W140 is STILL the king.

 

STAR TekInfo

Per StarTek, A and B are the high and low pressure size connectors, respectively.
They are different sizes.

Fuel rail also has a valve for testing fuel pressure but the cap should be made of brass, not plastic.

 

A few days ago I changed the fuel filter using the excellent info from @Rainmaker. It had a Feb 2006 code on it, so it wasn't probably changed in a very long time. Replaced it with an original Mercedes filter, which is also Knecht. The hoses for both the filter and pump looked good, and so was the hose to the tank.
Part number for the fuel filter is: 002-477-27-01.

Here's what came out of the fuel filter

After a couple of days, I could see some deposits. I don't know if I should try to clean the tank or not, simply get it closer to empty, put a bottle of something in, and then fill it up, and drive a longer trip.

I managed to change the sway bar link and the stabilizer bar bushing on the passenger side (got tired and did not have energy anymore to do the other side). The upper shaft of the sway bar link was frozen and it took me a lot of time and patience to take it out with a 4lb hammer (I damaged the thread of the sway bar link so no nut would go on it, so that was my only option). I also replaced the brake caliper bolts (123 421 02 71) with new original MB ones as per the manual, as well as the disc brake small bolt (201 421 01 71)!

The original stabilizer bar bushings were not too bad but they started to crack a bit on both sides. Got the same original Mercedes part, they're very cheap so totally recommend doing that.
Part number is: 1403231085 (front only, for the rear it's a different bushing).

Finally, I changed the fuel injection line under the hood with a Cohline 2240 (ethanol rated) 9.3mm ID. The old one was the original one and had a bubble - probably it was fine for a while as the bubble was for the outside rubber. The inner polyamide tube was looking fine.

I think the ID for the original one was 7.5mm, so I went with 9.3 mm ID as the other Cohline 2240 available size is 7.3mm ID. The 9.3mm was a bit bigger so I used Oetiker high pressure 154 series clamps for this, particularly the 16.8 mm clamp size ones. I put two on each side and clamped it well. Unfortunately, Cohline 2240 got really expensive lately ($20 per feet from belmetric). I needed around 1.5 feet, so bought 2 feet.

A tip here: if you change both hoses and put Oetiker clamps, first do the bottom hose as you have plenty of space for the upper one, but the lower one has a bit less space with the top hose on.

I have to admit that working around fuel-related parts is a bit stressful (and messy). I hope I don't have to do any of that anytime soon.

Will keep you all posted! Hopefully I can finish the suspension part this long weekend, so I can do an alignment and put new tires + road force balance them in the next couple of weeks.

 

Thanks for sharing the progress of your new project! I was tempted by this car but opted out. Glad someone with skills is bringinging this one back to The Best or Nothing!

 

Welcome to the almighty Benzworld forum & Congrats on your Dream coming true .
I can't advise much on Coupe W140's since they different then Sedans including Engine mounts but not sure on that ,i still have the Bosch part # in my garage somewhere , i post it tomorow .
As for the Oil ,i use Semi Synthetic Mobil 15w-40 instead (Engine loves it) of Mobil 5w-40 - this oil is like water which i didnt like , keep in mind the engines are older now ,a higher grade oil like semi synthetic might be the better choice .
140's in general are not fussy what brand oil one uses , it will run on cooking oil lol .
Nice looking CL you found there .
Good Luck fixing it for what it needs .

 

This is the Transmission mount , says Engine mount but it is for Transmission .
This is for 600SEL "Sedan" .

 

Thanks a lot @Merc-S600 for looking into the parts numbers and confirming, as well as sharing more info around air leaks. Much appreciated!

Indeed the parking lights on each side are really cool.

Out of curiosity, what drove you to switch to using 15W-40?

 

I wasted $250+ - numerous oil filter changes on Mobil 05w40 ,when i filled the engine with this Oil , i didn't like the way it looked like Water ,verry Thin oil .
I also noticed verry little Oil seeping like drops & some clanking noise .
Changing out this Oil after just a few days by what i remember & changing it to the higher grade Semi Synthetic, the Clanking noise was gone & no oil seeping ,like tiny oil drops .
I used many many different type oils , from full synthetic to not synthetic , best one was Semi S... .
There are differences .
I cleaned the Engine top to bottom , there are no oil leaks on my M120 for now , never see any drops .
The only Oil leak i get occasionally is when i fill the Power steering reservoir to the Top but thats normal as it spits the excess oil out ( my fault ) .
By what i know ,Fully synthetic oil lubricates Gaskets etc better ,resulting with oil seepages if the gaskets are a little worn . Non synthetic dosent . There are benefits & some downsides ,thats why i stick to SEMI , No problems to Report .

 

Welcome to BW. Be careful with the engine mounts, only original ones or NOS Lemforder (BOGE).
Anything else - you'll be doing it again in a few months.
$640 is unbelievably cheap even for labor only. This is a bear of a job on the M120.

Vibrations --> start with rebushing everything, front and back. Idler and steering arm. Etc.
The prop shaft center support is often overlooked and at 25+ years young likely needs attention

MercS600 gave you awesome advises before, but he confused the earlier style transmission mount (the 722.3 transmission) with the later (the 722.6 transmission). Yours will be different from his.

Good luck!

 

When i changed the Engine Mounts , Absolutely it was an impressive sight to see how high the Engine had to come up , Not a Job for someone in a Garage without a manual engine hoist . Unfortunately the Day after , the tiny Water hose behind the Engine was split ,Massive job but doable in a home garage to replace which i did to all hoses since that mishap .
As for the Tranny mounts confusion ,correct but thats why i added it's for 600SEL ,those are all early 90-June 93 , but i'm pretty sure the Prt #'s must still look similar to the later once ,dont know .

"Here is that Hose & Link with the full experience starting from Post # 74 " .

I have taken over Trevor's / eg Joe's 600SEL

I am in possession of Trevor's 600SEL now for the last two weeks . ( Trevor's Original Ad how the car looked before etc > 1992 Mercedes Benz 600SEL W140 For Sale - AUD$4500 < ) . I firmly believe that it would have taken (almighty) Joe, about a good 10 years or close to it to fix & repair the...

www.benzworld.org

 

Welcome to the C140/M120 club. It's quite an exclusive club, as it takes a real passion to save these beasts; especially the last year of the breed, which is an elusive beast to find as well.

 

Hello benz_enthusiast,

you mentioned HVAC filters at the beginning.
I am attaching an image of other filters fitted to your car. The 140076 normally has a ACF as standard.
The very expensive ACF is not often replaced, it gets ignored or workshops don't know it exists.
To remove it correctly you need a vacuum hand pump to collapse the filter and to install the new one again you need the vacuum pump.

Greetings from down under

 

Thanks for the welcome and for sharing this info @fitzcarraldo. I'll probably not undertake this task as I cannot even find a new carbon filter to replace the one there.

 

If you do one hose, you may want to go ahead and do both. That other hose looks pretty spent as well.

 

You are right, didn't see it initially. I will order another an extra one.

 

I'd live with the valve covers unless they're really bad. Its a massive job. You might check the torque on the allen bolts all around.
These cars are very sensitive to balance everywhere, wheels and tires, driveshaft etc. If the center support hasn't been done, its time. Make sure to keep the driveshaft in its current alignment when doing it, as it balanced that way.
Mine has been very reliable for 100k. Alternator, various rubber bits in suspension and mounts, and one cat converter that collapsed internally and was replaced with a generic. Don't use the ortho seats unless the bladders have been done as it'll kill the pump, they're all disintegrated at this point.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I think the first thing on the list is the vibration issues and new tires. I will check the suspension parts as the last service mentioned steering linkage needs attention, and go from there.

 

Welcome @benz_enthusiast to the forum, we're happy to have ya

 

Thanks for the welcome @Nauclerus!

Happy to have found a great group of W140 lovers here.

 

Believe its under the removable cover on the drivers side.

 

I've been waiting for parts which have now arrived.

Yesterday I changed the transmission mount with an original one from MB. The one in there looked a bit rough and no idea if it's oem but definitely it was changed at some point. It was very stiff though.

I will change this weekend the upper control arms and the lower ball joints (I got lemfoerderade in malayasia). I already got the arms set to the right angle and tried to torque them to 120nm which I was very close to but did not manage to make the wrench click. Maybe I need to eat more spinach like Popeye.
I wonder if I could try to torque that center bolt them after I install them on the car?

The passenger side upper control arm has a slight tilt to it, which I found to be interesting. Here's two pics (the one on the right)

After this I will try to get new tires, an alignment, and do a road force balance for the tires.

 

Looks like it is coming along great!

 

@MAVA appreciate your support!

A bit of update: took the car to the indy shop and as expected, the front lower control arm bushings are bad. The new Febi parts are not of good quality, so we decided to try to replace the bushings with Lemfoerder (the guy has an old press he used back in the day for W140, which seems to be in good condition and he will try to use it for this job). So now I am waiting for the parts and then will take the car back to get it fixed. I don't have the tools or space to do this myself, and playing around springs is not something I am keen on trying just yet.

Together with the LCA bushings, I will also get the motor mounts replaced and the lower ball joints. It's $$$, but at least I will get it done properly.

After that, it looks like the rear shock upper mounts need to be changed, but new shocks are $$$ (I think I have the ADS version, so will have to check the part number on the shock). Will probably wait a bit on that.

Finally, the door checks need to be changed on both sides (140-720-09-16 -- for normal sedan it's a different part, be careful), so I just ordered those (mbpartsgiant) and will tackle that in an upcoming weekend.

P.S. I got all my parts from FCPEuro, EEuroparts, and PelicanParts so far. The TRW control arms are available at FCPEuro (also one can find originals for almost ~x2 the price at mbpartsgiant). The original ones were TRW with a MB logo stamped, so I though that should be good enough.

 

Don't forget about MBPartsource.com. They are an MB dealer in Laredo, TX and generally give 35% to 40% off list. I use all the sources you listed but also use MBPartsource for MB only parts. Often times their prices are better than the others.

Keep us posted.

 

Are you doing the door stops yourself? I need one on my 99 S600 and am debating on doing it myself.

 

Thanks @quakercity for the suggestion, I'll keep them in mind.

Regarding the door stops, yes, I would like to try to do them myself. I plan to follow a few tutorials around (https://www.benzworld.org/threads/photo-diy-door-strap-stay-r-r.1544211/, youtube) and order a big trim kit online to make sure I have all the tools required. I think it would be more cost effective and something I can do myself rather than taking it somewhere.

Will let you know how it goes.

 

Just have the correct spring compressor. Do NOT use a rented unit.

If you are not willing to invest in the spring compressor, do not do the job your self.

This is super dangerous work.

I have a thread I started a decade ago or older on the subject.

On the LCA(lower control Arms), replace the bushing instead of buying a aftermarket arm as the bushings are installed out of phase( wrong rotational angle). Every aftermarket LCA is wrong, or buy factory MB LCA’s

Martin

 

FYI on the rear upper shock mounts. I had the left side go bad. The mount is separate from the shock. After removing the shock, It can be unscrewed from the top of the shock BUT it is very difficult (in my case impossible) to remove because of Locktite. The screw part of the shock twisted off. I was reluctant to use to much heat on the shock. I had to have a bolt welded to the top of the shock ($30). I shaved down the head of the bolt about half before it was welded so it wouldn't raise that side of the car...I can't see any difference in ride height. Then just reinstall the shock. That was 2 years ago. No problems.

BTW, you don't need a spring compressor to remove the shock. Just use a separate jack to raise the rear suspension which compresses the spring. Then the shock can be slipped out. At least it worked for me.

Also I use the term shock when strut might be more descriptive for my 93 coupe.

 

As far as rears go, the lower bushings are available here Mercedes Benz S-Class W140 1992-1998 New Suspension Rear Left/ Right Shock Absorber Bushing (1403209313)

But you can buy an entire rebuilt shock pair from them for $850. Given that the oem mounts are 150 or so and nla and even the URO's are 90, its only 200 more for a completely rebuilt shock without having to press anything or cut/torch the old mounts off. Now, whether those are URO parts used used in the rebuild IDK, but its likely worth a call.

 

As far as rears go, the lower bushings are available here Mercedes Benz S-Class W140 1992-1998 New Suspension Rear Left/ Right Shock Absorber Bushing (1403209313)

I think I remember I bought the lower bushing from this source and my mechanic had to rethread it or do something t get it to fit.

 

Here are those Prt #'s . Regardless being RHD , the Febi #'s are the same as yours shown above .
Btw, there are 2 clicks for Individual Parking lights . Light switch at Position 0 - 1st click turning Dial to the Left activates right (Drivers), 2nd click turning 1 click further Left activates Left (Passenger) side then . It's a German thingy but comes in handy at times depending on Country with Narrow Parking streets i belive ,here we dont need that .
Check the Airhose conected underneath the Headlight that it is conected & or has no hole in it , this is when either a Smoke device comes in handy or if you dont have one , find a Heavy Smoker Friend , ( G,we smoked numerous Cigars gettn dizzy finding airleaks within the Central locking system , yes we got dizzy but eventually found it,poor Ilhan my friend fall over lol ) ,I since then have bought a Smoke machine ,amazing what Airleaks this device finds.

 

@benz_enthusiast Is this the SL that sold recently on CarsN Bids for $10K? I was looking at that car but dropped out.