Recently the E350 wagon has been playing up. It started out by occasionally losing power, then progressed to stalling. At the times this would happen, the check engine light would be illuminated. After a while the check engine light would be on around half the times the car would be driven. In order to diagnose this, I plugged in my scanner to the...
This evening I took my 450SLC for a drive up the old Pacific Highway. I wanted to check the impact of re-connecting the vacuum advance on the distributor. I had discovered the line was broken when doing some maintenance. With the advance enabled, mid throttle response seems a lot better. I do get a little pinging when cruising on the motorway, so I am...
I am currently in the USA and had a few hours to spare in Cincinnati Ohio before I headed out to the airport. When I lived in the USA, I used to go to the self service junkyards to grab bits and pieces. These junkyards are larger in the USA and they have standard price lists for parts, no matter what car you...
My 560SEC had a problem where it would emit a puff of smoke after idling. This was rather embarrassing taking off from the lights. It did give me the advantage of keeping people back who got too close. My assumption was that it was cause by old valve stem seals. As the seals get old, they get hard and allow a small amount of...
The Timing chain replacement is almost finished on the 560SEC. The new chain is installed, guides fitted and valve stem seals replaced. I stopped by the workshop to pick something up that I had left in the car and I was able to see it almost done. The photo shows the new chain in place with all new guides. They are a much...
The 560 is the ultimate M117 engine. This family of engines was introduced in 1969 with the 3.5l M116 and was followed in 1972 with the 4.5 M117. The M117 is a longer stroke version of the M116. Both engines share a SOHC design, 2 valves per cylinder and always had fuel injection. These engines evolved over time with the final iteration coming between...
Most Mercedes from the mid 50s to the late 60s had a similar set of controls for the heater. There are four horizontal levers controlling the amount of heat and the direction of the air flow. At least on the W111, the lever on the top left controls the amount of outside airflow. The top right controls the direction of the airflow. The two...
When I last used my 560SEC before Xmas, I noticed a rather large puddle of petrol underneath it. I’ve not driven the car since as it is rather dangerous to drive with such a leak. I had assumed it was probably fuel hoses. Many cars run on E10 rot their hoses. I purchased a few of the relevant hoses so I would only have...
I’ve been preparing for the next round of improvement projects for the 560SEC. The most important is the Timing Chain and Valve Stem seals. I’m not going to do this job myself and am hoping to save a little labour cost by having both the stem seals and the chain done at the same time. I had previously checked the Timing chain and...
The W126 range was in production from 1979-1991. I’ve never seen a comprehensive table of W126 differential ratios, so I have attempted to create my own. Not only did they vary between models and years, but in some cases countries too. It is possible I have missed a few more country specific ratios. Please indicate in the comments below if I have. The data...
My two biggest concerns buying this 560SEC was the potential for rust being a UK car, and the condition of the timing chain. I was pleasantly surprised when I looked underneath the 560SEC and found that it was not a rusty car. The other common W126 rust area is under the rear windscreen. This is also an issue in Australian delivered cars as it’s...
The Mercedes-Benz club run an annual drive aimed a convertibles. It is better for everyone that the topless drive is referring to the cars, not the drivers. I last attended the drive back in 2014. I had planned to take the 250SE on this drive. The forecast was for rain, which makes it hard in a convey as putting the top up on...
My 560SEC came with a set of Simmons wheels. These wheels are not to my taste and were too wide for the car. The wheels had been mounted with spacers which I do not like. On Thursday, I secured a great set of 15×7 Mercedes wheels which I fitted to the 450SLC. This meant that the ASA Type 8 wheels I had on...
My 450SLC was originally sold with 14″ alloy wheels. This style of wheel was the standard Mercedes alloy wheel from the late 60s to 1985. It has a few nicknames such as Bundt Cake, Baroque, Fuchs etc. On the V8s it is 6.5″ wide but narrower versions (5.5″ & 6″) were available. The challenge with these wheels is that good tyres for a heavy...
My 560SEC came with a set of aftermarket wheels from Simmons. The Simmons wheels are a locally made wheel, and this set are two piece 16″ variants. They are shod with 245mm tyres so the fronts rub on sweeping corners and the backs on higher speed bumps. I prefer a more stock look so the plan is to remove and sell the...
Today I continued working on the 560SEC. I gave the car a quick wash to get a better sense of the condition of the paint. Overall it is pretty good for its age, with the usual minor chips and scrapes here and there. The worst is a small amount of damage on the passengers side in front of the door (behind the plastic lower...
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