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What did you do to your 126 today?

1M views 14K replies 499 participants last post by  Webstermike1 
#1 ·
If this is duplicated, please let me know. I searched for a similar (what did you do to your 123.....) thread here, but did not find one, so I will start off:



The dash in my 300SD was so bad (even the Coverlay dash cap was cracked!), I decided to replace it with one I got a while back. I am replacing the broken console as well.
The good and bad:


The car waiting for the new dash:


The hardest part of the whole job is removing (or remembering to) the two vent cables. Also, I need to make sure all the vents line up before bolting everything down!
I will have a photo of the finished product later....Rich
 
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#6 ·
Affectionately patted its hindquarters.

Mine sits in wait until I find the time to tackle timing chain replacement.

Other than that I packed and shipped a pair of damaged euro headlights as a return to a guy off the swamp. Lovely experience...he threatened me with legal action and also threatened not to refund me, despite the fact that the case I opened against him has already been ruled in my favor.

I tell you...some 126 owners get all the luck :rolleyes:.
 
#9 ·
So, is it okay to keep posting in this one.. or? I guess me asking this question is already a post, so I'll just keep going. :p

I patted it affectionately on the trunk today before walking into the house. I feel so bad for it, as it's pretty much just been sitting on the street collecting dust. I occasionally start it up and take it for a short drive to get the electrical juices flowing so it doesn't just die on the street.

But, other than that, I finally sat down and formulated a game plan along with a more in depth research into the parts and cost of what I need to do for it.

I, not personally (through someone else), had a mechanic do a diagnostic on the car. My head gasket has a colossal oil leak, driveshaft flanges(?)* are cracked, check engine light threw codes 11, 17, and 18. And, I've known about the smog air pump slowly going bad for some time now.

I did some research on the codes, and 11 and 18 seems to be related to air. I'm guessing it's related to the smog air pump going bad? If I'm wrong in any of this please chime in and correct me!

Codes 11, 17, and 18
11. Air Injection System;
17. O2-sensor line shorted positive to ground
18. Current to idle speed air valve is implausible


So the game plan is to do these probably in this order:

1. Head gasket
2. Driveshaft flanges(?)*
3. Disconnect smog Air pump
4. Find the O2 Sensor line.


On the invoice/ service sheet. There's an entry that says "Driveshaft flange cracked." I did a search and could not find anything about a driveshaft flange. Perhaps the mechanic was talking about the flex discs? If those are cracked, it does worry me, and it'll become one of the top priorities for me to fix. If anyone can confirm or correct me on this, please do! :thumbsup:

But, yeah, that's what I did to/ for my Benz today. Patting, researching and game-planning. :cool:
 
#10 ·
Figuring out how to remove the fuel line hose underneath the gas tank. There is not much room to turn the wrench. Its for the 560sec.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Finally re-install my H&R spring after putting on old skol AMG OZ 3 piece rims. Looks way much better but had to find time to get the rear fender lip rolled. Now contemplating to change the front spring pads from 4 to 2 nub but worried about the undercarriage.
 

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#14 ·
Technically I did three different things.

1. Drove to breakfast and this happened:


2. Drove to the M-B Dealer and got the required signature for the M-B 500,000km high mileage award badge.

3. Pull the cruise control module BACK out and replaced the big fat caps as a precaution since I had the right sizes in my lab.

Diesel Purge is next on my long list.
 
#17 ·
I got the dash finished today!

I finished installing the dash and center console today:



I got the dash at a wrecking yard for only $24.95. I think I paid $14.99 for the console. It looks SOOOOOOOOOOO much better!
 
#18 ·
I also changed out the vacuum shutoff. It appeared to be leaking engine oil out of the ignition switch, and into the area between the knee bolster and the tunnel carpet. The old:


The shiny new one:
 
#19 ·
I addressed my ANTILOCK (ABS) light in my 300SD today. You can see the light was illuminated in my above post.

The previous owner is a good friend of mine (he had it since March and only put about 2,000mi on it) and he had checked both of the front sensors and they checked out so he thought it was the back but had never gotten around to that job.

Well I jacked up the Benz and the damn wire was completely cut. Just not even connected.



So I pull the sensor, cleaned it, chopped the remaining wire back and had to use an exacto knife to delve into the sensor plastic housing a bit to expose enough of the old wire (it had broken flush with the sensor) to solder more wire onto it. I then cleaned up the other wire and put some nice connectors on.




Also while I was under there I got to check out the condition of the rear end of the thing.

For 312k miles it doesn't look bad. Those boots have definitely been replaced and it looks like the rear end was done within the past couple of years.



The original owner definitely treated this thing like it was a luxury vehicle.

Antilock light is no more.
 
#22 ·
I addressed my ANTILOCK (ABS) light in my 300SD today. You can see the light was illuminated in my above post.



Well I jacked up the Benz and the damn wire was completely cut. Just not even connected.



So I pull the sensor, cleaned it, chopped the remaining wire back and had to use an exacto knife to delve into the sensor plastic housing a bit to expose enough of the old wire (it had broken flush with the sensor) to solder more wire onto it. I then cleaned up the other wire and put some nice connectors on.


Antilock light is no more.
Gives me some inspiration and ideas for diving into the brake pad wear sensors...those wires have been broken for at least as long as I've had the car.
 
#20 ·
Nipple replacement

Technically I replaced my radiator today after the nipple for the overflow broke. Actually a lot easier than I thought thanks to all the sage advice on this forum. New Behr for $322. Considered a Nissen but felt safer with the Behr.
 
#25 ·
monk, very nice, love the steering and gear shift, tell us about the head unit install

and u gotta lower it, i had mine rolling around like that for a few yrs, but lowering it works wonders
 
#34 ·
Well Blue Bird got new front Bilstein HD's and two new flex disc's tonight. Seats removed to have the Gen II's that I was lucky enough to get from Baron Youngman (Bob) who anyone near Chicago should look up.

So seats, stereo, and new hood hinges (thanks to Kalifornia - Dave) this upcoming week.

The flex disc's did not look bad one stress crack, but what a relief, will tackle that on the SL soon. Then timing chain on both. Been struggling with getting the full parts list and sourcing all of the correct brands. But soon. Very happy to be getting the important stuff done. Still could not identify my springs. Not really sure how. I will post a picture in case someone who knows can see anything to help.

All in all a good day!

Then I can start to post parts for sale, as I bought another parts car for basically the wood and the two covers over the seat belt extenders, man did I ever get bit by this bug.
 

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#35 ·
Well,let`s see.I got stranded at the bottle shop after a bottle of JD. Went to start it but it refused. Pulled the FP relay from it`s cover with a borrowed screwdriver since I left tools at home and this was the problem. (oh, excuse the blurry pics):


After jiggling it enough to get the car started and home I pulled it out and soldered the connections in the blue circle where the relay had come loose.No problems now. Incidentally the red circle represents previous repairs from the wrecker it was once purchased from by the previous owner so I`ll be eventually fitting a brand new one.
 
#36 ·
Got very messy slathering the underside and wheel wells. with rustproofing. Quite pleased I managed to get it into pretty much every nook and cranny although a bit difficult around the rear subframe area.
Popped the bumpers off and did behind there, did the rear of the bumper chromes too, could see the beginnings of surface rust there.
Nice to know its all covered now, the car is very unrusty for a UK car but I've driven it in heavy snow/winter use quite a lot so best to be preventative.
 
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