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Jacking a W123

So I got my thermostat changed today, but in so doing I looked all over for the drain to the radiator and couldn't find a proper one anywhere. I pondered jacking it up, but then didn't want the hassle, but still I ended up with a question for you all.

Where are good points to jack these cars from? I assume I can go anywhere on the main frame that runs front-to-back, but it looked like it'd be convenient to jack on the cross member that goes between the two front-to-back runs, that's right behind the oil pan. Would that be ok? It doesn't appear that much of anything is actually attached to it, but now I don't recall.

On my previous car, there were a few well-defined points where the manufacturer said it was ok to jack the car, but on the Benz I'm not so sure. I would expect that anything that is "the frame" would be sufficient, but maybe that's a poor guess. :)

Primarily I'm interested in lifting the front all at once, so I can do things like "figure out where the heck the drain for the radiator is" and simply being able to get underneath the car sufficiently to reach the oil drain plug.

thanks,

-tom!

Reply to
Tom Plunket
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Tom, try looking again. But concentrate on the left hand bottom of rad (as you are looking at the engine bay) where you will see a (maybe) red wing nut that you can opne. It has a nipple on it so that a hose can be attached to drain into a bucket. the nut is horizontal also facing toward the engine bay... it can be kind of hard to spot the first time. You may need to take off the plastic engine shroud on bottom ..... but, hey, I'm not 'certain' re your exact model.

cheers, guenter

Reply to
Guenter Scholz

Well, I always jack my 123's from the underside frame. That seems to be the only spot I can get a jack under, and it looks like a square corner towards the body side not the front. In the rear,, I go right under the axle. Stay clear of those jack spots that they provide on the car, had one screw type jack go right up the side of the car that way....

Reply to
<benz831

You can safely jack from the front center on the cross member you mentioned. From the side you can jack up both the front and rear wheels from a point inboard about mid front door (either side) just in front of where the frame narrows down. I've jacked from behind this point but the frame is more substantial in the wider, forward area. I jack up one side as high as my floor jack will go (serious tilt to one side), place safety stands front and rear, then go to the other side and do the same. Gets the car high enough to remove the transmission (auto or stick). Good luck!

Reply to
Ernesto

Thanks gang, this is the info that I needed. I didn't even consider jacking from the differential, but now I remember seeing that people do that with their trucks all the time...

-tom!

Reply to
Tom Plunket

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