Volvo DIY compared to Mercedes DIY

[Seaway]

My first car was a 1982 Volvo DL Sedan. I was 16 and in high school and the 9 year old car was given to me to use by my parents. It was green with tan cloth interior and had a swirled, multicolored spot on the back parcel shelf where my sister had left her Crayola crayons one summer on a drive to the beach. The car had a button marked AC that made it run slower, but didn’t cool anything down, and it was tractor like in both its driving characteristics as well as it’s acceleration. 0-60 mph? Yes, it would do that. It probably saved my life one morning when I was rear ended while stopped to make a left turn. The guy who hit me was in a Toyota Corolla and was travelling at about 35 mph and never braked. He just plowed blissfully into me as though that was a thing people did. I loved that car.

I had a couple Subaru wagons, which I also loved. They were both GTs, both fast enough to get into trouble while still hauling the groceries in the back. The last was a 2007 which met its match one night when I blew a tire and skipped up a curb and hit a telephone pole at about 35ish. The car did not look bad, but part of the suspension was pushed through the firewall and the insurance totaled it.
I have a boat with a diesel engine and I do all of the maintenance on it. When looking for a replacement car one day I thought to myself “why not get a diesel?” I could use the same oil as I use for the boat, I already vaguely knew how to work on the engines, plus they sound cool. So, I bought an old Mercedes.

The first Mercedes I bought was a 1985 300CD. It’s the W123 coupe version of the car that everyone thinks of when they think of a diesel Mercedes. The DIY on it was simple. The engine bay is huge, the parts are plentiful and the support on the internet is seemingly limitless. No matter what problem cropped up, people were eager to help, knew what to do, and knew the best way to do it. The car was great, but with a young son, I needed more doors.

The next car was a 1987 300D. I stepped up to the W124 body style and it was a huge step up in comfort, performance and overall feel. The DIY network is the same and it was a great car. Until the winter when it smoked and smoked and then it would smoke until it warmed up. I sold it to a guy who wanted only 1987 300D’s in his “fleet” as he called it. If I had to guess, I would say that car will run until the end of days. It was an absolute beast on the highway. Like driving a freight train with vinyl seats and a slightly more muted exhaust tone. There was something visceral about the feel of the turbo spooling up as it squatted a bit in the rear and then simply pulled and pulled and pulled.

So I sold it. I was tired of the smoke and my neighbor happened to be selling a 1988 190e (gas!) that was in decent shape and he only wanted a couple hundred for it. I bought it and then began the process of rebuilding it. This is a car that can basically be completely dismantled and reassembled with a metric socket set, a breaker bar and a can of PB Blaster. The only special tool you need is a voltage meter with a duty cycle setting to adjust the fuel/air mixture. If you don’t mind that the AC doesn’t work, then working on this car is, in a word, simple. There is a good support network, parts are available and sometimes not too expensive, and there is someone somewhere who has had whatever problem you are having and is willing to help you through fixing it. If something is broken, you can generally remove it and bolt on a new one and be good to go. On that car I did the following work over the last winter in a tiny garage space with a floor jack, a flash light, socket set, zero knowledge and a cellphone signal for a smartphone:

All new rotors and brake pads
All new exhaust (catalytic converter, resonator and muffler)
New valve cover gasket
New front struts and strut mounts
New rear shocks
New oxygen sensor
New EHA valve (fuel injection component)
New fuel filter
New Air filter
New headlights and headlight sockets
New steering damper
New sway bar bushings
All new vacuum lines @ fuel injection system
New radiator and radiator hoses
New thermostat
New idler arm bushings

The car went from getting 10 mpg when I bought it, to about 18 now. It’s like driving a go kart, but with slightly less power. At highway speeds it is running at about 3200 rpms. It’s a fun little car, but it is too little for me, my dog, my son, his bike, a fishing rod, and whatever boating things are needed for the day, so I began to look for what I had really wanted since about 1995: A Volvo Wagon with a turbo.

I bought my current car from a Volvo mechanic who was selling it for a customer. It has 215,000 miles and runs great. It has had the timing belt, water pump, PCV, radiator, front and rear shocks, serpentine belt, sway bar, AC evap, ABS module and radiator replaced all within the last 22,000 miles. The interior is in okay shape, and the exterior is a bit rough around the edges with a few dings and paint issues, but nothing drastic (other than the missing spoiler). Inside the engine bay is clean and obviously well maintained for a car with as many miles as it has.

I have not gotten too far into the maintenance side of it other than new spark plugs and throwing away the K&N air filter and replacing it with a proper paper filter, but it seems to be straight forward. The one thing I will say is that the Torx screws are new for me and are going to require some getting used to. The DIY presence on the internet seems to be a bit smaller than MB. There is a lot of talk about tuning and the like, but it doesn’t seem as though there are as many tutorials for the simple things and there seems to be a bit more conflicting info out there. One post I read said the torque spec for the plugs was 25 ft lbs and the FCP video said 25 nm. Small things like that become tiresome quickly when you are just trying to find what should be a simple spec. I am having trouble finding anyone who has had a code P0413 on their car and has solved the issue. In the MB world there would be a bunch of people who would chime in and tell you how to fix it without going into the ECU and soldering bits on from the Radio Shack. My hope is that the reason the DIY community seems smaller is that people are actually able to drive their cars instead of constantly having to fix them as seems to be the case with Mercedes. This site has already been a great resource and was very helpful when I was looking for a car to buy. The fact that there are ways to fix problems that will happen as cars age and that there is a site like this that has people willing and able to help with those fixes was one of the main reasons I felt comfortable buying a 16 year old high mileage car. Hopefully, after I get a bit deeper into the car, I will be able to contribute as well. I will say that the OBD II is pretty cool. With a $20 reader and a $5 phone app I can see what is happening with the car as it happens.

The Volvo is more comfortable, has a better laid out interior and is more fun to drive than any of the three Mercedes I have had. I know they are different animals, but I like the Volvo better. Anyone want to buy a Mercedes 190e?

[cn90]

You come from the Volvo DL, 240 background so you are in good shape.

I used to own a 1991 Volvo 240 with 5sp MT, great cars!

With the modern cars, get used to OBD-II codes, scanner and pros and cons of these sensors. Once you understand the sensors and how they work, they are not bad at all. For the most parts, when it comes to sensors, stick to OEM.

The Allen or Torx bolts: before you remove any of these bolts, spray them with PB Blaster, WD40 or whatever rust penetrant you like, but the trick is to clean out the inside so the Allen or Torx keys are fully inserted and bite better, otherwise you risk stripping the bolts.

[jblackburn]

It's been hard finding a MVS-like forum for our new cars. The Toyota people are all basically clueless when something goes wrong, but luckily, there's a pretty good Chevy one.

If you ever need a hand with anything, I'd be glad to help - doesn't look like I'm that far from you .

[abscate]

There are definite breaks in mentality between the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s+

BMW forums seem to be populated with people with arbitrarily large pocketbooks - I will probably pitch that brand as I can't get the support I need to get the cars to 200k miles without dealer repairs.

[cn90]

BMW forum, it depends, I own a 1998 528i (E39), fantastic forum with tons of DIYs.
In fact, the 1998 BMW 528i is one of the most reliable vehicles I ever own during the last 8 years,
never let me down once.

BMW rich owners own the cars during the first 4-5 years, after that they go to DIYers like most of us here.

In fact, I like fixing BMW than fixing Volvo lol...

[Seaway]

It's been hard finding a MVS-like forum for our new cars. The Toyota people are all basically clueless when something goes wrong, but luckily, there's a pretty good Chevy one.

If you ever need a hand with anything, I'd be glad to help - doesn't look like I'm that far from you .

That would be great! I have a garage and tools and all of that, I am just in need a some more knowledge. The SAS pump thing is driving me crazy since I can't seem to find any definitive answer other than "do the SAS pump delete." I am sure I can handle that as it looks easy, I would just rather fix the actual issue rather than trick the computer. I am also not sure how strict the emissions testing is in VA after being in cars that haven't needed the testing for a while.

The guy I bought the car from said it needs an air pump, but that (it seems) would be code P0410.

[rmmagow]

Hi,
Same car, same problem. The pump is under the battery. There's a relay that can be shorted out to make the pump come on anytime. I'll do a deep dive to find out exactly which relay (near the fuel pump relay). I shorted that out, burnt my fingers from such a heavy draw with no real noise from the pump except for a groaning. I replaced the pump with one I found on ebay, new but not volvo and that fixed my problem. I don't really know if my SAS valve thing at the back is 100% but a quick test indicated it was working. For the pump, I drilled a couple of small holes in the bottom to help drain any moisture. It was over all a simple and not too expensive fix and has held up for 2 years so far. I wasn't too keen on the SAS delete either but that SAS thing really is a waste of time and doesn't much help with global warming regardless. FWIW, I'm an MB and Volvo freak too. One MB diesel, one antique gasser. Looking for a nice CD for my wife. She has an S70, but like the W123 better.

[Seaway]

Hi,
Same car, same problem. The pump is under the battery. There's a relay that can be shorted out to make the pump come on anytime. I'll do a deep dive to find out exactly which relay (near the fuel pump relay). I shorted that out, burnt my fingers from such a heavy draw with no real noise from the pump except for a groaning. I replaced the pump with one I found on ebay, new but not volvo and that fixed my problem. I don't really know if my SAS valve thing at the back is 100% but a quick test indicated it was working. For the pump, I drilled a couple of small holes in the bottom to help drain any moisture. It was over all a simple and not too expensive fix and has held up for 2 years so far. I wasn't too keen on the SAS delete either but that SAS thing really is a waste of time and doesn't much help with global warming regardless. FWIW, I'm an MB and Volvo freak too. One MB diesel, one antique gasser. Looking for a nice CD for my wife. She has an S70, but like the W123 better.

That may be the route I end up taking. It seems easy enough to remove and replace the pump, and there are several options for replacing it. I should probably just listen to the Volvo mechanic I bought it from and replace the pump... I can be stubborn though. He actually told me to replace the pump (and drill a drain hole) but not to worry about the control valve by the firewall. Other things I have read seem to indicate that the control valve by the firewall is what causes the problem in the first place.

[jblackburn]

Other things I have read seem to indicate that the control valve by the firewall is what causes the problem in the first place.

Yeah, it's what makes water accumulate into the pump.

IF you can get the pump to fire up (hot-wire it or jump the relay) and it makes a high-pitched screaming noise...then yeah, the pump's bearings have gone.

[Seaway]

So the thing to do is replace both, I assume?