Need Advice Concerning my W126
06-19-2020, 02:13 AM
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'91 560SEL '93 400SEL
Need Advice Concerning my W126
My W126 has presently been parked since summer 2016. Since then both sides of the rear hydraulic suspension have collapsed. The sunroof's passenger side guide-rail broke stranding the sunroof tilted open (roof has been under a plastic sheet ever since). And the battery, not surprisingly, has since failed. Ironically the mystery issue that lead to it being parked was a inexpensive and easy to access sensor, but by the time that was determine one side of the suspension had collapsed.
Pre-existing nit-picking issues it had before getting parked, that I can remember, none of which bothered me much that I could fix myself.:
Reason I'm seeking advice on what to do about this right now is that my other car, a Mercedes W140, is now also broken down. Both cars have their pros and cons, obviously. But I'm in such a financial pickle now that I am literally considering trading one of the two cars in at a repair shop towards the repair bill for whichever one I keep and have worked on. I have loved driving my W126 and put quite a number of miles on it back when it was my primary vehicle, but the laundry list of known issues is financially worrisome. My W140 likewise is worrisome as I have no clue what's wrong with it, and already had a primary and a secondary cable harness in it replaced with aftermarkets a couple years back as it's one of those year models with the stupid bio-degradable cable housings, and it's been suggested that the issue could be anything from a piston firing computer or the dual alternators.
W140 is a bit aggravating as the one time it broke down on me previously its' alternator failed, and on any other Mercedes I've owned that would have been a do-it-myself kind of repair, but on the W140 you've got to have the car on a lift and have a right-angle pneumatic ratchet. Which is to say I ended up having to pay for the car to get towed a second time to a shop for someone else to install it. So I have my concerns on this car about my personal capability of performing what should be seemingly straightforward repairs on it in my driveway on it in the future when they arise. But on the flip I suspect that whatever is wrong with this car currently will likely be a farcry cheaper than the needed repairs to my 560SEL.
Suggestions?
Pre-existing nit-picking issues it had before getting parked, that I can remember, none of which bothered me much that I could fix myself.:
- One of the rear windows no longer worked.
- Brakes needed replacing, squeaky.
- Odometer never worked.
- Hood ornament broken.
- Headrest up/down mechanisms broken for both front seats.
- Burned oil. (probably needs a new head gasket.
- Had been advised to have the timing chain part that's known to fail replaced.
Reason I'm seeking advice on what to do about this right now is that my other car, a Mercedes W140, is now also broken down. Both cars have their pros and cons, obviously. But I'm in such a financial pickle now that I am literally considering trading one of the two cars in at a repair shop towards the repair bill for whichever one I keep and have worked on. I have loved driving my W126 and put quite a number of miles on it back when it was my primary vehicle, but the laundry list of known issues is financially worrisome. My W140 likewise is worrisome as I have no clue what's wrong with it, and already had a primary and a secondary cable harness in it replaced with aftermarkets a couple years back as it's one of those year models with the stupid bio-degradable cable housings, and it's been suggested that the issue could be anything from a piston firing computer or the dual alternators.
W140 is a bit aggravating as the one time it broke down on me previously its' alternator failed, and on any other Mercedes I've owned that would have been a do-it-myself kind of repair, but on the W140 you've got to have the car on a lift and have a right-angle pneumatic ratchet. Which is to say I ended up having to pay for the car to get towed a second time to a shop for someone else to install it. So I have my concerns on this car about my personal capability of performing what should be seemingly straightforward repairs on it in my driveway on it in the future when they arise. But on the flip I suspect that whatever is wrong with this car currently will likely be a farcry cheaper than the needed repairs to my 560SEL.
Suggestions?
