W124 fan clutch and other cooling system improvements

When I first got my 300TE registered, I had the A/C regassed as it wasn’t very cold. That made a huge difference as after that the car was ice cold. According to the service history, it had been a couple of years since it was last done, so it was probably about due. At the time, my mechanic suggested I replace the fan clutch, as the electric fan was cutting in quite a lot. He didn’t think the mechanical one was getting enough air through the condenser.

I figured this was a good idea, because even on a warm (e.g. […]

W126 brake hose replacement

I’ve been meaning to change the brake hoses on the 300SE for a while. I have no history for the car, so I don’t know how old they are. As I also wanted to change the brake fluid, I thought it made sense to do both jobs at the same time. I had noticed a slight pull to one side on hard breaking. It may not have anything to do with the hoses, but they are a good place to start. Brake fluid really should be changed ever two years. Most people don’t do it that frequently, but regular changes […]

450SLC Dragging rear brakes – part 3

In part 2, I had been struggling with my new SLC rear Calipers. As outlined in that section, the new calipers I had on hand are for models not equipped with the anti-squat rear suspension. This was because USA models were not so equipped. The hard lines were too short to fit properly and fouled on the suspension bump stops. I dropped the car off earlier in the week to have new hard lines made up that fit, and to change the flexible hoses.

I have since found out that I made a pretty stupid mistake. Instead of checking the […]

450SLC Dragging rear brakes – part 2

A couple of weeks ago I started investigating the dragging brakes on my SLC. I found both of my rear calipers had been overheated and were in poor condition. I ordered a set of rear calipers, and decided to change the rotors too. Mine were still in spec, but on the lower end. The hoses I had purchased last time were also not right. I needed hoses with two female ends but the other hoses were male/female.

The first thing I found was that it was quite hard to remove the old rotors. Not only were the rotors rusted […]

450SLC Dragging rear brakes – part 1

For the last couple of years I have noticed a noise from the rear of the 450SLC while driving. At first I thought it might be a wheel bearing or some kind of bushing. I mentioned it to my mechanic and he took and look and it wasn’t any of those things.

Last time I took the car on a longer drive, the noise was getting worse, and I noticed after I returned the rear wheels were hot to the touch. Too hot to touch. I realized that my noise had been dragging rear brakes all along.

Both sides were […]