Shadowing Practice: So much is wrong with this Mercedes, can we fix it ? - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hey, it's Perak and this is a 2015 Mercedes ML350 which has been sitting for quite some time.

And I mean literally sitting, there is no gap here at all.

Since this car is so low to the ground, the poor thing has just been sitting outside collecting dust because it is not drivable.

And the reason it is so low is

because the airmatic on it has failed this car instead of using springs uses balloons filled with air

and the owner told me that this wheel had taken an impact

so i suspect that the balloon behind this wheel is blown

but that is not the only problem this car has let's dig a little further

so under the hood the first thing

that has gone bad are these struts these barely holds the hood open and this can fall on me anytime.

So, let me fix that.

Wait a minute.

Now, ideally, we should remove these struts but they are gone anywhere.

Well, now that's not going anywhere.

Let's move on to the engine.

Well, to begin with, the engine bay is filthy and that is because of the amount of seepage that has covered everything.

So, let's trace the seepage down quickly.

Now, I'll be honest with you.

I've been inside this engine bay before and after some peculiar discoveries, I decided that I should make a video on it.

First of all, this intake duct that goes to the turbo, it was filled with seepage.

So, I suspected that it is cracked but it did not stop there.

Next up, we had a lot of seepage around the vacuum pump.

Now, it is pretty common for this seal to fail but it wasn't that.

When I dug around, I found someone's carelessness which has led to all of the seepage.

Let me show

you now there were two surprises with this there was a lot of seepage around this joint

which led me to believe it is cracked and lo

and behold it was and it was poorly repaired but

that isn't the only problem with this intake pipe the seal for it is stone as well

and they just used it whoever worked on this car previously just used it

and they tightened this clamp so much that this poor thing just broke

and now about the vacuum pump seepage let me show you what's wrong there

now this is a chamber that sits right above the anti -shutter valve

which heads straight to the intake plenum i think this is sort of an air to oil separator

but the missing component is an o -ring which is

which is very crucial all of the air components on this car are leaking

and that too right after the filters now the question is why is there

so much oil in the intake ducts

and the answer is this careless repair they think

that they sealed it properly and no air would pass through it

but obviously this is leaking and this is right after the air filter

so nothing is going to get filtered from this point till the turbo

and obviously dirt dust whatever found its way into the turbo

and prematurely wore it down

and it just started spooing oil everywhere now the turbo is

not too far gone sure it is leaking oil it is

throwing a little oil it's not too much what i'll do

is find out how much turbos cost for this car

and see if the owner wants to replace it

if they do it's good for a long time to come

if they don't it's not the end of its life anyway

but since it is throwing oil we need to open all of the intake lines

and clean them properly but that is for later let's get this car back in the air

my first concern is that the car was on the ground from all four corners

that only happens with a failing valve body

and not a strut a single strut failing would just sag the car from

that corner but this car was grounded on all four corners

so the valve body for this car is right behind here let's remove this wheel open the fender liner

and inspect further

now the valve body is behind this fender liner

and it has no bolts on it nothing is holding it on unfortunately

so let's just remove it slightly there are no bolts

and there is our valve body now to check exactly what

is leaking in the valve body is it the valve body or the compressor, I need to turn the engine on

and raise the car up from the inside for

that i just put the engine back together on the older

seals for the timing this right here is the compressor

which feeds the valve log and after a bit of testing i've concluded

that the valve log on this has failed the first step to check

if your compressor is working fine is to open its line

and then hold your thumb on the compressor line and if it is building pressure

most probably your compressor is fine and this has been replaced in 2020

so i'm not doubting this as much and

because all four corners of the car are on the ground it is most probably the valve lock

because this poor compressor is doing its job valve lock is not sending anything anywhere

so let's quickly replace that and see if that fixes our problem

so this right here is the new valve lock

and this is a very common failure point on these airmatic cars it comes with all new metal fittings

and even the inserts should be metal yeah they are metal as opposed to plastic

which is on the stock one so let's quickly open it all up

and replace it now to remove this we can

check

that the bolt holes are at the back these two on

two corners it's a really easy thing to do just look at your new part

and you can see how it's held together so let's quickly remove it

now it is free from its bracket

and these are all of its lines this is the compressor line

which feeds the entire valve block this goes to the reservoir

and these rest four go to all four corners in the

valve block you can see there are colors each line goes to a different color

and on the stock valve block the lines have those colors as well

so we just need to make sure that we put those colors properly.

Now, on the stock valve lock, two of the lines are entirely faded.

So, we just need to make sure that we know where we are putting them.

Let's open all of these up.

you can see this has metal inserts while this has plastic

so this has less chance of cross threading or leaking

while once we are replacing this there are higher chances of cross threading it

and leaking so this is slightly better in

100

that case now i'm just going to replace all of these

101

fittings with these new ones these fittings don't actually wear out it's the seal on them

102

that does i can just replace the seal and be good with it

103

but since this came new with the

104

valve lock i'm gonna

105

replace it all

106

right now

107

with the lines looking brand new let's fit them properly

108

all right with the valve lock properly done let's put the wheel back on get the car on the ground

109

and see if that fixed it fingers crossed that it did so Now,

110

let's turn the car on and see if that did anything.

111

Now that the valve block is replaced, the car is still not taking air now it says

112

that the sensor on the compressor is bad that leaky fault is gone

113

but the fault for this sensor is on now

114

so i started to suspect the compressor

115

and i got a used one out of a mercedes s -class this is out of a s 350

116

and when i removed this i saw the number of the car

117

which means this has been repaired before not only was it installed in 2020

118

but then repaired

119

and i know why there is no filter in front of it a filter goes right in the bumper

120

and it allows the air to be filtered before it goes into this compressor but

121

because it just it just isn't there after this kit they

122

just forgot to install it the compressor went bad again for the third time now so let's install the compressor first, see if the car takes air.

123

If it does, we'll put the new filter as well.

124

Let's go.

125

all right with that let's put the wheel back on put the car back on the ground

126

and click the raise button from the inside and hope that it worked this time

127

all right then as you just saw the car rises properly and it even lowers

128

so all that works perfectly i'm just going to leave this car overnight

129

and check if any corner drops so we'll know

130

if there are more leaks but let's move on to more issues with this car.

131

So, two days later and the Airmatic holds pressure as it should, the car is sitting level properly.

132

So, we have no further leaks.

133

We've received some seals of the engine.

134

Let's get started with that.

135

First off, we've received the main turbo seal which was entirely torn on this car.

136

So, we got this in L -ring which is the brand Mercedes, Audi, all of these cars use and the smaller seal as well.

137

This, we could not get in L -ring but it's fine.

138

It's not torn in this anyway.

139

We got the oil filter in Maan and we got brand new bonnet struts because this can fall anytime.

140

Let's begin with the main turbo seal. so

141

if you remember this is the seal entirely torn it's just

142

it has seen better days i think this has never been replaced in this car is 14 15

143

so in like 12 13 years it has never been replaced

144

this is the new one before we install it let's thoroughly clean this

145

with this relatively clean now let's install the new seal

146

It's a good thing that we are replacing this because even this is lit.

147

I was thinking that this is fine but even this is not.

148

Alright then, with new seals installed in both of those, let's check the health of air filters and move forward.

149

They say this car was serviced recently

150

but still we are going to service it again so that we have peace of mind

151

okay these have not been replaced i wonder when was this service these are pretty old for sure

152

I also found the broken part of the dipstick right here and one of the bolts for this is not fully seated.

153

I'm not sure if this is how it's supposed to be but it is really high up.

154

It should not be like that I think.

155

Let's remove this intake as well and clean it from the inside.

156

This has never been cleaned.

157

Never.

158

Which is bad.

159

oh this is glued together that's why it was not coming out I wonder why they glued it.

160

Look at this.

161

Recently serviced.

162

Recently serviced.

163

Now, I've cleaned them as best as possible.

164

I can touch them with bare hands and my hands don't get dirty.

165

But all the loose dirt has gone.

166

But there is a lot of glue on the inside.

167

I don't know why they decided to glue it.

168

All that glue has gone in.

169

And it's just entirely sticky on the inside.

170

Now, I don't wish to put these back in.

171

But it's not going to matter.

172

It's just glue, basically.

173

It's just glue residue.

174

All the loose dirt has gone.

175

In an ideal situation, I would get new ones and install them, but right now they're not available anywhere.

176

So, we're just gonna put these back on.

177

While we wait for the new filters to arrive, I thought I'd just quickly remove the bumper and clean the intercooler.

178

As I mentioned earlier on in the video, there is a lot of oil in the entire intake system

179

and that intercooler is going to be filled with oil, I'm sure.

180

So, I just wanted to remove it, check it, clean it properly, get it free of oil so that the car can breathe properly again.

181

Let's figure out how to remove this.

182

Now there is a lot of oil in there, which I can feel on my finger,

183

yup, there is oil, but not pools of it.

184

This seal on this side has failed as well so we'll see what we can do about that.

185

There is a lot of seepage here but yeah in general let's just clean this properly.

186

So this is one of the charge pipes absolutely filled with gunk let's clean this properly

187

look at the amount of oil in here this is the

188

reason we are cleaning it properly this has been quite a

189

cleaning spree i went slightly overboard than i should have these

190

don't need to look as clean as they do anyway we

191

got new filters let me compare them with old ones stay right here would you look at

192

that the difference these haven't been replaced for years i think

193

yeah so we got new filters everything is clean we're ready to assemble the car now

194

the owner was complaining that ac does not work

195

while ac was turning on fine the compressor turns on fine the condenser was entirely choked with dirt

196

so we've cleaned

197

that we have everything brand new everything is clean let's just assemble the car back now

198

and then we'll change the oil Thank you.

199

So today we are going to change the cabin air filters

200

on this car there are three in total this is the outside one

201

and these two are the interior one now these were never

202

replaced the AC was never serviced I got the AC gas

203

filled properly today we got rid of the old gas entirely

204

and then got the new one filled now the AC finally cools

205

but the cabin stinks because these were never replaced so let's quickly do that

206

now i've dusted this earlier when we were getting the ac gas filled

207

so not much is going to come out

208

but i'll show you a video of what it was earlier

209

but let's quickly compare it with a new one these are the older interior ones

210

and i'll just show you the new one Look at the difference.

211

Now if you remember, this was leaking this was a poor fix done previously

212

and it was just sucking in dirt all over the place

213

so now i purchased the other one i have already replaced it it is installed

214

and this one is out and when i removed it i realized

215

that it had a lot more leaks than just the one right here

216

but now it's all good so this is the filter

217

that goes right in front of the airmatic pump this filters out all the air

218

that the pump is sucking so that it doesn't get clogged with dirt

219

and dust which this part of the car attracts a lot of look at this

220

it attracts a lot of dirt and dust

221

so this filter is really necessary otherwise the compressor will just

222

keep blowing up this is the reason this is the third compressor in this car

223

so let's install it then now that we finally have it

224

so this is the pickup for the compressor and this is where

225

that filter resides and now there will be another pipe

226

which goes from here to the top of the fender so

227

that this does not accidentally pick up water because

228

that would entirely ruin this compressor so this was missing

229

that is the reason we're replacing this on this car

230

so it is finally back on

231

but before I put this I wish to clean this compressor properly once

232

so let's either open it or spray some silicone grease in there

233

so that it is slightly clean

234

because this has been running for a week without this because it took forever to find this so let's clean this

235

so i have this random pipe laying around from the a6 this fits over this pretty well

236

and this is long enough that it can get tucked halfway above the fender

237

so this works now let's mount this with the filter i will initially run it without the output connected

238

so that if it has any dirt, dust, whatever, it just throws it out.

239

Now I'm just going to zip tie the inlet of this pipe somewhere around in this region behind the bumper

240

so that it doesn't ingest any water.

241

Now it is finally time to put the fender liner back on.

242

It is missing this piece

243

so I'll see what i can do for this i mean

244

i should cover up cover this up in some way so

245

that it doesn't damage anything else back there now

246

because you opened the compressor all the air has escaped it

247

is spilling back up now the filter is in the compressor

248

is a lot smoother it's not making as much noise as it used to

249

and this will ensure that it runs forever now so let's see

250

if the car rises up properly it is already rising it is pretty slow

251

but yeah it's already rising now one of the last things

252

that i wish to fix on this car is this door hinge i think you can listen to that

253

it is very noisy so let's see what's in there

254

if it just needs grease let's grease it up

255

but let's get rid of this noise this door has become really heavy because of it

256

so unfortunately i cannot do anything about the hinge

257

because it is a sealed unit we even remove the door to have like inspected properly

258

but it's entirely sealed we'll just need a new hinge

259

and this clicking sound will go away someone had greased it previously

260

which only makes things worse because it just attracted a lot of dirt

261

and it's all in the hinge now

262

so greasing it on the outside is not the solution unfortunately

263

so we'll need an entirely new hinge but with that everything

264

that i wanted to do on this car has now either been done

265

or saved for later because we'll need a new hinge

266

that will come later also the locks for the fuel filter never arrived i've ordered them like a week ago

267

and i'm waiting for them every day

268

but they are just not arriving there are particular locks

269

that go on this on this fuel filter for the fuel lines

270

and i just don't want to use ring clamps

271

because then the fuel lines can get damaged i want to use the

272

locks that mercedes uses so we've been waiting on

273

that once we get it maybe we'll make a part 2 on both of these things we'll see

274

but regardless the car is in a lot better of a condition than what it was

275

when it rolled in it was on the ground now it

276

finally rises nothing was serviced inside everything is serviced now we did not change the oil

277

because apparently the oil was changed and that was the only thing

278

that they did during the service so we didn't touch

279

that the oil change for this is in December now

280

so maybe that is when we'll make a part 2 on this

281

but till then thank you so much for watching

282

and i will see you in the next one with a very special car

283

that is hiding in that corner which we won't show you

✨ Recommend Video

302 sentences

Why This Video Is Great for English Speaking Practice

This video about fixing a car is packed with everyday language, making it perfect for english speaking practice. The host’s conversational tone—casual yet detailed—mirrors real-life speech, helping you learn how to explain problems, share suspicions, and describe actions naturally. Plus, the mix of technical terms (like "airmatic" or "turbo") and common phrases ("let's dig a little further") expands your vocabulary in context, which is key for improving english pronunciation.

Breaking Down Natural Speech Patterns

Let’s look at a few lines that sound authentic. First: "And I mean literally sitting, there is no gap here at all." The phrase "I mean literally" adds emphasis, a common way to stress a point in casual talk. Next: "Well, to begin with, the engine bay is filthy and that is because of the amount of seepage that has covered everything." "Well, to begin with" softens the start of a list, making it sound less formal. Finally: "Now, I'll be honest with you. I've been inside this engine bay before..." "Now, I'll be honest with you" builds rapport, a trick native speakers use to connect with listeners. These small phrases make speech flow smoothly—something to mimic when practicing.

A Simple Shadowing Routine for This Clip

Try this shadow speech exercise to boost your pronunciation and fluency. First, watch the video once to understand the story. Then, play a 5-second clip, pause, and repeat it aloud, copying the host’s tone and rhythm. Focus on words like "seepage" or "prematurely"—notice how he stresses certain syllables. For extra practice, use a shadowing app to record yourself and compare it to the original. Do this daily for 10 minutes, and you’ll start to sound more natural. Remember, learning english with videos works because it trains your ear to real-world speech patterns—so don’t rush. Take your time, and enjoy the process of sounding more like a native!

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	has been sitting · has just been sitting · has been running
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	If it does, we'll put · if any corner drops so we'll know
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has failed · has let · has gone
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is blown · was filled · is cracked

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: So much is wrong with this Mercedes, can we fix it ? - Learn English Speaking with Video

We Tore Apart Our Wrecked C8 ZR1… It’s Worse Than We Thought

Mercedes-Benz C300 Long-term Review: Best C-Class on Sale! | TOI Auto

Systems Thinking Changes How You Solve Problems | B2 English Shadowing

Car Mechanic Scammed Female Client | @DramatizeMe

How To Learn To Fix Cars (Beginner’s Guide)

Broken Bosch Drill. How to repair a Bosch GBH 2-26 SDS Drill.

The real reason Boeing's new plane crashed twice

Finally a Mini Cooper?! vs Coolant Spill🥲 // Nürburgring

How Used Car Dealerships Actually Make Money?

I Build a Giant NASA SLS Water rocket

Don't let stress ruin you

The New Canadian EV Car Could End the Entire EV Industry!

Why This Video Is Great for English Speaking Practice

Breaking Down Natural Speech Patterns

A Simple Shadowing Routine for This Clip

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?