I noticed this morning at 5 that the local junk yard newly listed an 83 240d. I needed some parts, and Mercedes, especially diesels, do not show up much around here. I got there before opening time, and there were already 5 guys ahead of me. Fortunately, none headed for the 240.

I took off the cap on the valve cover and felt the two lobes of the cam I could reach. There were no flat spots. Cam felt smooth. The glow plugs were clean although the engine was oily. Apparently new glow plugs. I looked for, but did not find holes in the sides of the block. The car did not look that bad, and looked much better than some I have seen on Craigslist. Still wondering why it was there, until I looked under the car. No bushing in one of the shift levers on the manual tranny. I doubt it shifted well, if at all. I suspect this was the primary reason the car was in the junk yard. What a shame, as it really was in pretty good shape. I had trouble finding any rust.

One of the motor mounts had collapsed. I found a bungee cord running under the engine to support it. No joke! There was still clean diesel visible in the filter. The seats were even still fairly firm, and the interior was in pretty good shape.

I ended up pulling the long block and tranny. My 2.4 engine has no compression on one cylinder, and this looks like it may be a good shoe in. Same year even (83). 212k mileage on the odometer. Hope the engine meets my expectations!

W.