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  #1  
Old 06-10-2005, 11:41 PM
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Oh man, where to begin...

So the son of my friend, against all advice, buys a '92 300SD W140 off of ebay, sight unseen.( ) This is a kid who can barely change a tire. He travels 3 states away to pick it up and finds it's been wrecked more than once, the tank is completely full of fungus, and the interior has been thrashed by some amateur stereo installers. (and to top it off it was owned by a chain smoker) He thought he was getting a deal because it was about half of the blue-book price. The seller basically said "I've got your money, you're stuck with the car, hit the road". So after having it towed to the dealer to get the tank steamed out he limps home at about 45mph, spending a small fortune on fuel conditioner and injector cleaner. I'm trying to help him out. He's had the injectors overhauled by a reputable shop, who also checked out the rest of the engine. The good news is it looks like the engine was replaced recently, and it purrs like a kitten.(603 I think) The bad news is that the turbo doesn't spool up. The diesel shop that did the injectors pulled the turbo and checked it out, and discovered that for whatever reason, the "computer" is not closing the wastegate. When they manually close the wastegate the boost comes up no sweat. So needless to say, the cars a dog. I've been enlisted to help the kid out, but my knowledge of the 140 is limited, (read nonexistant), and I'm looking for some information on where to start on the turbo. The wastegate appears to be vacuum operated. Any suggestions? Oh yeah, the door locks and A/C are inop also..lol Poor kid has already pumped in a couple thousand bucks just getting it home. He could have had a beautiful SD, or pretty nice SDL by now..

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  #2  
Old 06-10-2005, 11:51 PM
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Don't know the specifics of the 603 in the W140, but you mentioned that the wastegate was vacuum operated, and, additionally, that the door locks are inoperative.

So, this tells me that you have a vacuum leak somewhere. Get out that trusty Mityvac and start running the system. It should hold vacuum on all circuits from the vacuum pump, with the exception of the transmission vacuum control valve on the injection pump. You need to track down and plug the leak. When you do, the door locks will function, and the wastegate might function as well.
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  #3  
Old 06-10-2005, 11:59 PM
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that's a bummer, hopefully you can help him some. I bought a truck 10 years ago from a chain smoker - NEVER again. I don't drive it anymore, it's parts. Still runs and STILL stinks inside
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  #4  
Old 06-11-2005, 12:06 AM
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The 140 is a whole different beast entirely.

I'll admit, I know very little on the diesel 140's as I have seen VERY few of them, and worked on as many as I can count on one hand. In the trunk is a PSE pump for the central locking as usual, similar to the 126 pumps, but more advanced. I don't believe it controls anything but CL and closing assist (maybe another tech can offer some more insight on this).

Correct me if I'm wrong but that car should have EDC, Electronic Diesel Control. Get the car to a place with an SDS machine (independent MB should have this, as well as a dealer) and they will be able to tell if its a computer issue with the system not actuating the valve or something mechanical.
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past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350
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  #5  
Old 06-11-2005, 12:08 AM
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Where was the kid's father in all this? No kid should ever own an expendsive car.
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  #6  
Old 06-11-2005, 12:10 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wbain5280
Where was the kid's father in all this? No kid should ever own an expendsive car.
Forget about kids. I think you need to be independently wealthy to afford a W140, or be incredibly lucky.
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  #7  
Old 06-11-2005, 12:15 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Carlton
Forget about kids. I think you need to be independently wealthy to afford a W140, or be incredibly lucky.
You hit the nail on the head.

Just wait untill he finds out that it's the evaporator leaking as to why the a/c doesnt work! $6,000 to fix....
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1980 500SE/AMG Euro
1981 500SEL Euro
1982 380SEL
1983 300TD
1983 500SEC/AMG Euro
1984 500SEC
1984 300TD Euro
1986 190E 2.3-16
1986 190E 2.3
1987 300D
1997 C36 AMG
2003 C320T 4matic

past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350
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  #8  
Old 06-11-2005, 04:12 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wbain5280
Where was the kid's father in all this? No kid should ever own an expendsive car.
Half of blue book price on a trashed 92 300SD can't be much. My 95 S420 with 135K miles has a trade-in value of $7000. Might be more than a kid should be spending on a car but about what a decent Civic would cost.

Assuming everything's working, the problem with no boost could be that someone disabled the EGR valve. The EDS in these cars holds boost for ransom if it doesn't sense that the EGR system is working as determined by the EGR temp sensor and a commensurate drop in air flow.

Sixto
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  #9  
Old 06-11-2005, 08:49 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wbain5280
Where was the kid's father in all this? No kid should ever own an expendsive car.
Kids Father begged him not to buy the car, as the kid is newly married, and has no mechanical aptitude. Kid figured since it looked good on paper..... Dad also begged him to get my opinion on it, which he did, right after he bought it. I didn't have the heart to tell him what a huge mistake he made, but knew right away when I saw the 140 he was in trouble. Dad also offered to buy him a cherry 123 instead, but the kid "doesn't like the way they look". This is looking to be a very expensive lesson indeed. The dad paid cash for his 2005 CDI, but told me aside that there's no way he's bailing the kid out of this one..lol ( I know dad secretely wishes he was driving my 126, he borrows it instead of driving the CDI every chance he gets. Says he always dreamed of owning one)
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  #10  
Old 06-11-2005, 08:53 AM
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Yes, I told them to take it to the dealer and have them plug into the computer and check it's health. If the computer's ok, I should be able to get things working, otherwise it's up to them what they do.
How do we check for a leaking evaporator? The dash has obviously been out of this thing more than once already.. The door locks hopefully I can handle
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  #11  
Old 06-11-2005, 09:06 AM
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Did you check the EGR valve for someone trying to block it? If someone is used to working on domestics or 123's had that car, most likely they plugged the line to the EGR.

Thanks
David
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  #12  
Old 06-11-2005, 03:46 PM
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Years ago I bought a 66 Chev sedan from a chain smoker. I scrubbed the inside with upholstery cleaner and then left it outside with the windows rolled down for a week. Drove it that summer with the windows open as much as possible. In the fall rolled the windows up and it didn't smell at all.

There are lots of cleaning and deodorizing products on the market and some are made especially to kill smoke stink, as in houses that have had a fire.
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  #13  
Old 06-11-2005, 07:32 PM
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Tell the kid to bring the car to a dealer for a PPI and get a list of what needs attention. A tired W140 will bite very hard! How many miles on it? I bet it needs suspension work. You can buy like new W140's for $16k, a $4k beat car probably isn't a deal.
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  #14  
Old 06-11-2005, 07:54 PM
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The best way to help this kid is to take a length of rope, soak it in a bucket of water, and then beat the rat crap out of this idiot. Personally I would let him stew in his own bad decision. Nothing like an empty wallet to get a guy's attention.
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  #15  
Old 06-11-2005, 09:45 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Astroman
Kids Father begged him not to buy the car, as the kid is newly married, and has no mechanical aptitude. Kid figured since it looked good on paper..... Dad also begged him to get my opinion on it, which he did, right after he bought it. I didn't have the heart to tell him what a huge mistake he made, but knew right away when I saw the 140 he was in trouble. Dad also offered to buy him a cherry 123 instead, but the kid "doesn't like the way they look". This is looking to be a very expensive lesson indeed. The dad paid cash for his 2005 CDI, but told me aside that there's no way he's bailing the kid out of this one..lol ( I know dad secretely wishes he was driving my 126, he borrows it instead of driving the CDI every chance he gets. Says he always dreamed of owning one)
Well maybe this is what it takes for the kid to learn his lesson....he obviously needs to learn one or he will be ripped off the rest of his life. Sad thing to say but its true...

as one of our members is fond of saying (I forget who) A cheap mercedes may be the most expensive car you will ever own....or something like that.

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