This has been an interesting week. I've been trying to figure out what the deal is with my newly acquired 450SLC 5.0. It would not start without starting fluid. I tested the connection at the fuel pump and it was getting power. So I assumed that the fuel pump has failed and my assumption was correct.
I bought a fuel pump an filter and on Friday, I installed it. Upon starting it, the car developed a massive fuel leak at the fuel rail. This was tightened and the car ran much better. But not great, revving the engine kicked out a bunch of gunk in the exhaust and a huge oil leak at the valve cover gaskets. I will order a set next week.
On Friday, a friend and I took another stab at the timing chain tensioner. Since I had it replaced about this time last year, I have developed a massive oil leak from it. It's so bad that I have to add one or two quarts of oil per week and I don't drive this car every day.
I bought a replacement tensioner from the dealership and installed it. Removing the parts and checking the manual revealed that there is a part missing. This is the screw collar which appears to be no longer available from Mercedes Benz. An M100 enthusiast in Australia believes that it's very similar to the screw collar on an M110 engine. I know of where one is at the junk yard so I may go on a hunt to find it.
Re-installing the tensioner without the part was a huge failure as I got a huge leak. It's gushing out of the side of the tensioner plate with enough pressure to squirt oil onto the engine manifold. No amount of messing around with it cured this problem.
Meanwhile another Mercedesshop member in Europe informed me that the part may still be available at the classic center in Germany.
In the last couple of days, my W108 280SEL has been acting up, it seemed to be driving really badly and has developed a vibration that has been getting progressively worse. I took it down to the shop to take a look in order to determine what the problem is. It was pretty clear as soon as I saw the flex disk.
Fortunately, I parted out a 300SEL recently and I still had a prop shaft lying around somewhere with a good flex disk. Three hours later, the car drives well, but I do need a transmission mount very soon as it seems that the thread got damaged on the mount and hence I only have one bolt attached (out of two).
Here is a picture of the old flex disk.
The rest of the day was spent installing the warm up regulator on my 76 EUro 6.9. This car needs so much work, I am beginning to debate whether I should part it out. It has lots of usable parts but it needs lots more to make it a decent running. As I already have two others, it may be the best option. It is however my favorite color, a euro and has good velour Interior so the Jury is stil out. I still have one SLC parts car that needs to go and i'll start parting it out next weekend.
I tried to get the 80 500SLC running but that also seems to have a frozen fuel pump. For the few seconds that it ran on starting fluid, it seemed to run well.
I also purchased a set of AMG penta's on Ebay for $255. They are not in great shape, but can be cleaned up and will look OK on the 450SLC 5.0.
