W116

[p. rex]

Alright, a question for the W116 folks on the forum. I am probably about to buy a 6.9. The A/C needs attention. I'm prepared to spend what it costs to sort it out, but if I really get the system tuned up and working as designed, how good will it be? I've heard conflicting reports. Some 116 drivers say that their AC barely works, while others claim their dashboard vents spit ice cubes.

I am in Texas, for what it's worth. Really hot, muggy summers.

[alabbasi]

My old Canada spec W116 6.9 would blow ice cubes in 110 degrees DFW heat.

[p. rex]

Beautiful, alabbasi! I used to have a W124 and those things had problems with leaky evaporators. Anybody run into a leaky evaporator on a 116? I hear that they're solid copper, so maybe it's less of an issue.

[alabbasi]

No, if the car is a US car, you might run into issues with the automatic climate control unit which is known to be problematic. My car was gone through and worked really well with R134a.

I suspect that many marginal systems that are leak free probably have too much dirt on the evaporator and condenser and too much oil in the system.

[p. rex]

Yuck. The car is the US car. I understand that you can get rebuilt servos for the ACC system for not too much money, though.

I suppose you can't clean the evaporator without pulling the dash out, can you? Makes me a bit queasy, since the dash in this one is flawless. Oh well, what can you do?

[p. rex]

I was wrong about the evaporator. Some genius on a "fruit parts" site that I won't name here found a way to fit an arm and a video scope through the dash and into the evap. I am pretty confident I can figure this thing out by next summer, at least. Just gotta hope that the inspection comes out alright.

[p. rex]

Wait, forgot I was actually posting on Peach Parts. Sorry for the multi-post, moderators. I blame the bourbon.

[Idle]

I have gone through one of these. They are not hard to repair if you have the factory manual. They are tough to figure out if you don't.

But the manuals are not hard to come by and the system is a lot simpler than you might think.

You can also rip out all of the US spec controls and replace them with euro spec ones. They show up on Ebay now and then.

The big servo under the hood, the one to the left of the engine bay and mounted on the firewall, is the biggest killer of these systems. Look for one with a metal body. These once cost about seven or eight hundred bucks but there are so many used ones out there you might pick one up cheap.

[1971 280SE]

I am parting out a 77 280SE with same climate control system as yours..This one actually works as it should in terms of switching modes and blowing correctly..If you are interested in any of the parts let me know

[p. rex]

280SE, I have had the car inspected and it looks like it is just the compressor. Hopefully the control hardware is still fine. That said, if the purchase goes through and it turns out I need control system parts, you might hear from me.