280 SE Spark Plug Leads ? where do they go
 

:confused: I have a 1968 Mercedes 280 SE and during an overhaul the leads from the distributor cap to the spark plugs got mislaid .

Car is a 280 SE Automatic Saloon petrol version , 6 cylinders , firing order 153624 , Engine M130 ,Chassis Number 108.018.22 018549 . Engine Number 130980.22 013780 ,Registered February 1969

Does anyone have a diagram of the settings for the leads from each of the points of the cap to the spark plugs....

Or can you explain how I know which goes where ?


I set them as I thought was correct and the car starts but it only ticks over for a few seconds and then conks out


any help or advice would be much appreciated

Archieves.

Pull the cap off and look at the outer edge of the distributor housing where the cap seats. There is a mark on the housing for #1 cylinder, that's where #1 plug wire should go. Working clockwise from there...the plug wires should follow the 1-5-3-6-2-4 firing order. No 1 cylinder/plug if the front one.

I took off the cap and took a look at the housing but I cannot locate a mark on that :( It is a very old Bosch type distributor

Would this have a standard setting ?

thanks for the help

The mark is to the right of the deten tab that locks the dist cap into the correct place .
Look at the circumference rim of dist housing, where the cap would sit .You will see a notch on the top of that rim..it is faint, so a little scaping w/razor blade will make it more evident ..that notch/line is @ #1 plug wire tower of cap , when cap is installed...start counting the wires from that point. according to the firing order.

So when I find it with the help of the blade and locate 1 in the cap I use this as the first lead to spark plug 1 in the engine (number 1 is at the front of the car (yes ?) the next one going clockwise goes to 5 ,next to 3 , next to 6 , next to 2 next to 4

sorry but the term novice was created for me:-)

That is correct....the line on the rim is simply an index mark so you know where to start from..and they put it at #1 , b/c you start with #1 on the firing order....
The trick is some cars dist. rotate CC and other go CCW...yours is CW.

I followed the steps provided and Hey it works !!!

I needed to change the plugs and leads as the power from the car was weak and it took time for me to get to it ....

It did not seem like it was firing on all cylinders ....now it is 100 times better


Brilliant ....thank you all very , very much ..great example of a forum where people have a genuine interest in sharing the knowledge

Very Good.......