6.9

I can vouch for Larry Fletcher. he lives 2 hrs from me so i had the opportunity to visit him, he has a nice set up and knows his stuff, he rebuilt my fuel dist and wur while i waited. and i have had no problems.
he is also a super nice character and will keep you entertain .

I suggest contacting Keith Bowers on any issues related to this system. He has all the factory manuals plus one really rare one and is a hydraulics engineer with a huge amount of knowledge. IMHO he now has a very good understanding of this system as well as some of the engineering thought that went into the original design.

I have offered the group two fantastic resources to assist with two frustrating 6.9 issues: the suspension and the fuel injection. Keith at B & B Suspension in Houston can handle anything suspension related and Larry Fletcher at CIS Flow Tech can rebuild, inspect, adjust, calibrate, etc. any CIS WUR and FD. I have been very pleased with everything Keith and Larry have done for me and am thankful I was able to locate them after literally years of searching. Both are really good guys that are willing to share their technical knowledge.

Hope this is helpful...

Pictures and measurements of all the seals were posted at this site, at W116.org and Topklasse about three years ago. I suggest you do a search.

If they are lost I still have the original photos of new seals with measurements.

It is probably not worth measuring worn old seals and it shouldn't be hard to have new teflon seals turned down from a billet.

Bill

1979 Euro 6.9 with AMG modifications #5554
1979 450SEL plus another 1979 for spares

Yes I have seen those threads and they are excellent reading. However the problem is that there's no seal kits available. Obviously someone went to the trouble of making at least a couple of sets at one point yet the source has disappeared. It seems rather odd as I'm sure they'd sell quite a few.

And now we're left having to strip another couple of struts and find someone else who's capable of matching up (or remanufacturing) the seals.

All I can say is it's extremely frustrating. [:(][V]

Mark


Last of the steel Mercedes

2001 Ford AU Fairmont Ghia 5L (Deep Blue)
1980 450SEL #101122 (Green Lantern)
1979 6.9 #6301 (Blue Flame)
1979 6.9 #5541 (Red Bull)
1979 6.9 #5318 (Silver Arrow)
1979 6.9 #5298 (Man o War)
1978 6.9 #4248 (Skye Blue)
1979 6.9 #3686 (Moby Dick)
1975 450SEL #28414 (Gold Nugget)
1957 Buick Roadmaster 73A (Titanic)

Bill, who posts as "WGB" on this forum and the W116 forum, has successfully DIY rebuilt his struts. Here's a link to his thread with photos :

http://forum.w116.org/mechanicals/6-9-hydraulic-strut-overhaul-take-2/

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116.036
116.036
116.024
116.028
116.028
107.044
202.018
202.026

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There's a guy on the 116 forum in the UK that recently had his rebuilt. Maybe worth a ping.


With best regards

Al

Did anyone have any luck with these leads??

Mark


Last of the steel Mercedes

2001 Ford AU Fairmont Ghia 5L (Deep Blue)
1980 450SEL #101122 (Green Lantern)
1979 6.9 #6301 (Blue Flame)
1979 6.9 #5541 (Red Bull)
1979 6.9 #5318 (Silver Arrow)
1979 6.9 #5298 (Man o War)
1978 6.9 #4248 (Skye Blue)
1979 6.9 #3686 (Moby Dick)
1975 450SEL #28414 (Gold Nugget)
1957 Buick Roadmaster 73A (Titanic)

quote:

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Originally posted by Ron B
actually except the very early ones fitted to W114's and that is a rare option on a compact.

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Was that a rear only option or could you have a full hydro suspension?



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The reason ,I have since found,that pumps leak after a rebuild is that you DO NOT remove the inner steel part of the pump unless you have access to the special O ring ( not available from Mercedes) and a former,to guide the inner part back into the alloy housing without damaging it.
I believe we have a member here (in Western Australia) who can do it.
Any little microscopic wear marks on the drive shaft will cause the rear seal to leakSo ingeneral either Spend the $1200 + for a new one or get a good used late model 560 pump.All pumps are the same actually except the very early ones fitted to W114's and that is a rare option on a compact.

...There are old cars,and then there are Classics..(Mercedes Benz Ad. 1999)

As an aside, yes, 560sel's did have as an euro option a self leveling system and BEFORE laying out $1100.+US for a new pump or attemping a rebuild(I've tried that twice without success-started leaking worse at start up and second time lasted 30 days) junk yard dive for a 560 pump. It's the same. Also the 80's era TD wagon had the same self leveling system on the rear and same pump.

The shperes can be recharged if a hole is drilled and a shraser valve fitted so the nitrogen can recharged.
Nitrogen leaks thorough anything so after 20 years it's not unusual for the spheres to fail.
If the diaphragm fails the shpere is shot.
Regarding the struts,regular self levelling struts are different to the 6.9 part and are actually a bit complicated in the seals and pistons so they ( the 6.9 parts) must be rebuildable.

...There are old cars,and then there are Classics..(Mercedes Benz Ad. 1999)

Try this bloke


Strut Re-Gas
0419 359 941
ph: (03) 6249 3652

He is in Tasmania however he is part of a larger national group of auto strut repair people, I spoke to him a few months ago and he has rebuilt struts for Mercedes, Rolls Royce and Citroen,

can also recharge the air cells/sphere's, I did query this as the 6.9 sphere's don't have a recharge point, which the ones in Rolls Royce do, he did comment that this was not a problem and they use a unique process to recharge them.

I never got mine done so can't comment on the work, simply bought new ones instead.



----

I believe Grant is in South Africa.
Art

Hi Ron,

Grant in SA i assume is South Australia. If so I would like to get in contact with Grant to see of the result as I need to get on strut fixed up if it is possible. Under what name does Grant go so that I can contact him via PM.

Cheers
Andreas

Grant,in SA ,had his rebuilt last year.

...There are old cars,and then there are Classics..(Mercedes Benz Ad. 1999)

That's about the same as the seal set I saw for the 560SEL.

I'm kind of surprised that the struts only had a few seals on them.



Phil

Hmmm... just noticed that this is an old topic brought back to life, so what I just posted is a repeat of what I posted 13 months ago.

There is a company here in Perth that has made seals for the hydraulic struts from a 560SEL (please, let's not have the "126's didn't have hydraulic suspension" conversation again. They did, optionally, in some markets and this was a Hong Kong car). Their normal business is hydraulic rams. Some of the seals were off the shelf, the others they turned up on a lathe. At the time I spoke to the owner the seals had been in use for some 5 years with no problems.
I have my old front struts in the shed, and when I get time I intend to strip one and contact the company to see what they can do.

As for the spheres, some UK Citroen specialists have re-gassed MB spheres but you would need to get to them before the diaphragm fails. When I had a CX I was told that the main reason for diaphragm failure was prior gradual loss of pressure. So if there's a deterioration in ride quality but you haven't yet reached the point where that corner of the car has no suspension travel, try a re-gas and let us know how it goes.

Did anyone ever figure out a source for the seals to rebuild the struts? I pulled one apart and it appears there are three o-rings and a couple of teflon rings that are needed. The o-rings shouldn't be too much of a problem, but the teflon items may need to be custom made.




I'll have to see if I can find a hyd. shop that can either make that pieces or has something close that will function as intended. Anyone have any leads on a manufacturer who can make small quantities of these? Somebody has to have rebuilt these before.


Chris