Installing a W126 radiator

Today’s job was installing a W126 radiator into my 1987 560SEC. I had previously sorted out the cooling hoses as part of my monovalve eliminator install. I was just waiting on a few extra parts I had ordered to begin this job.

Firstly I decided to replace the coolant reservoir tank. My current one is not leaking, but the plastic was quite discoloured and looked a bit white around the hose entry. Genuine Mercedes coolant reservoirs are still quite inexpensive, and you never know how long that will continue. Best to change it now. I was already planning to replace […]

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 […]

Finally, a cool running DS

Even on winter days, the DS had been getting a bit hot under the collar. Granted, D’s have never been the coolest running cars, and the heat of the Australian summer can tax them and their passengers, but they should easily cope with most days, especially outside the summer months. I had a few problems – the water pump was leaking and getting worse and worse, the heater didn’t work and the radiator couldn’t keep up outside stop and go traffic. Not only that, the coolant, despite multiple flushes looked like ditch water.

I wanted to be able to use […]

DS Radiator Flushed

The vinegar flush I tried yesterday removed a lot of silt from the DS radiator. Each of the bottles I captured the old coolant in had a fairly decent layer of sediment in the bottom the next day. Despite the flushing, the radiator still looked dirty, so I used the bottle of Wynn radiator flush as well. It also removed a fair amount, although not as much as the first go with the vinegar.

My new thermostat is still on order (I ordered the 75c), so I took the car for a test drive (just using plain water) and it […]

The temperature light in the DS works

The only warning light in the Citroen DS I wasn’t sure worked was the temperature warning. You can test the bulb by pressing the button, but that doesn’t testing the sender and the connection. Today, I found it does work, and that my temperature gauge is pretty accurate; The DS overheated today and I was greeted with the little temperature light and the STOP! light too.

I was driving along Wakehurst Parkway from Mona Vale to Frenches Forest, and the temperature was sitting at the top part of the ‘white’ section of the temperature gauge. However, on going up the […]