'78 300SD Turbo

[LuLu]

Hello All

Long story short I bought my first MB six months ago ('80 300TD) and fell in love, paid $1800 put another $800 into it and it is a great car. About a month ago I decided to sell my two gassers ('96 Ranger & '89 Blazer) and go with another MB diesel, I'm now learning how to make biodiesel. For the last month I've been looking but not in any hurry then my Dad calls and told me he went to a friends house and they have one they want to sell. The good news it's a '78 300SD Turbo with 160K and looks great, and I could get it for next to nothing. The bad news is they have only started it two or three times in the past two years (it was running great before the parked it), he said he would try to start it this weekend and let me know what happend. So the help I'm looking for is if a MB has been sitting for two years what problems should I look for, or should I just run away. It's only 60mi from my house and I would change all fluids, fillters, and glow plugs (maybe update). Check hoses, vacuum lines and wiring for breaks or leaks. I think I would be willing to put up to 2k into this car to get it running if thats what it takes. I do have a good Indy who I will talk to in a few days and get his feedback. Any help would be appreciated I'm not a mechanic but have done a lot of work on the car from what I've learned from this forum, thank you.

Les

[WANT '71 280SEL]

If it starts, GP's will be fine. You might want to crank it before the light goes out so it pumps oil around before starting. Check fluids before starting of course. Once it's running, walk around it and check it over for leaks, strange noises, etc.

Thanks
David

[Palangi]

The early SD's are mechanically very similar to your TD. The engine will have a turbo, which means it will have quite a bit more power with really no sacrifice of reliability. The body structure however is quite a bit different. The early SD's (which are called 116 chassis) have a reputation for rust problems and rust in certain structural areas can make them unsafe to drive.

You would want to check carefully for structural rust before buying one of these cars.

[t walgamuth]

an area of concern is the brakes in a car that has set that long,.. they may be stuck or get stuck as soon as you use them. if you are a long way away a trailer is a good precaution so you can start with shorter drives to test things out... also algae in the tank. it wouldnt be a bad idea to get some algacide and do a kill in the tank as a precaution. if there was any water in the tank aglae will probably be a problem. fuel, brakes. after that if all is well when parked all should be well now and it should run. also battery will probably be dead and ruined. of course tires too will probably need replacing even if they have good tread from dry rot. good luck.

No way should you buy this car besides being one of the worst diesels MB ever made after sitting for so long all the metal will have fatigued run from this money pit as fast as you can. Did you have the owner’s phone number by chance I just happen to be in the market for a money pit. Seriously it is in my opinion the best MBZ diesel ever made I have owned more w116 300sd than I will admit if it has clean original paint decent interior broken with a blown transmission it will fetch a grand on eBay. This is one car you should not let get away. I am generally against additives but since it has sat so long I would put a bottle of the oil additive that restores seals the kind you run for 2 to 3 hundred miles than change the oil. The rear main seal can tend to dry up after sitting for extended amounts of time I have used this and it worked I would also change the tranny fluid adding trans X drive it a hundred or so miles then change filter and fluid don’t forget to drain the torque converter. You will absolutely love this car if you do a lot of highway driving. If you decide to pass on it I would be seriously interested in it if the paint is original and in very good condition. Count your self lucky go get it.
Dave S

[mj_sid]

Originally Posted by mattdave

No way should you buy this car besides being one of the worst diesels MB ever made after sitting for so long all the metal will have fatigued run from this money pit as fast as you can.

I was about to blow a gasket!!!

These are GREAT cars. Watch for rust.

--Matt


( Mattdave)

The above post is from my son who is still upset because I bought a 1078 300sd that he pretty much stole from me, Well because of some poor driving on my part it is now in the local junk yard and god it was a great car we put a low mileage engine and rebuilt transmission in it a year ago and now it is going to be beer cans because I love to drive fast in the mountains. Matt we will get another one I promise I might wreck that one too but you just have to have some fun besides deer don’t belong on the road now do they and whoever let California oaks grow so big right on the side of the road what were they thinking not even a tank like the SD wins that battle.
Dad

[WANT '71 280SEL]

How fast were you going when you hit whatever obsturction?

Thanks
David

[dannym]

you may want to remove the glow plugs and squirt some oil into the cylinders before you crank it after it's been sitting for so long.

Danny

about 70 MPH when I saw the deer hit it about 65 MPH. Then hit the biggest oak tree within 50 miles it was huge at about 50 MPH. so basically way too fast. RE putting oil in the glow plug or injector holes it is a good idea but you must use great care there is only room for about 3cc of oil between the piston top and the head. If you try to start it with too much oil in there you will learn that contrary to the common saying that fluids cant be compressed it is possible to compress some fluids a little bit in a lab in your engine you will not compress the extra oil but you will put a nice hole in your piston to make room for the oil. I have found even after a few months of sitting these engines start to seize up. Some oil in the glow plug holes and a 27mm deep dish socket on the crank bolt holding the harmonic balancer with a long breaker bar gets them unstuck. I have never had the nerve to try it with the starter. Just be sure to leave the injectors or glow plugs out when you crank it for two reasons. It will make it much easier to turn over and pistons valves are very expensive. We don’t have to worry about rust much here in California but these cars are rust buckets check carefully for rust in the trunk and under the car use a screw driver and tap it with a hammer if it pushes thru the bottom of the car run other than that they are just lovely cars. The one other thing you have to watch for is replacement parts there were a ton of changes made during the three years they made these cars and even things like power steering pumps can be different from one 1978 to another 1978 depending on the month they were manufactured. If you buy it one part to keep your eye out for on eBay is a spare vacuum pump a regular 5 cylinder turbo diesel rebuilt pump goes for under $200 a pump for this car is over $500 but you can some times find them on eBay for $20.

[LuLu]

Thanks for all the input alot of this stuff I had in the back of my head one thing I didn't think about was the brakes. From what a couple of you have said this chassis the w116 has a reputation for rust so I will check twice as close as I had planed to. This MB needs to be back on the road and I'm going to do the best I can to do it, with only 160K she's got a long ways to go before it's over.

Les

[boneheaddoctor]

Originally Posted by LuLu

Thanks for all the input alot of this stuff I had in the back of my head one thing I didn't think about was the brakes. From what a couple of you have said this chassis the w116 has a reputation for rust so I will check twice as close as I had planed to. This MB needs to be back on the road and I'm going to do the best I can to do it, with only 160K she's got a long ways to go before it's over.

Les

Look around the jack points......and under the hood in the hing pockets adn under the aux water pump adn the Fuse box....and lower fenders and quarter panels..

I keep mine off the road winters as its Rust free..and you can ask Brian Carlton as he and a few others have seen it up close at the recent GTG.

these were courtesy thebenzbar .........http://www.angelfire.com/al3/alfie/gtg/negtg.html the Tan one is mine...actually the only W116 there.