w126 500sel purchase today - full hydropneumatic

[nathan]

hi guys,
oversize pointed out a 500sel in my state a few weeks ago with full hydropneumatic suspension.  after he agreed to buy the car the sellers went cold and couldn't be contacted and OS moved on.  after discussing with OS, i sent them an email and didn't hear for a couple of weeks or so until a few days ago when they rang me and a deal was done. the car was 90 minutes out of our city so i went today with dad and TJ to pick it up. this was a painful recovery. it was hot, the car was in sand, the tires were flat and off the rims, and there was no power to the car.  that was very hard work.  regardless, for the sake of 4 struts and valves alone it was worth it.  was a well spec'ed car with electric rear seat, sunroof, and the full hydro. interestingly had cats evidently and there is some light on the cluster 'RS' which I'm not sure what its about..  i don't know which country the car came from yet.   it had been in the paddock a few years so interior is not worth much but ill hook the engine and suspension bits out

[ptashek]

The "RS" is probably for SRS, which was optional on the W126 from around 1981.
If your car has SRS, you should have a crash sensor somewhere in the engine bay.

[nathan]

went to have a quick look at the car today. Tim came over and we just poured some fuel down the manifold and after 10 seconds, voila, it started up!!
after 2-3 minutes the hydro pumped it up. there was a hell of a lot of smoke out the back but that's what you get after 4-5 years. unfortunately my video camera missed the pump off the floor moment but got the first high ride selection bit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WnB2qOhatw&list=UUTqQKRULegM4XzUmF5gdNLQ

[robertd]

A very useful addition Nathan,


quote by Danny De Vito

"Discarded Pizza boxes are an economical source of cheese"

[hi ho]

Hi Nathan
Sounds like a rare beast. I'm chasing a radiator for a 380. Would you like to sell the one in the 500?

Cheers Hiho

[oversize]

Try not to blow yourself up running the engine like that!!!!

[oversize]

I have a mate that just bought one of these and we're having trouble with the suspension.  Neither the front or rear raises up in the normal or raised position and the car is currently 'beached'.  The car has been non-functioning since some nong snapped off the pressure switch on the main gas cell resulting in a huge oil leak.

There's oil in the tank and we've bled the main pressure line so the control valve is getting constant flow and pressure.  Cracking each output line from the height valve and there's a good flow of oil.  However the link on the front stabilizer is loose and I can turn the front valve lever without any resistance so it feels like there's no oil pressure.

Is there a filter in the control valve or height valve, apart from the return filter underneath?  Which hose or ball valve could be blocked or jammed shut?

[wbrian63]

There's a sintered metal filter hidden in the height control valve.

Have a look at this eBay auction - the last picture shows two views of the valve - one of those brass adapters, when removed, will reveal the filter.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-116-450-SEL-6-9-Suspension-Height-Switch-/111448143538?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item19f2d3b6b2&vxp=mtr

Regards

[nathan]

Howdy ho Hiho,
you don't want this radiator, i think this one is pretty shitty! but give me an email in a couple of weeks as ill wreck the other 500 we have too and it might be ok for use (the other car is a bit tidier!). 
sorry OS, not sure about this system interestingly TJ reckons the main control valve on the 126 might be slightly different from the 6.9, could be just been us working on it in the dark. TJ and I were pretty impressed the car pumped itself up, although as you say, I was a bit worried about going up in flames.
nathan

[daantjie]

There is no filter in those channels on the height control switch, at least not on the 6.9

The filter sits in the main pressure regulator atop the reservoir, inside the channel that points back towards the firewall, if you remove that bolt/plug, you will find the filter inside that channel.

[wbrian63]

oops - you are so correct. I forgot that it's in the pressure regulator.

My mistake.

[TJ 450]

That smoke was actually unburnt fuel from the crude fuel system!  haha. Yes, the control disc is different if you compare both versions... the cable is at a different position on the w126.

Tim

[nathan]

so TJ came around today and we made good time on engine removal.  even the hydro setup wasn't too bad to remove. there is not much to remove interior wise, its pretty shit.  so the car has a few more bits to remove in the next few days then its off to the recycler.

[motec6.9]

Do you want to sell the throttle body nothing else don't need fuel regulator just the 81mm throttle. 

[nathan]

Hi Motec,
ill have to check with mechanic on requirements.  i pulled this K Jet engine as its the same one that was rebuilt for the Gwagen so ill see if the mechanic thinks i need to hang onto it or not.  Is there a difference between pre and post update manifolds on the m117 as this is a pre update?
regards
nathan