w116 300sd Tumbler Story

[xaliscomex]

1979 300SD W116

Back in June of this year I purchased my second w116 300sd.
You had to pull the key out slightly to turn the ignition on.
I made it a point to hurry and order a tumbler with key from the Classic Center.
The car came with 2 keys, one key with a square end and the second key with a rounded end. I should have paid attention to the keys, it would later haunt me BIG TIME.
The valve adjustment became my first nightmare with the car.

THE VALVE ADJUSTMENT
Valve Adjustment was going well until I got to the 3rd valve.
The 3rd Valve would not adjust and so nobody to blame but myself, the lock nut was cross threaded.

Having no experience in removing valve lock nuts/adjusting valve nuts, I turned to our forum members for help

Parts were ordered and I decided to tackle it by myself.
Finding TDC on Cylinder #2 was a challenge.
Removed the Rocker Tower and then was able replace the lock nut and adjusting nut on Valve #3. The valve threads turned out to be OK so I left the valve alone.

THE ROCKER TOWERS
Then came my next hold up, The Rocker Tower.
The 2 bolts that secure the Rocker Tower seemed to back up when torqued.
I turned to forum members once again but this time it was a little more complicated. I called a few repair shops but all of them wanted to see the car.
The car sat and sat for days, weeks, those weeks then became months.

It was during those days that the car sat that I decided to start replacing the motor mounts and engine shocks, rear bench seat, transmission filter and ATF, fuel lines, fuel injectors, air cleaner bracket and engine oil/oil filter.
Every evening I would maybe work on the car for 30 minutes or so.

I then decided to focus on the Rocker Tower again.
I cleaned up the Rocker Tower Bolt thread holes.
I did my best to remove any oil traces from the thread hole.
I installed the Rocker Tower and went to torque it down.
HUGE DIFFERENCE, it seemed to work, the Rocker Tower bolts went into the threads and it felt right. Only time will tell.
Car started up fine and I test drove it.
Other than the steering coupler needing replacement, the car ran excellent.

THE STEERING COUPLER
Pretty bad steering coupler to a point where I thought the steering was just going to break off. This was the way I purchased the car.

Went back and forth on wether I would tackle the steering coupler.
Read thru some threads on the steering coupler but none really seemed to pump me up to replace it myself. Most threads lacked detail and mentioned a step here and there. I knew that if not replaced correctly, my directional-signals would not function properly.

I purchased a coupler from the dealer and decided to hold on to it.
I again went back and forth on wether to do it myself or just take it in.

Wanting so desperately to just start driving the car and to take advantage of low priced diesel fuel in CA I decided to drive my 300sd into a repair shop.

The owner of the repair shop gave me a quote on a 3 hour job which included replacing a bushing that sits at the shaft, which shaft, I have no idea.

I mentioned to the repair shop owner that there was a trick on starting my car and that the key had to be pulled out slightly to turn the ignition. I noticed him starring at his computer screen so I repeated to him that there was a trick to start the car. I also mentioned that I had a tumbler and key that I was going to replace myself.

THE D.A.M.N TUMBLER
I got a call that same evening from the repair shop owner asking which key was the one to turn the ignition because none of them worked. I told him that I couldn't remember if it was the square end key or the rounded end key but which ever key it was, it needed to be pulled out slightly before turning.

I decided to drive out there to show him how it was done. When I got there I noticed that my car was in the garage and I asked him how he got the car in the garage without starting the car. He mentioned that his mechanic finally got the car to start after many tries and pulled it in to the garage. Both keys were on the seat and so I went to try to turn the ignition, NOTHING HAPPENED, COULD NOT TURN THE IGNITION. NOTE: You would think that If you had that much trouble in starting the car you would have made a good decision and maybe would have been better to not turn the key all the way back. Oh well. I tried and tried and tried to turn the ignition and there was just no movement. The key that I was using was the key that was rounded because I remembered that the new tumbler came in with a rounded key. That same rounded key also worked with all the doors including the glove compartment.

I was confident in ordering the new tumbler and key and believed that the tumbler on the car had never been replaced. Mistake that would later haunt me.

The repair shop owner then asked that I bring the tumbler and key and said that he would continue trying to see if he could turn the ignition. I TOOK THE SQUARE END KEY HOME AND LEFT HIM THE ROUNDED KEY. MISTAKE THAT WOULD LATER HAUNT ME. Next day I drove to the repair shop and left him the new tumbler and new key.

Middle of the night I woke up thinking about the tumbler and then wondering if the repair shop owner was trying to scam me. THEN IT OCCURRED TO ME, WHY WOULD I HAVE TWO DIFFERENT KEYS FOR THE CAR. It was then that I realized what a huge mistake I had made, the square end key was probably the right key. I drove to his repair shop in the morning and left the square key under the mat for him to try.

I got no calls from him so I decided to call him around 10:00am.
I asked him if he got the key and the note and he said yes and continued to tell me that the Tumbler was not the Tumbler for my car and believed that it was previously worked on by someone else. NIGHTMARE

The repair shop owner told me that he was going to install a used ignition tumbler and that I would have to use 2 separate keys for my car. Not sure if he drilled out the tumbler. I know that to replace the tumbler you have to turn the ignition with the key.

And so thats where I'm at today.
Car is getting worked on but not for the original reason.

I should have not of purchased the tumbler without first paying attention to how many and which key was being used to turn the ignition.

Have no idea what its going to cost me.
OH BOY...
I always try to replace and repair my own stuff to save money.

As I sit and type on my computer I'm wondering now if I got lucky that the tumbler failed at the repair shop.

MORAL OF THE STORY, KNOW YOUR KEYS

TO BE CONTINUED

[xaliscomex]

The tumbler obtained from the dealer did not work.
The key that was sent with the tumbler did not fit the tumbler.

Repair shop ended up replacing the steering lock assembly, lock cap and tumbler.

If you recall, I originally drove to a repair shop to get my steering coupler replaced and I provided the Coupler.

Had been quoted a 3 hour job for the steering coupler replacement.

Was charged for 4.5 hours to replace the steering coupler, steering lock, lock cap and tumbler with key.

Grand total $606.17

All of my old parts were returned and not one bolt was missing.
Everything was explained, receipt provided and work guaranteed.

Very pleased

[tyl604]

In a week or so you should send an email to the shop owner and tell him how satisfied and happy you are with his repair job. Never know when you will need his services again and he will remember the email.

Also as I remember the square key is the owner's key and the round key is the one you give to the parking attendant.