W126 560SEC Odd fault? please help!
Discussion
I have owned my 560SEC for over 3 years now, I have lovingly kept it and tried to restore it back to its original factory spec by sending it to our local MB Dealer.
After over £10000 of work done on suspension and a reconditioned engine, the car was running really well and I felt I was slowly but surely getting on top of the restoration and was planning to send it to our local body shop to get it resprayed.
I was returning home from work, sitting at a roundabout waiting for the road to become clear and all of a sudden the car left the roundabout (so an eye-witness says) and plunged through a set of trees over the edge of a car park then through another set of trees at full throttle! It came to rest, axle deep in mud still at full throttle and on fire! I was knocked unconscious and was rescued by the fireman who kindly cut me out. Luckily, this incident happened on the grounds of our local police station, the 1st policeman on the scene was able to switch the engine off, while it was at full throttle and still in "drive."
As stated previously, I was knocked unconscious and have amnesia from about half a mile before the crash until I woke up on the stretcher, not understanding why I was there and what happened to my beautiful Mercedes!
Can anyone shed some light on this incident? Are w126s known to become erratic, any advice would be welcomed.
Cheers
Richard
PS Please find a pic of the car as it lies in the recovery yard
After over £10000 of work done on suspension and a reconditioned engine, the car was running really well and I felt I was slowly but surely getting on top of the restoration and was planning to send it to our local body shop to get it resprayed.
I was returning home from work, sitting at a roundabout waiting for the road to become clear and all of a sudden the car left the roundabout (so an eye-witness says) and plunged through a set of trees over the edge of a car park then through another set of trees at full throttle! It came to rest, axle deep in mud still at full throttle and on fire! I was knocked unconscious and was rescued by the fireman who kindly cut me out. Luckily, this incident happened on the grounds of our local police station, the 1st policeman on the scene was able to switch the engine off, while it was at full throttle and still in "drive."
As stated previously, I was knocked unconscious and have amnesia from about half a mile before the crash until I woke up on the stretcher, not understanding why I was there and what happened to my beautiful Mercedes!
Can anyone shed some light on this incident? Are w126s known to become erratic, any advice would be welcomed.
Cheers
Richard
PS Please find a pic of the car as it lies in the recovery yard
Edited by rcarr on Tuesday 28th November 13:06
www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/index.php
Try posting there, lots of guys with erm...older Mercs there (no offence, I love older Mercs). They love em, they'll know whats what.
Try posting there, lots of guys with erm...older Mercs there (no offence, I love older Mercs). They love em, they'll know whats what.
markmullen said:
Sounds scary, I can't offer any advice on the incident, you're a lucky man though looking at that.
I can only echo this!
Very scary! I know were knocked unconsious, but I hope were you OK otherwise!
And at least the car did its job - ie. you're alive!
I've personnally never of this problem until now!
Has this incident disuaded you from another?
Darren
Edited by iluvmercs on Tuesday 28th November 17:07
Of course not! I have always wanted one since I was very young!
I wanna buy another one when I am actually earning proper money! Send it to Mercedes Benz Classic in Fellbach and get them to go over it with a fine tooth comb.
I also fancy making a race version of one! There is a guy who races one at the Nurburg 24hrs and the Silverstone 24 hrs!
PS All the emergency services people were suprised to see me walking about the next afternoon.
I had massive head injuries, suspected broken neck, fractured jaw and fracture skull, luckily after several x-rays showed nothing was up. Concussion, whiplash and burns on my arm from the flames.
I was more worried about the car than about my injuries! I didnt believe my Dad when he told me that it was a write-off, both of my parents went to the scene of the crash before coming to visit me at hospital.
Dad took me to the recovery yard a few days later to see if it could jog my memory, but still nothing! The recovery men were shocked I was walking about!
I'll never buy anything other than Mercedes! Never! If it was another car, I would be dead!
I wanna buy another one when I am actually earning proper money! Send it to Mercedes Benz Classic in Fellbach and get them to go over it with a fine tooth comb.
I also fancy making a race version of one! There is a guy who races one at the Nurburg 24hrs and the Silverstone 24 hrs!
PS All the emergency services people were suprised to see me walking about the next afternoon.
I had massive head injuries, suspected broken neck, fractured jaw and fracture skull, luckily after several x-rays showed nothing was up. Concussion, whiplash and burns on my arm from the flames.
I was more worried about the car than about my injuries! I didnt believe my Dad when he told me that it was a write-off, both of my parents went to the scene of the crash before coming to visit me at hospital.
Dad took me to the recovery yard a few days later to see if it could jog my memory, but still nothing! The recovery men were shocked I was walking about!
I'll never buy anything other than Mercedes! Never! If it was another car, I would be dead!
Wow, it sounds and looks pretty bad but it's good you're still here to post this!
As I'm sure you know the engines in these are old and very mechanical with a mechanical throttle. I have heard of throttles becoming stuck open on 190e's but not other models, however they probably all use similar throttle linkage systems. The throttle linkages therefore need good lubrication. I think it's even mentioned as a service item. I imagine with the torque of a 560 and the relatively low power assistance to the brakes on these old Mercs, it could be a real problem if the throttle stuck.
I'm not sure what injection these use but my 190s are capable of increasing the throttle even up to 2000-2500 at 'idle' when the engine is cold. In fact my 2.5 often does this incorrectly and with no discernable reason when the engine is completely warm, but it is never a problem and requires little extra braking to slow the car. It is done with an air bypass valve that lets extra air in, bypassing the throttle plate, to increase idle speed. But I'm sure not enough air could ever flow through the bypass valve/pipes to give you even close to full throttle unless the throttle was opened. I'm not sure if that old M1xx V8 even uses this system anyway.
Could someone have attached a spring to pull open the throttle, as a way of reducing the throttle stiffness or something?
As I'm sure you know the engines in these are old and very mechanical with a mechanical throttle. I have heard of throttles becoming stuck open on 190e's but not other models, however they probably all use similar throttle linkage systems. The throttle linkages therefore need good lubrication. I think it's even mentioned as a service item. I imagine with the torque of a 560 and the relatively low power assistance to the brakes on these old Mercs, it could be a real problem if the throttle stuck.
I'm not sure what injection these use but my 190s are capable of increasing the throttle even up to 2000-2500 at 'idle' when the engine is cold. In fact my 2.5 often does this incorrectly and with no discernable reason when the engine is completely warm, but it is never a problem and requires little extra braking to slow the car. It is done with an air bypass valve that lets extra air in, bypassing the throttle plate, to increase idle speed. But I'm sure not enough air could ever flow through the bypass valve/pipes to give you even close to full throttle unless the throttle was opened. I'm not sure if that old M1xx V8 even uses this system anyway.
Could someone have attached a spring to pull open the throttle, as a way of reducing the throttle stiffness or something?
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