rgrewar

We recently purchased a 1970 250 and after repeated attempts at the local MB dealership, we have been unable to cure a hesitation/stalling that occurs when the engine is cold. the car also shakes a lot when in neutral - again, when cold. Any ideas on what I should tell the repair guys to inspect/tune?
Rory

TaxEsq

As a MB owner I would direct you to http://www.sl113.org/ it's the home of the pagoda discussion group. As a2010 C-class and 1964 230sl owner I found this site helpful for the c-class but for the 230sl you really want to visit sl113.org, it has everything you could ever want to know about your car. As an FYI, the 250sl was only produced from 1966 - 1968, so your 1970 is likely a 280sl or not a 1970 car...

rgrewar

Wow - that is surprising. We were told the car was a 1970 when we bought it and when we registered it, there was no question about it being a 1970 model. It is just definately a 250 - unless the plate on the trunk has been altered.
Is there somewhere on the car where the model year would be indicated?

TaxEsq

again, the best place for this sort of information is sl113.org, I highly recommend the technical manual section. Regarding the data and vin number you can find a number of locations that have this http://www.sl113.org/wiki/DataCard/Start Also, you can quickly verify whether your 250 is indeed a 250 by looking at the left side of the engine, stamped on it will be a 14 digit code along with 230, 250 or 280 in a very large stamp. I wouldnt worry all that much if your 250 is really a 280, my 230sl has a 250 engine and 4 wheel disc brakes, so I am actually very happy about that...

The 14-digit engine number consists of the following elements:

First three digits: Engine model

127 M127 II 2.3 Liter for the 230 SL
129 M129 III 2.5 Liter for the 250 SL
130 M130 2.8 Liter for the 280 SL
The next three digits describe the engine version. For example,

127.981 is the engine for the 230 SL (W113)
127.980 and 127.983 are engine versions for 220SE (W128, 2.2 liter)
127.982 is the engine for the 220SEb Sedan (W111, 2.2 liter)
127.984 is the engine for the 220SEb Coupe/Cabriolet (W111/3, 2.2 liter)

129.982 is the engine for the 250 SL (W113)
129.980 is the engine for 250 SE (W108 III sedan and W111 IIIA coupe and cabriolet)

130.983 is the engine for the 280 SL (W113)
130.980 is the engine for the 280 SE (W108 E28 sedan and W111 E28 Coupe and cabriolet)
130.920 is the engine for the 280 S (W108 V28, carburetor)
130.923 is the engine for the 250 (W114 V28 and C114 V28, carburetor, 2.8 liter but badged "250")

rgrewar

Thanks for the detailed information - very good of you to take the time to explain the intricacies of automobile numbering. I will check under the hood.
Cheers,
Rory

TaxEsq

no worries and good luck.