1966 250SE Coupe - newbie questions

[TroutMD]

I am looking at one of these cars and have some questions.

1. There is a sound coming from trunk area when ignition is turned on. Sounds like some sort of suspension adjustment maybe? It keeps going until car is put in gear. Is this normal?

2. Becker Mexico AM/FM radio. Power antenna goes up when turned on, sound is good, auto tune works but I cant seem to switch between AM and FM. Any ideas?

3. It comes with a "Kuhlmeister" AC system. It works but the indicator writing around the two control knobs has worn off. Anyone know how these operate?

4. The car was filled up with ethanol gas. Is this a concern? Should I add some sort of fuel additive to mitigate?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

[rumb]

1. fuel pump. Make sure it is the original one, not a cheap replacement.


4. ethanol 10% is fine. (well not really, but our cars do run on it)

[Sugar Bear]

Re: fuel, try to avoid ethanol fuel to protect rubber components and avoid corrosion from moisture. I'd be more concerned with getting the highest octane available.

A tank of ethanol fuel isn't concerning, repeated use is problematic IMO.

[Todd Miller]

#1 The cars don't have any sort of electrics. It's just springs and shocks, as you saw when you inspected the wheel well and rockers for rot. Some might still have a "Hydropneumatic Compensator" laying horizontally above the differential, but most just have the replacement spring. The compensator is pressurized and keeps the rear of the car at it's stock height, even with passengers in the rear seat, or cargo in the trunk. It's a mechanical pump of sorts, but not electric and makes no noise.

#2 Can't help you with the stereo issue. Maybe the contacts for the button are dirty or hazed over due to age, and the unit needs a certain amount of cleaning. They are on ebay all day long.

#3 My guess would be that one knob is the temp adjustment and the other knob is the fan speed. I'm guessing you could rotate the knobs with the engine running and see what each does. There are probably photos of them via a google search, since it was a system used in the sedans and coupes for about a decade.

#4 If you can only get ethanol based fuel, simply put SeaFoam in the fuel tank at the recommend amount on the SeaFoam can. It's a fuel injection system cleaner and an excellent fuel stabilizer. For better engine performance, in terms of spark knock, you'll want to use the highest octane pump gas that you can get. Low octane fuels ignite too easily and create spark knock (pinging) under the load of a lot of throttle application.

These cars rot incredibly bad in the front bumper mount area, the arch in the front fenders, the rear area and front of the rocker panels of the front fenders, the rear face of the rocker panels at the rear fender wells, the entire inner rear fender area, the wells on either side of the trunk floor, and in the rear passenger area floors. Inspect closely, or if you have no experience, pay someone to put the car on a lift and inspect it for you. The cars are old enough that they have potentially had a lot of butchery done in order to hide or patch the rot. I didn't know this when I purchased my car in '92, and came unhinged a few days later when I discovered it. Of course it was 100% my fault for not doing a thorough inspection. My car is so rusty underneath that if I was smart, I'd cut it up and put in a dumpster. But I love it dearly, and it's still a great runner and driver.