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Look how hot it gets here and how my MB deals with it.

1K views 16 replies 6 participants last post by  smart_guy 
#1 ·
Hello All.

Being in one of the hottest places on this planet, I thought I'd share this with you:



Hot, isn't it?

I'm not complaining, I'm completely fine with it. Actually, I'm even convinced that it is completely normal and in the way it was meant to be.

A/C was ice cold on the highway and more than acceptable in full stop if on 3of4. On 4of4 (highest) however, it loses its cooling a little after a short while.

Every year a couple of days get exceptionally hot reaching more than 50C (122F). That 49C on the pic is 120.2F and it was like 5pm, not 12 or 1pm.

Coolant is close to 100C (212F) and it does actually reach it some times if the A/C is on high while city driving. In fact, normal temp after fully worming up, is still close to that (almost exactly on the middle) and a little below that at lowest driving conditions. It would never go lower than 87C (188F) because I'm using the original coolant thermostat rated 87C.

Two years ago in the Central Area (Riyadh) it reached 60C (140C) and some people had sunstroke.

I wonder how true readings would be on other cars with dummy coolant temp gauges, specially those Japanese and Korean ones.

I love my MB :thumbsup:
 
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#5 ·
Thank you.

In my opinion they are of the best mid-size cars ever made. It compares with many modern cars. I prefer it over the CV (except for the trunk size) that I had to get as an insurance. There is no telling when these old ones might act up all the sudden.

Kind of like the (very) old Timex watch ads--"They keep on ticking...". Marvelous testimony to the extreme parameters for which these automobiles were designed. Nice looking vehicle.

Best Wishes--Carl
Thanks Carl. Spent lots of time, money and efforts to preserve its looks (taking your compliment for my w124 not w124 per-say :)). No dealing with the dealer tho, except to get the original coolant thermostat rated 87C while other parts shops only sell unapproved ones; mostly 65C.

As long as they are well maintained, they will live on forever. Something that does not apply to many other cars these days.

This is how my diesel deals with the heat, when engine fan with new clutch are still in the ,.. trunk
Last 2 summers are colder on west coast, but I did drive in 140F few times.
I am in Las Vegas right now with my Ford truck and they forecast 113F for Friday, what will make the freeway at about 125F.
I am not worry >>>> I put Mercedes coolant (not Zerex) into my truck .
Hi there Kajtek1.

I heard that, and please correct me if I'm wrong, diesels don't produce, or need, as much heat as gassers. I'm also not sure if they use the same thermostat rating.

Never knew other places than here could reach 140F (60C).

Don't they tell the max on forecast? They do so where I live.

Back when I first bought the car, it had 65C thermostat installed and the gauge read (past tense) almost the same as on your pic on ambient temps around 45C (113F).

What mixture of coolant + distilled water do you use on the truck? the one recommended by Ford or Mercedes? Perhaps I'll do the same once my CV ends its warranty.

Is the coolant temp gauge real or dummy? Do readings improve over the Zerex?

Sorry, too many questions :D
 
#3 ·
Kind of like the (very) old Timex watch ads--"They keep on ticking...". Marvelous testimony to the extreme parameters for which these automobiles were designed. Nice looking vehicle.

Best Wishes--Carl
 
#4 · (Edited)
This is how my diesel deals with the heat, when engine fan with new clutch are still in the ,.. trunk
Last 2 summers are colder on west coast, but I did drive in 140F few times.
I am in Las Vegas right now with my Ford truck and they forecast 113F for Friday, what will make the freeway at about 125F.
I am not worry >>>> I put Mercedes coolant (not Zerex) into my truck .

 
#6 ·
Today in Phoenix, AZ it is to be 118F (47.7c). My 2008 S class does just fine but my 1988 SL has one of the weakest AC systems I have ever had in a car. While the '88 is a tank it just lives in the garage during the summer (kind of like those where it snows putting their cars up for the winter).
Michael in Arizona
 
#11 · (Edited)
Hi there Michael.

Those SL's are cool. Is it R129 or R107? Both are nice but I personally prefer the R129 for its slicker looks. A tank indeed.

For some reason people often have bad luck with A/C's on these. Even updating it often gives results not worth it.

IMHO by 98 Mercedes had lost its way and was not putting out very good cars.
Agreed; for the S class.

As for the E class, I nominate 95 YM the last very good car made by Mercedes. Those w210's remind me with some old owefull looking Toyota, don't remember the name, body design but in a bigger size.

My 2002 SLK handles the Vegas heat well!
Hello there Galaxys.

Ever since MB replaced the engine fan with an electrical, dealing with heat improved a lot. Not because electrical fans cool better, but because they are easier to diagnose and fix (where I live at least) + other improvements in the cooling system as a whole.

The most MB's with cooling and A/C problems are the ones before '98. Having those handling heat well is something to really appreciate.

Diesels convert up to 50% of fuel energy into HP, while the other 50% is transferred into heat mostly.
Gasser convert about 33% of fuel energy into HP while over 60% is converted into heat. So technically gasoline engines are heaters and HP is by-product ;)

My thermostat is set at 87C, so on the picture it runs a tad higher than in cooler temperatures, but that might be due the fact the picture was taken short time after city and parking driving, where temp went above 90C (again - with main engine fan removed)

Lower thermostat gives you some short-burst cooling capacity for momentary situation like entering the freeway, or steep grade, but once you hit 7 or 12 miles grade, like I have on my routes, the burst ends at 1/4 of climb. Than the low setting thermostats keep your engine bellow recommended temperatures, costing more engine wear and more fuel to burn on colder days.

I use 50-50 mixture of MB coolants in my vehicles and don't worry if it is few % more or less. For the car I put a gallon of coolant and top off with distillate water.

For truck with 5 gallons capacity, I put 2 gallons of coolant and rest d water.
Zerex got MB approval for use in our cars, but almost each instance when members makes a topic about overheating, turns out he drives on Zerex or worse. Makes you thinking how much you want to risk for 5 or 8 dollars savings.

The MB gauges are real and the latest I drove was 2005 model. I hope MB will not follow the trend as I was having really hard time when my Ford alternator stop working and dash voltmeter was still showing over 13V
It is sad that diesels produce more percentage of power yet diesel engines are so much underpowered than gas engines. Except with turbo diesels and similar. It is also nice to have both fuels cheap where I live :cool:

Actually, the data sheet of the cooling system for engine M103 says that the actual opening point for the 87C rated thermostat is 85-89C. This means, if my analysis is correct, that at some point it will open at 85C which is what we can see on your pic. On cold times my gauge reads right about what seems to be 85C for a long time on highways before it goes higher later on at lower speeds. Here is an old pic (yep, even here it gets this cold sometimes):


The main reason I ditched the 65C t-stat was because of the side effects of getting colder than the recommended engine temp. Not to forget about warming up faster to get the performance and economy the engine was designed for ASAP.

Thank you for the info about coolants. Now I can safely unify some parts on both my cars.

Same thought about true gauges. But, I'm shocked to know that Ford uses dummy gauges for battery recharging as well!!! What else is there? Dummy fuel level gauges? :p

Actually the 1996-97 models of W210 who were grandfathered by drivetrains from W124 are the one costing most of the problems.
For the E class, I humbly believe that W124's were the last real MB's made.

Generally speaking, first MY of any new generation has the most problems, but with good older MB's, those problems were less because assembly and quality check were on top of the list back then. May I resurrect the term "over engineering"? :thumbsup:

Not sure but, I don't think w210's were over engineered.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Diesels convert up to 50% of fuel energy into HP, while the other 50% is transferred into heat mostly.
Gasser convert about 33% of fuel energy into HP while over 60% is converted into heat. So technically gasoline engines are heaters and HP is by-product ;)
My thermostat is set at 87C, so on the picture it runs a tad higher than in cooler temperatures, but that might be due the fact the picture was taken short time after city and parking driving, where temp went above 90C (again - with main engine fan removed)
Lower thermostat gives you some short-burst cooling capacity for momentary situation like entering the freeway, or steep grade, but once you hit 7 or 12 miles grade, like I have on my routes, the burst ends at 1/4 of climb. Than the low setting thermostats keep your engine bellow recommended temperatures, costing more engine wear and more fuel to burn on colder days.
I use 50-50 mixture of MB coolants in my vehicles and don't worry if it is few % more or less. For the car I put a gallon of coolant and top off with distillate water.
For truck with 5 gallons capacity, I put 2 gallons of coolant and rest d water.
Zerex got MB approval for use in our cars, but almost each instance when members makes a topic about overheating, turns out he drives on Zerex or worse. Makes you thinking how much you want to risk for 5 or 8 dollars savings.
The MB gauges are real and the latest I drove was 2005 model. I hope MB will not follow the trend as I was having really hard time when my Ford alternator stop working and dash voltmeter was still showing over 13V
 
#12 ·
W210 was the first popular car build with digital technology.
It had lot of baby teeth, but I would not call it over-engineering.
BMW of this era would put transmission into limp mode when door switch malfunction. that is what would be over-engineering for me.
 
#13 ·
Not sure of the 100% definition of "over-engineering", but knowing the W140's and W124, I would include other angles not just digital technology. Double glassing, safe auto-stop auto closing windows, intensive quality checking and top notch material and installation for parts for the W140 and then it is enough for the W124 that they managed to give it aerodynamic design of modern cars of similar class, all these are part of the terminology I believe.

I could be wrong up there, but to be honest, I prefer this kind of over-engineering, if my definition is correct, over digital technology. But then again, I don't think there is much left to improve there. Maybe that is why I admire older MB models more.
 
#14 ·
I was on the market for W140 at some point, but they were not available with good diesels in USA and I did not want gas guzzler. I did admire some of the features on them, but then they seem to vanish from the roads here. I wonder what might be the reason, but it can't be a good one?
W124 do have too many problems that can leave you stranded. Head gaskets, vacuum pumps, sway bar brackets that simply crack in 2 pieces, not even talking about interior failing apart. Even the engines have potential to run forever, they sell for less than W123 here in CA where rust is not an issue.
 
#15 ·
It is unfortunate that you couldn't find the lawnmow... errrm, I mean the W140 you were looking for. Then again, maybe it was for the best, who knows. According to Wikipedia, ~433,000 W140's were built, and that's the least among W126, W140 and W220, while the latter had ~485,000 units built along side being a newer model. Newer models are new, per say, so it is only normal to find it more while the W140 already got old enough. Total amount of diesel built W140's was only ~28,000. Over engineering probably held back the speed of production. Still, your argument is valid that the reason can't be a good one, coupling it with the above analysis as a possible one.

What you stated about W124 is true. Perhaps they are the reason they say W124 cost a lot to maintain. It intrigues me, however, that many W124's still roam around where I live even-though the last produced was in '95.

There is no arguing tho that with cars newer is normally better and lives longer specially if it is something of high quality like Mercedes.

Just IMHO.
 
#16 ·
Unfortunately with Mercedes the time kills them faster than the mileage in average use.
I open the head on 603 engine at 292,000 miles to find the engine did not break the factory honing yet, so this is truly 1 milion miles engine, yet the plastic parts, especially vacuum logic system were falling apart.
W123 does not have too much wires to deteriorate, switches can be taken apart for cleaning, the leatherette seems to hold 30 years just fine, so I see why some admire them on long run.
Why you see more W124 in your country? Are you? Human perception is very lousy. I did not notice too many pregnant women till my wife got pregnant, then they have been everywhere ;)
 
#17 ·
Why you see more W124 in your country? Are you? Human perception is very lousy. I did not notice too many pregnant women till my wife got pregnant, then they have been everywhere ;)
It is sad that I missed the good old days of the W123. The consequential digits sound and look cool.

Hmmm, now that you mentioned it and I took some time to think about it...

I probably only see my W124 in the morning when I leave to work and it multiples to my eyes :D

Today I only saw 2 of them :(
 
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