When I bought my 300SE about four years ago, it came with an early 2000s era Kenwood CD player. At the time, I assumed I would need to replace it, as it wasn’t working. Turned out the plug had come out of the back and it actually worked fine. It wasn’t a bad unit, as it could play MP3 CDs, display track information...
I really dislike the check engine light. To me its an altogether silly concept given the digital dashboards cars are equipped with. It can mean anything from a loose fuel cap to a destroyed engine, so consequently people just ignore it. Modern cars know a whole lot more about what is wrong with them. Instead of posting a reasonable error message...
I had recently noticed that the battery on the 250SE was not in good health. The battery disconnect switch I built a few years ago has a battery health indicator included. Even when connected to the trickle charger it was showing orange. I also noticed that the trickle charger would sometimes go into error mode. My battery tester showed that it was well...
My 1986 300SE is now back in business with good oil pressure. Turns out the reason why the oil pressure was low was a catastrophic failure of the oil pump itself. In the last part, I had narrowed the problem down to most likely being the pump. I assumed that something was either blocking the screen or the pressure relief valve was stuck. ...
When I restored the battery tray on my 560SEL, I noticed the W126 battery hold downs were missing. While the battery on the W126 sits quite snugly between the inner and outer firewalls, the hold downs are still important. On a serious bump the battery could short out against the bonnet for example. These hold downs are the same as on the W123 and...
As a recap, my 1986 300SE started showing low oil pressure. I tried changing the oil and filter, replaced the sender and checked with a mechanical gauge. Still low oil pressure. I decided to do some final oil pressure troubleshooting before I took it into a mechanic to lift the engine and remove the sump. I was advised on the ozBenz forum that another...
In my last update, I had ruled out the sender unit when it came to the low oil pressure readings on my 300SE. My intention had been to take the car to a mechanic to test it on a mechanical oil pressure gauge. Two things changed that. Firstly, my area of Sydney went into lock down. Secondly, most mechanics are on holidays until...
A few weeks ago my 300SE started to show low oil pressure on the gauge. It happened all of a sudden while on a drive. At the time, I surmised that I had a dead M103 Oil pressure sender. They are apparently a common fault. I ordered a new one and fitted it today. The M103 oil pressure sender can be found on the...
My 560SEL was sold new by West Orange Motors, in Orange NSW. The original owner lived in Western Sydney, but had business in Orange and Dubbo. While it was sold new in Orange, it was serviced at Marshalls in Parramatta until 230,000km. Presumably, the car made a fair few trips up to Orange, Dubbo and the surrounding area over its life. The original stamp...
When I wrote my W126 buyers guide earlier in the year, I did not include price information. Pricing is very specific to each location and changes frequently. This W126 price guide covers my observations about the prices of W126s in Australia. Its likely to be valid for the next year or so. There are a few factors that impact the price of a W126. ...
Under normal operation, the auxiliary fan on the M117 engine cuts in at 105C. It can also be triggered by A/C system pressure. These settings work fine to keep the engine at the correct temperature. The challenge is that most of these cars have been converted to R134A refrigerant. R134A is far less efficient than R12. The A/C system in the W126 was designed...
Now we have hit summer here in Sydney, it was apparent that the auxiliary fan was not working. The fan is triggered either by high coolant temperature, or refrigerant pressure. High coolant temperature causes the fan to run at full speed. Refrigerant temperature can trigger a slower fan speed based on a resistor. Before I just jumped into W126 auxiliary fan replacement, I tested...
Today’s job was EHA replacement (Electro-Hydraulic Actuator) on my 1987 560SEL. The EHA is part of the KE Jetronic fuel injection system and makes minute adjustments to the air/fuel mixture. One of the sources for these adjustment is the oxygen sensor, if present. The EHA can leak either because the o-rings between the EHA and the fuel distributor have gone hard, or because of...
The W126 battery tray serves a dual purpose. The first and most obvious is to keep the battery in place. The other is to protect the body work. Over time car batteries can leak acid and the removable tray catches all that. It is worth checking the condition of the battery tray each time the battery is replaced. If the battery tray becomes...
Today I took my 300SE on a Mercedes Club Pop up drive. The Pop up drives are short notice mid-week drives. I normally take the other cars to club events, but the 300SE had not been on a decent run for a while and the weather was terrible. The drive was down through the Royal National park to Mt Kembla, Mt Kiera and then...
The Mercedes Benz club NSW ran an event today to commemorate the cars of Bruno Sacco. Sacco was head of design at Mercedes-Benz from 1975-1999. The event was called Youngtimer Sacco day and I understand the intention is to make it an annual event. Given the success of today’s event, I can easily see why. The event started out at Tynan’s Mercedes-Benz dealership...
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