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Small rust hole causes the CE to fail its blue slip

After replacing the water pump and test driving the 280CE, it was time to get it registered.

Unfortunately it failed due to a small rust hole in the body work. This is not structural, but NSW is very strict in this regard. There was also a minor leak from the power steering and minor leak from the rear muffler. All will need to be addressed.

W123 Mercedes rust here when leaves and other debris are left to sit around the bonnet hinges – they break up and fall through and you end up with wet mud that lets this […]

August 7th, 2014 | Tags: , , | Category: Mercedes | One comment

The 280CE runs again

The 280CE finally has a new water pump and no longer leaves an embarrassing puddle where it sleeps.

After fighting with the bolts on the visco fan, it was finally able to be removed with a combination of drilling and vice grips. After that, the rest of the disassembly was not nearly as bad. In total, to get to the water pump on the M110 engine you need to:

Remove radiator – remove top and bottom hoses, transmission oil cooler hoses and securing clips Remove fan shroud – Clipped to radiator Remove fan from viscous fan assembly – four […]

August 6th, 2014 | Tags: , | Category: Mercedes | Leave a comment

280CE sticking ignition key

I had a problem with the 280CE sticking ignition key. This can turn into a real problem as the way to change the tumbler requires you to be able to move it, so if you cannot, then you end up having to take drastic measures to remove it. It is much better to replace it while it can still move.

You have two options to replace – you can buy a tumbler from Mercedes that has the same keys as the doors and the original tumbler. This an be ordered from the dealer with the data card. Or you can […]

July 29th, 2014 | Tags: , | Category: Mercedes | Leave a comment

20 hours later, the rounded bolt still clings on

In order to get to the water pump on the 280CE, the fan assembly had to be removed, which is held on by four rather inaccessible bolts.

Two of he bolts came out ok, but two were stuck firmly and became even more rounded in trying to remove them. Mercedes must have used high quality bolts, as 20 hours and 5 drill bits later, the bolts are still in.

This is the frustrating side of classic ownership, an otherwise simple task becoming bigger than ben-hur due to a single recalcitrant bolt.

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June 21st, 2014 | Tags: , , | Category: Mercedes | Leave a comment

280CE Water Pump replacement – part 1

The 280CE was leaking quite badly, and it looked like it was coming from the water pump. I ordered a pump and not have finally started on the replacement.

First job was to drain the coolant – which wasn’t in bad condition, disconnect the radiator, and remove it. The radiator is easy to remove with four metal clips that can be prized out, and the water and transmission oil cooler hoses.

Next is to remove the fan assembly. This is where I had problems as two of the bolts were quite rounded and I was unable to remove them, […]

May 29th, 2014 | Tags: , | Category: Mercedes | One comment

W123 280CE further evaluation

I got the W123 280CE out again today and gave it a quick wash down. It was covered in bird poo from it’s time for sale and I doubt I’ll have much time to work on it until later this year so I wanted to get that off.

Drove it around the industrial complex where the garage is and the more I look at this car the more I think it’s fundamentally a good car. Somebody has rebuilt the steering box as there is minimal play, the transmission is very fast to engage and the car is quite nice to […]

July 20th, 2013 | Tags: | Category: Mercedes | Leave a comment

Leaky coupe

Yesterday I put the 280CE up on the hoist to see where the water leaks were coming from. I had bought the car knowing it was leaking, presumably from the radiator. From looking underneath, it looks like the leaks are actually coming from the water pump, not the radiator.

That should make the job more time consuming, but cheaper overall.

In addition, I was pleasantly surprised with how good underneath the car looks.

July 19th, 2013 | Tags: , | Category: Mercedes | Leave a comment

Another pillarless coupe joins the garage

I’ve always been partial to Mercedes-Benz pillarless coupes, owing a 450SLC, and having owned two 560SECs and a 250SE coupe. That means I was unable to resist a 1982 W123 280CE on ebay that I wasn’t planning on buying. The CE looked like fundamentally a nice car that needs a few things done to get it back to where it should be. For starters the radiator leaks, and it’s not registered, but these things can all be sorted out.

First things though, I need to go through the car and work out what I want to do to it.

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July 1st, 2013 | Tags: , | Category: Mercedes | Leave a comment
 
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