hood hinges
 

Has anyone ever changed the hood hinge on a 86 W124? Does this require the fender to be removed?? I'm in desperite need of this info here..

TIA

Rich:
I was just about ready to respond to this question at the original thread.
No, the fender can stay on, just remove the hood and the inner fender (splash panel) and you can then reach in and take off the spring and hinge.
Well duh, no one stocks the hinge. How many times does THAT break?;)
You may want to consider painting it first, it'll probably be in primer or cad plated when you get it. No biggie, kind of a "show car" thing I guess.
Gilly

Thanks Gilly,

Still kind of pissed over the whole episode..But I'm sure once the car is back on the road I'll be alright. Thanks again

Have changed both sides on a W124, not hard if you are elastic man.
 

Just kidding. You will spend a lot of time with your chin on the fender top though. Try a junk yard with the fender already off for replacement. Should be pretty cheap and you may be able to match paint as well. Be aware that the locking mechanism varies from one W124 to the next (depending on year???) so you want to make sure that replacement has mechanism on same side.

Why are you doing replacement?

Good luck.

After further post reading, I saw the original post. Sorry to hear about the trouble. Its happened to just about everyone at one point or another, no matter how careful you are something is bound to go wrong.

The hinge deal is not that big of a deal, clearance is the only problem. You may want to invest in some ratcheting box-end wrenches that have the 6 degree sweep for this job. I didn't have them when I did mine and just used standard box-ends from what I remember. Also, seems like I either removed tire or lifted car so tire dropped slightly for better access.

Feel free to respond with any issues that come up.

Is there any way to tighten up the springs?
 

I have a 1991 126 and the hood doesn't stay all the way up when I open it. I think the hood hinge springs are just tired. Is there any way to increase the tension of these springs, or am I up against changing them?

If the hinges on the W126 are anything like the W124, then yes, there are 3 positions for spring tension.

If your springs don't have enough tension in them, just get new ones.

:-) neil

Gilly and CarolinaMBZ,
Got the hinge off. I did jack the car up alittle for clearence between the fender and the tire. All I needed was a 1/4 inch rachet, 8mm, 10mm and 13mm sockets. Tomorrow I'll go pick up the new hinge and BING good as new. Also, the tensioner adjuster came today so.......

How do I tighten the hood springs?
 

I've located the three slots that the springs can go into, but how do I move from one slot to the other? That looks like a pretty serious spring. Right now the spring is in the closest slot to the spring (lowest tension).

Keith - try going toward close with the hood and see if the tension is reduced enough to allow you to reposition the spring.

Wrong way
 

Actually, closing the hood stretches the spring.

Even with the hood pusshed all the way open, and a pair is needle nose vise grips on the end of the spring, I couldn't budge it. Anyone have and other ideas as to how to move the spring to a different slot?

And what is that small spring mechanism on the hing itself for?

Could be?
 

"Small spring mechanism on the hinge" sounds like the latching apparatus that allows the hood to completely elevate the full 90 degrees straight-up for easy access. Usually you have to go back and forth between both sides, moving the latch a step and then doing the other side's hinge a time or two and then you can get it up the whole way.

That might do the trick
 

Maye that is how I can get ALL of the tension relieved on the springs, and move them to a different slot.

Thanks

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tried it, and it worked !!!

No more sag in the hood when I open it.

How do you remove the inner fender/splash panel?

(My hood, on the drivers sider, is not flush with the fender. I noticed it a few years ago and never paid attention, but now it is bothering me.)