A couple of months ago I tried a modification on my 560SEL to trigger the auxiliary cooling fan earlier. The primary reason for this was to provide adequate air flow over the A/C condenser in stop/go traffic. The W126 A/C was designed for R12 refrigerant and is marginal at best with R134A. I used a resistor to trick the fan into running at...
My wife’s E350 Wagon recently started throwing up error messages about burned out tail light bulbs in the dash. Turns out, this is not nearly as easy a fix as you would expect. First, I consulted the owners manual. The manual tells you that these bulbs are not user serviceable and do take the car to your Mercedes-Benz dealership. I wasn’t really interested...
The W126 outside temperature display was standard in all Australian delivered series 2 models. The little LCD screen is not really compatible with the Australian sun as most of them start to bleed and become unreadable. My 300SE and 560SEC both have unreadable LCD screens. The 560SEL, which was garaged all its life still has a good screen. Buying a used one is not...
Today was the monthly MBCNSW night drive. Over the last week, Sydney has experienced the worst storms in sixty years. The original route that we picked for the drive was not going to be possible. It went down into the national park and close to flooded areas. There was also the risk of unknown potholes in the road that we wouldn’t see at night....
Regular readers will remember I have been stopping by to check out the Rover P5 coupe restoration. The updates show just how time consuming a proper restoration is. Those TV shows that try to do one in a weekend really are quite silly. There is a big difference in just slapping things together and doing the job properly. To recap there are three Rover...
I’ve had a problem with wet feet in my 450SLC for years. Generally this manifests itself with water dripping onto both the drivers and passengers feet when the A/C is running. This is particularly prevalent when going around a corner. I had always assumed that this was caused by blocked A/C drains. I tried to clean them a couple of years back but the...
When I bought my 300SE about four years ago, it came with an early 2000s era Kenwood CD player. At the time, I assumed I would need to replace it, as it wasn’t working. Turned out the plug had come out of the back and it actually worked fine. It wasn’t a bad unit, as it could play MP3 CDs, display track information...
I really dislike the check engine light. To me its an altogether silly concept given the digital dashboards cars are equipped with. It can mean anything from a loose fuel cap to a destroyed engine, so consequently people just ignore it. Modern cars know a whole lot more about what is wrong with them. Instead of posting a reasonable error message...
I had recently noticed that the battery on the 250SE was not in good health. The battery disconnect switch I built a few years ago has a battery health indicator included. Even when connected to the trickle charger it was showing orange. I also noticed that the trickle charger would sometimes go into error mode. My battery tester showed that it was well...
I visited the St Ives Auto Brunch event again this month. Like last time, the event was huge – probably slightly bigger this time. Due to other commitments i didn’t even get to see all the cars yet I was there for over two hours. I got there about 7;30AM and there were already queues to get in. While there is a bit...
A couple of weeks ago, while a friend of mine was over helping me install a rebuilt hydraulic pump, we noticed the rattle from my engine was coming from the air cleaner. On further inspection, I found the bracket was broken. I was luckily able to get a good used one. A friend had one on hand. It had some rubber grommets...
Last night was the February 2021 MBCNSW Night Drive. This month’s route was Waterfall to Bulli. The rain all through the week in Sydney had been raining, but it finished just before the start of the drive and the weather was actually good the whole time. It probably kept a few people away though. As usual there was a good mix of cars –...
My 1986 300SE is now back in business with good oil pressure. Turns out the reason why the oil pressure was low was a catastrophic failure of the oil pump itself. In the last part, I had narrowed the problem down to most likely being the pump. I assumed that something was either blocking the screen or the pressure relief valve was stuck. ...
Today I went to the new Shannons Auction rooms to see some of the upcoming auction lots for the 2021 Shannons Summer Auction. There have been a number of changes to how Shannons run their auctions since the COVID19 outbreak, and I think they are for the better. Instead of separate Sydney and Melbourne auctions, they now run a combined online auction. The cars...
The Citroen DS hydraulic pump is integral to many key systems on the car. Suspension, brakes, steering, gearchange to name a few. All of these system rely on hydraulic pressure to do their job. Other than early ID models, the DS uses a seven plunger pump and then a pressure regulator to ensure the right hydraulic pressures are maintained. The pump on my car...
I attended the St Ives Auto Brunch February 2021 event today. This was the first one I have been to since the start of the Coronavirus outbreak. It was also the biggest one by far. There were literally hundreds of cars, even overflowing into other parking areas of St Ives showground. This was also the first time I got there at the starting time...
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