1990 Mercedes 560SEL Full Mechanical Inspection and Overview - W126 Chassis
Vložit
- čas přidán 7. 02. 2023
- We're trying to catch up on older video edits - this car came by the shop in May 2022 and we have some videos to share - in this one, we'll do a walkaround, and check out this W126 Mercedes. This one in particular is a 1990 560 SEL with the M117 V8.
We'll also get it on the lift and do a full stem to stern mechanical inspection.
Coming soon, videos showing the refurbishment of the steering linkages (tie rods, drag link, damper, etc.) followed by a video showing how we did a lighting upgrade and Euro light conversion on this car. - Auta a dopravní prostředky
ASR was offered for 1991 on the USA market W126. They can be a pain, since the cruise control operates the throttle under normal conditions. The ABS used on the W126 was the same through the whole run - from 79 to 91! The seat shaped buttons were introduced on the W126. 1990 was the first year for the press brake to shift from park system, ala Audi. A driver’s airbag became an option in 1985, standard in 1986. The USA market V8s got the passenger airbag standard at some point, it was an option on the 6 cylinder cars. I don’t think the gas cars got underbody panels, just the diesels.
That 560 is in fantastic shape! I agree with the hood ornament comment. The best part is street lights reflecting off of it at night.
I would suggest pulling the subframes off that the caster / radius rods attach to. Where they attach to the body is a common rust point, and it looked like there was some starting on the driver’s side. Also, pull the sway bar ends out of the upper control arms and put some fluid film or similar on the ends. The ends can rust and snap of, which makes the car undeliverable.
Thanks! Awesome information, so thank you! It's hard to find clear, concise info on some of these cars, and this comment has lots of it. Thanks also on the underbody panels, I could not figure out if perhaps a prior shop had removed them and tossed them, or what. Looking for them online they seemed hard to find images of them, so perhaps this explains why. Best I found was a parts diagram from MB, but I wasn't searching a ton.
By the way - here's a question for you. Next video which should be live next week is where we did the steering tie rods. A big factor of the video is the fact that Mercedes has different catalog numbers for the RH and LH outer tie rod assemblies but NO ONE has the LH ones in stock. Annnnd...I really cannot understand what the difference is between the two. I ended up rebuilding the LH one using the original sleeve, and some Lemforder ends, after trying in vain to find genuine mercedes assembly or even ends.
During the work I took measurements of both, and the RH/LH seem identical to me. Flip em so the threads match and I can't see a difference at all. So my only thought was perhaps Mercedes catalogs were so precise they had part nubmers for each side when in reality its the same part - and now that it's older, one of them was effectively discontinued.
This was May 2022, and I haven't checked recently to see if LH ones are back in stock anywhere, but seemed at the time they were discontinued not just backordered. So wasn't sure if it was parts shortage issues or a catalog item that's kinda aged out if that makes sense....
Searched in vain and no one seems to want to say or confirm - could you just buy two RH tie rods and be good, or are folks stuck with rebuilding the LH one with non-geniune Mercedes parts....
@@VortexGarage Hm, when I ordered the front end parts for my W126 I went with AutohausAZ, who list a left and right outer from Lemfoerder. They were just over $10/e in 2021.
ABS was optional on Gen1, then standard on Gen2 (I think). At least my '84 has no ABS, so that's my assumption.
@@westhavenor9513 Yes in the USA ABS was standard on the S Class starting in 1985.
It was optional in europe starting in 1978 iirc!
Thats the best looking benz ever made,and the best ride at that
Mercedes Benz W126 ... " The Eagle "
Best car ever made. I had a 300SE back in the days, wonderful car, and easy to maintain.
I'm looking at a 1989 560SEL with 135,000 miles. Two owners, clear coat is fading, but starts right up and fine.
Those seat controls are called "haptic" which is the technical term for controls that use the design of the component for ease of use. This car is responsible for so many innovations that all other car makers use today that the list would be to long to articulate. The 560SEL was the flagship of the sedans but there is so arguments on whether the coupe 126C and the 107 convertibles was the actual top of the line car within the fleet. I find the black over grey is one of the most common colors and i prefer the more rare blues or cranberrys on these vehicles so you stand out among your peers. These are what were thought of as "forever cars". Since almost all the components could be disassembled and repaired without fear that you could no longer find the needed parts. Bank vault quality and international recognition is paramount with these cars.
My grandfathers would be super pleased if they could see how cultural-historical vehicle care of German engineering is cherished in the USA. Wish you good progress and solving all problems. Here in Germany we have a handful of extremely good Mercedes workshops for the W126. Come to Germany and learn them. You are welcome!🙂
I love these old W126. So nice and understated elegance. They look fantastic.
Sidenote: ASR in german means AntriebsSchlupfRegelung (Drive Slip Regulation) or Automatische Schlupfregelung. Very good Video🙂
Great video!
Thanks!
What a beautiful car :)
This is one of the best and most comprehensive overviews of the W126 ever. It was super helpful and informative. Thanks and I’m looking forward to the next part!👍
Awesome, thanks and glad you enjoyed it!
This world in high-end cars was so much better than today. They cared more about beauty, build quality and reliability. The W126 S-class' optional and premium features were also useful like telescopic steering wheel, heated seats, extra airbags and rear power seats. Today so many cars' gadgets are gimmicky and unnecessary like electronic buttons in place of door handles, "hands free" driving and run-flat tires.
This is so true!
What a car.
The black unmarked button on the center console was to control the front passenger mirror while the driver's side mirror was controlled manually.... Mercedes didn't want the driver to stretch across to adjust that one manually.. also on the front driver's door, there was a small black button which controlled the headrest which was motorized....
Thank you for a very interesting and helpful guide to a beautiful motor car.
I am searching for one myself ☺
17 feet of German business
Town & country horns. Dual-note ones on the underside are country, or American-style (loud). Ones mounted on radiator are town horns that made the more polite Euro-style meep-meep. My US Gen1 W126 only has town horns, but I see chassis bolt holes for the country horns, so maybe it was an option and/or standard on the Gen2.
Liqui Moly 10w40 semi-synthetic is also a great oil for older MB cars
Good video, thank you 👍👍
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed
If your A/C compressor is weeping a bit of mineral oil out the back seal, it runs down above the oil pan and around before dripping off the back of the oil pan, looking like an gasket leak. Just an FYI, because mine does this.
Replace those shocks with new Bilstein's and the steering stabilizer with Stabilus. You'll be amazed by the improvement in handling. Shocks wear out very slowly over time so it's hard to notice that they're worn until you replace them.
what do u think of Sachs?
@@MrRjnr Probably fine too, but Bilstein was the OEM
@@westhavenor9513 ok thanks!
My father has a 560sel just like this in Dark royal blue! He put 2 Lesllie A-200 train horns on it which will shake someone’s car when honked!!
Got time to finish watching the video. Looking forward to part 2!
1990 is the last year for the 2nd pump in the transmission - that car can be push started! With whatever work was done on that transmission the vacuum modulator hasn't been replaced. Not a big deal if it's working properly, the new style doesn't have the little rubber cap that likes to leak.
Mercedes never offered 4 corner SLS on US market cars. You could get it in Europe. Those cars don't have coil springs!
For headlights, you might point the owner towards a set of euro headlights. Ones from Depo are of acceptable quality, or you can try to source some used Bosch units. Beware of used lights having "blind" reflectors. If you install euro lights, the DOT wiper brackets don't really fit, and the wiper arms are incorrect. You can use wiper arms from a late W124, and swap the gears between the left and right motors to get something close to the euro wiper setup. Or just delete the wipers.
It sounds like only half of the horns are working on each setting, might just be the camera though.
That car is in primo condition. It's clear the owner does everything they can to take care of it!
Awesome info, thanks very much!! Great info on the transmission too - I will admit I was happy it ran well - the vacuum modulator would either be fun to learn or a pain to tune. (I had just got done tweaking the throttle to transmission cable adjustment on a Jag's Borg Warner transmission, which requires hooking up a pressure gauge the transmission and brake-loading the car at various RPM to get it within ranges - that was fun...)
Also I agree on the horns - actually it was something I didn't quite pick up on until I was editing this video and had seen some other videos of the town and country horns - realized the country horns seem off on this one...I'll let the owner know I'll check them when it's back for next oil change.
And you are spot on with the headlights, and I'm starting to edit a video shot last year where we did the Euro upgrade. I did use Depo light housings, and I got some euro W126 arms off Ebay - I was able to swap the motors side to side, fix up the washer wiring, and made mount adapters for the motors to the housings. So the wiper arms are in the right direction, headlight washers function, the only thing is the sweep isn't as quite as long as on a euro style motor. But owner is very happy, it looks really good and the wipers/washers do their thing (everyone wants to see them, so that was a must!)
I didn't think about swapping the gears in the motors - the adapters I made were simply 16ga flat stock and were pretty simple, so I'll get all that detail up on the video too.
I really liked working on this car, makes me want to find one of my own. I see them come up a fair bit around here but usually look pretty rough.
Can you elaborate more on the 1990 being the last year for that 2nd pump transmission. I know the transmissions in the W126 were known for having issues with the second gear. Are you talking about the same thing? So is the 1991 model year better in regards to a newer style transmission?
@@klwthe3rd Not 2nd gear, the 1979-1990 722.3 have two fluid pumps. The main one is driven by the engine. The smaller, secondary one is driven by the driveshaft. So by spinning the drive shaft you can generate fluid pressure and get the transmission to go into gear.
Whatvtrouble lighthis that. Nice and bright. Just purchased an 87 420 SEL. Hope it runs.
The clutched cooling fan is more exotic than you realize. It is pressure-cast magnesium. There are hundreds of interesting details about this and other MB creations that are easy to miss. Here's just one related to the w126: When you are under the front of the car, take a long look at the front suspension design so you can understand what is going on. Note that the design is not a derivative of anything conventional. It is bespoke and brilliant. It checks all the boxes. The dampers are placed as far outboard and close to the wheel center of effort as possible. I'll let you figure out why that's important. Unsprung weight is minimized via clever design rather than exotic materials. Notice how the anti-roll bar does double duty as a thrust member, eliminating the need for a conventional upper control arm. Note also, the impossibly long forged knuckle this design allows. The further you can separate the lower and upper pivot points of a knuckle, the greater precision and control of geometry you can maintain, particularly when soft, compliant bushings are chosen to enhance the quiet and soft nature of the product. Count the bushings . . minimized.
Meredes-Benz has innovated a number of world-beating suspension designs.
For example, the 5-link rear suspension found on many cars today, from Porsches to Hellcats was invented by Mercedes for the W201 and W124's 40 years ago.
The w126 introduced ABS brakes to the world. Mercedes also introducing their most life-saving invention ever; the airbag, to the world here.
You are truly in the presence of engineering royalty.
Nice looking car, well maintained, it's clear that the owner does not skimp on her maintenance. But damn it, why he installed a cheap aftermarket radio that is not suitable in terms of time and design in such a wonderful piece of art? There are many Blaupunkts and Beckers that still work well on the market. This suggests that the owner of this car has problems with taste.
Agreed!
Dear /
I have a question about a 1984 Mercedes W126 SEL 300 short chassis car. The original 3000cc engine was replaced with a 2300cc Mercedes W124 1992 engine to reduce the cost of gasoline consumption. Will the engine be weak on the W126 chassis?
--
1989 420 sel crankcase breather hose does this fit into air filter onside.you have picture i will apreciat any help
HI. What is your opinion between a 1991 560 SEL or a 1991 350 SD ???
This was my favorite Mercedes until I bought my 2006 S55.
Your HP number must be for non-US trim. US market 560's had HP in the low 200's due to emission reqs, maybe 220-240, can't recall the exactly.
Most people will not pay for all those fixes he spoke on.
2:14 no way 54,000 original miles. Listen to the list of issues and parts which have been replaced indicates this car has done way more miles. My 1984 W126 has much more mileage and still has the original front tie rods for example.
I don't agree. The underside of my '84 with 42k mi looks much like this one. Perhaps the tie rods have failed due to the rubber boots deteriorating over time. Also, this old girl has spent some time in the sun (faded floor mats and cracked wood veneers).
Why would a car that has 54k need all these things replaced i thought mercedes was a tank,sounds like its a pos
Rubber, plastic and fluids age regardless of mileage. I have and older Ford and an old MB. Both under 50k miles. Shit just breaks and I only drive them a few hundred miles a year.