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Good news - 450 speedo cable fits 6.9

Started by WGB, 08 August 2010, 12:40 AM

WGB

Having been told that a 6.9 cable was 50mm longer than a 450 one and anyway was no longer supplied I took the plunge and ordered the shorter 450 one.

My car has been sitting on the hoist for 2 months while I tried to get the shambles of my spare time into some sort of order but yesterday I finished the brakes and changed the speedo cable.

The RHD 450 speedo cable is just over a third the old price of a 6.9 one - for a genuine M-B one.

The one that was on my 6.9 was in fact a 450 one in length but presumably not M-B supplied as it had the ends reversed i.e. the soft spongy coated part was at the gearbox end (should have been at the instrument end), the grommet was reversed so that it pushed on from inside the car rather than underneath and the hard protected end was in the dashboard where it was guaranteed to cause a rattle.

Anyway with careful fitting I still ended up with about 50mm more than was needed and on it's tentative test drive last night with the new brakes - the speedo needle was rock steady.

Marvellous.

Bill

nathan

Nice one. Were the diff ratios the same and hence, speeds of the 450 and 6.9 the same? Currently on my way back to Perth and next town is ceduna, 2700 km from Perth in the 123.
Regards nathan
1979 116 6.9 #6436
2018 213 e63
2011 212 e63
2011 463 g55
2007 211 e500 wagen
1995 124 e320 cabriolet
1983 460 300gd
1981 123 280te

s class

Excellent.  I was going to ask what causes the cables to need replacing, but I guess in your case the fact that someone's 'been in there before' is the most obvious cause.  My 280's speedo fluctuates at low speeds, and I'm sure its since I had to remove the cluster some years ago.  I'm not sure though what exactly I did that caused the cable to become damaged. 


[color=blue]'76 6.9 Euro[/color], [color=red]'78 6.9 AMG[/color], '80 280SE, [color=brown]'74 350SE[/color], [color=black]'82 500SEL euro full hydro, '83 500SEL euro full hydro [/color], '81 500SL

TJ 450

Great news... I'll have to add that to the never-ending list. 8)

Tim
1976 450SEL 6.9 1432
1969 300SEL 6.3 1394
2003 ML500

WGB

Quote from: nathan on 08 August 2010, 12:54 AM
Nice one. Were the diff ratios the same and hence, speeds of the 450 and 6.9 the same? Currently on my way back to Perth and next town is ceduna, 2700 km from Perth in the 123.
Regards nathan

Only changed the cable Nathan - Diff ratios don't come into it.

Come home soon Nathan all is forgiven ;D

Bill

koan

Good news that a standard 450 fits.

"s class" before you buy a cable check the nut on the back of the speedo is tight. When I got my car it was loose, tightening it fixed the needle jumping at slow speeds and a scraping noise.

koan
Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, Amen!

nathan

13 years after this post, I had to do my dads 6.9 cable and couldn't find much info, so I will update this one to help

I attach a YouTube video I made yesterday looking at this process for future reference as I couldn't find many pics.
It looks like the 6.9 cable is 116 542 1607 for LHD cars and 1380mm, I think the RHD cars like Bill and mine are 116 542 1407 and 1620mm long.  In saying this, I just pulled a 1730mm cable out of dads 6.9s,
and it was a 107 cable! its all very confusing.  6.9 RHD cables are reportedly no longer available for some time.

https://youtu.be/JtLAuX3x1x8

Using an online EPC, it looks like a standard 450sel cable is 116 52 0107 at 1330mm for LHD, and 116 542 0307 at 1570mm for RHD 450sel.  As Bill reported, they are about 5cm shorter than the 6.9 cables but Bill suggested they could be fit.
1979 116 6.9 #6436
2018 213 e63
2011 212 e63
2011 463 g55
2007 211 e500 wagen
1995 124 e320 cabriolet
1983 460 300gd
1981 123 280te

Neil4speed

Thanks for sharing Nathan, especially with Part numbers, a value to future viewers of this thread for sure! Exceptional video with diagrams too!

Something I found interesting, your 'wrecked' speedo that you pulled from didn't have the level adjustment indicator for the 6.9? Was that something switched at some time?

nathan

well spotted Neil, ha ha. I picked that one up and was like WTF! I have about 4 clusters from 6.9s. im not sure what happened with this one so I just cut the pic where I had narrated it was missing out of my video! 

I ordered a 450sel cable, only 60USD from the classic centre as at today (discounted more if you spend a lot of money with them).  I will update and confirm Bills previous findings it fits. 

I cant recall if I mentioned Neil, I was in Calgary over New Years as we went to Banff.  How you keep a 116 alive there I have no idea.  The roads were terrifying and covered in sludge!
1979 116 6.9 #6436
2018 213 e63
2011 212 e63
2011 463 g55
2007 211 e500 wagen
1995 124 e320 cabriolet
1983 460 300gd
1981 123 280te

Neil4speed

Quote from: nathan on 06 June 2023, 10:12 AMwell spotted Neil, ha ha. I picked that one up and was like WTF! I have about 4 clusters from 6.9s. im not sure what happened with this one so I just cut the pic where I had narrated it was missing out of my video! 

I ordered a 450sel cable, only 60USD from the classic centre as at today (discounted more if you spend a lot of money with them).  I will update and confirm Bills previous findings it fits.

I cant recall if I mentioned Neil, I was in Calgary over New Years as we went to Banff.  How you keep a 116 alive there I have no idea.  The roads were terrifying and covered in sludge!

I found that really interesting... Wondering if it is a really early model or something that didn't have the light? Or maybe someone just replaced the bottom indicator portion from a 'regular' one? I saw another model some time ago with that same phenomenon.

Oh man! That is great to hear you were able to visit. While my father drove his 450 (non 6.9) all winter, RWD V8 isn't great in this climate. And the "sludge", is one of the worst parts of the winter here. You can't keep a car clean for more than a few days. The 116 is only for summer/fair weather use.