Today was day four of The Long Way Euround, the Classic Mercedes road trip I am doing through NSW and Victoria. Day four was one of our busiest, and so far probably best days on the trip. Yesterday we had finished in Bendigo. Even though the total amount of driving was less than over days, we had a lot to cover. We made out...
Today was the third day of our Classic Mercedes road trip. Yesterday we finished in Horsham after driving the Silo Art Trail. Horsham is a great starting point for The Grampians National park, which was our drive for the morning. It was quite cold and wet as we rolled out of Horsham at 6AM. For the first part of our drive, we were still...
Today was the second day of our big Classic Mercedes road trip through NSW and Victoria. Yesterday, we finished up in Cobram, Vic, after a day driving the windy roads of the Upper Murray Region. Day 2 had the longest distance driving of the trip, so we woke up early. ready roll out by 6AM. The morning greeted us with grey skies and steady...
Today was the first day of my annual Classic Mercedes road trip – The Long Way Euround. While the major event that anchors the trip is the Australian National Show and Shine in Euroa, it is more about the trip than the destination. I’ve previously covered the plan for the six days of the event. We started our road trip in Bathurst. Trying to...
Each of the last two years, I have done an extended road trip in Classic Mercedes. I have found them so enjoyable that it has become an annual event. There is such a sense of adventure exploring our beautiful country in a classic car. There is even more of a sense of adventure avoiding motorways and driving exclusively on back roads, through great scenery...
The only constant of our garage is new acquisitions, we never seem to be able to slim the fleet down. The latest addition was considered necessary when my daughter (Jessica) came to grief with her 2005 CLK320 on a concrete wall at Eastland Shopping Centre, Ringwood. Given we are insured for market value, we weren’t confident that it would be repaired. Once we got...
After owning my 450SLC for over 20 years, there has really only been one thing that has disappointed me about the car. That is the performance of the A/C. I don’t think it was ever optimized for the Australian climate even when new. When you add in the use of R134A gas, plus aging components, on the days you really need it, it can’t...
Today was the 2024 ACT German Car Show. I always enjoy this event, so was keen to go again this year. I had originally planned to bring my 1977 450SLC. However, it wasn’t back from the workshop due to a leak from the A/C. In its place, I took my 1987 560SEC, same as last year. Unlike last year, there was a fairly...
Over the last week or so, I’ve been dealing with the algae in the fuel tank of my 240D. In the last update, after changing the fuel filters, I added the Penrite Diesel Biocide. I was already noticing after about 30 kilometers the pre-filter was looking quite dirty and the car was down on power. It seemed that some of the algae was...
Yesterday, I posted an update on my 240D showing how I had changed the petrol filters. A friend pointed out that my filter was full of algae. My 240D was from a deceased estate and it’s condition and mileage make me think it didn’t get a lot of use in recent years. Algae seems more prevalent in cars that have sat around for a...
Since I purchased my 240D, I had planned to use ‘Diesel Purge’ to clean the injectors and injection pump. The car runs well, but it is a bit rough at idle and I figured this would probably help. This was part of my plan to clean the fuel system for the entire car. I have a suspicion that the strainer in the bottom of...
Recently I had noticed the 560SEC running hotter than usual in traffic. This was during winter when it was quite cold outside. I suspected that the original viscous fan coupling was starting to fail. I was able to spin the fan quite easily just after I turned off the engine while it was hot. Back in 2020, I had a similar issue on...
My 1981 Mercedes 240D still has the original Becker Europa 596 Radio. This is one of the last of the analogue radios before the cars moved to the digital radio with the Becker Grand prix 612. The main issue with the Becker is that it does not stay in tune. I’m constantly having to adjust it to stay on an FM station. In addition,...
Recently the odometer stopped working on my 1987 560SEL, just before the car hit 340,000km. This is a pretty common problem on the W126. I had to repair both my old 300SE and my 560SEC. The issue is the small gears that turn the odometer. They are made of a very soft plastic and after 30+ years, the teeth break off. This repair is...
I just got my 240D back from having the motor mounts changed. When I purchased the 240D, the motor mounts were one of the few obvious things that needed attending to on the car. They looked pretty bad and the engine was shaking at idle. On a W123 or W126, normally I would go with the Lemforder motor mounts, which are excellent. I...
The under bonnet insulation was starting to reach the end of its use by date. Bits of it in the air filter were a pretty good indicator of this. I’m not sure how long it had been on, but it pre dated my ownership of the car. Looking more carefully, I could see the main insulation mat, which was falling apart. However, I could...
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