ABS????
 

Finally got my 85' 126 on the road last night with no overheating:) she is cherry and runs very good. 0-60 time when i was doing my italian tune up was about 13 sec. with not the best diesel fuel in it and injectors that need new nozzels. As i was driving on wet roads i decided it would be a good idea to test the Brakes. I did a panic stop and car stops great but i feel no ABS and car went all squirly as all the wheels locked up. Do these old abs systems just suck or do i have a problem? The antilock light is not on or anything.

does your ABS light come on when you start the car???

you know i didn't check that ... i was so excited to actually be driving the thing! a month ago it had no interior

The ABS system, when working properly, works really quite well.

Sounds like the system is dead. If the light doesn't come on then go out when you start the car someone removed the lamp from the dash, or it burnt out from being on for too long.

-Jason

what am i lookin at to fix this? any common problems?

First determine if the car even has ABS. Just because the cluster has a light doesn't mean it was the original cluster. Look for the ABS pump under the hood. It will have a bunch of hard brake lines coming in and out of it. Follow the lines from the brake master cylinder to find it.

If you confirm it has ABS then check to see if the light comes on when you start it - I bet it does not. Next, check the fuse. If that is OK check the bulb...maybe it burned out from being on for years before you bought it. Once you have done all this report back.

Sometimes people will disconnect the wiring at the ABS brain up near the firewall. They do this when one of the wheel sensors go bad and they don't want to repair it.
Gary C
'87 3000SDL
'87 300TD
'85 300D

do you feel the brake pedal pulsate when you do a panic stop?

no...

If the vehicle has the ABS pump under the hood, check the lamp in the dash to make sure its not burned out (it should come on while starting the car then go out)....if it is indeed on, then the system has a problem (usually a wheel or differential sensor...fairly simple fix)

The MB ABS setup does indeed work very well.....it activates fairly often during bad weather in the winter here on the 300E.....especially handy on hills....it can achieve that extra little bit of stopping power that old fashioned pumping just can't accomplish.

ABS on a 300SD is pretty rare.

I've seen it on a few '85's in the yard......it got more common by then. I've even seen it on an 83....along with an air bag!

Yeah it was a pricey option, didn't become standard until 86.

The real rarity is an early W123 with ABS, I've seen one of those ever.....it was on a car in the yard as well, I think it was a 280 euro.....must have been a pretty pricey ride back then!

Its a 126.

It does have an ABS pump. haven't had time to check to see if the bulb is burned out yet. still working on keeping the damn thing from overheating arghhhhhhhhh!