I brought home a 300TD last week, as it was just too affordable to pass up. I have about 2 weeks to putter around on it and am looking for some suggestions to get the most out of my time. eventually I will try and find a service manual on ebay (isnt that the best source?), unill then please bear with me while I try and get this sweet heart shining again.

My observations since getting it home are:
1) will start on it's own fairly well (about 18 degrees this morning).

2) shakes, vibrates and rattles at an idle of 750-850 rpm, smoothes out at about 1000 (as indicated on the tach) can I set the base idle up some how as a temporary mesure as not to go insane when I have to sit in the car but dont want to keep my foot on the 'go' peddle.

3) when starting, I have cycled the Glow Plugs, then press the accelerator down about 1/2 way or more until it catches. It will not run at more than 1000 rpm for may be up to 2 minutes or so while the engine warms up, then it will rev beyond that...

4) bet the car has not been driven over 10 miles in the last year and a half, are some of the above symptoms a result of old fuel?

5)I did a search on valve adjustment, but did not find much more than the specifications for the intake, and exhaust valve. would like to tackle that this week also, just for general principal. where can I find out enough to get through the job for the first time. (what size wrenches do I need?

6) planning a flush of the rear suspension, is there a low pressure line that comes back to the suspension fluid container up in the engine room? or is adding fluid and replacing the filter satisfactory in almost all cases. (yeah the rear end sags. will that change if it gets run for a while?)

guess that is all I can think of off the top of my head right now, any help on the valve adjustment would be a great start as I am hoping to do everything that does not need the specialized parts (filters) that I have ordered.

Jason

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46 WDX Power Wagon

84 300TDT daily driver

Congratulations!
I think the 300TD was one of the best wagons ever made.
You should buy new filters and do a Diesel purge on the engine. Diesel Giant has an illustrated version of how to do the purge on this site.

The most common DIY manual is the Haynes manual. You might find it at a well-stocked car parts store, or from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Toad Hall or half.com. It gors for under $20 new. Not as thorough as I would like, but the bets for the money. MBUSA wil sell you a manual. The disk manuals aren't all that great.

It is possible that the vibration is due to worn motormounts. Check the flex joints on the driveshaft. The front one in particular is prone to need replacing every 50K or so.

If the rear end sags, there is a lack of hydraulic fluid in the system, or the pump doesn't work, or there is a leak in the line or you need rear shocks.

The rear will raise up even if the accumulators are gone, but you'll have a bumpy ride.

You can drain the old fuel, or just keep topping it up. Soem algaecide (do a search on this site) might help. Check the prefilter, and always buy a clear replacement, as you can see if it is full of crud.

There is a screen in the tank. To get it off, you'll need to improvise a tool made with a bolt and perhaps a nut. Do a search on removing the tank screen.

Good luck!

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Semibodacious Transmogrifications a Specialty

1990 300D 2.5 Turbo sedan 171K (Rudolf)
1985 300D Turbo TD Wagon 219K (Remuda)

"Time flies like and arrow, yet fruit flies like a banana"
---Marx (Groucho)

Jason,
Welcome to the diesel world, and the wagon world specifically. I can't even help myself with engine issues, but others will. I have tackled the level control system though, and here are my findings.
First, there is a bleeder fitting on the valve assy. behind the rearend area. **Caution** When you open the fitting the rearend of the car will drop like a rock. Make sure and have it up on ramps when doing this, and I would attach thin clear hose to bleeder nipple pointed into container. That will keep fluid off your neck (ask me how I know this). It was my experience that the rearend will NOT raise if the accumulators are bad. Mine would not. Another person told me "replace the accumulators. It's always the accumulators". Mine was the accumulators! If you shocks aren't leaking they're probably OK. Also, I suspect my car sat for quite some time before the shady guy that sold it to me "fixed it up". Right after I replaced the accumulators, bled the system and adjusted the linkage, my high pressure hose accross front of engine blew out. I took it to a hydraulic hose repair place and they made me a knew one, using the old fittings, for around 60 bucks. Oh yeah, there is a sway bar back near the valve, with plastic levers connected behind rear wheel drums. I had one plastic lever broken. These, along with swaybar they are attached to give the valve assy a reference point for where the rearend is height-wise.
There are pictures on this site if you will do a search. Good luch and keep us posted.
Jimmy L

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

I really like the wagon bodystyle.. should have found a better example and spent more money but I could not pass this one up. it will never be perfect, but may be it will be fairly nice when I get done.

I will get a Hayes manual on order. At least it will help with routine maintance. new filters are on order, although fuel filters were replaced a couple thousand miles ago and the see-through one still looks good.

it is the rear suspension that I am most curious about. Thanks for your insight, I am gonna collect some more information and have at it wednesday I hope.
Jason

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46 WDX Power Wagon

84 300TDT daily driver

What model year was that wagon, again?

It is an 84. Just looking it over with the wheels off, Could the previous mechanic have put the rear brake calipers on backwards? The bleeder screws are on the bottom half of the caliper.

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46 WDX Power Wagon

84 300TDT daily driver

That sounds like exactly what he did. The bleeder screws must be at the top of the caliper or you cannot get the air out of them.

Your idle problem sounds exactly like my 300D-check your engine shocks(they have little rubber mounts at both the engine mount and the front subframe that disintegrate) and, if diesel purge or Redline diesel catalyst fuel additive doesn't help, a rebuilt set of injectors may be in order(the fact you have to open up the throttle/injector pump to get it started is exactly how mine was before the new injectors). Warning-if all else fails and you have a lot of blowby from the oil fill cap when running-you may need to do a compression test (or possibly do a valve adjustment if you're lucky. Congratulations on your wagon, I wish I could have found a nice one around here!

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1982 300DT 190K (Diesel Purge + synthetic oil=smoothness at last!!!)
2004 Ford E-350 6.0 L PSD 227K
2006 Dodge Ram 3500 SRW HO Cummins 4X4 48RE 42K (brute force tow vehicle)
2005 Scion xB wife's rolling pop can
1993 GMC Sierra C3500 6.2 142K

There are manuls [haynes] available on ebay now, a few bucks cheaper than anywhere else I've found.

Cheers,

Bill