[Cam]

Hello again everyone,

following on from my last thread, the engine situation is rectified (rebuilt). However since I put the engine and trans back in the car I have been unable to get the starter to turn. All the wiring and so on is connected, checked and double checked but it just won't crank in either P or N. Nor any of the other gears (Thought I'd try just incase).
I lined up the brass coloured fiiting on the inside of the gear selector on the side of the trans with the hole in the tranny casing that is shown in the Haynes manual, but it still doesn't want to register N or P and let the starter turn.
There is mention of a starter inhibitor switch somewhere on the firewall, but there is no such thing on my car, nor the donor W114 that I have.

Once again I'm stumped so thought I'd hassle you guys for help[8D]

Cheers,
Cam

P.S. The car is a '72 W114 230.6 RHD column shift automatic.

 

[Cam]

Fixed it...

Feel abit silly over this one. I thought it was the inhibitor switch so was messing around with that. Then I thought why not try the solenoid my old starter. Sure enough that was it. Odd though, paticularly since the donor starter motor was working perfectly before we pulled it out of the donor car [?]

 

[Djenka018]

To add to same odd equasion, recently a friend with nice 250 W123 could not strart engine. Few local electrical wannabies cold not find the culprit for no response to key turning.
Battery that had only 10V apparently had everything running but starter was inhibited. Recharge gave it spark. I guess there must be some kind of power sensor that disables starter to protect the battery if battery is flat. There was no usual "klank-klank" sound as if batt is flat.

 

[mercmad]

On all the mercs that we have here,the is a terminal block with three major connections.Always check and clean this block while you are investigating electrical faults because 9.5 times out of ten that is where most problems start.Then check the state off the earth strap to the body and the one to the engine.
I have a mate who has a AMG 6.9 (450SEL 7.2 liter) that never hads an interior light or horn until he checked the block and earth strap,Voila!.Everything works ,no more hot start problems and no more embearressing breakdowns in traffic.

 

[Cam]

Where abouts is this terminal? It sounds interesting.

What sounds even more interesting is your mates AMG [:0]

 

[mercmad]

In your 114 it's onthe drivers side on the inner front mudguard,it has three terminals with up to six cables,the biggest being the main feed from the battery,the smallest energises the solenoid.So if you want to quick start your engine,run a lead from the positive on the battery to the smallest cable and bingo,engine turns over.handy if you are setting points etc. Re the AMG,
My mates name is David And the car is for sale.
contact him at
David Byrne
E-mail Address(es):
[email protected]
iT HAS 7.2 LITERS,HOT CAMS ,HUGE PERFORMANCE ETC ETC.
[}]
Not for the timid.....[}][}][}]

 

[Cam]

Cool, ta that will be very handy to know.

How much is your friend asking for the AMG?

Another saga has come to hand. After running the car for about 5 minutes to adjust the carbies I noticed this (see pic) and shut her off straight away.
The oil in the dipstick was off white as was the oil inside the rocker cover and leaking out from around the filter.

 

[Cam]

Oh and the radiator was bone dry... With no external leaks, which has me really, really, really worried.[B)]

 

[mercmad]

Did you make absolutley sure you have the correct head gasket?,there are gaskets that fit 230/250/280/and they are all different.It sounds like the water has gone straight in the sump.Dump that oil now,and fill up with clean diesel (high detergent) oil,turn the engine with out the plugs to flush as much water ouyt as possible.The engine will be okay ,just don't wait too long.Dump this oil along with the filter.
Remove the head and compare the head gaskets.
Check for excess corosion.

Ps the asking price for the AMG is around $18,000.

 

[Cam]

Yep, got the right 230.6 one for it.

I dumped the oil out, didn't appear to be any water in the sump and the oil came out measured out to be under 5 litres with no seperation or nasty suprises. The radiator after being refilled has held its level after being started again. I need a new gasket for behind the oil filter block which has to be ordered in. I've changed the oil, patched the gasket (so it doesn't leak as much but still allows me to test the system) and it all seems okay now. Theres no sign of oil in the radiator or water in the oil.
I think the radiator drained a fair bit of water out of it whilst filling up all the water ways, heater, etc... and when the motor was out just happened to be the most rainfall Melbourne has had in over 150yrs so everything (house, workshop, carport, etc...) got flooded. So I'm assuming moisture must of gotten in the block when it had no head or sump on it. Even though it didn't get wet everything else around it did.

 

[mercmad]

Just condesation?,no problems then,make sure the car runs at 80* ,AND 90* WHEN REAL HOT.[8D]
That will ensure that never happens again.
good to hear a happy ending.

 

[Cam]

hehe, I hope so. I ran it again today to check everything and it all seems fine. The gasket is arriving tomorrow so it's still leaking from around the oil filter block, but everything else is okay from what I can tell.
I'm just waiting for the next problem after I fix this one []

 

[Cam]

well, the oil filter block gasket arrived and solved that leak. Everything else seemed fine whilst the car was warming up, water level fine, oil level too.

So, took it for a drive around the block and the temp sky rocketed. Oil level jumped, water level down, etc...

DAMMIT!!! [!] Left it overnight and went to open the radiator cap this morning. Still heaps of pressure built up in the thing too. Who knows whats going on?!?!

Pulling the head off as we speak.

 

[mercmad]

There are little steel steam risers that go up in to the head,when you get it off look and see if they are corroded,if they are it is time to look for a new head.
with water getting in the oil it sounds like the water jacket has gone right through into the timing chain housing and will only show up when the engine reaches temp.
See Chris for a price on reasonable useable head.http://mbparts.denyer.net/index.php
I know that heads are getting rare now and you can't buy 280 heads for love nor money[xx(]
My dad bought one of those 230.6's new and did 180,000 miles in 18 months,the only money he spent on it was one new spark plug and a new headlight after he spun out on ice,[:I]It was inperfect nick when he sold and wernt on to buy another 6 114's.All new.[]

 

[Cam]

I reused the head that was on the motor before I pulled it so I know there are no problems. The little steam risers, are those the ones that go up and then have the two little holes going out into the head? They seemed okay.
The new head gasket we got had a few subtle differences to the good one that we decided that "we may as well change over since we got this far" The bores were the same size and so on, but there were different shapings and so on in a few different places. I'll take a pic of it next to an original and show you what I mean.

Afraid I don't follow you on the waterjacket vs timing chain housing, is this on the block or the head, and how do I check?

 

[Cam]

Well, it's turning over on the starter (feels laboured tho) but drains the battery really quickly and I've got some water seeping from between the block and the head.
Almost seems like theres a pressure build up somewhere [}]

mercmad - 2/14/2005 6:48 PM

I know that heads are getting rare now and you can't buy 280 heads for love nor money[xx(]

I'm about ready to follow in the footsteps of many a jaguar owner and drop in a small block Chev [xx(]

 

[mercmad]

Ihave hard and fast veiws on jag shit[xx(]

They need to swap in Chevs to get both performance(after a fashion) and reliabitilty.
I did mention the head gasket before didn't I ? 'if there are differences they WILL NOT work [!]
You must get the correct one for your engine because those little holes will leak directly into your combustion chambers or combustion pressure will leak into the water jacket.As you can see ,the holes are mighty close to the bore.
Those steam vents will be ok if they look good.where i meant to look for the water leak in the front is by the thermo housing ,inside the head.
You may have to take your head into REPCO engine rebuilding and have them pump it up with hot water.
Is the surface Flat?
If there is warping,and the head surface is warped you will need to get it pressed into shape.Machining it will leave the cam in a bow.[V]

 

[Cam]

My views exactly, I know someone who had just bought his, was driving down the freeway and all of a sudden all his lights went off. I couldn't stop laughing.[]

The holes all seem to be in the same place. The square shaped one at the rear had a copper piece pressed in it with a small oval cut out on the original and also on the original there is a piece that curves in where the new one follows a direct curve.

I hassled the guy at Mercedes about it and he said it's the one that they all use nowadays (I even gave my engine number in full) and that it's a better design than the other. Even the numbers on the packaging are specific to my engine just missing the last few digits (obviously production numbers).

The surface was flat and clean, I thought that too. Hadn't thought about getting it filled with hot water though, will sus it out tomorrow, cheers.

It's getting stressful not having my car to drive
[V]

 

[mercmad]

I know thew feeling ,when ever I drive our old HJ one tonner I get depressed and want to hurry my 6.3 back on the road[xx(]
For those who want ot know what a one tonner is ,it's australias answer to the trabant[][][xx(]

 

[Cam]

mercmad - 2/15/2005 8:55 PM
For those who want ot know what a one tonner is ,it's australias answer to the trabant[][][xx(]

LOL, it's Australia's answer to not much at all really []

We called Mercedes this morning and asked them to double check the head gasket supply again and told them what to look for on the parts diagram that comes up on their computer.

Surely enough, there was another W114 230.6 head gasket marked "late". They were apologetic and sent it straight over at no cost. Muchos Kudos to them [] I'll get photos of the two and you will see the subtle differences.

Only problem is I have to pull the head again [V][][B)] But I'm getting quicker each time, lol. And the 230 has been saved from recieving the dry sumped small block HEMI [][]