129 Don'ts of R129 Mercedes-Benz SL Ownership - Part 2 - Avoid these to save on costly repairs

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4 ай бұрын

In this series, I go over 129 things to avoid (don'ts) during ownership of the 300SL, 320SL, 500SL, 600SL and all years ( (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001).
Part 2 covers the don'ts 21 to 40. The list of 129 items are in no particular order - obviously some are more important than others, and some will surprise you. There will be 6 parts to complete this series. Don'ts 1 to 20 have already been covered, in Part 1 with link here: • 129 Don'ts of R129 Mer...
Some of these cars are now into their fourth decade. By not doing the things shown in the video, you will help your car last well into its fifth decade and beyond - and why not? Bruno Sacco designed a masterpiece and Mercedes created an amazing car. Let's all do our part to keep them looking and operating at their best.
Car shown is 1992 300SL M104.980 engine
Mercedes Handy Val DIY Playlist: • MERCEDES DIY Handy Val...
R129 Don'ts Part 1: • 129 Don'ts of R129 Mer...
Some fixes to the items shown in the video:
R129 Rust Video: • Mercedes-Benz Owner an...
R129 Ragtop Cleaning: • Convertible Top Clean,...
R129 Oil Change: • Mercedes Benz Engine O...
R129 Check Fluids: • Mercedes-Benz How to C...
If you want to see my upcoming R129 videos, please subscribe to the channel as I will be posting more shortly. My channel also has many other Mercedes how-to videos.
Disclaimer - The content of this video is available for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice. I do my best to provide accurate and complete information, however, I assume no liability for any property or personal damage that may arise from any of the information contained in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of Handy Val, no information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Handy Val always recommends safe practices.

Пікірлер: 41

@rioraton 4 ай бұрын

Excellent info especially about the top which I did NOT know...Thank You

@HandyVal 4 ай бұрын

Thanks. The top is such an important part of the car, so let's treat it right!

@brandonfowler6013 4 ай бұрын

Another great video Val!

@HandyVal 4 ай бұрын

Thank you! We now covered 40 of the 129 don’ts. Part 3 of the series is already in the making, which will cover 20 more.

@markbaker6029 4 ай бұрын

Perfection Val - as always🙏 - Mark

@HandyVal 4 ай бұрын

Thank you and more thanks. Much appreciate the great feedback. It motivates me to keep making more videos.

@markbaker6029 4 ай бұрын

@@HandyVal you better😂

@edwardrivera206 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for all your hard work VAL ❤ you need my broken bolt i make sure the bolts are snug by hand when i put my wheels on

@HandyVal 4 ай бұрын

Thanks Eddy! Those broken bolts are a serious pain to remove. Hand snug to torque specs is the only way!

@markobrien6586 2 ай бұрын

Val always great info & videos 5 stars!!!!!!!

@HandyVal 2 ай бұрын

Thank you. I appreciate that!

@KlaasRijnks 2 ай бұрын

On running hot (engine M104, and I assume the M103, M119 and M113 as well), this can be caused by an underpressurized and/or leaking AC system. The auxiliary AC fans come on at around 95 degrees Celsius when everything is well. However, when the AC system pressure is too low, the fans sometimes don't come on at all. Your best bet in that case is to switch the AC off (EC on the climate control unit) because then the fans will come on at around 105-110 degrees Celsius and cool the engine down to around a 100 degrees. Toasty for the occupants of the car, but at least they can continue their journey. In my experience, if you drive over 30 mph or 50 kph, the outside airflow will keep the engine cool enough. It's just very inconvenient when you have to stand still in traffic for a long time.

@HandyVal 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the R129 running hot. I made a video on the auxiliary fans. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2nKnn6kprSYb6ssi=eYlen1t9hJVJagoc I agree, it’s heavy stop and go traffic that create the ‘hot’ temperatures.

@DevinFife23 4 ай бұрын

Really leaning in on this channel for my recent 1990 300SL purchase... Thank you for making these videos. Any plans on doing a video on swapping out spark plugs and/or transmission fluid & gasket replacement?

@HandyVal 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for your support in watching the Handy Val videos! My goal, which is ambitious, is to keep the world’s R129s looking and operating as if they just rolled off the assembly line. Thanks for the video ideas. I’ll put them on my list of future videos. The 1990 SLs were the first to hit the streets and because of its age has had the most admirers! My pleasure to help.

@DevinFife23 4 ай бұрын

@@HandyVal you’re the man!! Swapped out my engine & cabin air filter today!! Looking forward to your next video!

@markx369 2 ай бұрын

Keep up the great work Val👍🏻😁 I love your SL videos. The R129 is my favorite car😎☀️ Would love to see you giving us an overview of the cars' main components and features (engine, gearbox, chassis, electro-hydraulic system for the soft-top,...) Greetings from Germany😊

@HandyVal 2 ай бұрын

Thank you so much. It’s motivating. Your suggestions for future topics are interesting. I will consider the topics for future videos. Look out for them in the near future. Danke.

@jonboy9912 11 күн бұрын

I have always considered my R129 as an unexploded financial bomb parked on my drive ready to explode at any time! Just looking at it the wrong way tends to cause a failure somewhere! I just got out of hospital to find none of my family touched the car when I was incapacitated and the battery was flat. Knowing never to jump start the thing I used a new "Conditioning", charger and guess what it fried the roof control module that cost £1100 to replace with an OEM part! If your battery goes flat disconnect it from the car before charging it! Having said all this I still love the thing!

@HandyVal 11 күн бұрын

Hey. Thanks for sharing this. Nicely described. The R129 community love their cars. Nothing, even expensive repairs, can’t break our love for them.

@mashalaboudinasari6930 4 ай бұрын

Thanks

@HandyVal 4 ай бұрын

No problem. Thank you.

@SirPierreSe 4 ай бұрын

Another great video =) I shared this one as well in my blog. How do i test the Rollbar sensors?

@HandyVal 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching and thanks for sharing. Much appreciated. The R129 rollbar will pop-up anytime one of the rear tires is off the ground. It does this by applying pressure on those rollbar sensor ‘wings’ which act like a switch. The sensor has two settings - either on or test mode. The settings are visible on the switch ( granted you need to squeeze yourself under the car; you don’t need to jack it, as there is enough space).If you turn the setting to test then all it takes is for you to drive the car about 20km/hr and then forcibly hit the brake pedal. If the switch is working the rollbar will pop-up. You try this on both switches, one at a time. The other thing to note is that the switch needs to be carefully calibrated, so if the tire leaves the ground it can pop-up. If not calibrated properly it may never sense that the tire is off the ground and never activate itself. Given, the age of these cars, we never know if someone along the way ‘fiddled’ with the sensors and incorrectly or accidentally moved them. There’s I believe two screws holding each sensor in place. I should probably make a video on this, as I’m going by memory for this comment and there’s likely more. In the meantime, I hope this helped.

@SirPierreSe 4 ай бұрын

@@HandyVal Ah so they CAN be calibrated! On all years? Mine is a 95. And the problem is that the rollbar pops up way to easy. To much speed in a roundabout or driving over a traintrack and it jumps up. The car is lowered with AMG dampers so I guess they need to be calibrated then. I was thinking of buying new ones but they cost over 400 usd each here in Sweden...

@HandyVal 4 ай бұрын

They definitely need to be recalibrated - that’s why they activate on the slightest road bumps. The 90 to 95 models can all be recalibrated. You need to loosen the screws holding the sensors and lower the ‘sensor wing’. Finding the right spot is a bit tricky as you need to lift one side of the car (using a jack), and ensure that the suspension part hits the ‘sensor wing’ to trigger it. It needs to trigger when the tire is barely above ground. You don’t need to buy new ones. Your sensors are working.

@SirPierreSe 4 ай бұрын

@@HandyVal Thank you VERY much for this! 🙏🏼 I hope I help you get some views on your videos :)

@HandyVal 4 ай бұрын

Thank you! Happy to help as much as I can.

@yuriyv4239 Ай бұрын

super amazing education for the future owner like me! Thanks a lot Maybe you can help to make final decision M113 or M119 for SL500. Options more or less the same and both around 100 kilometers. Both after 95 Once again thank you!

@HandyVal Ай бұрын

Thank you. They’re both very good engines. And it’s tough to say which is better, so I would focus on the maintenance history of the cars and make that your deciding factor. Choose the one with more maintenance history. You’ll also want to make sure you like the colour combo too….and that’s personal preference. I hope this helps. Good luck with the purchase.

@GillyBerlin 8 күн бұрын

Waiting for Part 3 👀

@HandyVal 8 күн бұрын

It’s in the works. 😃

@GillyBerlin 8 күн бұрын

@@HandyVal thank you 🙏

@davidcchi3373 4 ай бұрын

I used 87 gs a few times, it’s was just fine on my m113 r129. This was in winter time. I would not do it in summer.

@HandyVal 4 ай бұрын

The M113 engines are amazing and are usually referred as bullet proof. I would avoid 87 octane. Once in awhile won’t cause any long-term issues but try not to.