PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

Cazzzidy · #1 03-04-2004, 10:07 PM

It is time to say good bye to my 220D.

Here is my story,

About six months ago I purchased a pristine 1972 220D from a very nice older couple in my town. My father and I checked out the car, and instantly fell in love with it.

It was almost too good to be true -- brand new paintjob, freshly rebuilt motor, great interior, and excellent maintenance records. After taking it for a test drive, we knew we wanted to buy it.

Only trouble was, another woman wanted to buy the car and had seen it before us. She had arranged to take the vehicle to a mechanic and have a pre purchase inspection performed. My dad and I trusted the seller and loved the car, so we offered cash on site to take it home. He said he would call the other interested party and tell her we were willing to take it without an inspection. She told the seller she wasnt extrememly interested, and to sell it to us instead. I was very excited when I heard the news, and immediatly drove back to his house, forked over the $2400 and drove her home.

Who needs an inspection when the car is so perfect?

I was so happy to find a good, reliable diesel with all major work already done. I drove the car for a month or so.

Then the trouble started. I noticed the car started pulling to the right under braking. Then I realized it was smoking a little much ... unburned fuel smoke. I went on, smoking away for a couple weeks. Then the vacume pump diapram nut fell off. I rebuilt the outer portion of the pump. I bought new tires and had it aligned. I installed new rear springs and shocks all around. Then I invested in new calipers, rotors and pads for the front, and rotors and pads in the rear. Trouble was, I got 300D brake parts for the front, because I was told they bolted up and would give better braking performance. The 300D calipers now had a brake hose interferance with the control arms. I was looking at many, many hours of work to find and install right angle fittings that would solve the clearance issue and

I started to tackle the smoking problem while I was fininishing up the brake job. I tested the compression and all was well. Under advice from my mechanic, I replaced two injectors. Still smoking.

So, I was told I needed a new injection pump. Luckily I found a great deal on a rebuilt IP ... only $500!

I had done all the other work on the car, so naturally, I tried to perform the IP switch. Boy was that harder than I expected. It took a whole day just to get the old one off... and I couldnt figure out all the fittings on the new one, because it was a newer style.

So I did the humble thing, and pushed the car to a Mercedes "mechanc" down the street. I had never been to this [;ace before. It was the only shop within pushing distance.

Turns out, the guys were total hacks. They spent almost two months trying to get the IP back on. Under their care, the car was run without an oil filter housing for a minute or two, the inner portion of the vacume pump failed and shattered the outer housing, the pull start siezed, and on and on. After threatening the shop with a law suit, they finally "finished the job". Two months and $1000 later I had a car that ran WORSE than when I began work. It took almost a minute of cranking to start, and had almost no power. I would guess it felt like it had about 10-12HP.

Finally a few days ago I towed it to a real mechanic. He did a lot of inspection, and found out that the IP was timed wrong. On top of that, the new IP was not rebuilt properly and did not inject to cyl. #1. Since I bought the new IP a few months ago, my warranty had already expired. Ahhg, I was looking at another $1100 for a new IP... but the mechanic said he was going to do a little more inspection because he thought he heard a more insidious internal knock.

He got back to me today.

Turns out their was a lot of metal filings in the oil. The #1 pre-chamber had dropped its bearing into the cylinder. Total destruction. Motor is toast. His estimated cost of a rebuilt motor with 2 yr warranty and install was around $8000.

I believe that the internal damage occured when the #1 cylinder was not recieving fuel and started with out oil in the care of the crappy mechanic down the street. But honestly, who knows?

My reputable mechanic said this was one of the worst rebuilds he has ever seen. None of the bolts were torqued anywhere near spec. Some were hand tightened, apparently.

So, the car is being donated to charity. I am out $5000.

But I will not give up. Currently shopping for another Mercedes diesel.

Cassidy