My 500 SEL Euro is getting better but its still not what i want it to be. Gas mileage is the worst part. I understand that its supposed to be bad, but mine seems just awful. It takes me about 23 gallons of gas to drive from Indianapolis to Detroit, which is a 303 mile trip. Thats about 13 mpg. I stay around 85 the whole time.
The car leaks oil badly, and the oil pressure gauge isnt right. It pegs at 3 when started, and after warm up, at idle in drive, its at .2 bars. And its getting worse. At 3000 rpm, it is just slightly under 3 bars. Im considering getting the crankcase gasket set off of **********.com and just replacing all the seals and hoping that helps. I have to put 2 quarts in it about every 3-4 days. Its leaking from numerous places. The car drives good, idles smooth and doesn't burn any oil or antifreeze, as the car blows no smoke. The car has no idle control. The connector for the idle computer broke and all the wires fell out, and I have NO idea which wire goes where on the computer unit. I removed the idle valve and put in a ball valve from the hardware store and made everything air tight. It seems to have worked. But it can't be controlled anyway while driving. Im not sure if that valve is supposed to open when the gas is pressed or not. Mine is always at the same level. I have taken car of all the vacuum leaks too and set the mixture to what I think is right. Went by how it idled and it seems good. No hesitation or stalling.
What I would like to do is take a engine from a wrecker yard. There is a yard here that has a 560 SEL. Its a 86 though. Engine runs and all, I just don't know what else I would have to take from that car to get it goin again.
And can someone tell me what this thing is? I found it when I took off this square cover plate off of the engine, its right under the distributor.
The square plate near the distributor is the blockoff plate if you don't have Hydro. Thank your lucky stars you don't have it because with the cars other problems you don't need that too. The expense of repairs to that would likely junk this car.
For the idle valve you can go back to the slide valve my 1980 has. It's all mechanical, it idles the engine fast and reduces it to idle when the coolant warms up. Simple equals bulletproof. Only downside is a fast idle in an icy parking lot. With your foot on the brake the back tire(s) spin - the joys of a 5 Litre Euro. Otherwise go look at the 560. The system is the same so trace the wire colors or grab the box and harness. You should get about 18 on your highway trip. Your mixture may be way off.
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