer tech lied? Or did they mist a little carb cleaner into the exposed MAF/intake while it was running and figgered' they "got it"? That happened to me while I was looking. But, I knew what had happened.

Once the weekend arrived (next day) I decided "what the he!!?" I'll drive up and see my buddy alaxfire. Ran great. As a matter of interest-it ran better each mile I drove!
After I returned home, I installed my home-made/eBay oil catch can and tried it again. Runs fine.

My theory:

When I removed the MAF/elbow/throttle body for cleaning and inspection while painting my valve covers and intake manifold, I noticed that there was evidence of poor installation/alignment of these 3 items from either the factory or the dealer. Some dust tracks and asymmetrical deformation. I removed, cleaned and conditioned the 2 sleeve seals with silicone vacuum grease. (Wonderful stuff. Viscosity stable to 150 degrees C.) Replaced the really crappy silicone o-ring (TB/intake manifold seal) with a very nice Viton (medium soft) AS-151 o-ring.

All of the problems started when I fired it up after this. It ran poorly for 2 days. Then it died in traffic (idling at a light) and I had it towed in.

The codes I delivered it to the dealer with were:

P0101 MAF Circuit/Range Performance Problem
P0171 System Lean Bank 1
P0174 System Lean Bank 2

They were still there when I picked it up. They "fixed" themselves after ~ 45 miles of driving. No codes, showing or stored. That's right: the CEL went off on its own.

In short, I think that I fixed a long-standing vacuum leak (more than 1) and the ECU took a while to sort it out.

I am NOT impressed with Mercedes' "plastic hooks, clips and tabs" method of attaching these 3 items. Chintzy, cheap and unreliable. Much too easy too make a leak.

My thanks to: George, John and John. George scratched his head as much as I did when this was going on. We swapped out all 3 parts from his roadster, one at a time, to see if we could isolate a bad component. The 2 Johns for moral support and hand-holding.

 

Any recommended brand for the vacuum grease?

 

For my auto applications, I use Dow Corning:

Amazon.com: Vacuum Grease, 5.3 Oz: Industrial & Scientific

or,

Amazon.com: Novagard Versilube G351 Grease with Radiation Resistance, MIL-L-15719, 5.3 oz Tube: Industrial & Scientific

(Note the temperature use range)

But, it's a bit expensive. This 5.3 oz. tube will last a lifetime, because you use so little-just enough to wet the surfaces. Never enough to see. If you consider it a Surface Conditioner and NOT a lubricant, it will go a long, long way.

 

So I have now finally fixed my surging idle problem as well. Last week I decided to descreen/debaffle the maf and elbow. At the same time I replaced the spark plugs. I started it and it ran great, my idle is much smoother than before. Crank time seems to have been reduced as well. I drove it until the engine warmed up and when I came up to a light I was expecting the surging idle, but it didn't happen. After a week, including driving from NH to Virginia, still no surging! I am very excited to have my car running properly again!

 

How does the car feel now, running correct and with the baffles and screens gone. Mine sounded much better and felt like it ran better. Not sure if I got that much out of the changes, but overall it is much better and get 211 RWHP on the dyno at Eurocharged. I'm thinking of trying to find the Mercedes air box and do some paint and trim work under the hood.

 

After the swap to the 74mm tb and maf, it felt like I lost a little power under 2000 RPMs. I thought this was from the air leak or whatever was causing the surging idle. As soon as it hit 2000 RPMs there was a noticable power gain. It would accelerate decent to 2000 and then would kick you back in the seat at 2000 and above. After the plugs and debaffle/descreen I didn't notice any gain under 2000 still. But now when you hit 2000 it really kicks in and has great acceleration. This is all by "butt dyno" though. I am going to save up and get it eurocharged on a dyno to see where it is at now and how much more I can get out of the current setup. That will probably come this winter when I go up to NH to see my family. I heard eurocharged has a shop in Boston now which will be much easier than driving to Texas. Unless they are coming to the DC area anytime soon, which would be great

 

so basically, you pull the maf and just pull out the baffle and screen and that's it, clean out and make the tube throat smooth?

 

Well sort of. You start by taking the MAF and elbow off the engine. The MAF has a plastic and metal screen. I put the MAF in a vise with the screens on the bottom. I took a socket extension, slid it in keeping it away from the actual sensor, and one hit with a hammer and both screens are out. Might not be the best way to do it if you want to be able to put them back in for some reason but it works. Next I put the elbow in the vise. Then using a dremel and cutting bit I cut the baffles as close to the sides as I could with out cutting the sides. Then I took a sanding bit and gently smoothed everything out. Then make sure that all the plastic shavings are out of elbow, I used an air compressor and then washed it in the sink to be extra sure. After that put everything back together, and enjoy a slightly louder and more powerful engine.

 

Thanks for that step explanation. That's what I was thinking in the steps involved, but this clarified it well.

 

I would be sure to put the metal screen back in/on the MAF before closing it up. The screen is very fine so it shouldn't pose any restriction to airflow, and might catch any debris before injestion. I would also inspect very closely, the rim of the MAF after removing that plastic screen, it sometimes cracks the outer ring and you do not want any air leakage in the intake path. When I removed the 74mm screen during the 74mm TB/MAF upgrade, that outer case cracked in two places and I had to seal it up before reinstallation. Just my $0.02 worth.

 

I thought about keeping the metal screen but didn't see anything caught in the screen and I have decently new air filters so I decided against it. I haven't had any problems so far, but maybe I have just been lucky. I didn't notice any cracking but thanks for the tip, I will make sure I check just to be sure next time I am under the hood.

Did you notice any difference after the retune you got after the 74mm throttle body mod? I was going to wait to get mine tuned on a dyno but since eurocharged was having a sale I jumped on it and am going to get a remote tune. I have heard nothing but good things about the tune so I am excited to see what it's all about.

 

I would say that the finer the screen the greater the air flow restriction because each wire causes turbulence no matter how thin it is. After saying that I would leave the screen in, after all how much air does the engine need anyway. The lack of air would be noticeable at the higher end of the rev range and how often does the DD go there. Go there too often and you will be lacking a license to drive anyway, screen or no screen.

 

You will get the best throttle response w/o the screen. If you are concerned with debris, there's still a screen built into the air filter housing. The Needswings CAI system does away with the screens

 

Well I found out that Eurocharged was having a sale on remote tunes. I got the tune and remote cable for $311 shipped. My appointment is for later this afternoon. I will probably still get it dyno tuned this winter still but I couldn't pass on this great deal. Does anyone know around what I should be at for HP after the tune this afternoon? I have the 74mm tb and maf, debaffled/descreened intake, and 1 step colder plugs from needswings.

 

My car sounds as if you have the same Mods, I'm am getting 211.4 at the rear wheels.
Look at my signature below to compare. I have 2.75in CAI pulling air from in front of the radiator and I kept the screen in the air box to catch any junk, but is as far from the intake as I could get it and still have at least some protection after the K&Ns.

 

Yes our cars have almost the same mods. You have K&N's and a CAI, which I do not have, so I would guess I will have around 200 to 205. This is about as far as you can go with these cars without spending lots of $$$$. Hopefully the turbo kit comes out soon, as I'm sure I will be wanting more power after a few months lol. Also I noticed you wanted to put ceramics on, I just did this last week. The ceramics are much nicer than the OEM pads. I got all four pads for about $70 on ebay, worth every penny!

 

I was at 198.6 RWHP before adding CAI and descreening, so somewhere between 195 and 200 is a good guess. Adding K&Ns is low cost and easy to do and will gain 3-5hp. You may want to consider that.