Quick public thank you to Sixto and Haasman
 

I've been trying for over a month now to locate the R16 resistor that retards ignition timing on my 300SE. I thought I'd dug around enough and gave up. Then, yesterday I spent some time going through the 16 pages of posts on this item to note down those of you out there who found it and had models near in year to mine. I sent e-mails and personal messages to those who would receive them.

Haasman and Sixto responded in less than 24 hours. Sixto giving me specific instructions on where to "dig" for it and Haasman actually sent me 2 pictures to show me the exact part and another for reference.

Armed with these two e-mails I found the part in about 30 seconds. Wjile it's not a big thing in the scheme of things, it was important to me and the list and its members took the time to help out. So, thank you guys and thank you to this list. If not for this list I most likely would not have bought my 300SE. And I know if not for this list I'd have spent a lot more in maintenance and troubleshooting problems. I never thought I'd own a $50,000 car, even if she is 14 years old! Thanks to all of you, I know I'll be able to keep her for years to come. Afterall, she has only just crossed the 80,000 mile mark on the way home tonight. Now, on to tackle that stumble at idle !

Good job everyone!

Ron, I admire your persistence. You would make a good troubleshooter. The trait that I have found to be most valuable in troubleshooting is taking every problem as a personal vendetta and hanging on until it's fixed.

Have a great day,

Ron,

Any noticeable improvements in performance?

Honestly it is very hard to say. I'm still having trouble with idle and hesitation until the car is warm. But, once warm, the car does seem to respond a bit better to the accelerator. The performance may not be that much of a gain, but I figure if I'm paying today's prices to put in premium fuel, I'd like to get all the performance form it I can. Once can get the car running properly from cold on, I'll try it with and without the resistor installed.

I removed my resistor a few months ago, but was not putting in Premium always.

I found a station where I can get Premium for $1.36 per gallon, so I now buy nothing else. It now seems to have a little more zip in the medium to high RPM range.

It is possible, that once the knock sensor detects knock, it "learns" to keep the timing retarded. After awhile of not detecting knock it starts advancing maximum timing. I don't know if this is the case, but I know some other systems work similarly.

Good luck,

That's a GREAt price! I buy on Tuesdays when Exxon has .05 off premium and I paid $1.74 this past Tuesday. I can't even find regular for below $1.59