Road Trip...

[Richard Wooldridge]

I took a little road trip with my gray '82 380SL this week, and had a minor problem with it that was my own doing... This is the 380SL that has had a 560SL engine/trans installed before I got it from the fellow MB'er down in San Pedro, CA.
I drove from my house near Vancouver, WA, just across the river from Portland, OR down to Bend, Or, a distance of 185 miles, did some work at a bank there, then drove on down to Medford, OR, another 155 miles or so. To go from Bend to Medford you drive south on 97 down to hwy 138, 65 miles or so, then go east on 138 over to the west side of Crater Lake, then south to Medford. Well, I stopped for a bite to eat at Chemult, south of Bend, and when I left the restaurant, I didn't notice that I got the car in "S" instead of "D". Eastern Oregon has very little traffic, and straight roads. Although the speed limit is 65, traffic moves along at 75 or so, and several times when I was passing trucks, etc I hit over 85.... The SL didn't complain at all, in fact I didn't even notice until I was about an hour down the road, when I glanced down at my cell phone, which was on a pad next to the shifter, and saw that the car was in "S". I immediately shifted it into "D", and it shifted, and we went on into Medford. Well, the outside temperature in Medford was up into the high 80's, and I noticed that the AC wasn't working, so when I arrived at the motor hotel I lifted the hood, and there was my AC drive belt, spread across the top pulley of the compressor. I can only assume that the higher engine speeds were too much for the poor compressor, as it was a fairly new belt.

So I guess these engines can handle high rpms fairly well, even if the stupid driver doesn't get the car in the right gear! Total mileage, just a tad over 660 miles in the two day trip. (I returned from Medford on I-5) The car is VERY comfortable on a longer drive.

[neds380sl]

My Dad did the same with his first car with a 4-speed column shift- ran it in 3rd gear until we caught his mistake, several hundred miles later. No damage though. Your belt might have been loose. Your trip sounds fantastic! Beautiful area out there, perfect SL country. Ned

[donbryce]

What RPM was the engine running at, if you can recall? Or is the tachometer not calibrated to that engine/transmission combination (original was a 6 cylinder perhaps)? I'd think she'd have been up in the 3000 range...

[Richard Wooldridge]

I didn't even think about checking the tach, just about putting it in drive. I can take the car out and run it in second at 40 or so, then double it for an 80 mph condition... The tach and speedo read correctly, the car was a 3.8L V8, now is a 5.6L V8. I imagine it lost it's timing chain and it was cheaper to just replace the engine.