Topic: What have you done for your W116 today?

[Mick74]

I've got a first aid kit coming from Australia, courtesy of Kozzy, and new engine mounts ordered from the good folks at the Mercedes Classic centre in California. I still don't have my car back from the bodyshop, thanks to lockdown, but we did put this to good use as a few extra jobs cropped up and the shop just got in this new anti rust treatment which apparently gets in all sorts of places, so she got a good poke with that. I'll get the name of the stuff next week, when I hopefully see the car again. I was supposed to be leaving for France next Sunday for a 6 week, 4500 mile European jaunt, but that will have to wait till next year. And 98 octane is so cheap right now. Damn.

[BCDC]

Hello everyone. I have that warm glow of satisfaction because I just installed a set of new injectors to my 1978 280SE this morning. Purrs like a kitten! Pretty easy job. The old ones were okay but didn't seat perfectly with the 42 year old rubber seals hardened, so it was most likely sucking a bit of air and had a very slight rough idle. All good now. Also last week I also changed the auto trans fluid and installed an new filter, so all the fluids are replaced now since I bought the beautiful old car.  I took it out for a test drive of course after checking there was no leaks and it runs perfectly. Got to love that feeling. Now on to the next few jobs. More rubber replacements.

BC

[raueda1]

Adjusted tranny control rod.  Now it's dialed in!   Amazing how sensitive this thing is.  But the car is running now like a scalded cat.  It's fun shifting at will with the gas pedal.

[midnitesunmerc]

I finally got around to  changing my '77 280SE over to alloy wheels - my parts car came with them but I always figured they were too worn to bother with; however, I looked at them more closely a while ago and found that they weren't too bad after all, it was mainly just the centre caps  that looked really old. Also, I found out that one of our local metalworking shops was refinishing alloy wheels which was a big surprise to me because I thought this could only be done in the big cities which are a long way from where I live and the shipping costs would have been prohibitive. Anyway, I dropped the wheels off and they were sandblasted, painted and powder coated all in the same working day and they did a lovely job with them. I think they look better than the hub capped steel wheels and they are  certainly lighter, but after a 100 mile run the other day I know I'm going to need some harder brake pads as the front rims are dirty already - not a big surprise as the steel rims that  came off were caked with dust from years of wear.

[UTn_boy]

I finally got around to  changing my '77 280SE over to alloy wheels - my parts car came with them but I always figured they were too worn to bother with; however, I looked at them more closely a while ago and found that they weren't too bad after all, it was mainly just the centre caps  that looked really old. Also, I found out that one of our local metalworking shops was refinishing alloy wheels which was a big surprise to me because I thought this could only be done in the big cities which are a long way from where I live and the shipping costs would have been prohibitive. Anyway, I dropped the wheels off and they were sandblasted, painted and powder coated all in the same working day and they did a lovely job with them. I think they look better than the hub capped steel wheels and they are  certainly lighter, but after a 100 mile run the other day I know I'm going to need some harder brake pads as the front rims are dirty already - not a big surprise as the steel rims that  came off were caked with dust from years of wear.

Mercedes used soft pads for a very good reason....to have maximum braking.  Installing harder pads will cause you to have to sacrifice some braking ability.  If the brake dust bothers you just install the dust shields that go on the insides of the wheels.  Some will argue that those will cause the rotors to warp from not being cooled, but the shields have vents made into them for this purpose, and in 10 years I've not had one set of rotors warp. 

[Squiggle Dog]

Mercedes used soft pads for a very good reason....to have maximum braking.  Installing harder pads will cause you to have to sacrifice some braking ability.  If the brake dust bothers you just install the dust shields that go on the insides of the wheels.  Some will argue that those will cause the rotors to warp from not being cooled, but the shields have vents made into them for this purpose, and in 10 years I've not had one set of rotors warp.

This is true. Mercedes used soft pads that make a lot of brake dust, but the advantage is good gripping power. I personally couldn't tolerate the brake dust, especially with whitewall tires, so I went to Akebono ceramic brake pads. There was a slight loss of that throw-you-forward with the tap of the brake pedal performance, but the braking is still very good, and there is absolutely no noticeable brake dust. Even after two years of use, I have found the brake parts, wheels, and wheel covers to be very clean. So, it's a trade-off and you have to choose between maximum braking performance and less dust.

Oh, and to combat early wear on the brake rotors, I had the new genuine Mercedes ones cryogenically frozen down to 600F below zero and then slowly brought back to temperature which results in a more wear-resistant surface. The cost was about $100 for all four. Time will tell, but after 3 years they still seem to look like new.

[w116john]

hi all, hope ye are well

A few small jobs done this week, i just had the transmission linkage grommets replaced, it was not going in to park fully and i had to start the car in neutral, and the parking pawl was not engaging so that's working great again.

i had the water pump replaced late last year and since then the temp would rise to 90 when hot and parked, it ran at 80 on the road. prior to this it never went above 80. a consequence of this i think, is that the aav is fully closing,  car is running great idles nice and smooth.

its going in for some body work in a few weeks (the car is outdoors and by the sea and any rust that appears i get sorted relatively quickly) and i will have the window scrubbers/ brushes? replaced then as well they are deteriorating badly.

while i was in at the mechanics he was working on a 280ce, he brought me in to see it as it was so bad, i have never seen a car (that's being driven) with so much rust and bad body repairs it was shocking.

stay safe