Hi Ya'll I'm new!

I wanted to say hi and step out of the shadows since I've been lurking on here for about a month. I have recently inherited the 87' 420 SEL with 197,000 miles and have been busy getting it ready for a trip to Mexico the end of this month. I live in North Texas (Decatur to be exact) and am taking the Benz to Monclova, Mexico to donate some dental work for the poor people there.

The car is in pretty good shape thanks to this forum. I have found a wealth of information for it and I sincerely appreciate it. I have had the timing chain, tensioner and rails replaced along with a host of smaller things to get the car in good running condition.

I have yet to take pictures of the car but I will add some soon. The Pearl Grey Metallic paint has held up extremely well and the grey interior is very clean.

If any of you guys live in Decatur I'd love to hear from you, I have seen several well maintained W126 models in town and I'm still working on getting my uncle to sell me his red 560 SL (w/42,000 miles!).

[raymr]

Welcome and congratulations on a nice ride.

If there is any one common element of failure on the older 126 models, its the fuel pump relay. If it quits, it leaves you stranded. In my glove box I keep a jumper wire with labeled ends to power the fuel pump if the relay ever fails.

You might want to simulate this for practice by pulling out the FPR and jumping the 2 terminals to get the pump running. It could save you a towing bill in the future!

[Dee8go]

Originally Posted by raymr

Welcome and congratulations on a nice ride.

If there is any one common element of failure on the older 126 models, its the fuel pump relay. If it quits, it leaves you stranded. In my glove box I keep a jumper wire with labeled ends to power the fuel pump if the relay ever fails.

You might want to simulate this for practice by pulling out the FPR and jumping the 2 terminals to get the pump running. It could save you a towing bill in the future!

Thanks for mentioning it. I don't recall hearing that before. How expensive are these relays? Wouldn't it be better to just replace it with a new one?

Raymr,

I haven't heard of that before I will add that to my list!

280EZRider,

Fortunately we have a house with a gated courtyard to park the car in while we are there. It hasn't been a problem in the past but once we get there we will probably be walking or taking a van for around town trips.

[raymr]

Originally Posted by Dee8go

Thanks for mentioning it. I don't recall hearing that before. How expensive are these relays? Wouldn't it be better to just replace it with a new one?

Really? I thought almost everyone deals with a dead FPR sooner or later. I think they run around 100 bucks.

[280EZRider]

Welcome to the fold. It sounds like you have covered the major points for any MBZ V8, so that's good. Just be careful where you park your car in Mexico. Down there anything on the street is considered public property and lowlifes have this thing of scratching nice cars, simply because they don't have one. I would not park on the street at all, unless you have someone trustworthy, who you know, watching it. By the way, if you ever feel like volunteering dental service here in bloody-expensive, overcrowded, sunny California, come on over. I'm without dental/medical insurance and my dentist is running me into bankruptcy!