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Login to post Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » Need advice: '80 Mercedes TD, 146k miles.

Feb. 24, 2009 9:56 p.m. Duende Reader

http://corvallis.craigslist.org/cto/1030672408.html

Going to check it out tomorrow since he says he has buyers coming by on Thursday, and I NEED a cheap and reliable car. Grandma's car is starting to be a pain in the butt and I finally have the money to throw down on the right vehicle under $2500. I wasn't looking for one of these, but stumbled upon it and thought...wait, these are pretty neat, right?

Hard to work on? Parts availability? Problem areas to look for? Another forum that caters to these things where I can get some information? ANYTHING? Any info appreciated!!!

Thanks so much!
Feb. 24, 2009 10:18 p.m. EvanB Reader

Not really too hard to work on, the glowplugs are a pain to get at even with my small hands. Look for rust under the battery tray, mine had it and it leaked water into the passenger footwell.

I bought my parts from www.autopartswarehouse.com

A good forum is http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/index.php
Feb. 25, 2009 7:33 a.m. RossD New Reader

Lift the carpeting up around the front seat mounts. The floor can rust out and the undercoating can keep the bottom looking clean but in reality the metal is gone. A guy at work had one and loved it except where the front passenger seat was held inplace by the undercoating . He said the forums for those cars are extremely good for DIYers and have tons of information and how-tos.
Feb. 25, 2009 8:40 a.m. Travis_K Reader

One of the problems they have is any vaccum leaks make alot of the stuff inside of the car not work, and if it gets bad enough the car wont even shut off with the ignition switch. Isnt the vaccum pump driven off of the timing chain on at least some of those? with 146k miles its probably still fine, but i seem to remember it makes a pretty big mess if one fails.
Feb. 25, 2009 8:45 a.m. Dr. Hess SuperDork

And make sure it's 146K miles and not 546K miles. It's 29 years old. The oil turns black instantly after a change, but shouldn't look like molasses. A worn out motor is very hard to diagnose on those curb-side, as any oil burning justs gives you better fuel mileage. The exhaust should not smell like burnt motor oil. It should not smoke much either (dirty/bad injectors).
Feb. 25, 2009 8:52 a.m. Wally SuperDork

You'll need to start leavng for work earlier
Feb. 25, 2009 9:03 a.m. Joe Gearin Associate Publisher

Check out www.greasecar.com

The diesel benzes make great WVO cars. IIRC the S class had a self leveling rear suspension that was complicated, and fairly problematic. I'm not sure if this year was equipped this way, but worth checking.

I daydream about a 300D Wagon running on WVO frequently.
Feb. 25, 2009 11:42 a.m. ronbros New Reader

Funny how things change,(maybe not so funny), back around the times when Tim would visit Rons Performance diesels,89-99 in Holly hill, Diesel cars you could not give away, I sent a few MB TDs to Yorkys recycle, and other diesel cars also. talk about stupid things, a customer brought in a a1982 Citreon diesel sedan,the nice long all hydraulic self centering and leveling type(cant remember model) had a problem with fuel system, well a price quote from another shop stopped him, well my price was around 30% less, he said let me know, put car out back of shop, 6 months nothing, finally called and said keep it for storge, well around a yr after sent it to Yorkys too. YEAH! big mistake.. Ron
Feb. 25, 2009 11:46 a.m. ronbros New Reader

as a note if a diesel dont have a turbo it cant keep up with todays traffic, and if you try they smoke like hell! Ron
Feb. 25, 2009 2:54 p.m. wcelliot Reader

Two potentially major issues...

One is the transmission which can be extremely expensive to repair or replace if it dies (more of an issue with the turbodiesels)

The other is the heater fan which is the very first thing Mercedes installed in the interior... and everything else has to be rremoved to get at it. And because of the heater design, you have NO heat (no even of the forced air because the car is moving type) without it.

I had a W115 300D that I used as a daily driver for some time. It had sufficient power to keep up with traffic and readily cruise 75mph+ all day long. But I sold it due to the second issue. I simply wasn't going to mess with the dash removal to get to the fan and having it done professionally was twice what the car was worth. (Two owners later and the car has been repainted and repuholstered... looks great... and is for sale because the current owner is tired of no heat but won't fix the fan...

Bill
Feb. 25, 2009 2:56 p.m. EvanB Reader

The heater fan on a W123 isn't even remotely hard to get at. Just take off the panel below the glove box (3 screw and 2 clips) and it is right there. 10 minute job to change it.

Also, the fuse for the heater circuit is underrated from the factory and there is a factory part to wire in a 30 amp fuse. Mine was blowing and instead of shelling out $80 for the factory part I spent a few dollars on a blade fuse holder and wired it in myself.
Feb. 25, 2009 9:40 p.m. thatsnowinnebago HalfDork

FYI, TD on Mercedes Diesels denotes wagon, not turbo
Feb. 25, 2009 10:06 p.m. dean1484 HalfDork

Bahhhhhh Fans are kids play try the heater core. Now that was more fun than a box of frogs. Two 10 hour days and I got it done. You basicly have to gut the dash. Removing about a bazillion screws. Ohya while you are there service the fan or replace it s well as all the bulbs in the dash. Again not hard at all just takes alot of time
Feb. 25, 2009 10:06 p.m. dean1484 HalfDork

double post
Feb. 25, 2009 10:48 p.m. benzbaron Reader

That is a 300SD. There are plenty of diesel mercedes in junkyards so parts shouldn't be too hard to find. The only issue with the SD is it is a big sedan which kills the reason to have a diesel. Mileage will be somewhere north of 20mpg if it is in good shape.

I've seen some of the vacuum elements that control the heaters/AC it is a wad of vacuum lines, looks like a pain if you ever have to deal with it.

Mercedes are expensive to fix if you bring it to a shop. Good luck.
Feb. 26, 2009 5:15 a.m. Travis_K Reader

I have driven a 4 speed w123 240d and it really was not as slow as i expected. I had no trouble keeping up with around town traffic, and accelerating up to 70 mph on the freeway. Its certainly not fast, but its fine for normal driving. The main problem it that they have such a long stroke and low gearing it will cause rod bearing damage to drive for long periods of time over 65 mph. It had iver 200k miles, and other than bad motor mounts and vaccum leaks so the inside acessories no longer worked, it felt like an almost brand new car.
Feb. 26, 2009 9:25 a.m. Dr. Hess SuperDork

The W115 220D I had would eventually get up to 70MPH. I drove it to medical school for 4-5 years. You had to call your shots pulling out in traffic. As in: Oh, there's a car coming and it's a mile away. I better wait. I finally got tired of spending my entire time off, consisting of one day a month, replacing whatever fell off. I think the motor mount(s) finally went out as a severe vibration started up and I absolutely didn't give a E36 M3 about it anymore and sold it for five bills.

I put two large (1993 dollars) of parts and machine shop work in the motor on a total rebuild: Fromsleeves-out. The rest of the car fell apart around the motor.

Oh, MB used some kind of horse hair or straw for seat cushions. They don't last long in Texas heat. I had an upholsterer replace that with foam.
Feb. 26, 2009 9:42 a.m. wcelliot Reader

EvanB wrote:

The heater fan on a W123 isn't even remotely hard to get at. Just take off the panel below the glove box (3 screw and 2 clips) and it is right there. 10 minute job to change it.

Ah, not having owned a W123 and just looking at the design I thought it similar to the W115... might have to reconsider my reluctance to purchase another one...

Thanks! Bill
Feb. 26, 2009 9:49 a.m. ManofFewWords Reader

FWIW, I have installed several heaters in small snow removal vehicles that did not have them before. Tractor supply type places carry them. Usually you just need to T into the rad hoses, and wire in the 12v fan. I used shop vac hose to plug into the existing duct work of a large loader.

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