I owe AMGtech an apology

"Land_Yacht_225" (nadenator) 06/26/2016 at 15:13 • Filed to: None

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Because I have been so bold as to complain about labor rates whenever I get my car serviced.

Actually, it is an apology owed to every Mercedes-Benz technician. You not only deserve $125 an hour, you deserve $225 an hour.

Last Wednesday I set out to do my own spark plugs and valve cover gaskets. I write to you all today, a failure in that original endeavor. I took off one valve cover, the passenger side, and have only just gotten it back on. Stymied by the coolant plumbing, three days of trial and error lead to the final solution of putting the gasket down on the head, then feeding the cover back into place while prying up on the metal coolant pipe at the back of the engine bay that goes from the passenger side of the engine bay to the driver’s side intercooler with a big screwdriver. This of course means that I had to seat the gasket in its channel blind. Which I think I’ve done successfully, but I won’t touch that other side. I’ll get quotes. I won’t do it. I won’t tell you I’m trying to save my sanity, because that was gone on friday!

The only upshot is that I did in fact get all the spark plugs changed and, here’s another shocker, it was no more difficult that any other car. The back plugs were actually accessible. And there is enough room in there for a 1/2 inch drive torque wrench.

Anyway. Hopefully I’ll have it back together to be able to drive to work tomorrow. Hopefully it will cease the misfires for the time being, and hopefully it will only be hundreds of dollars for one valve cover gasket, instead of thousands for both. I’ve already got the part, I just need to pay labor. Fun fact though, those valve cover gaskets I bought off of Pelican Parts? They’ve all got stickers on them from Mercedes-Benz of Beverly Hills, CA. So I’ve got a Beverly Hills Benz now!

Steve in Manhattan > Land_Yacht_225 06/26/2016 at 15:25

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300E?

Land_Yacht_225 > Steve in Manhattan 06/26/2016 at 15:26

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THAT, SIR, is a W220 S600 powered by an M275 V12 Bi-Turbo!

Steve in Manhattan > Land_Yacht_225 06/26/2016 at 15:29

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Sorry I cut the count in half ... hard to tell from the photo.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Land_Yacht_225 06/26/2016 at 15:44

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That engine bay is way too crowded for me to want to play with valve covers in it.

LOREM IPSUM > Land_Yacht_225 06/26/2016 at 16:05

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It all seems reasonably easy to do in your head.

Then the tools come out and reality sets in.

Been there.

Land_Yacht_225 > Steve in Manhattan 06/26/2016 at 16:26

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Yea, potato camera does make it look like a six on its side in there.

Steve in Manhattan > Land_Yacht_225 06/26/2016 at 16:41

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I haven’t read about it, but I believe that this engine had some problems. I believe it - my one-year-only six cylinder diesel (‘87) had a turbo/trap oxidizer that let go - MB fixed them all out of warranty.

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > Land_Yacht_225 06/26/2016 at 17:11

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Wow. That puts the nail in the coffin for any chance of me working on the car myself.

Land_Yacht_225 > V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches 06/26/2016 at 17:15

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You can pretty easily do the coilpacks and the spark plugs.

But that’s it. Do nothing more. Your mechanic is a trained professional.

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > Land_Yacht_225 06/26/2016 at 17:20

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Yep lol. I'm pretty sure I could do mist of the PSE pump too

JGrabowMSt > Land_Yacht_225 06/26/2016 at 18:19

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I enjoy working on my own cars, but have no issue admitting when I am in over my head.

I opted not to do the valve covers on my SL. Cost a lot, but holy hell was it involved. The Magnum has a much simpler motor, so I go much further before throwing in the towel.

E92M3 > Land_Yacht_225 06/26/2016 at 19:08

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Want to feel sad? Even though the shop charges $125 an hour, the average tech only gets $25-$35 an hour. An experienced master tech at a dealership might make it into the $40's an hour range.

EL_ULY > Land_Yacht_225 06/26/2016 at 22:03

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Try 40hrs for Evora clutch jobs. And trust me, i’d ask for more and could justify it lolz :]

JasonStern911 > Land_Yacht_225 06/26/2016 at 22:14

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Think AMG prices are bad, try owning a Mercedes.

Renescent > Land_Yacht_225 06/27/2016 at 08:00

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Think logically and it surprisingly all makes sense. The M112 in my C55 is packed in tight but changing the 16 spark plugs, packs, and cover gaskets are very straight forward.

Hell, took me 20 minutes a side to switch out rotors and pads yesterday... a job I set aside 2 hours for haha.