Wait you mean RT hotlinks? Just wait until they get ahold of that thread.
Wait you mean RT hotlinks? Just wait until they get ahold of that thread.
ascott wrote: In reply to codrus: Yes, they should have gotten permission to reproduce the photos. Unless the article just crosslinks them directly from here? Not sure how just embedding the photo from the original location works compared to copying it.
nope, they're hosted on a "hearst media" apps site, with a pretty lame "credit" to grm/mazdeuce slapped on top.
Actually had an interesting conversation with the official OneLap photographer about Facebook scrapping, the ability to sue people for Copyright infringement, and the requirement to register photos with the Library of Congress.
R&T would probably rest with the "well it was posted in a public forum, so the photos are in the public domain... or they/yahoo might have an existing agreement with photobucket. Or, they're lazy and figure they can get away with it.
Someone asked a very long time ago if the cats and O2 sensors had survived all the stuff being blown out the exhaust. There wasn't really a good way to know without firing up the engine and seeing. The longer it ran with no codes the better I felt, but today was the big day when the code reader finally indicated that it had gone through all of it's self checks and it was indeed ready. The guy who inspects my cars was geeked to see it come back and asked a bunch of questions. He was happy for me.
Tomorrow I can renew the registration and the van is 100% legal again. 
Scoreboard!!!!
Awesome! Gotta feel good to be driving it again
What an accomplishment. Way to see it through.
In reply to ascott: Hopefully Mr. Mazdeuce doesn't mind that I tipped off Brian over at R&T. His article brought me to GRM and this thread kept me around (in addition to a ton of other great content on the forum). Thought it would be a nice follow-up to a long journey.
In reply to mshort:
I don't mind at all that you tipped him off, but next time tell him he can drop me a line too. I love to talk cars after all.
mchild wrote: One of the potential issues as to why the system has not been working is the need to initiate a compressor. I have assumed that was not done, but correct me if I am wrong. Unfortunately, to initiate the compressor may only work using the MB Star Diagnosis System (SDS). The procedure is to fully re-charge the system with refrigerant, turn off the climate control system, start the engine, and with SDS connected, select the initiation step and the SDS takes it through that process. It take a couple of minutes to complete and the lights of the in-dash control unit will flash as the process is progresing. If the initiation step is not done and the system is attempted to be operated, it will deactivate the compressor. If you can use your tool to initiate then that would be a step in the right direction. I will note that there is no mention in WIS pertaining to your car for the need to initiate the compressor, but it is for every other car. Not sure if it was an oversight but it is in the SDS system as a reason for the compressor to be deactivated and the initiation function is available in the climate control module section of SDS. Therefore, I have assume it was an oversight that it is not in WIS. Let me know if there is anything else I can help with.mazdeuce wrote: In reply to mchild: Thanks for chiming in. With the new scan tool I could see pressure in the system 6 bar, and the temperature readings of all the temperature sensor. I cleared every code on the car yesterday most of them stored low voltage codes from when the battery died. The only codes that came back are for sunroof calibration, and the compressor. There is probably more I could have done, but I had the new one right there and I was not happy, so I changed it. The aluminum bolt that holds the dryer on stripped. Fixing that was going to require pulling the condenser, so I've still got the old dryer on there. I don't always make great decisions this far into a project.
Good god I made a mess. I'll get some refrigerant into the system tonight and button it all up some time tomorrow. Maybe of note, the new compressor was as smooth as you'd expect, while the old one as noticeably "sticky" in it's operation. Fingers crossed.
MazDeuce.... I have a C4 Xentry SDS system over here in the "Hood-lands" if you need it. You can reset all of your adaptations, parameters and initiate/check the Airmatic system as well. Never dove into the HVAC part of the system but its nuts what all you can see and do with it.
Great Job, the guys at the local dealer will be impressed!
sleepyhead wrote:ascott wrote: In reply to codrus: Yes, they should have gotten permission to reproduce the photos. Unless the article just crosslinks them directly from here? Not sure how just embedding the photo from the original location works compared to copying it.nope, they're hosted on a "hearst media" apps site, with a pretty lame "credit" to grm/mazdeuce slapped on top. Actually had an interesting conversation with the official OneLap photographer about Facebook scrapping, the ability to sue people for Copyright infringement, and the requirement to register photos with the Library of Congress. R&T would probably rest with the "well it was posted in a public forum, so the photos are in the public domain... or they/yahoo might have an existing agreement with photobucket. Or, they're lazy and figure they can get away with it.
It's REALLY hard to enforce copyright other than a takedown notice. I've had my photos used quite a bit and you basically have to threaten, see if they'll pay- and if not send a takedown. The copyright laws are absurdly onerous on the photographer imho- for instance, photos must be individually copyrighted...which is a pain to do as a wedding photographer with 100 photos in every blog post.
In reply to KrustyKustom:
I was waiting to see if I needed your super computer capabilities. For whatever reason it seems to have woken up just how it went to sleep. Pretty much every system that was capable of logging a code left a power failure code, but once I cleared those all was well. We should still find a way to actually meet and talk Benz stuff in the fall.
I have to admit that I haven't read all 100 pages of this thread, but have checked in on it over the time it has been active. Awesome job and epic thread.
Man, you hit 100 pages...WOW! 
So, when do we see the cabover thread start? 
In reply to T.J.:
Nobody should read all 100 pages. Go outside and turn some wrenches. 
The cabover thread will start when the adventure starts. Soon. Very soon.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Cabover thread?!?!
Was I sleeping and missed it?
GPz11 wrote: Whoa, whoa, whoa, Cabover thread?!?! Was I sleeping and missed it?
+1
I only check the high post count threads every 2_3 days or so. I must have missed something.
In an attempt to not cross contaminate this thread any more than usual, you can go here and scroll down just a bit. As usual, I have no idea what I'm doing.
Very cool, in my defense, I was wrenching in the garage. Ripped the diff out of my XR4Ti, sticky wide tires and a torquey V8, something had to give.
Just bolted in back in actually!
That looks like fun! I've secretly wanted a honest HD truck forever, but have nothing more than obscure justification for one. If you end up needing help with fab work let me know.
And, I'm more than happy to work anonymously.
We need to take the broken r63 AMG to miracle Mazduce!
grover wrote: It's REALLY hard to enforce copyright other than a takedown notice. I've had my photos used quite a bit and you basically have to threaten, see if they'll pay- and if not send a takedown. The copyright laws are absurdly onerous on the photographer imho- for instance, photos must be individually copyrighted...which is a pain to do as a wedding photographer with 100 photos in every blog post.
Yep, I had a very well known Jeep suspension company use a picture I took to hawk their wares on their website. Not only was it my picture that they hadn't asked for permission to use to make money off of, but the Jeep in the picture didn't even have their product on it.
A polite, but stern email got them to remove the image promptly, but I learned my lesson. None of the stuff I post online is as interesting, nor does it get even remotely similar attention as the Mazda's Unicorn of Destruction, but just the same, that one instance motivated me to use a watermarking tool to watermark 90%+ of the stuff I upload to Photobucket for forum use.
Watermarks won't keep folks from using your photos, but most don't want one with watermark on it.
In reply to mazdeuce:
What did this cost? 
Well, the tools section was $3150. $2800 of that was the lift, engine hoist, and three new torque wrenches. The rest is one set of inverse torx, a set of long allen sockets, and a couple of specialty MB parts to pull the cams. Slippery's tool is priceless of course.
Parts were only $3300 which is quite a lot less than I thought it was going to be, mostly because I didn't put new cam phasers on. I might regret that later, but they were $500 each and there are four of them. It would have seemed stupid cheap if I didn't have to spend that last $400 on a new AC compressor.
So the total cost, all in, to get the van back on the road was $6450. Saved myself about $50k and got a lift. Not too shabby.
Mazduece I started watching this thread shortly after the ill-fated drive home from Tampa with the new van and the sick co-pilot. Thoroughly enjoyed the track video and winced with you as you rode the hook to the Merc shop.
When the head bolt snapped and you decided to park it while entertaining thoughts of digging into the power plant I subscribed to GRM, the magazine, and created a member profile.
During your travails I have entertained thoughts of purchasing an R63. I know a few days you stated that at one point this thread was half of all GRM's internet traffic and I am but a single member but I think your dedication to this site and your immensely relatable writing style have won some new long term fans to the site and publication.
Thank you for taking the time to show us what was happening as it is much more difficult to document as you go than to just do the work. Without this thread and your dedication I would not have learned so much from so many other regulars on GRM nor found a great magazine to support.
You'll need to log in to post.
