My R129 500SL Progress

[BTB 500]

Those are the bolts although as mentioned, mine gave the chrome end caps which I’ve re-polished

The ends on mine are stainless steel rather than chrome (standard bolt on the left)

 

[MarkGolf997]

They're the ones, going to give them some attention once I'm over the electrics.

I removed the stalk in order to test it, all checked out ok with the stalk, Continuity at the swtich joints themselves, pins on the back of the unit and the pins on the plug, so I think no issue with the stalk unit.

Got the hump with that after I found that the stalk was ok.

I then poked around in the relay box

Just for reference

Relay box

Things like this annoy me, it was obvious that someone had been poking around here, things werent clipped back properly and then I found a mess on the wiring, I think an alarm/immob had been here previously but wires left bare!!!

Someone needs shooting, crappy crimps too

I had the hump with not being able to fix any of the issues aswell as introducing a new one of the fog light not working so I didn't get pics of the secured wires and clean up under the fuse box, looked like a nest underneath it, just years of crap.

So, with thanks to some great tips, I think I've got an earth issue somewhere, I'm wondering if there is an earth point under or near the fuse box or under passenger seat where earth points may have corroded...

So, my only intention yesterday evening was to give the car a wash but I got side tracked with the above so at 10:30pm, I had to at least acheive one thing!

Next will be more investigation into the gremlins and a small order of back order bits from Mercedes.

 

[tommyboy40]

Look like that? I would consider changing those, they like to shear on the extended shank.

These were extended to be flush with the original R129 16" rims

 

[MarkGolf997]

Ah ok, so new wheels = new bolts, no problem.

Been a bit quiet on the car in the last week, I have been preparing another car for a nurburgring trip and I've got a holiday tomorrow so no time for it. I did manage to loom at the light module however, I noticed some dry joints which I resoldered but unfortunetly, my main beam flasher still fails to function and the bulb warning light still appears. I am tempted to buy another however, just to test. I REALLLYYYYYYYYYY want to solve the main beam flasher, I can't work out why it would work when you push the stalk away yet when you pull it, it doesn't when the contacts in the swtich are fine and I can see that teh stalk works when testing the pins on the plug for activity!

You can see one of the dry joints in this pic, the very first one along the top.

I also found out why my fog light stopped working, I found out that someone had interefered with a wire!

A crappy wire crimp on a wire which couldn't reach it!!!

So I found an equal sized piece of wire to extend the cut out section and soldered that in, heat shrinked and then tape up the exposed wires.

That's all for now, once I'm back from Holiday and Nurburgring, I'll be back to work on this, new PVC rear windows are next on the list and hopefully working out the main beam flash and dodgy mirror/earth.

Cheers!

 

[brucemillar]

I really do not like wire crimps at all. Invariably, no matter how well or poorly fitted, they corrode, break, fall apart etc. You cannot beat a good soldered joint with some heat shrink. You can, trust it and do not need to keep, constantly re-checking your own work.

 

[Dec]

Ah ok, so new wheels = new bolts, no problem.

I REALLLYYYYYYYYYY want to solve the main beam flasher, I can't work out why it would work when you push the stalk away yet when you pull it, it doesn't when the contacts in the swtich are fine and I can see that teh stalk works when testing the pins on the plug for activity!

You can see one of the dry joints in this pic, the very first one along the top.


Cheers!

The 129 N10 relay is different to the 202 N10 relay, if the 202 relay is faulty then the headlight flasher (Pull up stalk) also fails to operate, when the 202 N10 relay is repaired then the flasher works again.

I don’t understand why this should be as it is not a lighting relay. Sounds like the same issue.

Have another look at the N10 for broken solder joints.

Dec

 

[MarkGolf997]

Thanks! I will open that up and take a look!

Fingers crossed. If this doesnt solve it, I have no idea what else to look at other than buy new versions.

 

[MarkGolf997]

Back from Holiday, used the SL to take my wife and I to the airport, was a pleasure, carried 2 large suitcases and our hang luggage without issue.

Arrived back to the car to find my rear number plate on the floor, so I have ordered some better sticky pads for that, on the other hand, the clock has sprung back in to action when the car is running, previously it would only run with the car off. Woo.

Hoping to check out the N10 relay this week in the hope it can fix my main beam flash, can't do much else as I'm off to the Nurburgring Thursday. New PVC windows to come the following weekend I hope, then I can enjoy some top down driving!

 

[Dec]

Mark, I am i incorrect in what I said about the N10 relay being related to the flasher fault, it may be the other relay which handles the lighting.

Dec

 

[MarkGolf997]

No probs Dec,

I'm ordering a new light module thingy and best check the N10 anyway.

Let's see what happens..

 

[MarkGolf997]

Not too much in the way of pregress to report, holidays all done now, I'm back to work on this.

I've booked it in for the PVC rear windows to be replaced on Saturday at Soft Tops based in East Croydon.

I gave the car a good wash and quick polish seeing as the sun is out.

Driving this car with the roof down really does make you feel like a king, it's a great feeling, it is starting to really shape up now!

Photos pre-polish!

I'll update once my windows are repaired

Cheers!

 

[MarkGolf997]

I had a quick go with my rotary polisher last night, I had noticed some etching in the paint from a tree or something! So I had to get it out, I didn’t go mad and attempt to de-swirl the car, my aim was just to get rid of the fallout marks and another time, I’ll spend a day de swirling the car.

The results so far speak for themselves, this paint really does shine up well, the colour is amazing when it has light hitting it!! I was shocked when I walked out to the car this morning. Wow!

 

[MarkGolf997]

Roof repair day finally arrived, had been looking forward to this as it means I can now leave the hardtop off and enjoy the outdoors when the weather allows..

First off was to get the hard top off, what a bloody lump that thing is!! While I had it off, I wanted to investigate why the heated rear window wasn't working and I found the issue which took all of 2 minutes to fix.

New crimp and job done!

Soft top up!

So on to the car, I was looking forward to my first drive with the roof down but typically, the weather turned and it bagan to rain, quite heavily at that!

Cling film and tape but had to be done, really, I should have just put the hardtop back on but I wasn't sure if the hood guy would have space or anywhere good to store it. Turns out it would have been better to keep it on as he needed to spend an hour drying to roof, lesson learnt!

After dropping the car off and being told to go and busy myself for 4/5 hours, I took a walk into Croydon, popped in to WH Smiths and came across an R129 buyers guide in car and classic magazine, had a scan of that and then went and met a mate and had a nice long lunch.

Windows done!

The roof isn't the best but it isn't worth replacing just yet, it does the job it needs to and to be honest, I much prefer the look of the car with the hardtop. The soft top just adds some security when I use the car without the hardtop. I plan on giving it a good scrub as the roof has always been kept down, so there is some creasing which i hope will fall out and the inside needs a thorough clean. The outside needs protecting so that the water beads off of it using AutoGlym roof protector, really good stuff and will prolong the life of it.

Back out in the rain, the roof soaking up the water like a sponge, not for long! I must say, I do prefer the look of the car with the hardtop, the soft top isnt the prettiest of things..

Just to wrap up, the sun was out on Sunday so what better thing to do other than take the new convertible with the roof down to a nice country pub!

Had a pint too many so the wife had the pleasure of driving the SL home, felt great to be a passenger!

 

[BTB 500]

Looking good! My wife has been using my SL to go to work while it's been sunny

One comment about the HRW on the hard top ... it's not very effective! Takes ages to heat up, I think because the elements are inside the glass rather than just being 'printed' on the surface.

 

[Doodle]

Using the centre vents helps, set to hot and aimed through the gap between the seats.

 

[MarkGolf997]

Thanks Guys,

I just want everything to work more than anything, that's one more thing off the list.

 

[MarkGolf997]

Picked up some small bits from Mercedes Epsom.

New upper/lower aerial grommets as the existing one isn’t making a seal.

Clip which holds the battery panel in place, current one is broken

Screw for spark plug cover, one is missing.

I also got some genuine Mercedes Spark Plugs to replace the current unknown plugs as part of the upcoming service I want doing. I’ll be doing the spark plug change myself, that’s for certain.


Crappy pic of aerial grommet of, soon realised it was too dark for pics but I felt the need to nip out and change that before it rained that night.

Here is the clip which holds the carpeted battery cover in place, I soon realised the other end was missing, so I’ll need to order that.

The inner lining of the soft top was pretty filthy, hated seeing that when in the car so I had to get that out and give it a clean asap!

A soak in a bath with some mild fabric detergent.

The next morning, clean!

5 mins to fit back in

Some foam backed suede samples arrived for the hard top lining which I did previously stick back up but I was never happy with the job as the material had shrunk and just looked a bit old/dirty. So, I figured a suede headlining would solve the old sagging lining issue and add some more luxury to the cabin. I picked 2 colours and decided on the darker one as it was a close match to the original.

I’ve now got a roll of material and I will be fitting that tonight.

Saturday gone, I decided to investigate the rotor arms, caps, leads and change plugs. The guys I got the car from said that the leads and caps were “recently replaced” but without a date or invoice, I took this with a pinch of salt, having looked at them, they do not appear old and they’re certainly not original. The arms and tips appeared clean, no carbon build up or dusting so certainly not in need of replacement, I would imagine that the plugs were changed at the same time but for peace of mind, I wanted to change those. I did the plugs 1 by 1, NGK R plugs had been fitted, I had read online about NOT fitting R (resistance) plugs, not sure why but I had Mercedes plugs spec’d for the car to go in, all plugs which were removed were identical in condition so I’m happy with that.

All 8 plugs changed, I fired the car up, it seems to start better and upon driving, 100% feels to rev smoother. Very happy with that. Look forward to the main service so I can get some fresh oil in.

Next job was to investigate something that got my interest, I noticed a random black wire which looked out of place due to being on it’s own. I followed it and it was linking the rear brake lights… I couldn’t understand why someone would do this, it was 1 solid wire so I wasn’t wired for a 3rd brake light and was the exact length it needed to be to be between both rear brake light bulbs, so I disconnected it and didn’t see any adverse results, everything worked as normal. Upon driving away later, I had a positive result, my bulb warning light no longer illuminates, WOOHOOO!!! 1 job off of the list

One more job I squeezed in before going to a BBQ was to add some Gtechniq trim restorer to the handles, the handles looked tired, so a good clean with some panel wipe and an application of the permanent trim restorer has lifted the handles to their original condition.

Roof lining tonight and I’m planning to pop the car down to my bodyshop for them to look at the rust and get a date booked in.

 

[C43AMG]

Looking Great Mark

 

[Doodle]

I did the plugs 1 by 1, NGK R plugs had been fitted, I had read online about NOT fitting R (resistance) plugs, not sure why

The components of the ignition system (dizzy cap, rotor, plug leads) provide a specific amount of resistance, that is not present in the later Motronic (coil on plug) systems. Hence plain plugs for the early cars, and resistor plugs for the later cars.

Unfortunately they frequently get mis-specified due to incorrect catalogue data, this includes the part manufacturers themselves! (Bosch, I'm looking at you here).

 

[Zonergem]

Great thread, congrats on taking this wonderful car so far forward in such a short space of time.

Should be Bosch F7DC0 plugs (or their Champion/NGK equivalents) for the M119.960 KE-Jetronic cars. MB Part Number A 003 159 16 03 got me those Bosch plugs in MB boxes at £3 a pop. They actually said R 0 on the bodies, which I assume means Resistance = 0...


If you're still looking for the piece of plastic shown below then I have a spare you can have for free.

If you haven't got a wind deflector then the OEM model was made by Oris and is definitely worth getting hold of. Makes top-down driving at speed a breeze rather than a gale.

Mercedes SL Wind deflector | eBay