From: owner-diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net (diesel-benz-digest) To: diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net Subject: diesel-benz-digest V1 #716 Reply-To: diesel-benz-at-digest.net Sender: owner-diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net Errors-To: owner-diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net Precedence: bulk diesel-benz-digest Monday, February 18 2002 Volume 01 : Number 716 Forum for Discussion of Diesel Mercedes Benz Automobiles Derick Amburgey Digest Coordinator Contents: Considering an 84 300SD Re: Considering an 84 300SD Re: 78 300D parts car for sale!!! Diesel Benz Digest Home Page: http://www.digest.net/diesel-benz/ Send submissions to diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net Send administrative requests to diesel-benz-digest-request-at-digest.net To unsubscribe, include the word unsubscribe by itself in the body of the message, unless you are sending the request from a different address than the one that appears on the list. Include the word help in a message to stag-digest-request to get a list of other majordomo commands. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 18:21:33 -0500 From: "PAUL SHELTON" <4SHELTONSPLUS-at-msn.com> Subject: Considering an 84 300SD Hi All, I'm back after a two year hiatus - Diesel and Benz-less! I'm going to look at an 84 300SD with 240K miles. Appears to be in excellent shape. Any particular things to check on this car? I've owned a 240D before, but nothing fancy like this. Thanks! Paul Shelton ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 00:57:10 -0600 From: Jon Filina Subject: Re: Considering an 84 300SD Paul wrote: > I'm back after a two year hiatus - Diesel and Benz-less! I'm going to look at > an 84 300SD with 240K miles. Appears to be in excellent shape. Any > particular things to check on this car? I've owned a 240D before, but nothing > fancy like this. I just moved up to an '84 300SD after my '81 240D was totalled. While I can't give you a definitive answer as to what to look for, I can tell you what I found on mine. A professional PPI would be best, but, since I've been driving diesels since 1981 (2 VW's and the 240D), I felt comfortable doing my own inspection. Check for the usual mechanical things based on your knowledge of the 240D. I won't go into what to look at as you are probably familiar them. These W126's are a different beast, but the mechanicals are not that much different from the W123's such as our old 240D's. I have only had my 300SD 2 1/2 weeks, so I'm still getting to know it. Here's what I found on my 300SD: Pop the hood. It opens different than the 240D. Pull the lever under the dash. Instead of a "tang" popping out from the grill, you have 2 levers, one on either side of the grill, that release the hood. The engine should be dry and relatively clean. My wasn't. The fuel bypass hoses were seeping fuel and needed replacing. I had the same problem with my 240D and replacment of the hoses is pretty simple. Check the oil lines going to the cooler. Are they dry? Again, mine aren't and I need to clean the engine (hopefully Sunday...) to see if they are leaking. If so, I'll replace them pronto. My 240D lost one of the lines and it sure did make a mess! The dealer charged me around $900 to replace them and the cooler... Start the engine. This 300SD starts much quicker than my 240D. If it's over 50 degrees, the glow plug light goes out after a few seconds and it cranks right over. Less than that, I count to 10 after the light goes out and get the same results. If it's around freezing, I "double plug" it, counting to 10 each time and have no problem. The engine should idle smoothly once warmed up. A slight "lope" at idle is normal for these turbodiesels, though, and shouldn't be cause for concern. On the road, the engine should have good power and not smoke unless you get into the pedal. Every MB turbodiesel I've seen smokes when you jump on it, but shouldn't under normal acceleration. You'll be amazed at how quiet the 300SD is. I used to think all German's were deaf until I drove this car. You can hear the engine and drive train (it sounds like a bus to me...) but it is virtually quiet in comparison to the 240D. And the power is unbelievable! No more bug splats on the back window... The transmission should shift smoothly. When cold, it will be a bit abrupt. Once warm, at least on mine, the shift from first to second happens before 20 mph. Third gear engages very soon after 2nd and 4th doesn't come into play until around 40 to 50, depending on how fast you are accelerating. I HATE automatic's! I'm getting used to this one. Once I got my right arm and left foot used to not having to do anything as I went through the gears, I found out my right foot kept wanting to back off on the pedal when approaching the change in gears. Doing that makes shifting erratic. I'm getting better, but old habits are hard to break.... These MB's don't shift as smooth as other automatics, but I feel I have more control than I do with, say, my daughter's Cavalier. The automatic climate control takes some getting used to. If you can press the defrost button (the leftmost one) and get immediate air blowing, it's probably ok. Press the "EC" button and wait. Depending on the temperature setting on the dial, it can take upwards of 2 minutes for the blower to kick in. I understand this is normal. If the A/C doesn't work, check to see if the belt to the compressor is there. If not, the Delco R4 compressor is probably bad. You're looking at $500-2000 to get the A/C working. If all they have to replace is the compressor (get a NEW one, not a rebuilt), receiver/dryer and expansion valve you should be able to get it fixed for around a grand if you stay with R12. It will be a couple of hundred dollars less if you refill with R134A. In southern climates, our old W123's cool less than satisfactorily with R134A, but I have heard goods reports about the W126's. Check the central locking. Do all the doors lock ok? If not, you probably have a vacuum problem. The engine, at least on mine, does not shut down immediately when you turn off the key. My mechanic says this is normal for the SD's. On mine, there is about a 5 second delay before the engine shuts down. Check the power windows and sunroof. The usual problem, if they don't work is either fuses or the switches. If the cable on the sunroof is broken, you're looking at quite a few bucks to fix it. According to my mechanic, they have to remove the headliner and rear window to replace it. If you want to pull door panels to check on the windows, they come off differently. The W123's, after all hardware has been removed, pull out and up. The W126's pull up. If you pull them out, you'll break the plastic mounting clips from what I've read. Speaking of rear windows, the seals are known to leak from what I found out, and mine is no exception. Over time, rust develops and you'll see a hole just under the seal when you open the trunk. It looks like it can be repaired, but is not easy to get at. If you have the silver blue metallic paint, standard duct tape can be forced under the gasket to seal out any water from entering the trunk and is barely noticeable... ;-) That will be one of my first repairs... What radio is in the dash? These cars came with Becker Grand Prix AM/FM cassettes. Does your power antenna work? MB uses a Hirschmann 6000EL as opposed to the 6000U used on the 240D. They are not interchangeable. The EL models are belt driven and the belt on mine is broken. You can get replacement belts from Beckers website. Do you want a shop manual for the 300SD. Unfortunately, MB makes the only one. It's not available in print, only on CD, and costs $130! I ordered mine from MB, but have not received it yet. I also have an owners manual coming ($15) so I can figure out how to use this beast. As for mileage, having been used to my 240D, I got 24.5 mpg on the first two tanks. I upped the tire pressure on the front to 32 psi and kept my foot out of the pedal and got 26.5 on the third tank. I have been told to expect 26-28 mpg on the SD. My 240D was getting 31-33. As for cost. Here in Texas, an '84 300SD should go off the used car lot for $5-7k. Mine has 130k, although I suspect it has more like 225k, and I paid $2400 for it. I bought it from a guy who had too many cars. My mechanic has worked on it since the late '80's and felt that it would be a reliable car. Early indications are that he may be right. These W126's are great cars! The 240D, contrary to what most people think, were not "luxury" cars. That's the reason I loved my 240D. It was simple and reliable. These 300SD's are luxury cars and, as such, have all the toys. That's more that can go wrong as far as I'm concerned. But, the ride is great! After 1500 miles of driving my 300SD I wonder why I put up with the noise of the 240D and love the power. 125 HP doesn't sound like much, but sure makes a big difference! Let us know how you make out. Jon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 02:38:34 -0500 From: "mike" Subject: Re: 78 300D parts car for sale!!! Hello, everyone, This is a W123 chassis, 5-cyl. diesel, non-turbo. I'm too busy right now to part this car out any further, so I'm taking offers. It's in Atlanta, GA. You can inspect it anytime, drop me a line to make arrangements. Not driveable, will have to be towed/trailered. Most of the small items and trim are gone, but it still has a great transmission, very rebuildable engine (it would start before I removed the glow relay and radiator, but has no oil pressure, and a knock in one cylinder), some ACC parts, good glass, some good body panels, a few interior items, complete suspension, good exhaust, good brake rotors and calipers, power steering, starter, alternator, injection pump, injectors, wheels, etc... Make offers by e-mail, or call and leave message. mikemover-at-mindspring.com 404 659 4592 thanks, Mike 79 300SD: 234,000 miles and counting!.... ------------------------------ End of diesel-benz-digest V1 #716 *********************************