I am attempting to help my widowed next-door-neighbor with her 1967 230SL roadster. Her husband was the 2nd owner and drove it for a number of years, unfortunately after a long battle of many years, he passed away last year.
She would like to get the roadster running to either sell it or give it to one of her sons/sons-in-law and has asked my help. Among many problems -- teaching 177 freshmen, being in the middle of winter prep/engine rebuild on my 300ZX SCCA race car, and my 1960 Austin-Healey vintage racer -- I have little time to devote to diagnosing the problems, and yet I truly want to help her out.
I must add I did get it running about 4 years ago (after it had been sitting for many years) with little difficulty, even though I diagnosed a miss as a faulty/clogged injector.
In the meantime the car has been sitting unused for 4 years. The fuel tank was completely dry when I pushed it to my house, and after putting in 5 gallons of fuel I cannot get any gas to deliver to the injection system. I can get it to "run" (a term I use advisedly) on starting fluid, so I know it is getting spark. But a check of the fuel lines shows no fuel being delivered.
My suspicions are a clogged fuel line/fuel filter or fuel pump failure. The only factory manual I have is for a 1969 280SE/etc I owned and rebuilt many years back. Since it was carbureted with dual Zeniths, and the manual I have only covers 1968 and later models, I have a few questions:
1. Does this model of fuel injection have an electric fuel pump? I suspect the answer is yes, but I'd like to know for certain and where it is located. Should I be able to hear it clicking when I turn on the key?
2. Where is the fuel filter located?
3. The factory manual I have also covers 1968 and later 280SL, etc. Is there any significant mechanical design changes --apart from engine displacement -- from 1967 230SL to the 1968 and later 280SL?
4. Are there any on-line manuals available for this car? Can you point me to them?
All help would be appreciated. If at all possible, I would appreciate replies directly to my e-mail -- Marchor@acu.edu
Electric fuel pump is near the fuel tank, and fails frequently -- they also make some noise when running, yes. We have them for $295 if needed. Fuel filter is in a metal cannister under the hood.
I had a 1971 280SL that was fully restored and was a Garage Queen. It too had a problem with fuel delivery since it sat much more than it was driven. The fuel pump worked, I replaced the fuel filter and cleaned the varnish out of the canister with no improvement. Upon further inspection and testing, I narrowed it down to the fuel tank. There is a screen in the tank where the fuel line feeds the fuel pump. This had become clogged and was allowing fuel to be delivered but not when the car was under a load. You might want to try this.
I succeeded in getting the fuel pump to work and I am getting gas as far as the fuel block (forgive my ignorance of correct terms) where the fuel lines branch out to the fuel injectors. I disconnected the hose, turned on the ignition and fuel spurts out of the fuel line just before the "fuel block."
Any thoughts why I am still not getting fuel to the injectors?
Good luck with your project. May I suggest you join the free online International Pagoda Club at www.SL113.org
There are over 1300 members and thousands of posts regarding every aspect of these cars. Some very knowledgeable members would be very willing to offer their technical expertise to get another one back on the road!
Linear Mode
