ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

[keesing]

My '67 250SL will be transported from sea level to 7,500 ft above sea level...
1st: Will it start?
#2: If it does start, will it cause any problems driving it about 75 miles before I adjust it or is that just asking for problems?
#3: Is the correct adjustment simply on the fuel injector and air adj screw - or is there more to it??
 :mrgreen:

I knew it doesn't have carbs... :?

[J. Huber]

Can't say for that high -- but mine starts fine in Tahoe which is 6000 and Santa Barbara which is about 60. I bet if your car started at sea level, it will also start at 7500. It may run richer up there since the air is thinner. Our cars don't have a carburator -- but there are ways to adjust the mixture nonetheless. I'd be careful and research before doing too much. It is my understanding that the FI has a built-in mechanism (altitude compensator)that takes into consideration altitudes...

James
63 230SL

[DavidAPease]

I drove my 230SL across Monarch Pass in the Rockies last summer, an altitude of 11,300 feet.  No problem at all.  I believe that the altitude compensator in the FI system takes care of everything.  

I certainly wouldn't expect to have to adjust anything as one drives up and down mountains.  As Chad said "it's a Mercedes".

-David Pease
'66 French 230SL

[Chad]

It will most likely start. Just fill it up and drive it up I-25 and figure everything out when you get home. There are several good Mercedes places in Santa Fe area. Find someone who knows it.

[Cees Klumper]

The altitude compensator is AKA the barometric pressure regulator if I am not mistaken. It's that big round canister thing sitting on top.

quote "I am always right. Only once I though I was wrong, and even then I was mistaken"

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[enochbell]

Yes, the IP does auto-adjust for barometric pressure by moving the regulator along the rack at all throttle positions (not just at idle) when relative pressure is less than 1 atmosphere.  That, and the way the cone in the IP is mapped (it is milled in three dimensions but it is not concentric: rather, it is parabolic shaped, and how MB decided how to do this is a mystery to me) is one of the most amazing engineering feats, perhaps one of the real engineers on the board can give a quick tour.

Best,

g

'64 230sl, fully sorted out...ooops, spoke too soon