Liner (Atego) Service

[stewartwebr]

My previous Morelo motorhomes have always been serviced in Germany. Unfortunately, due to current circumstances I was forced into using my local Mercedes dealer. What an absolute carry on. My liner has just covered short of 1200 miles and I have had issues with gearbox high temperature intermittent alarm. I booked it into my Mercedes dealership, but they were unable to locate the VIN on the Mercedes database. Without it they cannot carry out any work. The workshop manager eventually agreed I should bring it in and he was sure they could find the VIN stamped on the chassis.
After 20mins they were able to show me images of the original Mercedes VIN which had been marked over with punched XXXX making illegible. The new Morelo VIN was stamped under it, luckily when they plugged the Mercedes Star system in the Merc Vin number popped up. This then allowed them to start the fault finding.

An hour into the fault finding I received a call to say they could not access the engine, the floor hatch will not come out. I spoke with the Workshop Manager who was reluctant to do any further work in the event his team caused damage. I agreed to head out to the dealership. Once there I could see what they were saying. A quick call to Morelo who explained that the chiller section needs to be remover.....what??
It was explained that the drawer needs to be removed, then the six screws which hold the drawer runners to be removed then remove the drawer runner module. This then reveals 6 screws screwing the drawer module to the floor which is actually the hatch. Once they are out there are 4 screws at each side at the rear and 3 at each side holding the base to the leather covered top. They all needed to be removed to get the drinks chiller out.
Only once all this was completed were I able to remove the floor hatch. Took me around 1 hour to work it all out. I cannot believe Morelo have designed a system where a major furniture removal needs to take place to access the engine. Can only assume the Mercedes dealers in Bamburg knew what was required in previous motorhomes.
A faulty sensor was replaced, but what a complete pain in the neck and such a stupid design.

 

[BillandHelen]

What a palava! Hope you are now fixed ok, was this at Western Commercial at Broxburn?

 

[stewartwebr]

What a palava! Hope you are now fixed ok, was this at Western Commercial at Broxburn?

Yes, they were excellent, cannot fault them.

 

[DBK]

I remember reading long ago about a car where to adjust the tappets you first had to jack it up and remove the rear wheels.

But if what you say is true, as I'm sure it is, this is just poor design. It sounds like those who designed the interior ignored the chassis it was going to be fitted to. However, more likely, they just took an existing design and did minimal changes to adapt it to a new chassis.

 

[BillandHelen]

I was there yesterday, 2 recalls already, front inner wheel arch lineings and new rear brake callipers- these are like gold dust, luckily my supplying dealer managed to secure a set from their “tame” dealer! Agree they are excellent to deal with.

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[DuxDeluxe]

If anyone is in Wellingborough area with a Merc issue, then intercounty Merc are good to deal with had a simple issue which turned a lot more complicated with seized and sheared bolts on a 7 year old chassis, that the dealt with creatively in the old fashioned mechanic way. Great service - cost a lot but saved even more

 

[stewartwebr]

I was there yesterday, 2 recalls already, front inner wheel arch lineings and new rear brake callipers- these are like gold dust, luckily my supplying dealer managed to secure a set from their “tame” dealer! Agree they are excellent to deal with.

I was there yesterday as well, Parts Manager said he had another camper in on Tuesday. Didn’t see you or your van there, then again my head was down working the ratchet most of the time

 

[CazPaul]

sallylillian have you the same chassis and Morelo?

 

[fullfat]

Wow and I thought my old Commer Wanderer was complicated

 

[jongood]

I remember reading long ago about a car where to adjust the tappets you first had to jack it up and remove the rear wheels.

But if what you say is true, as I'm sure it is, this is just poor design. It sounds like those who designed the interior ignored the chassis it was going to be fitted to. However, more likely, they just took an existing design and did minimal changes to adapt it to a new chassis.

If the German manufacturers have a fault it is confidence so great that it can become arrogance. I can easily imagine the Mercedes team assuring the Morelo designers that the engine and gearbox is designed to be maintained from underneath and that their driveline is so excellent that access for repairs will be unnecessary especially with the anticipated lifecycle of a motorhome.

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[sallylillian]

sallylillian have you the same chassis and Morelo?

Yes I do.
1. The VIN. Apparently it is some issue surrounding the COC and Mercedes. All my servicing has been done in Bamberg, however I registered it with my local MB truck servicing when I had an electrical issue. I gave my local dealer over the phone the VIN. They could not recognise it on the MB system as it is a Meier one that supersedes the MB one. However my local dealer told me 3 places to look and I found as Stewart did the XXXX out MB one which was easily readable on a main chassis bar and secured the vehicle on the dealer register with it.
2. I am unsure why the dealer needed the floor up for the service. Bamberg have done 2 services on my Atego and neither time needed the floor up. Unless you are working on the top end there is no need, everything can be done from the pit. As to the engine access panel removal Stewart is correct you have to remove the incorrectly named chiller draw and its associated GRP moulding. I have done it several times and now only takes 10-15 minutes however first time will take more. I threaded the lid so I could insert bolts for lifting. I actually added a ton of extra insulation in the bay but that's another story however here are some pictures.

I will agree with Stewart the engine access is a pain, but practice makes perfect, and if I were taking my van in for a top end issue I would remove the furniture myself.

 

[Littlewheels]

Did you do a decibel test before and after you added the sound deadening?
l’ve just done similar and it dropped 10 decibels at 2000/2200 rpm.

 

[sallylillian]

Did you do a decibel test before and after you added the sound deadening?
l’ve just done similar and it dropped 10 decibels at 2000/2200 rpm.

Here is a report I did elsewhere which covers a broad spectrum of noise questions.


As some know I was measuring the decibels at tick over of the Morelos when I was trying to come to a conclusion on model and chassis in 2018. I used a simple app on my phone, DecibelPro. How accurate was not really my issue but comparison was. So I had 68dB at tickover in the Flair as my benchmark. Interestingly the Morelo on the Daily chassis was just over 70dB. I was looking at the Eurocargo though to give me the payload for the slide out. That was a whopping 82dB at tickover, with the steering wheel shaking.... and we were stationary. That nearly ended Morelo for us. They said try the MB chassis and we went out in a 11m Empire. 72dB at tickover and made the Eurocargo seem like the tractor it really was. So we continued and ended up with the 12ton MB chassis. Cognisant of the Morelo Daily being noisier than our Flair I ordered the extra engine and wheel arch insulation from the specials list. (Now a standard option but still a cost, next it will be tyres!)

So that's the back story. Now to this weekend. As a result of a conversational comment from RL I suspected that the engine room extra insulation was never done, and that was confirmed by it not being on the invoice. The wheel arches were. Our reading at tickover is 69 - 70dB so pretty good but I had been hoping for better. Morelo Daily chassis owners will not have the hatch in the saloon floor that the truck chassis have. To get at it amazingly you have to remove the bottom section of the dash which has the cooler draw etc.

I had investigated from underneath and found limited insulation under the hatch and ordered some 32mm Quietlife lead lined insulation. This weekend the job started. We removed the dash section, the fixing of which would embarrass me if it was my creation. Once that was out the hatch could be lifted. The complete engine was directly under it and the hatch was only backed with simple cheap foam and not that well. One of the 6 holding bolts had been installed cross threaded! After getting it out I ran a tap and die on the parts to clean them up. I then proceed to line out the engine bay flat surfaces around the engine which were just bare painted metal and also the hatch surround creating a new edge seal. Then we mounted insulation on the back of the hatch. A days work in one sentence! The result was an interference fit with the insulation I had fitted to the surround frame. This posed a problem. There was no way to pull the hatch up once it was ensconced it was snug. So looking at the clearance bolt holes in the hatch they were well oversize size so I threaded them with an M10 tap so they perform a dual purpose, hold down bolt holes and also enabling me to screw in some M10 bolts to pull the hatch once the fixing bolts were released. All worked a charm.

All installed and reassembled after 2 days and some aching limbs.

The test this afternoon proved it was a valid exercise. 63-64dB at tickover, a significant reduction, I think 69dB is 6-7 times louder than 63dB as dB is not linear. Both Sally and I noticed the difference straight away and it made all the effort worthwhile. I apologise for the lack of pictures, I was so engrossed in getting everything to fit and not screwing up my Morelo with contact adhesive etc that I did not take any and I am certainly not going to dismantle it all to do so. I am happy to exchange with anyone who has a hatch in their Morelo.

Michael

 

[Littlewheels]

That is one great effort in order to achieve your goal but a good result and well worth while.l know how fastidious you are which is a rare quality and the attention to detail in all that you explain here is why anyone buying a MH that you have finished with gets one that’s better than new despite age and mileage.
I do appreciate it will be many years before your current Morelo will be going anywhere.

 

[sallylillian]

If you are interested this is the sequel to the above post, disaster, but resolved. Sorry stewartwebr I dont mean to hijack your thread but the pictures help to provide a backdrop to your comments.


I bought my Quiet Life 32mm lead lined insulation from ASAP supplies together with their Rhino contact spray adhesive. All went well on the job and to recap my dB readings went from 69dB to 63-64dB. I was pleased. We went to Sicily and returned via Germany to the UK I was sort of aware that the engine noise seemed to be increased but did not think about too much. When I got home I was installing my new horn when I realised that the insulation looked odd. It had all started falling off. Long story short the adhesive was not tested for heat resistance and was not warranted by the manufacturers but they thought that 60-70c might be its limit!!
So out it all came, here are the bits that had not disintegrated having been swaddling the engine!
Broken Link Removed

ASAP gave me replacement insulation. I investigated the adhesive options and found 3M™ Hi-Strength 90 Spray Adhesive which was warranted at 250F or 120c! I also fixed the panels additionally with special washers and s/s screws.

Broken Link Removed

Broken Link Removed
Broken Link RemovedTook 2 full days to complete then I also fitted some additional captive bars. Whilst I had this ongoing and the dash board disassembled I dealt with the void behind the draw. I used an old foam filled pillow to fill what seemed like a drum and not used in any way.

Broken Link Removed

So then back with the meter. I had added an extra piece of insulation and the foam pillow for an improved score of 62dB, not a fantastic improvement but at least something.

Michael

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[DBK]

The difference between 63 dB and 69dB is 4 times. The best way to understand this is every 3dB increase doubles* the value - or halves it if going the other way.

However, in one sense it is meaningless as it is a ratio of differences of power and out brains aren't wired that way. So the real test is subjective - is it quieter? Clearly it is.

"approximately.

 

[funflair]

We just have the Daily chassis so no issues with engine access through the floor, but the service department do need to remove a panel in the dashboard to fill up the radiator header (I would remove it before it went in), I guess that's just the way it is when you build an apartment on top of an existing commercial chassis.

On first glance it is easy to criticise these things as poor design but you need to look at the big picture for the alternatives and are they any better, the floor hatch could have been smaller but then would limit engine access so not good, the dashboard could be resigned with new moulds and tooling but I am sure they would be reluctant to do this if for no other reason than the corporate image as basically all their range share the same design, maybe removal of the offending unit could be easier which I can't comment on as Michael won't let me pull his van apart

Its a motorhome there will be compromises.

 

[Lenny HB]

The difference between 63 dB and 69dB is 4 times. The best way to understand this is every 3dB increase doubles* the value - or halves it if going the other way.

Sorry not correct 6 dB is double when measuring volume, 3 dB is double when measuring power.
The difference between 63 dB & 69 dB is double not 4 times.

 

[DBK]

Sorry not correct 6 dB is double when measuring volume, 3 dB is double when measuring power.
The difference between 63 dB & 69 dB is double not 4 times.

I'll take your word for it but having studied this to death for my ham radio licence recently I thought I was on safe ground with this question. Perhaps not!

 

[Bustup15]

Can I join in?

The basic rules for working with decibels​

Change in dB	Change in sound energy
3 dB increase	sound energy is doubled
3 dB decrease	sound energy is halved
10 dB increase	sound energy is increased by a factor of 10
10 dB decrease	sound energy is decreased by a factor of 10
20 dB increase	sound energy is increased by a factor of 100
20 dB decrease	sound energy is decreased by a factor of 100

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[Taran_Las]

Can I join in?

The basic rules for working with decibels​

Change in dB	Change in sound energy
3 dB increase	sound energy is doubled
3 dB decrease	sound energy is halved
10 dB increase	sound energy is increased by a factor of 10
10 dB decrease	sound energy is decreased by a factor of 10
20 dB increase	sound energy is increased by a factor of 100
20 dB decrease	sound energy is decreased by a factor of 100

If only interest rates worked this way.

 

[Lenny HB]

Can I join in?

The basic rules for working with decibels​

Change in dB	Change in sound energy
3 dB increase	sound energy is doubled
3 dB decrease	sound energy is halved
10 dB increase	sound energy is increased by a factor of 10
10 dB decrease	sound energy is decreased by a factor of 10
20 dB increase	sound energy is increased by a factor of 100
20 dB decrease	sound energy is decreased by a factor of 100

That is power not volume.

 

[Bustup15]

That is power not volume.

Perhaps so but depending which website you refer to many say +10db is perceived to be twice as loud.
But H&S will half the allowed time for working for each +3db

Noise Level dB(A)	Maximum Exposure Time (in an 8-hour working day/shift)
85	8 hours (Wearing hearing protection in the workplace is mandatory)
88	4 hours
91	2 hours
94	1 hour
97	30 minutes
100	15 minutes
103	7.5 minutes
106	3.7 minutes
109	112 seconds
112	56 seconds
115	28 seconds
118	14 seconds
121	7 seconds

 

[sallylillian]

OK all you boffins, my app offers a variety of Frequency weightings, Z, A, B, C, 468 Which one should I use? I have been using Z

Michael

 

[Bustup15]

Don't shoot the messenger

Understanding the 3dB rule - Pulsar Instruments

If your work involves controlling noise in the workplace, especially if you are responsible for monitoring noise exposure levels, you will need to

pulsarinstruments.com

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[sallylillian]

Thought I would bone up on the weightings issue. My readings are all at the Z setting which is zero weighting. It would seem that C might be more appropriate but that would likely flatter my achievement.