Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Blue Gap, Arizona

Those E-bodies (E-class, Caravelle, 600 sedan, New Yorker) were actually pretty nice cars, I thought. I didn't care for them when I was younger, but I drove my grandmother's cousin's '86 or so Dodge 600, and thought it was a decent car. Considering it was only a 3" stretch in wheelbase, I think they did a good job of making it feel like a more substantial, and roomier car than the Aries/Reliant and the LeBaron/400. I thought the lack of a V-6 engine might have hurt their competitiveness a bit, but if you wanted more power, there was always the turbo 2.2. A year or so ago, there was an '83 or so New Yorker at the Mopar show in Carlisle, in the same "nightwatch" midnight blue of my '79 New Yorker. While the car didn't have the presence of the older, bigger, "real" New Yorkers, or even the Volare-based M-body New Yorker/5th Ave, it certainly made up for it in interior materials. It was a very ritzy, plush car. Made my New Yorker, and even my 5th Ave edition, look a bit cheap in comparison.

My blower motor would no longer turn by hand once removed, I also discovered that replacements are no longer made, and if you actually find one it's at least $168 online but NAPA did not have it in stock anymore. My successful $53 solution: Use a blower motor from a newer Chrysler and 'make it fit'. I went to an O'Reilly Auto store in Kansas City and Tom the Eagle Scout helped me out. The motor that Tom found is the VDO PM3324 for $53. The motor diameter of the body and the shaft are an exact match. Electrically it works perfectly at all speeds from ultra low to high, and this solution does not require any modifications to your original Mercedes wiring. However the new motor is constructed a little different and some creative engineering is required to get the fit just right. Before you start Use a voltage meter to verify the blower motor electrical plug has 12 volts when you turn the ignition key on. A no fan issue could be a resistor or fuse problem. Tools required: Bench grinder, basic metric socket set, screw drivers, crimping tool, 3m black vinyl tape, 3m double sided foam tape, hammer, drill with 15/64th bit or so, one male one female red spade connectors to crimp to the motor wiring, semi rusty vice grips optional. First remove the old motor under the passenger dash, so remove the panel first. The electrical connection easily pulls straight down. If you remove the 4 machine screws from rear to front, it will fall right into your hand, if like my 15 year old son you remove screws front to rear it will fall right onto your head. I love teaching my children the finer points of working on cars Remove the single bolt in the middle that holds the motor in place. The motor can now be wrestled out. Note the 4 vertical ridges in the Mercedes plastic that holds the motor. The new motor bottom needs 4 notches: The VDO motor has an ridge in it's bottom cap construction, I used my bench grinding wheel to notch this cap flush with the body in 4 90 degree cuts to fit the plastic ridges, 2 of them at the 2 attachment bolts on bottom, the other 2 90 degrees from these bolts. I recommend making them a little wider than required for an easier fit, a tight tolerance won't help you here. The new motor needs it's bottom cap circumference reduced: The bottom cap has a outside ridge, carefully rotate the motor against your bench grinder to reduce, but not remove, the outer lip. Once it fits into the top of the Mercedes plastic base this task is complete. Protect your wiring! The black and blue wires come from the top of the motor. Cut the foam tape, stick the wires below this so they are flush with the side of the motor. Wrap with 4 or so times with a good 3m black electrical tape. I highly recommend you avoid the cheap stuff here! Drill the New mounting Holes: Getting the new motor into the old Mercedes plastic requires a firm tapping, not hammering. Place on motor on your work surface, with shaft just off to the side and tap the plastic on the motor. When the bottom two mounting bolts hit bottom the will leave your drill location marks. Wrestle the motor out and use a 15/64 drill bit to make 2 new holes. Hint: remove the extra two nuts at this time. Re-tap the plastic onto the motor making sure the bolts come through the holes, attach with the washers and nuts that come with the motor. Cut no wires, Make the Electrical Connection: The fan requires a CCW rotation when looking down at the top of the shaft. Terminate the black wire with a red(22-18 gauge) male spade to fit into the Mercedes side female connecter, which is the + voltage side. Terminate motor's blue wire with a red female spade connecter for ground. The motor wires were a very tight fit into the red connectors and crimped down just fine. I did not cut any wires, and was able to nicely tuck them both down into the plastic base when done. The smart choice, a new squirrel cage: The shaft is a little longer, this was not the problem as there is room above. The original motor top is tapered, and the original fan support is curved to match. The new motor has a right angle top, not tapered which means the original squirrel cage fan cannot be tapped down as low on the new motor. Though this is not what I did I think it's likely the better choice. Plan B, What I did: Tap the old fan onto the shaft, when it reaches flush, use a deep socket to tap it further down about 1/4 inch, until the motor top is just barely not touching fan. I actually had the slightest of fan to motor rubs, as I assumed it rubbed itself out during the first 20 minutes of operation. The new system will be about 5mm to tall and the an will rub on the top side. I used a blue foam 10mm thick and 4 screws that were a little longer that the original and it works great. The foam I cut into a circle around the bottom of the fan, and use a marker to trace and cut the external plastic shape. A couple small pieces of 3m double sided foam tape and

Thoughts on the red back lights on the dash? Like? Dislike? I currently have blue back lights and don't recall if I have had red before. I'm sure I have but I just don't recall.

Saw a nice period light blue 64 T-Bird today. Yesterday saw a nice example of a ~ 81 Corolla coupe, which was made in so many bodystyles, the one I saw was like this:

Yes, I am now having the same problem with my new 2011 SL Rogue. I have talked to them and they told me the sunroof gets out of line. I am setting up an appt to have them fix it. I love this car, but can not tolerate wind noise like this.... I have also noticed the blue tooth does not listen very well. Everytime I say someones name and use "cell" behind the name it cancels the request... I guess it does not do well with southern accents.. LOL.... And I notice it is worse when you first get in the car and it is cold outside. Works better once the car gets warm inside. anyone else have this problem?