88 560sl New Owner Q's, Mechanic Rec

[mrvee]

Hi,

Just bought an 1988 560sl, Signal Red on black with 59k miles. Great condition inside and out, although I don't think the paint is completely original. . I didn't notice until after I got it home. It runs well and doesn't leak.

Here's the issues I have and I am hoping to get some feedback:

1. Recomendation Bay Area mechanic especially in San Francisco. I took it to Ed's ******** already, not exclusively a Benz shop but he seemed nice enough albeit a bit rushed. He read the code for me for the check engine light for free. I was also looking at Sal's who is a Benz only shop and does a lot of vintage work. I'd like to pay a good mech to go through the whole car for me.

2. After about 100 miles check engine light came on. Also, after sitting it's hard to start. Can take about 10 cranks and some gas to turn over. After warmed up, starts on first crank. Ed says code reads Air Flow Sensor and recommended replacing the entire Fuel Distributor body which can run around $1000 on parts alone! He says he just had this same problem with hard starting and this fixed the issue. I'm going to get a second opinion before I jump into this repair.

3. Brakes squeal like a bat out of hell. No sensor light on so I assume the pads are ok. I'm going to check them soon to make sure. I guess the squealing and the dusting is just something we have to put up with on these cars? Any recommendations for place to buy genuine brake pads and sensors if I need to replace? You think it's ok to downshift moderately especially in hilly SF to take some pressure of the squealing? Don't want to wear out the tranny.

4. Other than that the car looks, runs and sounds great. I ordered a replacement left window switch as I was able to determine a faulty switch which kept the window from going down by swapping the two switches. Thanks forum! Also need to check the third brake light, as it's out and the sensor is tripped.

Absolutely love the car! I read through this very informative thread: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/sl-forum/27920-new-560sl-owner-questions.html

Thinking I'll try and do most of this stuff over the next few years but not really in a major hurry considering my low miles. Any other advice is appreciated!

[Frank Reiner]

Re: hard start

From your description of hard starting after sitting (1 day, 2 days?), the fault is likely to be failure of the various check valves and pressure regulator to hold residual fuel pressure in the system. Test this by cycling the fuel pumps 2-3 times without cranking the engine. Key ON (not start), listen for fuel pumps. When pumps stop (about 2 seconds), key OFF, and back ON again. Cycling the pumps will build system fuel pressure. Now try starting.

If this is successful, only a few components of the fuel supply system will need to be addressed; the air flow sensor and fuel distributor are parts of the fuel metering system.

[Ron Johnstone]

Had an '86 560SL and loved it. As to brake squeal, just had a long lasting problem with my daughters E350. Only cure was to purchase MBZ OE pads. The older SL's really don't need a specialist shop as they are not very complicated cars. Any experienced shop with access to manuals can work on them but you should invest in a scanner to give you an idea of what you are up against. A fairly inexpensive scanner will work fine on that car. When I park in SF I leave the windows down and unlocked to avoid a broken window or sliced top.

[timm9]

I have not had an R107 in quite some time but do remember an issue with the CEL when the odometer reaches a certain mileage indicating that the O2 Sensor should be changed out. If memory serves there is no way to reset the CEL and most owners remove the bulb from the CEL. Additionally, if the hard start after sitting is while the vehicle is still warm you may find the issue is with the Fuel Accumulator which is a simple fix. If as Frank mentioned above the hard start is from cold I would follow Franks' recommendation for testing.

[Graham]

Mr Vee, Besides this general SL forum, there is a forum specifically for the 107 series on Benzworld. Many 560sl owners there too. Might be worth checking it out. Some of us frequent both forums

https://www.benzworld.org/forums/r-c107-sl-slc-class/

[Frank Reiner]

We trust that it has been observed that the OP posted once; four years ago!

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Frank Reiner

We trust that it has been observed that the OP posted once; four years ago!

Well Frank, at least some of us got to read your recommendations (even if the OP did not)