Hi there,

I'm replacing the rubber air filter mounts on Betsie, since the ones on there are all worn. However, apparently I've lost several of the nuts that attach the rubber mount to the air filter bracket. The ones on the underside of the bracket are no longer there.

I went to Lowes, Home Depot, Oreilley's etc, to try and find 10mm nuts that can screw onto the rubber mounts, but I haven't been able to find a nut with the correct thread pitch.

Does anyone know what the correct thread pitch is, or know where to get them, or maybe you have 6 of these nuts you're willing to sell to me? Because I have no idea where to get those nuts...

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"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

I think they are 6mm 1.5 i am pretty sure I got replacements from napa...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Most Lowe's have a thread pitch identifier board on one of the shelving posts in the hardware section.

Or try an old school Ace or True Value (yes they still exist), lots of them still have the drawers with loose hardware and someone who will actually help you find the right nuts.

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

6mm, 1.5? Thanks VStech, that's very helpful! Most nuts I could find are 6mm 1.0, and those can't screw on.

Apparently we do have a True Value here in AK (just Googled it), so I might go take a little peek there. I'll let you all know.

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"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

Because they always break off the metal post and seat from the rubber, I have just removed the metal from both sides of the bumper and have drilled a hole and used a long bolt from bottom to top.

Do not think I have had to replace one of the rubber bumpers in maybe five to ten years.

If True Value doesn't have it, see if you have a Car Quest nearby. They've been my savior for just about anything fastener related over the years.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

NAPA was good idea.

In CA, ACE Hardware sometimes has stuff other Stores dose not have.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

On my W116 300SD one of the threaded holes in the air cleaner bracket got stripped and the buffer required a nut to secure it to the bracket.

Initially I used two spare nuts from an extra air cleaner assembly.
I tried to secure the connection with the jam nut technique, but the outer nut got loose from engine vibration and fell off within one week.

I took the buffer to OSH and found the correct size nut on the metric nut/bolt template.
Instead of using a regular nut with a thread locker to prevent loosening of the nut, I decided to use a metric nyloc nut (aka - nylon insert lock nut).

Nyloc nuts are considered single use, so they shouldn't be used when frequent disassembly is required.
The nyloc nut has not vibrated loose since it has been installed about 4 months ago.

I'd recommend using regular nuts with washers to secure the air cleaner to the buffer, since you may want to remove the air cleaner assembly on occasion.
Even if they get loose, the air filter will keep them in place.

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78 W116 300SD 'Desert Rose' new as of 01/26/2014
79 W116 300SD 'Stormcloud' RIP 04/11/2022

I'm pretty sure the holes in the air cleaner bracket on a W123 are not threaded though. At least; mine are not?...

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"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

AKAIK we both use the same bracket 6170900340
On your bracket the mounting holes you use are probably stripped out - like one of the holes on my bracket.

The unused adjacent mounting holes are still probably threaded because they are not used (and have not been used) for your air filter assembly.

Try using the nyloc nuts, they work really well and do not loosen very readily.

By the way, are you using the air cleaner buffer caps between the buffers and the air cleaner bracket?
They are not absolutely needed, but they do help keep the rubber buffers from deteriorating as quickly.

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78 W116 300SD 'Desert Rose' new as of 01/26/2014
79 W116 300SD 'Stormcloud' RIP 04/11/2022

I recently acquired a car with this style of air filter. Most of the usual stuff was broken.

I ended up using rubber hose cut into about 1 inch to 1.25 inch pieces. 3 of them.

Put them under the air cleaner and send long bolts down the bottom of the filter housing, through the rubber hose and secure the bottom underneath once you are through the filter bracket

So far, working quite nicely.


hose is about the same dimensions as the radiator vent tube. You'll want a thick-walled hose. Wider hose is better than a really small hose.

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The cure for continuous replacement of filter mounts was a valve adjustment. Then another one withing 250 miles smoothed the idle considerably. Haven't had a broken filter mount in 8+ years.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

Aren't standard and metric nuts considered a carcinogen in Cali and outlawed yet?

Everything here seems to be carcinogenic. Thing is tho, as long as the STATE is making money off it, its good to go, , , ,

-c-

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"I applaud your elaborate system of denial"

I'm a little embarrassed. It seems the rubber mount I took with me to the store to check which nut would fit had damaged threads...

And so I ended up going to 5 different stores, and not finding a nut that could thread on.

Bottom line: I found the correct nuts, and it's just a plain old regular 6mmx1.00

Lesson learned: Try to put one of the original nuts you know should work on a part you bring along for testing....

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)