Cleaning W126 cowl drains

As part of the installation of the Monovalve elimination kit, I needed to remove the ABS controller bracket. The bracket was in the way of the coolant hoses. I order to remove it, I needed to remove the W126 cowl drains cover. This is great opportunity to inspect this area and clean it. Cars that have parked outside often have debris here that causes rust.

In order to remove the W126 cowl drains cover, the seals at the firewall and windscreen must first be removed. In the photo above, I have removed the seal on the firewall but not the […]

Jaguar E-Type Fuel Hoses

While I was replacing the fuel pump on my E-Type I noticed some hairline cracks in the fuel hoses. This was obviously a problem waiting to happen so I ordered a new set to replace them. It is probably cheaper to buy the raw hose and adapt the original fittings, but SNG Barratt sell a kit with new hoses complete with fittings that is much easier to fit. Postage is quite slow at the moment, so it was a few weeks before I finally got the hoses.

The cracks opened up even more as I removed them, so it was […]

W126 Monovalve eliminator – part 3

I have been working on a project to eliminate the monovalve from the climate control system in my 560SEC. In the last part I had almost completed the cooling hoses required for the job. I had mostly worked out hose routing I was looking for – which was combining the dual outputs from the heater core into a single hose where I could place the new heater valve.

Looking further my design wasn’t going to quite line up. Once I put the elbow piece on the end, it was too long and the hoses were bent too much. I didn’t […]

September 2020 night drive

A few friends in the Mercedes Club and I have been trying to get a monthly night drive going. Last night was the third one and yet again we had a great drive. This time we met up in Kirrawee and the drive was through the national park to Bulli.

We started out with 5 cars and based on the cars that participated, it was a celebration of the Mercedes M116 and M117 V8. There was at least one of every generation represented. We had a 280SE 3.5 with the original iteration of the M116 – in 3.5 liter form […]

MBCNSW Mid-Week drive up the Putty road

The Mercedes Club hold a mid-week drive pretty much every month. I’ve been a member for more than 10 years but never managed to attend one. I had a free day today and the drive looked really good. This months MBCNSW mid-week drive was up to the Hunter valley. The route was via the Putty road, which I’ve done a few times before. Mid-week is a great time to do this route as the Putty road gets very busy with motorcycle groups on the weekend. These also attract highway patrol.

Attendance was pretty good for a mid-week event. I […]

W126 low pressure hydraulic hoses

My 560SEC has been leaking from the power steering and self leveling suspension. In both cases, it is obvious that (at least some) of the leakage is coming from the low pressure hydraulic hoses. It is possible there are additional leaks in the steering, but fixing this obvious one is a good place to start.

I had looked at doing this job a couple of months ago. I quickly saw it was quite fiddly and as I was planning to use the car the next day, I decided to put it off. Once I realized I would be removing the […]

W126 radiator removal

As part of the work I have been doing to the 560SEC, I have removed the radiator. The radiator was leaking from the top tank and appeared to be original. It was an IMI unit which was one of the OE suppliers and had a 1987 date code on it. W126 radiator removal is fairly straightforward.

Fist step is obviously draining the coolant, and there is a drain valve at the bottom of the radiator. The coolant will drain must faster if the radiator cap is off. I am really happy with how clean the coolant is, and how little […]

W126 Monovalve eliminator – part 2

My 560SEC had been leaking coolant and giving me heat when I didn’t want it. Last week I started the repairs for these problems. As the Bosch and Mercedes W126 Monovalve repair kit was no longer available, I have been installing the Klima Design Works monovalve elimination kit.

In the first part I removed the W126 monovalve, auxiliary water pump and other hoses. This gave me the room to give the area underneath the heater hoses a good clean. There were some leaves and other detritus. Its important to remove this stuff it can cause rust. The mud stays wet […]

W126 Monovalve eliminator – part 1

My 560SEC has been having a couple of problems with its cooling system. Coolant has been weeping out of the top tank of the radiator. In addition, the monovalve has failed, causing unwanted heating at idle. The radiator looks either original or replaced very early in the cars life. As these radiators have plastic tanks, I have purchased a new one to replace it.

It used to be possible to purchase a monovalve repair kit from Mercedes or Bosch. The supply of these has now dried up. There is a kit from a company called MTC but all the Mercedes […]