Merc Misbehaving Malarky

[cort16]

Here's my old E280 7 seater estate. Some guy strolled into the yard I've got my lockup in a couple of years ago wanting to sell it. I think I pay £400 or something for it. I fixed the wing, painted the bumper, put a new back box on it and sold it for literally 10's of pounds profit. Parts are cheap on ebay, I think I paid £40 for the back for the new back box.

I liked the car but found it hugely soggy to drive, probably not helped by the extra girth provided by the estate bit at the back.

 

E280 by cort16, on Flickr

[Junkman]

I liked the car but found it hugely soggy to drive, probably not helped by the extra girth provided by the estate bit at the back.

 

Funny. I find them too harsh for the class and character of car.

[Barry Cade]

My £250 200E manual which I battered across Europe ,pictured outside the Mercedes factory in Bremen, where the W124 T models were built

 

 

£300 230E auto. Preferred the manual, and seek out manuals now.

 

 

My 190D getting some paintwork

before.

after.

 

Here's my £650 W126 300SE, which I never really gelled with.

 

 

There are more, but probably on actual pictures rather than digital.

[dollywobbler]

Thanks folks. Google-fu let me down on price. It's running even more poorly now I've tried cleaning up the dizzy!

 

However, I have just fitted new headlamp wiper blades. Oh yes. Get the important jobs done. I used cut down scrap 2CV wiper blades to effect a repair. Just swap the rubber over. Sorted!

 

As for handling and ride, it's pretty good. Thumps over some things, but isn't jarring. Over speed humps, it's magnificent, though there's a creak from the front offside. I hope it isn't a knackered spring...

 

It's nowhere near as wallowy as my W123 was. This actually feels quite pleasant to drive quickly. Sure, it rolls a bit, but I'm used to that...

[Junkman]

Maybe you should have a look at the plugs and replace the leads. The leads do have a shelf life and I seem to remember that those twin cam straight six bangers are allergic to incorrectly set electrode gaps.

[Barry Cade]

Maybe you should have a look at the plugs and replace the leads. The leads do have a shelf life and I seem to remember that those twin cam straight six bangers are allergic to incorrectly set electrode gaps.

 

The leads all run through a plastic "tube" which holds them all tightly together. When they get old the sparks tend to jump over to each other, rather than find their way to the plugs. The ignition system need to be tip top an these engines.

[Spiny Norman]

Is there not also some sort of issue with the wiring harness for the engine electrics on these?

ISTR one time I was looking at a W124 coupe and it was one of the things the seller was at great pains to point out had been done, just like you'd point out a recent cambelt on a Fiat coupe, a new headling on a Saab 900 or a new HG on a K series...

[Barry Cade]

Is there not also some sort of issue with the wiring harness for the engine electrics on these?

ISTR one time I was looking at a W124 coupe and it was one of the things the seller was at great pains to point out had been done, just like you'd point out a recent cambelt on a Fiat coupe, a new headling on a Saab 900 or a new HG on a K series...

 

That was the later 24v engines, they had an eco friendly engine loom that biodegraded...

[Spiny Norman]

That was the later 24v engines, they had an eco friendly engine loom that biodegraded...

 

That explains it, it was an M reg car I was looking at.

[HillmanImp]

Great write up. Looks sweet. Looking for a waft-o-matic luxobarge for '24 Heures du Mans' next year as have managed to land some corporate tickets with a bunch of loud, arrogant, cokehead, alcoholic yuppies with no social or moral conscience and a chauvinistic view of women so it looks like being a fucking cracker. Will add these to the 'possible transport' list.

[Shep Shepherd]

What a splendid car. I hope that the new cap and rotor see it running properly

[Cavcraft]

Great write up. Looks sweet. Looking for a waft-o-matic luxobarge for '24 Heures du Mans' next year as have managed to land some corporate tickets with a bunch of loud, arrogant, cokehead, alcoholics with no social or moral conscience and a chauvinistic view of women so it looks like being a fucking cracker. Will add these to the 'possible transport' list.

 

 

What time are you picking me and Warren up?

[RobT]

Great purchase Ian! Been there myself with a misfiring automatic, my approach was lots of WFT-ing and blind faith that it'd start working again, which it did

[dollywobbler]

In other Merc-related news, I have polished the car today. I don't usually feel the need to do such things (2CV = you can't polish rust, BX = barely any paint to polish) but the Merc deserved it. No pictures because I don't currently have lighting in the garage and it was dark by the time I finished. I look forward to seeing what sort of a finish I've achieved...

 

I did investigate the non-working/intermittent rear speakers today. They're knackered. That meant playing with the rear head restraints too. I love the fact that pressing a button on the dashboard makes them flip down so rear visibility is not disturbed. I also love the fact that if you pull the front seat rake adjustment knob out, it controls the height of the head restraints!

 

I'm rapidly falling in love with the interior. It's so neat and uncluttered. The seats look like they've barely been sat on - not bad for 174,000 miles - and it still smells like a Merc should. Not the damp smell they so often manage...

 

I like the cassette player too. Pretty complex for the time. The tape is sucked in electronically and the radio does that fancy 'scan for stations' gubbins.

 

Best of all, I got a free cassette.

 

Go and YouTube Shakatak. It's hilariously awful but seems perfect for a W124 Merc somehow.

 

Here's a refurbished wiper blade. I tried making a washer jet for that side using an old BX spray bar, but it isn't really working. I shall need another plan.

 

I am finding bad stuff, but none of it serious. The sunroof keeps jamming and won't tilt. The driver's door lock is stiffer than an 18-year old lad in a strip club. The driver's door mirror has a scratch on it. The alloys seem to have lost their lacquer. And I keep forgetting that there's a headlamp bulb out (I know this because it tells me with a bulb failure lamp. Also, headlamp output wasn't very good in the dark last night. That was another clue). There are a great many chips and rust spots here and there as well. All to be expected with the age/mileage.

[Shep Shepherd]

^

 

I love Shakatak

[Timewaster]

I have polished the car today.

I don't currently have lighting in the garage

 

I think we need a word about your priorities DW.

[dollywobbler]

Well, I've been meaning to put that might back since about, er, April last year. Oops.

[HillmanImp]

What time are you picking me and Warren up?

 

Hey, if you can sort out a S-class and Warren promises not to book Celeste for the weekend we can try and work something out. *

 

 

 

*SexyAlex4 is more than welcome

[dollywobbler]

Chuffed to bits that a dizzy cap and rotor arm ordered on Ebay yesterday arrived today. I'm not used to that sort of service by Ebay sellers! Car is at my trusted garage. Anti-freeze was only good for minus seven, so that's been dropped, flushed and new coolant sploshed in. An easy job, but as a cat owner, not a job I wanted to tackle at home.

 

As the garage has got the car with the new parts in it, they're going to fit them. We'll see if it makes a difference. Again this morning, it's absolutely fine when cold, but as soon as it's up to temperature, it's behaving as well as a hen party at 2am.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Are you gonna change the coolant temp sensor then? They only cost a couple of groat and cause all sorts of mental symptoms when they go on the blink.

[dollywobbler]

Are you gonna change the coolant temp sensor then? They only cost a couple of groat and cause all sorts of mental symptoms when they go on the blink.

 

Bother. Didn't think of that, though I'm pretty sure that's ok. Temp gauge reads spot on and the fact that the warm-up cycle seems to behave makes me think that's not the problem at the moment. It's one of those annoying problems that could be one of about twenty different things! I'd prefer not to have to replace twenty different things.

[HillmanImp]

but as a cat owner, not a job I wanted to tackle at home.

 

I just googled this as was wondering what they hell you were on about. Did not realise that cats like antifreeze and it kills them. I wonder how many kittens I have inadvertantly killed whilst changing coolant.

 

Possibly a few but nowhere near as many as I have killed this way:

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I think the temp gauge will have its own sensor, the one for the fuel injection will be separate and part of the bosch-supplied gubbins.

 

I must say if its smelling a bit rich and fouling its plugs (easy to check) I reckon you should defo change that next.

[dollywobbler]

I think the temp gauge will have its own sensor, the one for the fuel injection will be separate and part of the bosch-supplied gubbins.

 

I must say if its smelling a bit rich and fouling its plugs (easy to check) I reckon you should defo change that next.

 

The smelling rich could quite easily be caused by the misfire though, rather than causing it. Unburnt fuel is going to make it stink a bit. I'll report back later...

[RobT]

Again this morning, it's absolutely fine when cold, but as soon as it's up to temperature, it's behaving as well as a hen party at 2am.

 

A split vacuum pipe or something? My BM with Bosch Motronic has done that a few times when hot in traffic, stutters like a bastard but then cures itself with a bit of throttle, so I'm wondering if I've got a tiny split somewhere or air flow meter sticking (internet told me all this after googling E30 common problems ). I also had the same happen in the Montego, after replacing coil, cap, HT leads etc I finally sourced it to a dodgy ECU. Hopefully your gold-plated £80 dizzy cap should sort it though!

[chaseracer]

Dammit Ian, you're not helping me resist the temptation presented by the imminent availability of Mr. Damaged's E200! And I don't need to google Shakatak - I was there, maaaan...

[dollywobbler]

Dammit Ian, you're not helping me resist the temptation presented by the imminent availability of Mr. Damaged's E200! And I don't need to google Shakatak - I was there, maaaan...

 

Dare I say it - the idea of my car with two less cylinders is not very appealing, even if I imagine the engine is easier to work on.

[Rocket88]

As the garage has got the car with the new parts in it, they're going to fit them. We'll see if it makes a difference. Again this morning, it's absolutely fine when cold, but as soon as it's up to temperature, it's behaving as well as a hen party at 2am.

 

 

Heat will cause any cracks in the dizzy cap to expand, that's when the problems start..........

[dollywobbler]

New cap, no difference - though it needed doing anyway. Next port of call is the mysterious OVP relay, because that's a free fix potentially. The solder can degrade on it, but apparently a few minutes with a soldering iron could have it all happy again. Got to be worth a shot. Apparently the OVP relay (over voltage protection) has a role in a large amount of stuff. Might cure the lack of cruise control too.

[chaseracer]

Can you not hammer a 190E over it?