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My first W116 here at last

Started by gavin116, 10 April 2011, 01:54 PM

gavin116

A result

Thanks for all your input, some good ideas for the mirror switch, I especially like the 'Vekerskurier' option.  I do actually have a piece of zebrano veneer that I bought in anticipation.  I was toying with the idea of having something laser cut and then finished in the veneer.  It would include a space for the mirror switch, and one or two USB powered outlets.

So, not to be beat, I got up early this morning and removed the fuel sender unit yet again.  I now realise that I was fighting a triple whammy.  It became obvious when I re-opened the unit that the 'angel wire' had unhitched itself from the two fingers on the float on one side.  I fed the wire back into the slot and reassembled it.  I then also put the (new) rubber O-ring onto the unit itself, rather than leave it in place on the opening of the fuel tank, and finally I tightened it up, hand tight like before.  What really amazed me, was that I was able to tighten the sender almost another 360 degrees using the water-pump pliers.  The result, the reserve light works, and the needle is now rock solid.  Unfortunately, it still seems to drop at the same rate as before...:(, but boy is it fun! ::)

The cleaned sender unit

The functional reserve light

The tools I used, showing my butchered screwdriver (I'll buy a couple of fine files and tidy it up some time)


As I headed back to the storage facility, I was able to use the cruise control.  It performed flawlessly, and kept the speed rock steady with marginal to no drift.  It was almost akin to the one in my Audi, no longer all over the place.  Joe could you check on the cruise control cable part number and availability (I don't know if there is a difference between RHD and LHD units).  I will bear in mind all the advice about emergency stopping should the unit jamb.

I am toying with the idea of fitting my new air valve after all, perhaps in a few weeks time.  I take it, putting the new part on will be straight forward. I wonder what torque specs I need to use?  I suppose I cannot really make it run any worse that it current operates.

Wishing my 116 was at home already.

Gavin
1979 450SE "Mrs White"
2022 Touareg-R 3.0TSi Hybrid
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Squiggle Dog

Haha, I made one of those screwdrivers myself!
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

jbrasile

Hi Gavin,

P/n for the cc cable is 116 300 22 30, this p/n is for a RHD car. I will check availability with the Classic Center.

Tks

Joe

jbrasile

Hello again Gavin,

Classic Center has confirmed that the cc cable is NLA, sorry....

Tks

Joe

littlefin

Hi Gavin

Good to see you've been attending to some of those little jobs. Isn't it about time you started using that car a bit more  ;)
110011 1967 230
108057 1972 280SE3.5
116024 1979 280SE
126037 1983 500SEL
124030 1989 300E

navigator

What a brilliant thread.

Gavin, what was "TU" in our distance past - Krugersdorp/Randburg/Randfontein?

gavin116

Hi Joe

Thanks for looking into a replacement cable.  It's a pity its NLA, I wonder if one could be made up?  It is working well at the moment with the spacer, the uptake is strong, and there is no drifting down once I let go the stalk from the accelerate position.  I am thinking of installing all the new air hoses and the new AAV, however I am worried about how much to torque the bolts (bought new ones too) that hold it in place.  Do I need to put any oil on the new gasket when I am pacing the new AAV in position?

You're nearly spot on there Navigator, we were in Roodepoort which was designated TU (Krugersdorp was TK, Randburg was TRB and Randfontein was TAY).  We lived in a hilly little suburb first known as Horizon Ridge, but was later renamed Horizon Extension.  It was very much surrounded by a nature reserve, and one of my lasting memories as a child, were the continual ingress of Rinkhalses (or ringed neck spitting Cobras) that always used to make their way into the house, and the ensuing pandemonium....

Regards,

Gavin
1979 450SE "Mrs White"
2022 Touareg-R 3.0TSi Hybrid
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Casey

#157
Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 01 June 2013, 04:57 PM
Mama mia, there you go again, my, my! :D Those door panels look mmm... soft. I need to restuff my fronts as well. That's really cool that you got the remote power mirror to work. I would say to mount the switch on a Vekerskurier piece in front of the console wood (you know, the Becker traffic radio knob), but those are super rare.

I've got one, though I'm not sure what the light installed in it is and if it's been damaged by the screws, and also it's burl rather than zebrano.  I don't care for it myself and would be happy to find a new home for it:



I also seem to have received a new sealed CC cable with the euro 6.9 I bought, though I'm sure it's for a LHD car and I want to keep it.

I've planned on doing a power mirror conversion at some point and would probably put the switch right above the hazard switch as it is in W123's.  I haven't checked to see if there's adequate space given the larger size of the W116's hazard switch though...

navigator

before I try and hijack this thread let me ask a legit question:

The speed control unit, can it not be re-soldered as I have read elsewhere on this forum?

Can you still remember my hometown if my dad's cars had a registration of TOY ?

gavin116

Hi Orkney-Snorkney (aka Navigator)

The answer is yes and no.  I have heard of some other members who have had success with re-soldering their cruise control amplifiers and changing the capacitors at the same time.  (There are useful threads with diagrams of what capacitors to replace etc. on this forum, but you'll need to search for them or ask others for help.)  I had no luck, I sent mine off to the well respected MercDoctor to have it refurbished.  It still didn't work, and in the end I bought a new old stock unit, but it was for a 280SE.  I consulted with Joe on this subject, and he assured me it would work, as he has a similar unit in his Californian car (or is it the Sao Paulo car?), but he did mention it may be a little aggressive.  It works fine, though it is a little 'eager' when accelerating shall we say, I suspect the 450 specific unit would probably be more languid.

If you're good with a soldering iron, I say go for it, you have nothing to loose. 

Keep 116ing,

Gavin
1979 450SE "Mrs White"
2022 Touareg-R 3.0TSi Hybrid
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navigator

Thanks!

I'lll try Sclass on whom to get to have a look as I am off the scale on tech issues (the wrong end that is)

TAW?

oversize

Yes I've heard the CC units can be repaired but I'd shop around for someone who's done it before and is supremely confident.

There's lots of places that can repair cables; look for someone that does custom accelerator cables
1979 6.9 #5541 (Red Bull)
1978 6.9 #4248 (Skye)
1979 6.9 #3686 (Moby Dick)
1978 6.9 #1776 (Dora)
1977 450SEL #7010 white -P
1975 450SEL #8414 gold -P

ptashek

#162
Quote from: navigator on 11 June 2013, 10:53 AM
before I try and hijack this thread let me ask a legit question:
The speed control unit, can it not be re-soldered as I have read elsewhere on this forum?

Yes, they can be rebuilt, but with varying success. I have personally rebuilt two, replacing every single part on each unit, except for the two relays.
One of the units came back alive and is working fine(ish), however the other unit is a complete dud - very likely due to defect relays. I bet the relays can be replaced with modern parts, however I wasn't able to figure out what the suitable replacements are.

It can be done for <50EUR per unit. The most expensive parts are the TAA765A op-amp, the BSV81 IG-MOSFET and the large 10uF 63V capacitor. The rest can be classed as "dirt cheap", but the problem is with retail availability. I ended up buying some caps in bulk, getting 50 where I needed just 3  :( It cost me about 70EUR for the two units.

You can find my CC DIY thread below, including all parts required for the job:
http://forum.w116.org/mechanicals/cruise-control-not-keeping-set-speed/15/

Also, the cables shouldn't be very hard to reproduce. The only problem is with the inner lining of the cable housing. Once that is gone, the cable will tend to stick and that's life threatening.

p.s.: I said fine(ish) above, since my actuator cable is stretched so much I have ran out of thread on the adjustment screw. So the whole setup still floats a bit, and the amp is still loosing some speed over time but only beyond 80km/h. I'm not bothered enough to pursue this further :)
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

Martin 280s

Congratulations! I hope you enjoy your 'new' car to it's full.   :)

gavin116

#164
The sound of music

  Well folks, I thought that I needed to tidy up the audio and mirror systems in my car.  I have been dreading running out of battery on a road trip, because the status-quo was either my iPhone connected to the lighter socket or the satnav connected.  The Becker is usually always connected, the iPhone playing music through the inferior cassette adaptor almost always with a near empty battery.  Also, the electric mirror control was just left between the passenger seat and the console.

  I must admit to having trawled the internet for absolute ages to get a useful alternative to getting music in the car without having a dual radio system, or the inferior tape method.  Finally I ran across iSimple, and as it was less than a hundred quid, I thought what the heck, and took the plunge.  I chose a system that could do iPod playback, as well as charge my phone.

https://www.isimplesolutions.com/universal-solutions-TranzIt-IS77.aspx

The iSimple77 aka TranzIt


  So, I went to Maplin and spent a small fortune on lots of little things including some ABS plastic boxes, various connectors etc.  Then it was on the front doorstep with all my motorcar accoutrement, and the rest of the very hot bright and sunny day was spent on tidying the interior and wiring in the console.

Plastic box (cut lines marked in pencil)

  I measured the abs box somewhat oversized so that I could cut and file it down to size.  I chose the centre dimple point to mount the on/off switch for the iSimple, which then got me thinking that the mirror switch would look awkward on its own to the side.  As I still had a cigar lighter socket lying about from way back when, I decided that I would install this as well.  I measured out the mirror switch and the cigar socket, then proceeded to cut out the holes using a drill bit, a jig saw and some fine files.  After much ado, I had something that I was happy with.  I trimmed the back portion lower than the front portion to match the profile of console.  I welded the lid to the box section using a hot soldering iron.

The work in progress

  This is the part that I did not like, as I had to cut a small square hole into my virgin console to accommodate the wiring for the various bits and bobs.  The mirror harness was a real challenge, I wish it was just 10 cm longer....  Once I had most things in place, I then had to do a shed-load of soldering.  I ran some piggyback power plugs for the radio, the iSimple and the electric mirror.  I doubled up the wiring from the cigar lighter for the additional lighter socket (I noted that the MB lighter will not fit in the new socket, it's too fat!).

  I reconnected the battery, and tested that everything was working correctly, and I can confirm that it was.  The iSimple is absolutely wonderful, I cannot rate it highly enough.  All you guys who want to keep your classic radios, but still want to enjoy MP3 music, this is the way to go.

It been a long ol' day, but I'm reasonably happy, the box needs to be aligned and stuck down with double-sided tape

  Tomorrow I shall do a little cleaning inside, some more photography, and then on to the engine bay.  I want to do some more cleaning, and I also want to install my new auxiliary air valve.  I am also interested in getting a WUR rebuild kit from this very useful website:

http://www.ferrari400parts.com/boschshop.php?view=productPage&product=12&category=12

Keep 116ing ;),
Gavin
1979 450SE "Mrs White"
2022 Touareg-R 3.0TSi Hybrid
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