Powdery Mercedes Coolant

I have a little coolant leak from the thermo-vacuum switches - probably just need new crush washers. But as you can see from the photos, the coolant comes out clean, but then as it dries, it gradually turns white, and then becomes powdery when completely dry. I use the proper Mercedes branded coolant on this car.









What's going on here?

Genuine Floor Mats

There seems to be some interest regarding my floor mats.

I got these guys from the dealer last year for $120. The part number is: B66226071. I simply asked the guy at the parts counter for mats, he asked for my VIN, and I got these a few days later.

The top is as you see it, a carpet like material, the bottom is a thin foam like material that looks like it'll tear apart easily. The silver "Mercedes-Benz" logo part is made of metal.

They're much too nice to use all year round, but since I only drive the 560SEL in the summer, they're just fine.

First long-distance trip after rebuild

Drove Ottawa -> Toronto -> Ottawa to drop off my sister at School.


Distance = 830km (500 miles)
Avg. Speed = 134km/h (80mph)
Fuel economy = 110litres (29 us.gallons) = 7.5km/litre (17.5mpg)

Distance and Speed taken from the GPS and fuel usage taken from the gas pump readings. Air fuel mixture was set using an exhaust gas analyser and compression check after the rebuild showed 180psi +/- 5psi on all cylinders.

Kept the economy gauge in the black 80% of the time. Car was fully loaded on the way there. And empty on the way back. A/C was on all the time.

I bet I could get 20+mpg if I hypermile'd it.

The SLS really shines when there is some weight in the back. It felt firm, responsive and very comfortable. But the front suspension was waaay too soft. Need to stiffen things up front.

The 560SEL is in a league of its own when it comes to chewing up highway miles. After 8hours of driving, I felt like I could do it all over again.

I came across this saying in a Craigslist advertisement (of all places!),

"Those in the know, drive Mercedes. Those who know Mercedes, drive w126."

Couldn't agree more.

Quick Update - Running well again

After the 4 month long rebuild, I was pretty tired of looking at an m117 engine, so I decided to send the car out to have the rough running sorted.

I had pretty must lost faith in most garages, but I thought I'd give Young Street Garage a try since I've used them many years ago with the 190E and was very satisfied with the work.

And by luck or by fluke, they found that the driver's side cam was off by 1 tooth. I was pretty impressed that they actually took off the valve-covers. In any case, they re-timed it and now the car is running as it should be.

When fitting the chain, I made sure to get the timing right because I know the m117 is an interference engine, and I was pretty sure I had got it correct. But I guess there was enough play in the cam gears to make it look right, even if it was 1 tooth off.

I had Young Street also change the SLS Accumulators (Air Cells), thinking it would sort out the clunking from the rear suspension, but other than leveling the car a little better, it made no difference. The ball joint on the bottom of the hydro-strut has a bit of play but can that be causing such heavy clunking?

The odometer stopped working last week. Apparently there are little plastic gears that get worn out over time. Probably leave this for an early-winter project.

Bruno Benzs

Both cars designed by the same Italian car designer, Bruno Sacco for Daimler-Benz. He personally owns a W126 coupe but his favourite design is the W201 (190E, aka Baby Benz).









My garage queen in all her glory.

New Hood Pad/Insulation

The old hood pad was in pretty poor shape. It was dry and brittle and would come off like dust if you touched it. Oddly enough I don't think the hood pad on the car was what it came with from the factory. It was definitely an OEM hood pad but I don't think it was stock.

Thinking Mercedes would have updated the hood pad by now, I ordered a genuine replacement hood pad from Mercedes using the part number I got from EPC. Sadly it looks like Mercedes has done nothing to improve the quality of the material - it's pretty much the same type of material I took. off. The hood pad I received even looks like it was designed for the turbo diesels as its got the aluminium section for the turbocharger. In any case its a million times better than the one I took off.









I glued it using 3M High-Strength 90 Spray Adhesive. Its very quick drying so you only have a second or two to fit the material. Without anyone to help me put it in place, I glued it in small 1 or 2ft square sections. Ended up a little skew, but I just trimmed about 1cm from the right hand side and tucked it into the edges.

Top End Rebuild - Post Op

With the heavy wrenching complete I can start looking at sorting out all the little things. The car starts and runs smooth. But when in gear and foot on the brake, the engine shakes quite a bit. It doesn't feel like worn engine mounts. Its definitely something a little more complicated.

The only issues I know of is a leaking EHA valve and a broken vacuum check valve. Both of which I'll be ordering new tomorrow. The shaking is scaring me a little. Being my first rebuild I'm worried I might have screwed up something. But since the car drives and idles fine, its all a bit strange.










From what I know the EHA valve it meant for small fuel mixture adjustments. Thus it doesn't seem likely the cause of the shaking. As for the check valve (A126 800 00 78), I have no idea what it does. The EPC describes it as "Air conditioner case to partition panel" - doesn't sound like it affects idle.

I've ordered a case of Joe Gibbs HR-1 (15w50) motor oil for the 560. I've read many good things about this stuff. Its got high levels of ZDDP and unlike folks like Royal Purple, they're not afraid to provide their mixture quantities. That alone makes me believe its going to be better than Royal Purple.

I've also ordered a new distributor cap and rotor. The old rotor looks a little burnt.

Hopefully all these things together should sort out the shaking. If not I don't mind sending it out to the dealer to do the finishing touches. I've saved myself easily $5,000.00 in garage fees by doing the top-end rebuild myself, so I can afford to send it out for a few things now. It could definitely have the timing done more professionally.

Tallying up the hours for rebuild gives a total of 55hrs. Given that Mercedes-Benz quoted me 40+hrs as a rough estimate, I'm pretty happy with my performance :) Especially without having any power tools or a hoist to help me.

The most difficult job of the rebuild has to be removing and reinstalling the exhaust manifolds. Getting all the little fittings in the engine bay installed is also very time consuming. But I suppose it could have gone completely differently had any of the head bolt threads in the block stripped. Thank God that didn't happen to me.