Over revved engine - well maybe

[Bonnyboy]

I was merging onto the freeway the other morning and I thought I was going fast enough and in the correct gear to easily slip into traffic but this twit in a pickup decided it was time to speed up -  so not to be forced into the weeds, I nailed my accelerator and got infront of him but in the process my car revved up to the red line and made a funny sound what I think is a sputtering sound of "valve float". 

It was only for a couple seconds Until I was able to shift into a higher gear but hearing that sputtering sound and loss of power made me feel sick.   The car drove fine for the rest of the day but I am wondering if there is any way to check to see if I damaged anything.

I have been going into the garage and hugging my car and saying "I'm sorry" but I wonder if there is more than that I can do.

[Todd]

Sounds very racey to me.  Nicely played!

If you'd done damage, you would have known instantly.  It's an extremely stout engine.

[ja17]

Many years ago, I campaigned a Mercedes sedan rally car with a M130 engine. It was hammered, flogged and frequently over-reved. I never did hurt it. I remember well, the "valve float" you experienced. The engine outlasted the rest of the car. As long as the engine is healthy and well maintained, you should be fine. I would not make a habit of doing that for sure.
They say Mercedes engines are designed to run at red line all day long.

[Bonnyboy]

Thanks for the reassuring comments.

[thelews]

I wouldn't disagree with you, but they sure aren't free revving like a Porsche or Alfa.  4000 rpm it says "what do you say we give it a shift?"  Same with the 190, just don't feel like they encourage you to wind them up.  That said, I have wound them up and have no doubt they can take it.

PO of my car drove it 375 miles in 4 hours once.

[vbrad]

I experienced the same situation when my mechanic took the car out for a spin to test his work.
Seems there is a rev-limiter to prevent over-revving (fairly standard in European cars of that era), and what you encountered may have simply been the limiter doing its job.

[ejboyd5]

Forget about it.

[MikeSimon]

I experienced the same situation when my mechanic took the car out for a spin to test his work.
Seems there is a rev-limiter to prevent over-revving (fairly standard in European cars of that era), and what you encountered may have simply been the limiter doing its job.

I don't think the W113 had a rev limiter. That was facilitated through electronic ignition or FI. Cannot see how they would have done that on a 280SL

[Jordan]

I don't think the W113 had a rev limiter. That was facilitated through electronic ignition or FI. Cannot see how they would have done that on a 280SL

The early 911's had rev limiters.  And those were carburetor engines.

[ja17]

There is no factory rpm limiter on these engines. However Bosch did make a distributor rotor which was a rev limiter. These were used on some other models of the era. I believe that some of these will fit in the W113 distributors.

[JamesL]

Prompting the thought… could that be programmed into a programmable 1-2-3 distributor, should it be a need?

[Berggreen]

Prompting the thought… could that be programmed into a programmable 1-2-3 distributor, should it be a need?

Good question, and I would also be interested to hear more about that option.

[thelews]

Yes, the bluetooth 123 tune lets you set a rev limit in the phone app.  It also has a lockout option, can select and car will not start.

[Rahul]

Is that the "TUNE+-6-R-V-M-IE" model, John?

Thanks

[Iconic]

Ian (Bonnyboy),
If your car is running fine now, that is the key.
I don't know if these are "interference" engines or not.
I'm guessing that they are "non-interference engines" because if you float the valves on an interference engine, you bend or break the valves, it happens almost instantly. You cannot back off in time..... AND you know it.
I did this (over-rev) on a NON-Mercedes car, and I knew instantly after the event that things were different. It just ran a little rough, in my case. Didn't break any valves, but "kissed" most or all of them and some had a slight leak when done.
If your car is running well, I'd just enjoy and forget it.
But, in the future, if you want to prove you are OK, a leak down test will not only tell you the cylinders that are affected, but you can listen at the exhaust or intake and tell which valve is not seating properly anymore. Or of course, the leak down test will show you have no issues. A leak down test gives much more information than a compression test.
Take care,
Mark