W126 560SEL question
 

Wasn't sure what to call this thread. Anyway while looking in the engine bay today I noticed a broken shard of plastic on a mount and nearby a capped off hose and an unusual hole in the aircleaner assembly. Anyone know what I am missing?

Matt

Matt,

You are missing the long semi-hard rubber hose (about 3/4" diameter) that come up from the air pump at the lower right of the engine. It mates to the air pump filter which should be mounted on the cleaner where your 'unusual' opening is. The capped off hose could possibly be the line from the air pump - got a picture of the hose?

Thanks Mike, I thought you would be the person to reply. Upon closer inspection there is a hose on either side that runs the length of the cam cover, looks like a crankcase ventilation hose of some sort so that's squared away. I don't appear to have an air pump, I checked and all I have is the alternator on the left side, and the ac pump down the bottom right and what I assume is the power steering pump above it. I couldn't see the air pump or the self levelling pump either. Any thoughts?

Cheers
Matt.

This might be confusing since you've got a RHD I don't know if the lay-out is the same. Here what it looks like for a LHD.

Standing at the front of the engine and working counter clockwise, lower right side of block will be the A/C compressor above that is the steering pump, immediately next to the steering pump is the distributor (look between the distributor and steeping pump, you should see a flat faced round protrusion coming off the front of the block - that's the leveling pump). Continuing CCW is the cruise actuator, the alternator and below that the air pump. There should be a vacuum line the runs from the fenderwell (opposite fender from the EZL), I think it has a blue strip line running to it. That line come off a swicthover valve that in turn has a line that runs back up to the intake and attaches next to the fuel distributor.

I know you starter will be on your passenger side of the block but I don't know about the lay-out of the accessories (except for the cruise unit, because I can see it in the picture).

The hose that runs the length of the valve cover, is that the same one in the picture with the white cap at the ends? I believe that is part of the air system.

If it was still light out I could try and get a couple pictures for you, but they'll have to wait as it is dark now.

Thanks Mike, I missed the levelling pump in the middle - you are right on the money with the layout. It looks like my airpump has been removed, I guess it must have failed and someone removed it. The airpump is purely for emissions control during warm up isn't it? Yes the hose in the picture is the one I am talking about.

Cheers
Matt.

The electromagnetic clutch on the air pump is only activated during initial start-up, and remains engaged until a certain temp at which point it disengages.. I believe the pump draws it's air through the long hose which runs up to the cleaner body, with a small air filter (1.5"x4") on the inside of the cleaner. If you have no air pump, and no plans on re-installing one, then you need to close off that gaping hole. No sense subjecting the main air filter to excess amounts of road dirt/dust.

Thanks Mike, where does the output of the airpump go - the exhaust? I can't see any reason to reinstall an airpump at this stage. I should be able to find a rubber grommet to fill the hole. How is you SEL getting on?

Matt.

If you don't have an air pump on your 560, you are lucky as they are a pain. Mine has been removed and the hoses plugged exactly as you show in your picture. The air pump delivers air down stream of the exhaust valves to the cat whilst it is still cold. These converters do not work until they are hot and this air from the pump will shut off once the engine warms up . . . .

Thanks Andy, I have removed my cats when I had my new exhaust built so I definitely won't worry about reinstalling an air pump then.

Cheers
Matt.

Thanks for asking about the 560 Matt. I have logged almost 2K miles since getting it back on the road. It has been a great driver so far, in fact good enough that if I square away the A/C by 4/19 I plan on taking it to Las Vegas - about 800 miles round trip.

It is a great highway car, not too bad in town either. Very comfortable, but not near as sporty feeling as the 4.5. I managed to get 16.5mpg on the last tank and have averaged 14.2mpg over the 2K miles. That is a bit better than the 4.5 for high end mpg and average. Also, does not appear to have used any oil as of yet.

A couple little things have popped up, nothing major and easily repaired. The left tranny cooler line was getting moist, so I changed it. Other than the moist tranny line there have been no leaks so far with the semi-synthetic oil I'm running. I hope to be running synthetic after another oil change. I did have to clean out all of the spray nozzles for the windshield and headlight sprayers, plus replace the pump grommets as they would leak on and off. Everything had been plugged up with crud. Now spray patterns look good, and with fresh wiper blades the windscreen is always clear.

I have been thinking of writing a comparison between the 108 and 126, but that'll be another thread for another day.

It sounds like you will have yourself an excellent and reliable vehicle that you can enjoy for a long time to come. I really enjoy just getting out and driving my 560, classic good looks that cause people to turn and look as I drive past - not to mention the new exhaust that has a distinctive rumble :-) I am about to replace the windshield washer nozzles as well, how do they come out Mike?

Matt.

Can't help you on that one Matt. I didn't remove the hood nozzles, I simply cleaned them out using as straight pin. Perfect size to clean out the crusty build up AND for adjusting the aiming point. The headlight wiper nozzles are held in with a phillips head screw. Be careful if you decide to pull them, the nozzles also hold down one end of the wiper arm spring. As soon as you remove the nozzle the spring will pop off, not difficult to replace if you have a small set of needle nose and some patience.

Again, for the headlight nozzles I used the straight pin again, plus blew through them the reverse of the water flow to clear. Also used the pin to adjust the aiming point of the headlight nozzles.

I probably used close to 2 gallons of water to clean and adjust both sets of nozzles.

Thanks Mike, my windshield ones move around on their own shortly after aiming them so I think it's time for new ones. I will let you know something for a change when I replace them :-)

Matt.

Mattman / Mike.
Good to hear you are enjoying the ride in the 560. One of my own peculiar little pleasures I have found of late is when I go to my local medical centre ( with only me in the car ) . . . When I enter the multi story car park, I get a great kick in winding down all the car windows and just enjoying the low frequency burble of the great V8 that resounds in the confines of the parking lot. What a high ! ( am I normal do you think ? ):cool:

Guitar strings
 

The nozzles on our 560 were caked when we got it also. I used a high E string from a set of light acoustic guitar strings to clean the jets. That let me get an inch or so down the nozzle and wiggle a bit. Good job of cleaning, but not for aiming. I'm going to use Mike's straight pin tonight to do the aiming!

I've used old guitar strings for a number of other cleaning and wrapping jobs, they have high tensile strength and small diameter. Most larger music shops have single strings available for cheap, the B and high E are all you need.