My Custom 1980 W116 300SD Project - Page 21 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

pj67coll · #**301** 01-06-2013, 11:17 PM

Good luck on the job hunt.

- Peter.

bmor_62 · #**302** 01-07-2013, 02:19 AM

That interior sure is looking clean, makes me want to detail mine, but it's pretty cold and wet here these days. I wish I had a garage.

Squiggle Dog · #**303** 01-20-2013, 10:39 PM

I had another job interview for delivering CO2 containers. There were three people before me who all have experience with pressurized containers (I don't), but two of the three have poor driving records. The person I talked with liked that I have a perfect driving record and am mechanically inclined. I'll see how it goes.

The next day my battery died. It had sulfated and would no longer hold a charge. I was not surprised since it was seven years old. Fortunately, I had a spare battery from the 200D I parted out. It was remanufactured less than four years ago and I think it's an actual Mercedes battery that's been painted over! When this one goes bad, I want to get a new genuine Mercedes battery.

Since I had the battery out, I decided it was time to clean up the damage caused by battery acid. The original tray was junk and eaten away.

I had a spare that was in better condition.

I brushed Rust Doctor onto the tray--a clear latex paint which turned the iron oxide into magnetite.

Years of battery acid damage had eaten away at the front end sheet metal. It ate a hole by the headlight access panel, ate through the access panel and clip, and ate through the bottom of the body.

I sanded, then applied Rust Doctor to the rusted parts of the body and fiberglassed over the hole by the headlight cover.

Squiggle Dog · #**304** 01-20-2013, 10:40 PM

It's amazing how extensive the damage from the acid was. My car is otherwise nearly rust-free. Apparently all W116s have pre-drilled holes for mounting headlight wiper motors. My car was in a crash at some time. If you look to the right of the crossmember, you can see where it buckled. The right fender appears to have been straightened and has half an inch of body filler on it by the turn signal light. The corner of the hood by the left side of the windshield was buckled, and I have not been able to get the hood to fit properly. It took quite a bit of doing to straighten out the overrider bracket so I could get the overrider to bolt up. I also cannot get the front bumper to line up with the center of the grille.

I pulled off each wire at the terminal block under the battery tray. The connections were dirty, so I cleaned and put dielectric grease on them. I am glad I checked this because the screws holding on the block were loose, with the lower one almost ready to fall out.

I made a gasket to go between the horn that vents the battery tray and the tray itself. I wanted to use rubber from a bicycle inner tube, but couldn't find one, so I made one out of some spare cork, which I covered in silicone adhesive.

The 300SD has a special battery cooler. Constant exposure to heat shortens a battery's life, and these group 49 batteries are expensive. The casing also doubles to insulate the battery during the winter. It is very interesting how this works. When the vehicle is in motion, fresh air is forced through the louvers under the right headlight, which travels up the horn into the battery tray. The hot air from around the battery is drawn upward and escapes through the vent at the front of the hood.

Squiggle Dog · #**305** 01-20-2013, 10:41 PM

The battery acid ate through the clip that holds on the headlight access panel. Fortunately, I saved many spare parts from a green 300SD I scrapped. I think I can use the old one as a tool to remove vent window knobs from W110/W111/W115 cars.

The battery case is difficult to install, which is why very few still exist. The battery must first be set on the tray. Then, the battery must be slid forward and back to allow the case to drop over it. There is very little room for this. Once the case is dropped down, the battery can be tilted toward the fender so it drops into the lip in the battery tray. Then the case can be snapped down into place and the clamp on the side tightened. That battery sure is strapped in well and is definitely not going to budge!

I found this case in a car at a wrecking yard. It was missing half of the seal that fits on top, but it's the same stuff they use on the firewall of W126 sedans, so I cut some of it to length.

Like I mentioned, the battery case is a tight fit. There is an indentation in the air cleaner for the positive battery cable to clear.

The nuts for the clamp are way down there.

Squiggle Dog · #**306** 01-20-2013, 10:43 PM

If you've wondered why 300SDs always seem to be missing the radiator overflow hose holder, it's because it's integrated into the battery cooler.

The air cleaner is mere millimeters away from the case, and this is with brand new engine mounts!

Guess what? You can't access the headlight panel with the case installed. All 300SDs were North American models and came with sealed beam headlights. Sealed beam bulbs are replaced from the front, so the engineers didn't mind the fact that the rear of the right headlight light was no longer accessible. However, when switching to Euro headlights, this becomes a problem (along with blocking the stock 300SD air intake) because replacing bulbs becomes difficult. In fact, it may be easier to remove the headlight to change the bulbs than it is to remove the battery case!

There you have it, Mercedes over-engineering at its finest, though I think it will be worth the extra years I get from my batteries since it is not uncommon to have 115 F summers here in Phoenix (even now, in January, it is 74 F and sunny).

mercmad6.3 · #**307** 01-21-2013, 12:12 AM

I have never seen that battery setup on any car before but with the heat radiating off the Turbo it's not surprising. That would be a cool secret cold air intake for a bit of extra HP with the battery relocated to the trunk/boot.

Squiggle Dog · #**308** 01-21-2013, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercmad6.3

I have never seen that battery setup on any car before but with the heat radiating off the Turbo it's not surprising. That would be a cool secret cold air intake for a bit of extra HP with the battery relocated to the trunk/boot.

These cars had a factory cold air intake, but unfortunately it cannot be used with Euro headlights as it took in air from behind the headlight. The American sealed beams floated and allowed air to flow behind them, but the Euro headlights seal off this area, making it useless.

I capped off the factory cold air intake behind the headlight and instead pointed the air intake duct to take in air from under the front of the hood, so it works in a similar way.

suginami · #**309** 01-21-2013, 11:53 AM

As always, I love reading your updates.

Keep up the good work. Maybe one day you'll clear a million miles like Doktor Bert.

Squiggle Dog · #**310** 01-21-2013, 07:04 PM

This morning I decided to try out the "tea kettle" blowby test. The oil cap didn't fly off, so that's good. It actually just sat there on the valve cover. When I removed the cap, I couldn't see any smoke coming out at all.

I did the test with the engine cold. Is this the proper way to do it, or should I have done the test with the engine hot? Also, does the engine sound like it idles fine? No injector nailing or anything? The engine has over 315,000 miles. I use Amsoil Synthetic 15W40 Heavy Duty Diesel & Marine Oil and B99 biodiesel year-round (thankfully, it's cheaper than diesel).

Here is the video: 300sdblowby - YouTube

Squiggle Dog · #**311** 02-09-2013, 11:15 PM

I've been enjoying the lovely Arizona winter weather. Since I worry about what the heat might do to my car (and since my air conditioning needs a complete overhaul) I decided to start counteractive measures; I bought an Eclipse sunshade for the front windshield.

It mounts on the sides of the glass with 3M adhesive and closes in the center with Velcro.

Pulling the tabs apart releases the Velcro and the shade retracts on its own. It doesn't obstruct vision much.

It's much more convenient than struggling with the conventional sunshades!

As mentioned in earlier posts, I had a dead battery and decided to check the voltage regulator on the back of the alternator. It's a good thing I did, because I found the brushes were extremely worn and starting to fail. The old one was part number 1 197 311 009. The new part was 1 197 311 028. They are identical (long brush style, same specs) other than the new one does not have a resistor. Voltage regulator specs are here (page 15 and 18--thanks to JasonP for showing me): http://www.regitar.com/FlyerPDF/cs.pdf

Squiggle Dog · #**312** 02-09-2013, 11:17 PM

I cannot stand oil leaks! My front crank seal leak has been gradually getting worse, now leaving a spot of oil in the garage.

Since I have free time and the parts are cheap, I decided to try replacing it myself. First, the alternator bolts are loosened so the belts can be removed (17mm for mounting bolts, 13mm for tension nut).

Then remove the 10mm fan bolts and remove the fan and pulley. There is a high risk of rounding them. It is best to use a box wrench with the outer edge ground down so it will slip over them. I did not have one and yes, I rounded them. One was so bad I had to use clamping pliers to remove it.

The 8mm bolts on top of the fan shroud come out next.

Then the fan shroud comes out. Yes, it will come out, but you have to turn it on its side as pictured.

Squiggle Dog · #**313** 02-09-2013, 11:18 PM

Now the power steering pump is loosened (all 13mm nuts and bolts) and the belt removed.

Despite what others have told me, I did not believe it was necessary to remove the radiator. I would also have had to remove the condenser and oil cooler with it. I found that I was right; there was plenty enough free space and having it out wouldn't have done one bit of good. I didn't even come close to damaging it.

As a safety precaution, I flattened out a small cardboard box to act as a shield. I found it isn't necessary if you are reasonably careful.

I held onto the crank bolt with a 27mm socket while I loosened the 6mm hex key pulley screws (make sure the heads are clean or the socket won't fit in all the way and it can round them).

This became awkward, so instead I took a socket extension, wrapped it in a paper towel as a cushion, and wedged it between the cutout on the harmonic balancer and the air conditioning compressor to keep the crank from turning backward.

Squiggle Dog · #**314** 02-09-2013, 11:20 PM

Once the six pulley screws are out, the pulley and balancing disc will come off, so it is important to hold them to prevent them from falling and causing damage to anything or themselves. I don't know if it's necessary, but I marked the original position of the pulleys, balancing disc, and harmonic balancer to each other with punch marks. As you can see, once the pulleys are off, there is plenty of space to work around in.

No need for the extra headache to drain fluids and remove the radiator and oil cooler.

The 27mm crank bolt is torqued to at least 270nm (200 ft-lbs), so breaking it free after many years is very difficult. I did it the easy way--make sure nothing is blocking the crank from turning (remember the socket extension that was wedged in to keep it from turning?--remove it). Then I positioned a breaker bar wrapped in cloth against the frame rail and bumped the starter. Make sure the socket is fully seated on the bolt. This breaks the bolt loose with minimal effort. The breaker bar did fall back and rest on top of one of the transmission cooler hoses, but it didn't cause any damage.

Here is what the harmonic balancer looks like with the fixing pins. Make sure to mark the position of the balancer on the crank with punch marks on each. If it is installed 180 degrees off, the engine will be out of balance. If the old balancer is damaged, the replacement must be match balanced to the old one.

I didn't have a harmonic balancer puller, so I rented one for free from my local auto parts store. I used a generic one and it worked great. There was plenty of room to use it. The balancer came off slowly but smoothly. Make sure it doesn't fall to the ground.

Squiggle Dog · #**315** 02-09-2013, 11:22 PM

Excuse the blurry photo; I forgot I had my camera under the car when I hosed off the engine! The crank seal is now visible.

A seal puller is supposed to work well, but I used a screwdriver to pry out the seal--just make sure to not score any machined surfaces.

There is a spacer ring that rides between the crank and seal. It is a replaceable wear item and should be replaced every time the seal is replaced. I have heard that these should come off with your fingers. This did not work. I also tried prying from each side simultaneously with a screwdriver. This also didn't work. I had to resort to drastic measures and remove the upper seal cover. I split the seal ring apart from the sprocket by hammering a screwdriver between them, then rotating the crank and prying around circumference with larger and larger screwdrivers until it came off. It was a struggle the entire way.

My spacer ring had a deep groove cut into it from the crank seal. It wouldn't have sealed well even with a brand new seal in place; too much material was missing.

I protected the inside of the engine from debris by placing a plastic bag in the opening as I cleaned the mounting surface. Changing the oil is not necessary if you are very careful, but planning this right before a scheduled oil change is a good idea.