About the 450SE W116

While Mercedes had used the ‘S’ designation for their upper class cars for some time, the W116 model was the first time they used the moniker ‘The S Class’.  Since the W116, the top of the range saloon car has always been referred to as the S Class.

The W116 was introduced in 1972 and carried over a lot of the styling and running gear from the R/C107 range introduced in 1971.    Mercedes has a habit of introducing a lot of new technology in the S class and the W116 was no exception. For example ABS brakes were available later in production and there were a lot of other clever features in the car.  Many of these taken from the experimental safety vehicles of the time.

The W116 was also the first time Mercedes offered a diesel engine in the S class and the 300SD model with its turbo-diesel motor was very popular in the markets it was offered.     The W116 is probably best known for the 6.9, which was a development of the 6.3 litre motor from the 600 and 6.3, now bored out to 6.9 liters with a dry sump and standard hydro-pneumatic suspension.   These cars are very susceptible to rust, so there are now few W116 in good condition left.

The W116 was available in two body lengths, standard (short wheelbase) and Long Wheelbase with 10cm more room for the rear passengers.

About this 450SE W116

This car is a 450SE W116, meaning it has the M117 4.5 liter V8 and the short wheelbase body.   The car was purchased by the previous owner about 10 years ago, originally to provide an interior for another car.   It has been sitting in a carport for some years and looked a little unloved.    However, once the interior was removed, the car was shown to be generally rust free and the paintwork after a wash and polish in surprisingly good condition.       Therefore, the owner set about doing a mechanical refurbishment and sourced a replacement MB-TEX interior.  He also fitted brand new carpets which looked lovely.

During the refurbishment, the brakes were rebuilt, the timing chain done, replacement cams fitted, suspension checked, new dashboard and carpets fitted.      The car was put back on the road, but a bad water pump meant that it was parked again for a couple of years as other projects took priority.

Sadly, the car sat under a tarp for 2+ years. During that time the paintwork suffered badly with the clear coat lifting on both the front and back and some surface rust developing.   The photo of the car is from before it went into storage.

Why did I almost buy it?

I needed a car that could fit three child seats across the back seat, but only used 1x per week.   Therefore a pre 1986 car fit the bill because it could be put on historic registration that allows 60 uses per year.    The car would park out in the sun all day near a child daycare center, so a car with low running costs, but some body issues was ideal.

I liked that all the known mechanical issues such as water pump, timing chain had been done as well.    The iron block M117 is very long lived, if the timing chain has been done.

Why didn’t I buy it in the end?

As the car was being recommissioned, it was found that even though 18 months ago it ran great, it had lost all compression on one bank of cylinders.     This was too much work for the seller to rectify for the price I agreed to pay.   In the end, he found another buyer who would buy it in non-running condition.     The car is currently being worked on by a mechanic to get it back on the road.

The post Mercedes 450SE W116 – The car I almost bought appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

As outlined in the last post, the first issue was the A/C stopped blowing cold.  I already knew I had to do a few things for the climate control –  I could hear the little aspirator motor rattling away behind the glove box.    The aspirator motor is basically a small fan that blows air from near the dome light down to a temperature sensor.   That sensor is used for the climate control.   I’m a little perplexed as to why Mercedes didn’t just have the sensor near the dome light.   The added tube and motor seem overly complex.    The aspirator motor should not cause the A/C to stop functioning altogether.   Therefore, my assumption is that the aspirator needs to be replaced, and the A/C needs a leak repaired.

Secondly, I was in a minor accident in the 300SE.  The car was not badly damaged, which given its value is important.

Hopefully it can be repaired via insurance without undue cost.

Finally, the water pump appears to have given up the ghost.  Driving home, on a fairly cool night, the temperature was steadily rising.   Moreover, it would rise alarmingly while stationary.   I stopped at a service station to check, and took in the sight of the new green river emanating from the 300SE, gently meandering its way over the concrete forecourt.     Needless to say, this was not a river I wanted to see.     I was able to top up the water sufficiently to get home.

Once home, I looked under the car to discover the source of my new river.   Surely enough, it was dripping down off the sump, leaving its residue behind.   My assumption is that the water pump has packed in and is leaking as much water as it is pumping.   The water pump is a painful job on the M103, and I don’t think I will get the time to do it.   I will probably pay to have it done along with the A/C check and re-gas.    As the say, there is no such thing as a cheap Mercedes.

On a more positive note, the car has responded well to the transmission service, with smoother gear changes.   It also seems to be selecting the ‘right’ gear more.

The post The 300SE strikes back appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

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:

1. Remove radiator – remove top and bottom hoses, transmission oil cooler hoses and securing clips
2. Remove fan shroud – Clipped to radiator
3. Remove fan from viscous fan assembly – four bolts behind the fan
4. Remove viscous fan from the water pump pulley.   Four easily rounded bolts which took the longest.  I replaced these.
5. Remove drive belts (these were ultimately replaced)
6. Remove water pump pulley – this just comes off once the fan is unscrewed and the belt removed.
7. Remove crank pulley and large balancer – secured with allen bolts which are easier to get to with an allen socket.
8. Unbolt water pump – five screws, these were a bit rusty so I replaced these
9. Remove water pump – I had to hit with a hammer to free it.

The leak was coming from the water pump as suspected – the water pump was in poor condition, and had been fitted without a gasket.   The first pump I purchased was the wrong one, so a replacement was purchased from MBSpares which fit (mine was a model for cars without a visco fan).

The Mercedes manual called for 9NM for the water pump bolts, but this seemed very loose, so we tightened them up until snug.   Installation was pretty much the reverse of the removal, and while we were at it we installed new belts, new radiator drain plug and a few other things.

The 280CE then got two new tires to go for its blue slip tomorrow to try and get registration.

The post The 280CE runs again appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

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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I wanted to be able to use the car for D Day, an upcoming club event, so instead of spending months trying to do it myself, I took the car up to Jason Hantos.   He sent away my radiator and heater core to be looked and changed my water pump, radiator hoses and belts for me.   The old pump was in a bad way, and had been somewhat repaired at some point as well.

The new one looks much better, and more importantly does a much better job of cooling the car!  Having the radiator and heater core gone through doens’t hurt either.

My radiator was able to be flushed, but my heater core was too far gone, so I now have a renewed heater core.   My heater might actually work now – I have not yet tried it.   While Jason was in there, and the radiator and ducting was removed, the brake pads were also replaced as they were almost worn, and much easier to do while everything was out.  Driving home, the car stayed at a good temperature during stop and go traffic from Hornsby – so far so good.    Jason did mention my main pulley has been repaired in the past and is a bit noisy – but probably nothing needs to be done at this point.

This means I don’t need to carry all the water jugs when I use the car, and it will be ready for D Day on Sunday.

The post Finally, a cool running DS appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

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, despite grinding down various spanners etc.   Because of the position of the bolts, you cannot get a ring spanner in place, unless you grind it down, which makes these bolts easy to round.   Despite trying various other sockets and liberal amounts of penetrating oil, I was unable to get the thing removed.

The post 280CE Water Pump replacement – part 1 appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

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

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

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