Is my W210 letting herself go? (Underneath)?

[Selinny6]

Hi Guys,
Damsel in Distress here again,
Since having the head gasket done on my W210 96 E320 I have had nothing but problems.
Done at the DS and taken it back many times as it continued to leak oil when it shouldn't have.
Cut a long story short, an engine starved of oil and a now a huge vacuum leak that yes told this was 'normal' and loud ticking and an internal tapping thru the engine was also 'normal'it is no wonder the car the car has now seized.
Was also told it was the spark plugs, NOT. They replaced them, made no difference.
And so I am at my wits end and would really appreciate if someone could take a look at these images I took recently as was a bit shocked at what I saw under the car.
Is this normal can't be?!
The image of the vacuum lines do not look like where they should be?
Also check out what I found with the accelerator? Looks like it has snapped off??
Do these look OK to anyone out there?
Certainly did not see this before i am positive.
Thank for your much appreciated time.

[Tony From West Oz]

Who have you been getting to look at the car?
Do you have confidence in their abilities? To me it sounds like a backyard mechanic who is just guessing at the faults and causes thereof.
Perhaps someone here can give you the name of a reputable independent Mercedes specialist.
Very nice cars once sorted out. Sometimes it may take quite a few $$ to get it there though.

[Ivanerrol]

Says done at the DS - stealership?

If so, then this is an outrageous story. Surely a case for Trade Practices or even MBA.

A M104 head gasket can be done by a DIYer with some good mechanical aptitude. A stealership should have done a very good job and given warranty on their work.
Could be your local Stealer doesn't do work on "older" Benz's and outsourced it to a local independent.
I know that some stealers and independents outsource all their D jet, and K/KE jet work out to Bosch injection centres.

To OP you will need to post those images via an external hosting service such as Flickr. 5 or more posts are required before the boards images will be shown.

[Selinny6]

Hello thank you for your reply.
Sorry it wasn't earlier apparently a successful hacking attempt by teenagers on Gmail account users, so Google for me was also down.
Anyway yes it is horrendous . I went to the Department Of Fair Trading and all was smoothed over pretty quickly, I took the car back to have the leaks fixed (same ones) finally sealed up.
They were avoiding the bigger picture but to be told it was my spark plugs!
They now claim that they have fixed the leaks now (month ago) yet the proposterious thing is should have been done correctly in the first place.
DFTrading need more powers to protect the consumer and should be able to warrant a refund when the customer has the right to one instead of just acknowledging it.
Then it is the ridiculous waste of time again to pursue it with the tribunal as it is their decision to act on a claim.
Otherwise what is the use?
Believe me this is why most people wont complain these days.
And the DPT also warned me beforehand that "the car is already 20 years old so this is what we need to look at here dear."
the things I can tell you here are just the tip of an iceberg....
As for the images no dramas as they won't be too far off I'm sure!
Thanks again for your reply,

[Selinny6]

Great now I can show you these pics I took recently.
Thank you for having a look when you get a spare mo, the vacuum lines(pic 1) I know have changed sequence and am not sure if they are correct or not now?
Underneath brake line appears to have a crack in it, but the hose above ( I do not know what this is) has disconnected?
Would appreciate any of your feedback so much .
Thank you.
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[Ivanerrol]

Vacuum distribution box.
Not all points have hoses coming out. If there are lose hoses around then this maybe an issue.
The empty slots are "self sealing" if not being used..
A decent mechanic can find vacuum leaks with a special apparatus or a simple smoke test.
Mercedes use vacuum for a lot of functions it's imperative that any potential vacuum leaks be sussed out.

Radiator.
Not worth worrying about unless there is a leak you can see. Normally caused by some heavy handed mechanic or misjudgement removing or installing fans or something close to the radiator.

Kick down switch.
if you get down and push this, there should be an audible "click" . there's a spring behind it.
If you want to change down gears in a hurry then flooring the accelerator will cause this switch to shift down the transmission a gear or two.

Image 4
I don't know where this is without a more general location image.
However the electrical cover should be installed in place - someone has not installed it back properly - shoddy work

[Selinny6]

Thanks for all of your time.
It is really embarrassing all round.
To think that you are doing the best for your MB by taking it to a stealership thinking the job will be done correctly leaves me very worried.....

[Tony From West Oz]

Selinney6,
Could you please edit your post to show where on the car the last 2 photos were taken, It is hard to guess what we are looking at.
Tony

[Ivanerrol]

This is some images of the kick down switch behind the accelerator pedal.

Accelrator 02.jpg

Accelrator 01.jpg

[Tony From West Oz]

Is the top photo upside down? Looks strange to me.

[Selinny6]

Oh dear, not the best at editing am i?
Sorry for the confusion , some rotation wouldn't go astray i know.
The very last pic is underneath the car in the middle behind the front wheels is this the gear box?
If is yes, there is a hose that connects to it and is certainly disconnected.
What issues can this cause if tranny related?
The other is (2nd last) the kick down switch to which i have learnt from Ivanerrol (thank you) so yes the next pic is upside down to get a pic behind the accelerator, you see i found a piece of hose in here about an inch (garden hose) that was stuck in the back.

There is also a pin connector (pic below) that I found in the boot floating around (brown one) that is not audio related, no one can give me a straight answer on this one.
And lastly I have found a connector plug next to the head that has just started leaking after the head gasket was recently done again.
I am just not sure what this does or it's exact name?
Thank you all for everything and your informed answers certainly restores the faith.

[Ivanerrol]

That boot connector may have been something to do with the old Mobile phones prevalent in the '90's.
There were transmitters located in the boot, under the front seats or any spare location.
My first mobile phone was the size of a brief case.
The first car mounted mobile phone had one box in the boot and another in the compartment next to the front seat.

Those other connectors underneath I don't recognize. I have a later model W210 than yours different engine and transmission.
Irrespective nothing should be unplugged.In fact it looks more like the insulation cover is not overlaid properly rather than the wires themselves not plugged in.

The top image in your second image post needs expanding a little - help to localise it.