420SEL @ 245K, What to do? - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

P.C. · #31 12-05-2016, 11:46 AM

I would get under the car, and take a long, hard look at everything relative to rust formation before spending a penny on the engine. The suspension is rebuilt, so I assume that all the soft parts (e.g., bushings) were replaced. You didn't make any observations about the transmission or rear end, so I assume that they are original to the car. Was the transmission ever rebuilt?

JamesDean · #32 12-05-2016, 12:59 PM

Busy weekend!

300D:

Here are some pics from the 300D:

W124 300D - After Body/Paint - Album on Imgur

Here are some pics from the deer hit that caused all this repair/repaint work. The paint job itself was pretty horrible. It made those super cheap Maaco type paint jobs look good. Bubbling here and there, flaking off everywhere. It was bad.

2015-11-18 1991 300D Deer Hit - Album on Imgur

Back to the 420SEL though and its issues:

I did fix the radio issue! It worked. Its only taken me the better part of a year to actually climb into the trunk and deal with it! I'd been avoiding it but finally got tired of the noises.

Some clarification on the cars in the signature..I suppose it has been a WHILE since I've updated/added info. They are not all my cars, just cars that I have worked on and continue to help out with periodically:

82 300SD 145k --- Long term storage, eventual restoration project. It was my grandfather's car.
82 300SD 265k --- My dad's daily driver. An absolute rust bucket with very strong 617 and great shifting transmission. Not much more life to get out of this one.
87 420SEL 230k --- My buddy Mike's mom's car.
89 420SEL 210k --- The 420SEL in question here.
89 560SEL 118k --- My buddy Mike's old 560, since crushed.
90 300SE 262k RIP 5/25/2010
90 560SEL 154k --- My buddy Mike's current 560.
91 300D 2.5 Turbo. 241k --- My daily driver up until its deer hit incident.
93 190E 3.0 235k --- My 190E
93 300E 195k --- My buddy Mike's sister's car.

So in reality:

89 420SEL 210k --- The 420SEL in question here.
91 300D 2.5 Turbo. 241k --- My daily driver up until its deer hit incident.
93 190E 3.0 235k --- My 190E

lorainfurniture · #33 12-05-2016, 05:52 PM

Keep the 300d, and one other as a spare. I recommend keeping the more boring 190 as they are generally cheaper and easier to fix. Sell the other car and start applying those funds to the long term resto

Once the restoration is done on your grandfathers car, ditch the 190

daantjie · #34 12-05-2016, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorainfurniture

I agree with skid. At one point I had 3 benzes and my wife's car. These cars siphon you a few hundred dollars at a time, winds up being thousands per year. Multiply that times 3 cars, (that I had at one point) and you can quickly see this is not a cheap hobby.

Add insurance, plates, etc. and the mental clutter that owning so many cars will add to your mind.

I ended up getting rid of all of them, bought the wagon that I wanted, spared no expense making it right, and with all the extra money I saved I bought a 2010 E63 AMG.

Best of all, I no longer spend my weekends fixing a fleet of crappy cars. I can do some work to my wagon, if I want, or I can just enjoy driving a car that gives me 512 very reliable ponies.

This is great advice, take heed those who do not like their wallets vacuumed...

jake12tech · #35 12-05-2016, 08:16 PM

The 300D is very clean and nice.. What I aspire my 300D to look like. As mentioned, these cars aren't for the struggling. They're old cars, require work. Once everything is taken care of that's common issues, or age related they're very reliable good cars.

Rust is the killer on these cars though. Fix the 420, daily drive the 300D and keep the 190E as a backup car. Have more than one of these hobby cars is expensive.

Skid Row Joe · #36 12-06-2016, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorainfurniture

Keep the 300d, and one other as a spare. I recommend keeping the more boring 190 as they are generally cheaper and easier to fix. Sell the other car and start applying those funds to the long term resto

Once the restoration is done on your grandfathers car, ditch the 190

Quote:

Originally Posted by daantjie

This is great advice, take heed those who do not like their wallets vacuumed...

The DD that was eating my lunch that I ditched was a 1980 Lincoln Town Car I bought new in December 1979. It had 270K on the odometer, and I had just paid for new suspension $2K new remanufactured long block and heater core replacement that was $3.5K. That was 25 yrs ago.

So then I came across a 1 owner 83 300SD with 93K. I paid $11,950.00 for the SD, and sold the Lincoln for $2,750.00. The SD was a dream come true in a low cost DD I drove to 305K. You'll never regret keeping a non-rusting, MB diesel - W123/126, IMO.

NJ300sdl · #37 12-07-2016, 08:52 PM

Installing Helicoils requires a drilling jig which could be hard to find.

The Mercedes Helicoils and new head bolts expense is significant.

JamesDean · #38 12-10-2016, 02:01 PM

I was looking back though the 420SEL's documentation. It has some engine work done in the past.

-Both cam shafts and rockers were replaced at about 140K.
-One of the heads had its head gasket replaced at about the same time.

The $3500-4500 quote was for the full job to be done by the shop. I would not be doing anything other than dropping it off.

I had to take some half-day vacation Thursday and Friday so I dropped by the shop to check out my 300D and have them look over the 420SEL to see how the underbody looks.

They were quite impressed with how solid it was and how old it was. They didn't see any major show stoppers. There were two spots that they would like to address that I had ****tily attempted to patch up 6 years ago. They said that they would not hesitate to put money into the car. It's going to be around for quite sometime. Case in point my green 300SD lasted 10 years with significant rust on it even when we first bought it was a rolling/running parts car.

Beyond that I talked to them about doing the valve stem seals as a short term solution until I save up for the valve job. They were actually doing a similar job on a VW in the next bay over.

We did see a significant oil leak coming from both valve cover gaskets. It coated a lot of engine's underside. No leaks in any of the areas that I had previously sealed up (oil pan/sensors).

I also mentioned the A/C leak issue and how I'd replaced all these seals and the condenser, dryer, injected dye but couldn't find anything. Compressor is only 5 years old if that.

He took out his UV flash light and a pair of sun glasses and probed all over the car above and below. He was telling me that if it was the evaporator usually you would see some of the UV dye in the drain tubes as the condensation would tend to wash it down there. He saw nothing in them.

We walked back over to the a/c compressor and found a good amount of dye around all three sections of the unit. He said there may be more up against the engine block. He said that was a pretty common leak point for that style of compressor.

So I think most of my major issues on the 420 are addressable. I am going to have him do valve stem seals ASAP. I am going to park my freshly painted 300D (when he is done with it) for the winter as I have a few other engine things to take care of before I put it back on the road..which means I'll be daily driving the 420SEL..and burning oodles of oil.

I took a bunch of photos too.

2016-12-09 W126 420SEL Underbody Inspection - Album on Imgur

Ferdman · #39 12-11-2016, 04:01 AM

James, it looks like you are missing a cover piece for the fuel pumps and fuel filter because normally they are fully enclosed. Is the sound encapsulation panel under the engine missing, or simply removed for the inspection? I agree that the underside of your 1989 420SEL is in good shape considering its age and mileage. Your tech's comment about UV dye being visible in the evaporator drains if it has failed is correct. That would be a "show stopper" for me ... BTDT and it is very costly to replace the evaporator.

86560SEL · #40 12-15-2016, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hit Man X

Obviously you know nothing about the bottom ends of the M116/7s of this generation. You are the one that should be doing a search for information.

I had 293,000 on my '85 380SE with the odometer still clicking when I sold it... she started to have a faint knock, but I was still driving her everyday. lol.

I bought my '88 300SEL in 2007 with 153,000 on the odometer which broke shortly after. I estimate we are up to about 200,000 on it now. It has been my moms car since 2011 and she does not drive to much. We should have got that odometer fixed, but we didnt.

Good luck to the OP... I guess it depends on how much you like the car, but again only if it is solid. If is rusty, I would find a nicer one and perhaps use all you can off of your current car or just sell it.