1980 280ce pushing oil out of breather hose
 

I have a 1980 280ce euro model with 244500 miles that is pushing oil out of the breather hose into the air cleaner.Does anyone know what would cause this?
The automatic transmission on this car does not seem to go into 4th at all and is slow to go to 3rd when cold.I have checked the vacum lines and they are all good and the fluid level is all right. The car also seems to stop running intermittenly both going down the road and stopped at lights. It will start right up but sometimes will die and sometimes will keep on running.This problem comes and goes so I am having a hard time trying to figure this out.
I just bought this car and have been trying to get everything fixed as I love the way it drives.

since you just bought im guessing your new to the second gear start rule, these 4spd auto's start in 2 unless you push the pedal as hard as you can from a dead stop, and yes 4th gear cruising is about 4k at 70mph iirc.
my car also has alot of oil on the bottom of the air cleaner, someone has suggested to do a valve adjustment and that it worked for him.
when the engine is warm try to adjust the idle a bit higher and see if it still dies. theres a plastic screw a bit past the distributor.

if you ever need an extra opinion this is a great site
http://w123gassers.smfforfree2.com/index.php#1

thats great to hear one of these is almost at 250k. my highest is 186k, and im not sure if its even right because it was converted from germany.

i also didnt know i needed to post in vintage mercedes...

welcome,

what is the car history? has it been sitting for a long time before you bought it?

I just bought a GPS to get the correct MPH and I am turnning 4,000 rpm at 70mph. And I have sweet response puching it to 80 mph.

I suggest you do what I always do when I buy a used car and that is set a baseline. Give the car a new set of spark plugs, cap and rotor, fuel filter, air filter, and sparkplug wires if yours look old.

These cars do not have PVC valves they have crankcase gases vented to intake under valve cover via a vent nozzle. The only time gases flow from engine to air cleaner is at high speeds,

http://pauldrayton.com/uploadfiles/merc/Service/W123/w123CD1/Program/Engine/110/01-040.pdf

Wes- Had a car that did the same. Turned out it was a cracked ring on #5 piston, it had been driven after overheating. Had to rebuild the engine. Sorry. Ned

Thank for the responses. I went out to adjust the valves and found that almost all were to tight. Also found out that I need special tools to do the job.If any one can help me find the right wrenches to adjust the valves on my 1980 280ce euro with the gas 110 engine please pass that along.Thanks Wes.

M110 blowby
 

Could be worn rings at that mileage.
I have the wrench and shop manual for this motor if you want. I need to dispose of my excess stuff.
Brian O

I finaly got this under control. The previous owner had put the oil filter on
upside down. When I changed the oil and filter I discovered this. It is my own fault for not changing the oil as soon as I bought the car like I always do.

Might have been a Jiffy Lube that did the mistake. Only one side has the lift handle not that hard to fiqure out which side is up.

Vipercrazy who changed your oil last? :D

There are a few brands of oil filters that have a lift handle on both sides. However, the top of the mounting hole is larger than the bottom, so it still should be no problem deciding which end is up.

Wes, the transmission works this way: L is 1st and will drive you up a 90-degree wall and then shift up to 2nd. S is 2nd and will shift up to 3rd (good for starting off up a hill - S stands for "slope"). D also starts in 2nd, shifts up to 3rd sooner than in S, and then up to 4th. These cars are much more responsive in town if shifted manually. If you need to use 1st, you will find that you only need it for a few seconds, so manually shift up to S and then to D. Tip: Keep a pair of plastic shift-lever bushings on hand.

ehhhhh, me? ive done the filter atleast twice, and its always been the correct way. i didnt think the rubber washer fit upside down, the center bolt has a stop on it iirc.
i better be able to put it on right, im a lube tech for the summer.