my '67 250SE stalls after 15 mins. fuel smell. inherited from uncle steve. help

Hey boys, long time lurker first time poster.

Some of you know my uncle Steve - he gave me his '67 250SE last year when I came back from London during Covid. The car he bought new, shipped to England, drove thru the Baltics to Greece then back through London then shipped home. Proper world traveller car. He said "you take it now Vangeli, I'm getting too old to drive proper, kids these days they wreck them, you don't."

First year I been mostly tinkering. Chrome hunting on ebay, replaced the boot rubber, fixed the dashboard clock. Lovely.

BUT - last 3 months she starts perfect, drives perfect, 15 mins in she just dies and theres a fuel smell. Like PROPER fuel smell. Tried it 4 times now same thing each time. Took it to my guy in Revesby, he said its the tank. CHANGED THE TANK. Same problem. Then said its the coil. CHANGED THE COIL. Drove fine for 2 months of weekend cruising Bondi Rd to La Perouse no dramas.

Then last tuesday on the M5 at 6am going to work she completely shat herself. Limped to the off ramp. He says its leaking fuel, changed the gauge $800 didnt even ask me first cheeky bastard.

I dont want to ring uncle Steve about this. He's in Folegandros for the summer and he's earned the rest. I cant let this guy in Revesby keep guessing on it though. The car has to be sorted by spring.

What would u boys do

Boonie - lucky bastard getting Steve's 250SE. treat it right.

Your mechanic is throwing parts. M129 doesnt usually fail from one magic thing. you have two problems overlapping.

15 minute stall + fuel smell is likely tank venting or rear rubber feed line behind LH rear wheel. also check fuel sender cork gasket, 110 471 01 80, about $12 at McStarparts. your bloke charging $1,400 for a tank he didnt need is painful.

Warm misfire / M5 dying.. check the coil. W108 wants Bosch RED 9V coil with the two ballast resistors. if he fitted Bosch BLUE 12V and left the ballasts, coil sees about 4V hot and spark gets weak. th is is exactly how they die warm.

Steve's car matters. 37,866 250SE sedans in 1967, and yours is half LHD loom / half Steve RHD conversion from 1968. Revesby mechanic reading a LHD diagram is guessing.

Pull coil, tell me colour. change nothing else.

BRO just call my guy at Revesby. NOT the one you been seeing - the other guy on Punchbowl Rd, ask for Nick. Or better yet bring it to my cousin Kosta in Campbelltown he'll do it for cash. Don't let that other clown near it again, $800 for a gauge is criminal.

Also my cousin in Auburn might have a NOS Bosch coil boxed somewhere from the warehouse clear-out in 09. I'll ask Sotiri this arvo.

I have.This is exactly what i went through with my 67 250se i combined with a 71 280 drivetrain.Once you swap the firewall all the fenders are interchangeable.I work at Geo and Jim's restorations as a kid all we did was build 108 and 113 body cars.M129 is a hot motor in summer the petrol vaporises in the line before it gets to the injection pump.put a heat shield in.your mechanic is right about the tank but wrong reason it's not the tank it's the vent.

I am looking for a build.If you want to sell the 250se let me know i'll give you 8 i have a 280 drivetrain ready to drop in we can do a clean swap and you get a faster car

Boonie. Do not let Viktor put a 280 drivetrain in your car. He is correct that the M129 will vaporise fuel in hot weather and that a heat shield is a known fix - credit where due. But this car is matching numbers and Steve's. You don't swap the soul out of a car to fix a $12 gasket.

Viktor mate, every car you describe is "combined" with something else. Your signature has seven chassis numbers and you've never finished a build. Stay in your lane.

Billy you legend. It IS a BLUE coil. 12V coil on 9V wiring th is whole time. 2 months weekend cruising, points slowly dying, then dead on M5.. makes sense now.

I was filling it every drive too, just to be safe. probly making the sender leak worse.

Found Kosta via Mumma Jo's brother - Chris K's brother, Karpouzis Cafe in Campbelltown. he pulled the seat, said gasket. my mate Kosta did it $300 cash Saturday. red 9V coil next weekend.

VIKTOR mate im not selling it. its my uncles car. heat shield tip noted.

How do i know if rear feed line is perished too. still tiny fuel smell warm.

Good. Now -

Rear fuel feed line: jack it safely, look behind LH rear axle where rubber line exits body to pump area. after 50+ years it goes hard. twist it, if micro cracks show, replace. Cohline 5x10, metre or two from McStarparts or GMS Spares Revesby. proper fuel clamps, not Bunnings worm-drive rubbish.

While under there, check in-tank pickup screen. if it was pulling vacuum with sender gasket leaking, screen can crush and cause starvation.

Red 9V coil goes in, then verify both ballast resistors on LH inner guard, white ceramic, two of them, each about 0.9 ohm. if one is bridged youll cook the coil again.

Viktor is right on M129 heat soak. later thicker injection-pump heat shield gasket fits, 102 071 04 76 on later cars. McStarparts about $40..

good boys. did u eat boonie

Steve will know what to do, ring him when he's back from Folegandros in September. Or PM him - he checks the messages on weekends from the island, his English is patchy these days but his Greek typing is faster. He drove that 250SE for 30 years no dramas. Drove it through Yugoslavia in 89 with the war about to kick off and got it home in one piece.

They don't build em like this anymore. They don't fix em like this anymore either.

Boonie listen to Billy. Don't listen to Viktor. Heat shield is real, the rest is noise.

Boonie - Kosta is the better mechanic in the family. I just buy the cars he fixes them. Also for what it's worth the W108 250SE is THE car. Don't sell it. If you ever want to, talk to me first.

Billy's production-number figure is right - there were 37,866 250SE sedans built in '67. The Australian-delivery ones are a handful. But Steve's is more interesting than that - it's an English-market personal-import car that he RHD-converted in his garage in '68, drove around the world, and registered here in '72. That's not a 1-of-37,866 car, that's a 1-of-1 car.

Pic for context - my '63 W111 220SE Coupe, DB050 Weiss over red leather, all matching numbers, full restoration by John Tsolakis 2007-2009.

Different chassis (yours is sedan, mine is the coupe) but same DNA. They go up in value every year. The market for these is at a record. Billy and I went around the Bowral show two weeks ago and the asking price on a comparable W108 sedan was $58k. Steve's car is worth more than that and your insurance probably has it at $18k. Get it valued.

Thanks Chris. Boonie any time mate. Bring it back if it does it again, I want to look at the tank vent next time as well. Billy is right about the Cohline hose, don't buy the cheap stuff. And the later heat shield gasket is real, my dad fitted them in the 70s on cars that came in for the warm-stall complaint.

Also - for everyone else reading this, if you're in the southwest and need a 50-year-old Mercedes looked at, swing by the cafe. Cash only. I do the cars out back between the lunch and dinner rush. Saturday morning is the only proper slot. Ring first.

Do NOT ring me on a Friday between 11 and 2, that's the fucking sandwich rush.

Kosta you and Chris aren't really cousins are you. Like brothers brothers? Cos Chris also says he doesn't have a brother in his bio.

Also Boonie when you put the coil in send me a pic, I'm pretty sure my guys at Auburn have NOS red Bosch coils boxed. Different cousin from the one at the warehouse.

Yianni. Kosta is my brother. We're brothers. I never said I didn't have a brother. You're thinking of when I said I don't have cousins in Auburn.

I have a brother. He runs the cafe in Campbelltown. He fixes Mercedes. He charged Boonie $300 to do a $12 gasket because the labour to get to it is real. He is my brother.

boonie... as it is a merc... yes... fix it !!!

If i'd be a Ford .... No throw it fort !! (away). but is a Mercedes-Benz the original way always. Billy has good answer. Kosta good man. Heat shield with the thicker gasket - ja correct from 68 onwards. I had this on my 280SE in Mannheim with the same problem.

One thing more... your tank cap with the vent... check the spring inside. After 50 years it become weak. New cap from Stuttgart only 60 euro plus post. Without good vent the pump pull air.

🤭😋

Vangeli mou saw this thread from the island.

Car is in good hands now. Kosta is family. Billy knows his stuff. Berny always knew the heat shield trick I taught him in 92.

Boonie - drive the bloody thing, don't garage it. Garaging kills these cars more than rust does. And don't ring me about it - you boys have it sorted between you. I trust the diagnosis.

Ae gamisou Viktor, no drivetrain swap. Mou-na-ree.

Steve mate I didn't expect you to be on. Get back to the island, the sun is hot and the kalamari isnt going to eat itself. Ill drive it.

Cohline hose ordered from GMS Revesby pickup tomrrow. Red coil from Chris's brother Kosta this weekend. Ballast resistors checked, both still there about 0.85 ohms each, thats close enough yeah? Heat shield gasket on the way from McStarparts. Tank cap with the new vent spring on the way from Wilfrieds guy. Fuel sender cork gasket already in the letterbox arrived today, $12 like u said.

VIKTOR mate no drivetrain. Love yas boys.