Raptelan's 1980 300SD

[Casey]

[Type17]

Lovely to see all that stuff laid out - your car will be transformed Looks like you got your money's-worth from the old seals

PS: Is it 'just' a big job (or a really huge one) to change the gasket that covers the central locking tubing at the front door hinges?

[jbrasile]

Casey,

I am glad everything arrived ok!!! It's nice to see all those new parts with  MB's tags an packages isn't it...

Windshield gasket should arrive in Irvine some time next week and the RH internal door handle in about 10-15 days.

Tks,

Joe

[Casey]

Well, a lot of progress.

First off, got the new door handle installed on the driver door.  Boy that's going to make it nice getting out of the car.  Also had new chrome and black plastic pieces from the 280SE I found at a junkyard so replaced those as they were both broken.  I also discovered while in the door this time why the regulator broke in the first place.  I'd noticed the window got quite hesitant to roll down as it neared the bottom.  Well what had happened is that there is this vertical guide bar in the door that is bolted at the top and bottom.  The bottom bolt had come a bit loose and the bar had twisted sideways at the bottom.  I was having trouble getting the window down manually, and simply loosening the bolt a bit, twisting the bar back to where it should be, and retightening fixed it nicely.  Guys, you should really all take off your door panels and check everything.  Because I had loose door checks when I bought the car (probably the reason they were damaged), this loose bolt caused my window regulator to shatter, and I've tightened up numerous other loose things that didn't *yet* cause any damage.  Better safe than sorry.  Once I'm done replacing regulators and the other handle and all the wipes, I'm going to get in there with some shiny new bolts/screws and some locktite.  seal the whole thing up with some aluminum tape in place of the plastic that was originally there, and then maybe start a pet project of making new door panels myself...

I got all the door seals on.  Twice over.  The first time I didn't use any adhesive, but thought better of it and then redid them all with some rubber gasket sealant stuff I got at the auto parts store.  Not necessary, but since I was going through all the bother.  The old ones were quite brittle and broke into several pieces as I took them off, except for the passenger front seal, which was actually in surprisingly good condition - I suspect it was changed in the last few years, so I threw that into my spare W116 parts bin.  The sealant work was slow going and made a mess all over which required a lot of cleaning, so it took a lot of time.  But now I'm really confident about my seals being really tight.  It was a lot more work than anticipated due to having to remove all the door panels, check straps, and mucking with sealant.  Looking forward to finding a nice clear stretch of road tomorrow and going as fast as I can to test for reduced wind noise.

Also got the front door tubes for vacuum hoses and electrical replaced.  Fishing out/in all the tubes and electrics isn't so bad.  Getting the damn tube stuck into the hole on both ends, is.  But ultimately, a little handiwork with a flathead screwdriver (after a few hours of cursing with just fingers) as the pressing agent got them in.  Start from the back, work towards the front.  I also started with the chassis side, and ended with the door side.  The back ones actually still both looked just fine (and are a little longer so probably hold up better) so I put the new ones in my spare parts.  They're brand new and for sale if anybody needs them.  Don't get any clever ideas about reaching the inside of the chassis side by getting up under the dash.  I ended up breaking the trim piece that goes against the frame trying to get it out (don't know why it was stuck so hard to the clip, but the clip came off the chassis and I have no idea how to get it back on without taking the whole damn dash out).  Not the biggest deal since it was cracked already, but annoying.  The trim pieces are fairly spendy and as simple bits of plastic, not something I'm very inclined to spend much money on.

Then on to the tail light seals.  What a pain in the ass to change.  But man, I'm glad I did.  If you actually take your tail lights out, you will probably discover your seals to be in absolutely terrible condition.  They were worse off than the door seals had been, and just horrible.  A piece of metal had come disconnected inside the taillight assembly, so I reglued that, and there were also *several* old broken light bulbs loose inside the plastic.  It was also really filthy inside - a lot of dirt and algae and evidence of water having flooded the inside in the past.  Getting the metal in with the new seals was a bit of a bear, but managed that alright.  Then went to put in the plastic, and on both sides, managed to turn a little too tight pulling the aged brittle plastic against the new rubber seals and created a new crack.  On the bright side, both had cracks and fractures before, and I was hoping to replace them in time.  I just advise to take it real easy re-attaching the plastic if you replace your seals, maybe coming back and tightening them a little bit periodically as the new seals set in.  There is evidence of water flooding both wells on the sides of the trunk in the past too, and I'll bet it's related.

Got the window sill wipes replaced on the front driver door, because I could get that window down and up with some juggling between pressing the button and pushing/pulling the window by hand (it's got the broken regulator).  Got the inner passenger one replaced but couldn't do the outer since I can't get that window down currently.  Didn't get enough parts to do the back windows too, so those will be done later.

Got the side seals on the sunroof replaced easily enough - was a bit of hassle getting them set in far enough for the sunroof to close fully (I ended up just tapping them in a little more with a mallet).  I didn't intuitively pick up how to get the front and back seals replaced from a glance, so that's put off for next weekend, along with the trunk seal (though aside from one tear, my trunk seal looks pretty good, likely replaced in the last decade, so I might just hold off on that).  Also got the gas tank lid stops replaced.


On the downside, I noticed that I'm leaking transmission fluid since being at the MB shop last week.  I didn't look closely at it because I didn't notice until moving it at the end of today.  It's going to be a real pain to try to get it back to the same shop, since I'm starting a new job tomorrow in a totally different city.  Hopefully it's just something loose I can fix myself.  My engine is also sounding more clattery than I remembered when I'm right over it with the hood open, though it's not really noticeable from inside the vehicle.  It may just be from it's vibration - it's shaking a lot.  I need to get the engine shocks and other motor mount replaced sometime soon.  I also need to get a new valve cover gasket and the appropriate spacing tool to do a valve adjustment.

But, not for a few more weeks at least...  I found exactly the wheels I've been hunting for - six inch wide steel-look aluminum rims, so even though they're going to be quite costly, I'm planning to jump on the opportunity to get me a set ordered while I can.  They're rare as heck, but will allow me to retain the benefits of alloy rims, plus the stainless steel MB hubcaps I want.  Bye bye bundts - if anybody's looking for a set in good condition but obviously not new (except for the one in the trunk - that one looks mint!), I'll have them available for sale soon...

Work in progress:

[jbrasile]

Nice Casey!

4 extra window wipes will be shipped along the windshield gasket that was on back order.

Too bad about the tail light lenses, however they do come up quite often on e-bay so you don't have to spend almost $300.00 a side for new ones.

The vertical track you are referring to is actually adjustable and crucial to proper window operation.


Tks,

Joe

[jjb-w116-hu]

hi joe,
if the lenses are 300$ ish a side, how much are the seals again? im taking on increasing water through what do now look like increasingly perished rear light seals, and will need to replace soonish.

also when it comes to rear lights - how many bulbs should there be? i have an odd light issue at moment when i can put a light into the reverse socket, and then the next socket in seems to be empty of a terminal connection.... have had my head in the trunk for a few hours but am none the wiser

[Casey]

if the lenses are 300$ ish a side, how much are the seals again?

I hope Joe doesn't mind me taking the liberty of answering a bit sooner - the price for the tail light seals, at least OEM ones, is $84.60/each with the discount available.

also when it comes to rear lights - how many bulbs should there be? i have an odd light issue at moment when i can put a light into the reverse socket, and then the next socket in seems to be empty of a terminal connection.... have had my head in the trunk for a few hours but am none the wiser

My W124 confounded me the same way - I think it's just by design.  Perhaps some optional feature could be added.  My W124 had a rear fog light on the left but that did not use that socket.  My W116 doesn't seem to have that feature at all...maybe they used a separate bulb then?  I don't know, but am really keen on finding out why this extra socket location is there myself too.

[jbrasile]

Casey,

Thanks for answering James's question!

Euro 116's have a separate lamp socket for the rear fog light, LHD cars have this  on the left, RHD on the right.

Tks,

Joe

[jjb-w116-hu]

thanks Casey and Joe -
so the second part of what could be a brake light isnt?
i managed to get my rear lights and brake lights working correctly yesterday however my rev lights still arent going and im trying to figure it out - anyone ideas? ive replaced almost all my fuses and most of the rear bulbs but no luck. could it have to do with a contact by the shifter ?

even with brand new bulbs my reverse no go.

and my seals are as bad if not worse than yours pictured so definatly something to fix!

[jbrasile]

James,

Yes, take a look at the switch for the shifter, that might be the problem.

Tks,

Joe

[jjb-w116-hu]

thanks Joe - is there a schematic on where this is ?
i'll pull it apart so i can get my WOF... is there a particular contact cleaner for this and my parkbrake that is better/best?

[Casey]

i managed to get my rear lights and brake lights working correctly yesterday however my rev lights still arent going and im trying to figure it out - anyone ideas? ive replaced almost all my fuses and most of the rear bulbs but no luck. could it have to do with a contact by the shifter ?

On my W124 there was a Neutral Safety Switch on the transmission that was an easy adjustment to fix the reverse lights.  I'm not sure if that exists on W116's or not.

even with brand new bulbs my reverse no go.

This may sound dumb, but have you verified the new bulbs actually work by plugging them in to the brake light spot or something?  I ask because I bought a bunch of new bulbs from an auto parts store that were the right size and supposedly the right ones for my car, but 1/2 of them failed to work when I first put them in and the others burned out within a day of installing them.  I believe they were designed for lower amperage or something.

and my seals are as bad if not worse than yours pictured so definatly something to fix!

It's a little spendy to get OEM seals, but man, is it so much nicer now.  I was cruising at what must have been around 100mph the day after installing them just as a test, and no more wind noise around the doors.  Plus before my doors wouldn't open easily from the outside - there's some adjustment you can do to the handles by taking the door apart that I never got to - with the new seals pushing on the doors with greater pressure now, that problem is gone without any extra work!

If you're on the cheap I have a used passenger front door seal and trunk seal in pretty good condition available.  They don't compare to the brand new ones and I don't know how old they are or how long they will hold up but they've surely been replaced some time along the way whereas I don't think any of the others were.


Joe, can you tell me what I would need to do to get a rear fog light installed?  My headlight switch has support for it already as it has two gradations in how far I can pull it out, but I'm guessing I would need some additional wiring and such...  I'd quite like to add the feature.  Is there any good reason not to add it on BOTH sides rather than just one (I've never seen this, but it doesn't seem that it would be a bad idea)?  Also, since jjb brought up parking brakes - can you let me know the P/N & price for a new pad or whatever is needed to fix this?  (I'm assuming it's a separate mechanism on W116's?)

[Casey]

On the downside, I noticed that I'm leaking transmission fluid since being at the MB shop last week.  I didn't look closely at it because I didn't notice until moving it at the end of today.  It's going to be a real pain to try to get it back to the same shop, since I'm starting a new job tomorrow in a totally different city.  Hopefully it's just something loose I can fix myself.

I must say that Mercedes has exceptional customer service.  I finally got around to calling in this morning to ask when I could bring it in as it's been leaking transmission fluid since my last visit, and they said that I can drop it off tomorrow morning and they'll have a complimentary rental car available for me again to get to work.  Try getting that from a Ford or Kia dealership.

[jbrasile]

Casey,

From checking the epc it looks like you would need a new tail light harness from an euro car to add the rear fog light

P/n is 116 540 57 07.

You also need the socket for the bulb added to the tail ligh assembly so it would probably be best to buy a used euro light on e-bay.

Legislation in Europe and elsewhere dictate that rear fogs should  be used on the driver's side only. I think its probably so people don't get confused and think you are applying the brakes.

Tks,

Joe

[Casey]

Update from MB - the transmission leak is coming from the upper part of the transmission seal, which is why it wasn't apparent before.  So I'm getting the seal replaced as well as a transmission service (replacement of fluid and filter).  Cost will be somewhere between $300-something (I forgot the exact number he mentioned) so I'm going ahead and having that done by MB as transmission stuff is well beyond my comfort level right now.

On the bright side, the free rental car is a Nissan Pathfinder, which is pretty decent.  It's probably the nicest rental car I've had, which isn't saying a lot but at least it's not a complete piece of junk (last rental car was a Chevy Malibu, which was just awful, and one before that was a Kia or Hyundai - 'nuff said).