Preventative Maintenance / Major Service
After a year with my G its time to go from front to back and give it a good service. Its 2000 Rhd G500. It has just gone past the 66000 mile mark and it keeps informing me that its 6000 miles overdue a B service. I bought it at 60000 and had a basic oil/filter change done but the computer was never reset. Its been serviced through its life but i have no receipts to back up any work done so lets assume a lot of the non routine service parts are original. I am putting it into my local garage and not a Mercedes Dealer. I would like to make a list of everything I would like them to do/check is there any advice on the jobs below or anything I should add? Is it best just to get all the parts from Mercedes or is there alternative sources for genuine parts? I would have to source any of these parts myself before it goes in.
1. Air Filters
2. Engine Oil / Filters
3. Spark Plugs
4. Transmission oil and Filters
5. Diff Oil
6. Fuel Filters
7. Replace Brake Fluid
8. Replace Power Steering fluid
9. Replace Coolant
There are 3 small issues with the vehicle I am going to have investigated:
1. Wind noise at front of sunroof - I believe this is a sealing issue as sometimes when you open/shut a few times you can get it to stop. Has anyone else suffered this? Does replacing the seal stop it?
2. A vibration through the steering between 50 and 60 mph - I think it is maybe a wheel out of balance. Is there anything else it could be. Its not the steering damper as I've had that replaced. The steering wheel is a bit off centre - almost a 1/8 turn to the right. Can this be fixed with alignment? It may have something to do with the vibration.
3. The rear left sits around an inch lower than the rear right. No sign of suspension damage. A) is it possible that it is on its original springs and dampers? B) The ride can be pretty hard, rough and unforgiving on anything but a smooth road, is this just a G or is it time to replace the dampers?
Any advice would help.
Thanks in Advance,
Ian
Bear in mind that I know nothing and don't even own a G Wagon (although I do keep looking) but I kept a note of this thread from someone who certainly seems to know what he's talking about as it seemed to cover everything I would want to do when/if I do get one. Just scroll down until the post that lists everything he did when he got his new toy.
http://www.gwoa.co.uk/content/just-bought-members-g500
Hope it helps.
Thats a great thread, Thank you
Hello,
Parts are probably best through an MB dealer, but fluids can be obtained elsewhere.
Engine oil: I use Mobil-1 0W-40
Coolant: anything with BASF Glysantine G48 like Comma X-treme G48
brake fluid : DOT 4 or DOT 5.1 ( complete flush and refill)
Brake disks : MB OEM (textar) and paint disc hubs with grey primer.
brake pads: MB OEM (Textar)
The steering vibration probably means it requires wheel-balancing and/or new tyres, if they are old/cracking or worn Otherwise, a new steering damper. These wear out anyway and not expensive to replace - about £110 and takes 20 mins.
Steering wheel will not usually point exactly straight, depending on road camber, but it should be about straight when driving on a level surface., like a car-park. Otherwise check and adjust track rods .
Some of the original dampers were very harsh., particularly AMG types. The consensus is that those from the current G's 500/550 are MUCH better. But first check part numbers on your existing ones, to see what you have. Perhaps they were changed to non-OEM, before you bought the vehicle, as was the case with mine (Koni hard trail), which were impossibly harsh. (Now it's great with the G500/G550 types). See if G-Restorations can supply a nearly-new set. I believe these are Bilstein and are gas-pressure types. The previous, early versions were Sachs and are very soft and these can be bought quite cheaply through ECP .
For the sunroof, it may be that the front edge is sticking up above the roof edge, causing the wind noise. This requires adjustment only.
Whilst at it, have the chassis steam-cleaned and wax-protected, particularly on suspension mounts etc.
For levelling the rear suspension, there is a workshop procedure, which involves loosening and re-tightening the rear radius arms. However, this is only for small adjustments. It may be that your spring has sagged or even broken. I have noticed a tendency for rear springs to sag with time.
Ian - G500 Nice!
. Joking apart, it could be either the wheels needing balancing or the tread on the tires, one side could be less than the other, this can lead to a vibration as well.
Thanks guys,
I will add these to the list of things that will need done.
I will try and resolve my sunroof issues as you suggest – I did give it a good clean and it was ok until I opened it again so hopefully your method will work! If not I’ll try adjusting it a little.
With regards to the suspension, I’m working out of the country at the moment so I can’t check the part number on the dampers. With what you both describe I think new suspension components are required. I would say ‘Harsh, Choppy and Crash Bangy at the slightest pothole’ is a fairly accurate description of the ride. On some B/C and unclassified roads with poor surfaces the ride is distinctly unpleasant and above 45ish even more so. This is where I cover 90% of my miles. I just wouldn’t like to end up replacing everything to find no change! I never remember my G300 SWB being as bad as this. Do you replace the springs at the same time? Or if they are not broken or damaged just the dampers?
Is it worth asking Gav for parts or is this an inconvenience for him? Are there any benefits of going through him as opposed to going direct to Mercedes? It is my intention to use Mercedes parts.
I see G-Restorations have a set of G63 dampers advertised on this forum. Are they the same as the G500/550 or are they harder? I am not looking for a hard ride but at the same time I don’t particularly want it wallowing around either.
Thanks again
Ian
I bought a set of g500 / g550 dampers from Gordon - they come from new Gs being Brabus 'upgraded' - and found that they were the original part that should have been on my G400,. The ride is now very good on most surfaces. I was also tempted to buy the g63 dampers he has now, but being AMG versions, I imagine they may be a little harder, but since AMGs run on skinny tyres, perhaps not?
As for the springs, they should be replaced in pairs and it helps if you note the colour code (number of paint stripes and their colour) on your existing springs.
With regards to the suspension, I’m working out of the country at the moment so I can’t check the part number on the dampers. With what you both describe I think new suspension components are required. I would say ‘Harsh, Choppy and Crash Bangy at the slightest pothole’ is a fairly accurate description of the ride. On some B/C and unclassified roads with poor surfaces the ride is distinctly unpleasant and above 45ish even more so. This is where I cover 90% of my miles. I just wouldn’t like to end up replacing everything to find no change! I never remember my G300 SWB being as bad as this. Do you replace the springs at the same time? Or if they are not broken or damaged just the dampers?
Is it worth asking Gav for parts or is this an inconvenience for him? Are there any benefits of going through him as opposed to going direct to Mercedes? It is my intention to use Mercedes parts.
I see G-Restorations have a set of G63 dampers advertised on this forum. Are they the same as the G500/550 or are they harder? I am not looking for a hard ride but at the same time I don’t particularly want it wallowing around either.
Thanks again
Ian
Hi Ian - Once I had help from Axel to install the new shocks - all was back to normal - I was lucky as he did take a look at the springs for me and all were well. Interestingly we had a slight delay in getting the rear shocks and Axel lent me some standard 460 shocks and while there was an improvement against the 'shot shocks' they replaced, it was noticeable when the new ones arrived and were installed.
Don;t forget a 300SWB is a tad lighter and shorter than a LWB G500 (I am assuming its a LWB) so will have a slightly different ride.
Gav is our parts rep and to date I have found him both helpful and resourceful and compared with the prices I get from my local Merc dealer - a god send price wise. I am sure that if you hunt around you could better his prices, and if he knows of other more completive pieces against say his stock, he will be upfront and tell you.
Can't really comment on the G63 shocks, other than the G63's are more geared up for on road, 19inch + wheels and much skinnier tyre's. So would differe to someone who has that experience
Spider1V
Apologies for the delay in responding to this thread but I had a very busy time off!
I would like to thank everyone for the advice as my G is now better than ever. G Restorations supplied me with AMG shocks (all round) which have made a huge difference! They have slightly firmed up the ride but not to a point that is unpleasant. They make the G seem much more poised and its road manners are hugely increased, it feels almost car like to drive, far more sure footed and the crashing has gone so I think the old shocks were gone.
Gav Helme helped me source all the service parts and I would like to thank him for the huge amount of time he took to prepare the list for me.
I spent a couple of days myself going over it, cleaning and fettling. I have noticed that as you suggested Spider, that all my rubber tubing that protects the door wires has degraded so I will have to replace them.
I also found the rubbers at the base of the door were wet and there was a little moisture around that area (under the metal light strips). I may have to replace the external window seals as they don’t seem to contact the window properly. It looks like all the door seals are fine and I cannot see any run marks at the front of the foot well which I assume rules out wiper spindles or windscreen problems.
The only niggle that persists is the sun roof noise. With a tail wind its fine but anything over 50mph into a head wind and it is now totally unpleasant, unable to have a conversation level of noise. I think it is as the sunroof does not close properly but I cannot see any way to adjust it.
Thanks again for all the help
Cheers,
Ian
Ian,
My sunroof doesn't close fully when it's been on tilt. So I slide it open 4 " then re-close it and it is fine.
Ian,
My 500 was i storage for about 16 months, I had it fully serviced but forgot to check the serpentine belt.......which promptly snapped after 3 days of driving again. As you're at it, I would check this item out as you may still have the original one on your car as well and they get brittle.
Good luck,
Ph
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Thats a great thread, Thank you