Hello,
No *general discussion* forum so I am posting here. I had a rather amusing day yesterday. It all began with a 7.30am dentist appointment. Having a tooth pulled was only the beginning
When I came out to my W115, some dim wit had backed into the rear bumper, ripping off the right mounting bracket
No note or witnesses, so I drove to my friendly indie, who got the bodyshop right on the job. By 11am, all was well again?
No way, as I drove off, the clutch pedal dropped down and stayed down, so I drove around the block in second into my indie's shop. Diagnosis:Leaking clutch slave cylinder(a new unit that was fitted 1.5 years ago).Disassembly showed a lot of muddy coloured clutch fluid and a chewed up seal
A repair kit was duly ordered and we sat down to admire the brewing thunderstorm. That arrived, only to find that it was a kit for a FAG cylinder, not the ATE on the car now. Sent it back, by now it was noon and raining heavily. Another kit, still not compatible. Time:1pm.
Frantic calls confirm that no one in a city of 1.05 million cars has a repair kit for a Mercedes ATE clutch slave cylinder
Then we call the ATE distributor, who has just the SEAL(23mm diameter)but cannot deliver :p
We run over in the shop hack, a 190 ponton with no a/c, not much fun in a rain storm with windows fogging up and all. Time:2pm.
Getting back, new seal fitted to carefully cleaned out cylinder and clutch bled *express* by *lightly* applying a shot of compressed air to the vent hole in the m/c cap. Finally have a working clutch at 2.30pm
Then I see that I have a FLAT TYRE Quickly fit the spare and get going, now it is 3.30pm. Roll out of shop and drive about 200m and get stuck in a traffic snarl up that lasts almost an hour. I moved about 3km in an hour, should have just stayed in the shop until late evening
Most major roads are flooded, with huge traffic jams and I finally make it back home at 6pm.
Never did get to work

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Nachi11744

Wonderful story! You should add that Ponton to your collection (no hydraulic clutch!)
Sounds like a couple of days I spent last summer with my '84 Accord (but since it's a Honda, I suppose I shouldn't post here)

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

I think you'd have been better served just staying in bed all day......

SOunds like my luck with computers! :O

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http://www.carsponsors.com/images/av...o_mercedes.jpg

1967 Mercedes 250S w/ 350 Chevy V8, stock transmission and rear end.
1968 Mercedes 250S w/ 229 Chevy V6, 350 Turbo Transmission with shift kit, and 1981 Corvette rear end.

Bumper bender, clutch cyl and flat tire in the same day? They say bad things happen in 3's, so maybe nothing else can go wrong. You understand the proper way to bleed the clutch is pushing fluid from the bottom up. It's got something to do with getting microscopic air bubbles trapped at the vertical clutch master cylinder lines if bleeding from top to bottom. So most people run a hose from the nearest front calipre bleed nipple to the clutch slave nipple then pump the brakes. Othewise, for cryin out loud it sounds like the Adenauer is lookin better and better, eh?

Nah, the guy will never part with it. It is still running the original engine with the funny little *locknut&screw* valve lash adjusters and large waterjacket cover plates. Somehow, he has managed to cobble up a M115 intake with 175CD carb to replace the long dead Solex PAIJA(?). It has a rod operated clutch like my dad's 170DS, but there are grease fittings on the Ponton, 170s' were CLS(Central Lubrication System) . Cannot get correct size tyres here anymore, he has 185/70x14s on W123 stock wheels. I think the wheel offset is not correct for the Ponton, but is looks the part with faded blue gray paint and no hub caps, like a ghost from the past

The RHD(right hand drive)W115s have a different clutch master cylinder, not the nasty suspended thingy inside that LHD chassis use. It is a conventional horizontal barrel (now NLA) alongside the brake m/c and it can be a pig to bleed, but can at least be done the conventional way with a pressure bleeder, which is what we did(I think!).
Good news is that I am definately going to get to look closely at the 300c over the weekend if there is no RAIN

I have rotten luck with all technology, always fails when I need to use it the most....computers, cell phones, credit cards
Have a good week, I think it is raining out.............

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Nachi11744