1st Long Drive

[W116 Heaven]

Took her for our 1st long drive.  She ran flawlessly with nary a hiccup.  Made me quite proud.    Now this weekend I'll start to work on lower body sanding and preping for eventual new paint job.

[CraigS]

Oil pressure looks good, but temp seems a bit on the high side - if reading correctly. Might need a system flush.

[oscar]

Good work, how many miles did you cover?  Must admit I poured over your gauges and thought your temp was high too.  Although your going fast and presumably it's hot in Nash' this time of year, I still thought it might have been on the high side.

Anyway, good to see you get it flying along

[W116 Heaven]

Oil pressure looks good, but temp seems a bit on the high side - if reading correctly. Might need a system flush.

Agreed, I told my wife the same thing    Maybe I need to put the scope on and re-check ign timing as well?  Changed plugs and points, but it seemed spot-on.  All fluids were replaced except for antifreeze and diff oil which I don't want to delay any longer    Going to be a busy weekend.

[W116 Heaven]

Good work, how many miles did you cover?  Must admit I poured over your gauges and thought your temp was high too.  Although your going fast and presumably it's hot in Nash' this time of year, I still thought it might have been on the high side.

Anyway, good to see you get it flying along

Covered 102 miles altogether.  Delayed changing coolant as it looked good and didnt want to just put green in again.     Already secured MB coolant, part of weekend plans.  Temperature was cooler than usual, and humidity was down.

[WGB]

Check timing and if correct I would start by getting the radiator cleaned out.

What is done here is radiator is removed from the car. top and bottom tanks removed , core cleaned through by "rodding" each individual water passage, re-soldered, pressure tested and put back in car with new M-B coolant.

Last one I did was a 450 radiator 3 years ago and it cost $70 with me taking the radiator out myself.

I would expect a Euro spec engine to run at 175 or just a little above on a hot day with A-C going. I don't know if the US "Federal" engines ran hotter but I have seen pictures in US road tests and the gauges appear to be nearer where yours is in the picture.

I guess check with someone with local knowledge before getting too investigative.

The engine will run safely up to the red line on the gauge without boiling so long as the gauge is accurate, the system has no leaks and a fully functioning pressure cap and you have the recommended concentration of anti-freeze/antiboil (M-B Blue coolant probably being the best money can buy) but you will be stressing any weak joints in the system - particularly the plastic header tank if it is old.

Bill

[W116 Heaven]

Check timing and if correct I would start by getting the radiator cleaned out.

What is done here is radiator is removed from the car. top and bottom tanks removed , core cleaned through by "rodding" each individual water passage, re-soldered, pressure tested and put back in car with new M-B coolant.

Thanks for the tips Gentleman!
Checked timing today, and used infrared thermometer to confirm gauge accuracy.  After draining radiator decided to pull it to get rodded, and might as well change the thermostat while I'm at it as it might have only opened partially. What I need to get accomplished is change to the dual exhaust headers instead of that catalytic contraption that I'm sure is partially clogged.

Going to miss having "Da Tank" in drivable queue for a while.  But along with radiator I need to get a few things done like changing diff oil, re-charging AC system, and doing a little rust prevention.  For it being so old it is really a smooth running vehicle.  Truly a "highway" car.

[500eguy]

its always nice to go on a nice drive in your Classic Merc without a hickup!

[WGB]

Hi W116 heaven,

Scratch that coment about the plastic header tank - forgot it was  280.

Sound like a very useful bit of preventative maintenance.

Tell us how it goes

Bill

[NAS_878]

Hi W116 heaven,

Your temp reading is a little high. Were you driving up a steep hill when the photo was taken?

My 280SE will show the temp exactly like your photo when climbing a 10% steep hill.
When driving on flat road it will drop back to a little bit below 175.

NAS 878

[CraigS]

I beleive you are also missing the intake pipe from your air cleaner. This should run down to the right hand side of the radiator to draw cool air into the engine. At the moment, you are dragging in warm or hot air which will affect the air/fuel mixture.

[W116 Heaven]

Hi W116 heaven,

Your temp reading is a little high. Were you driving up a steep hill when the photo was taken?

My 280SE will show the temp exactly like your photo when climbing a 10% steep hill.
When driving on flat road it will drop back to a little bit below 175.

NAS 878

I wasn't driving up hill, but had just backed off of a steady 80 mph for about 5 miles.     When I pulled the radiator it actually looked very good inside from what I could see.  No corrosion or rust visible.  I will be getting it back from the radiator shop next week.  I also have yet to install the new thermostat, or changed the rear diff oil.  Been in the process of getting the wife's 88' 300E ready for a respray.  I will update with pics after installation.

I believe you are also missing the intake pipe from your air cleaner. This should run down to the right hand side of the radiator to draw cool air into the engine. At the moment, you are dragging in warm or hot air, which will affect the air/fuel mixture.

Yes, I would like to obtain a new one, or something similar that will suffice.  I'm sure those under hood temp's are quite high.  I did replace quite a few vacuum hoses before the drive.

[W116 Heaven]

*Update*
Finally got around to putting radiator back in yesterday.  Took her for a short spin and feel very pleased with myself as she hovered around 175 and only went to 180 for a short time.  Radiator work was very cheap and it looks quite nice inside with new solder around the flow tubes.  I did replace a few vacuum hoses and it seemed to have more power  .  And bear in mind that I had done a carb cleaner spray on all hoses I could see after 1st start from purchase.  Those old hoses may have cracks in them that aren't readily apparent, which is something to keep in mind.  Now to get around to the rear diff oil