R63 AMG The Unicorn of my Destruction

Yay!!!! Congrats sir.

So Glad you got it sorted!! I'll return to lurking mode now.

mazdeuce wrote: I went to bed thinking about having to re-initialize the compressor and how I was going to so that. It was hard to turn my brain off. I woke up at 4:30 and my brain started right back up again. I tried to fall back asleep, but was in the Grosh with coffee by 5:15. This is becoming a problem. It took about an hour to recharge and reassemble everything and.....success! The computer calls for the compressor, and the compressor works! Cold air, happy AC. Further test driving once Mrs. Deuce wakes up and I can get actual clothes.

In reply to mchild:

Huge thanks though. It helps me and everyone reading along to understand how these systems work. It's not rocket science, but more than ever people need help understanding the troubleshooting aspect of newer cars. Knowledge is appreciated.

ansonivan wrote: Yay!!!! Congrats sir.

Thanks man. It feels good when things work. Especially considering what a monumental pain it was to get the compressor through the spider web of oil and power steering lines.

Slippery wrote: Awesome!!! Now get it ready to drive up north!!!

Four kids and a dog in a van with a newly assembled motor driving 2k miles across the country, what could go wrong?

Great diagnostics skills!

Congrats on getting it to "chill out"

In reply to mazdeuce:

Remember, the adventure begins when the original plan does not all pan out.

Me and the family did that in a 76 Ford country squire station wagon, engine was making a slight knocking, had a rod or main bearing not quite right, removed engine, changed all the bearings and reinstalled. The wife drove it around town for 2 days and said let's go see her Mom, 1320 miles each way. that 460 ran through some gas and we made it without a hitch. No dog, did have 4 kids and 2 of them in car seats.

Well done on the A/C.

Scott

mazdeuce wrote:

Slippery wrote: Awesome!!! Now get it ready to drive up north!!!

Four kids and a dog in a van with a newly assembled motor driving 2k miles across the country, what could go wrong?

With how deeply you've dug into the thing, I'll give the answer as "nothing you can't fix in a couple hours on the side of the road"

In reply to mazdeuce: If you want you can drive it a couple of times to get some heat cycles but I've never had an issue. 2x10 mile drives and then feel free to beat the crap out of it. Don't be scared.

Excellent news!!! man, my brain hurts tryin' to digest the last few pages of this thread.....where's' the ice pack? I vote road trip to the UP in the Ucorn . Another MazD writing escapde awaits you (and usin's).

In reply to MB_tech2005:

I just did a 35 mile drive including filling up with gas for the first time since September of 2016. Even without all of the cladding and engine insulation on, wind and tire noise is all I can hear. The new motor mounts are great too, thanks for convincing me to do that.
I need to do enough drive cycles to get the emissions to give the all clear, then I get the inspection and registration current again and drive it! For the next couple of weeks anyway.

How 'bout the 'Groshwalds Big Adventure' ?

FYI, I know that in Connecticut, they won't do an emission test unless the car has done at least 50 miles without being turned off after the battery has been disconnected or having the codes cleared.

So now you just need to re-torque those new head bolts after 1,000 miles and you're done...

In reply to Woody:

The car will only pass emissions when the onboard computer says it's ok. There is some combination of cold starts and drive cycles that does it. I think it took about a week when I brought it home from Florida.
And those head bolts don't require re-torquing, which is good as it would involve removing the cams, and that would make me sad.

Look up "Emissions Drive Cycle", it'll tell you the exact combination of idling, driving at "XX" speed etc, that'll set all the readiness monitors...

I don't have a whole lot of my plate right now, so if you want me to, I could, you know, take it off your hands and put some miles on it....

In reply to mndsm:

The last guy who drove it had a significant repair bill.

Yeah but the last guy that rebuilt it wasn't Guido. I habe faith. And boredom. And a poor sense of self preservation.

Congratulations on the latest fix. This thread just never stops delivering.

Congratulations on ALL the repairs mazduece!

I have also been lurking for a couple of months. Great job on both the effort and the updates to this forum.

If you want to write, why not write this up and self-publish on AMZN? You have it more than half-written already and all the pics you need. In the BMW world, Rob Siegel who writes the "Hack Mechanic" column for the CCA magazine recently flew 1000 miles and spent a week reviving a 40yr-old 2002 that hadn't run in 10 yrs+ and drove it home. Then he spent a few weeks writing 200 pages on this experience, and self-published it on AMZN at a very low cost. Search "Ran when Parked" if interested. He wrote up how he learned to self-publish on his hack mechanic blog which is also easily found.

This story of yours is just as good in my view.

In reply to docwyte:

I looked that up. There are a LOT of answers. Some of them had a coast procedure where you coast from 55 down to 20 and then gave it 3/4 throttle back to 55. That sounded fun, and it was. 20-55 at 3/4 throttle is very very brief and sounds glorious. Emissions still isn't ready, but it was totally worth it.

In reply to conesare2seconds:

Thanks, I'm glad it worked. I getting frustrated enough that I was about to park it for the summer and fix it in the fall. But now I get to drive it. It's fun.

In reply to Pilot05:

Thanks for the heads up on that, I'll check it out. I've been seriously thinking about what I need to do to put this together coherently. I've got a couple of months away from real life coming and I may see if I can be happy with what I can do.