Took the plunge
 

Well, I did it. Purchased a '83 300d w/164000 miles on it. Not too sure what I've gotten my self into though. We flew out to Tulsa and drove it back to WI. 40 miles out we blew a rear tire. Another 40 miles or so and the engine overheated. That day was one long headache. Turns out that the coolant resivour had a crack in it and all my coolant was escaping. We made it to the Benz dealer in Little Rock by stopping every 20-30 miles and adding water. A replacement resivour and we had no more "major" problems. AC died, but that didn't prevent us from getting home. So now I have project parked in front of the house. The front end creaks when turning the wheel but stearing feels solid and tight. Any ideas on that one? There is also a strong diesel smell when the engine is running, and I suspect one or more fuel leaks. I can see the fuel surging through what I believe to be the return line. How hard is it to replace the fuel lines? High beams don't work unless I pull the lever to the Flash position and hold it there. Good things to me are the fact that the engine ran strong on the way home, and there isn't a spot of rust on it. Oh yeah, the windshield leaks in the rain as well. Have I bitten off more than I can chew?

start
 

300Ds are great. No rust is a good sign. But if you have a leaky WS you better order a new seal and pull it asap fix the leak, and hope there is no rust hidden in seams...

Fuel return lines are no big deal. Just get a couple of meters of the hose from where ever ya like and start replacing every piece of it on the engine. Sometimes it will pull off the barbs on the injectors real easy, other times ya have to cut it. Be careful not to damage the barbs on the injectors. Creaking could be anything in the front end. Take a peek at the ball joints inthe uypper and lower control arms. They tend to creak/squek as they go bad. I would make sure the cooling system is full of good MB antifreeze mix. Get a paper or CD manual. It will save you lots of time and money down the road. I have an '83 300D with 387k miles on it and it still runs strong. Body looks like.....well it looks bad, and mine has some terminal rust in the pan, but it makes a great spare car. I plan to drive it in the snow so people won't slide into my "new" '86 300SDL. You can buy just about any part for the car. Availability is not a problem.
Congrats. You're gonna love it. Now we want pictures!
BobK

on the creaking
 

check the ball joint boots. if they are not cracked you can squirt in some grease with a needle on a grease gun. if they are cracked but the ball joints are not loose you can have the boots replaced. it is a lot cheaper than replacing the ball joints.

tom w

thanks eveyone for the input. I guess it's the same for everone when you buy a new used car, doubt and worry start to creep in and you can't get it out of your mind. I keep trying to reassure myself that the 900 or so mile drive home was a good indicator of this vehicles condition, but...
Last night I noticed a bit of smoke pulling away from a stop light, oh my. :(

Smoke shows up more at night, especialy if someone is behind you.
I think that if you got 900 miles without issue you got a pretty good car!
Now look forward and get it perfected to your dreams of it.

Fuel return lines
 

The plastic air lines used on semi trucks and trailers are very durable,and seem to be a great fit as return lines on the injectors.My 68' 220D had the return lines replaced with air lines before I bought it.

Ok Bobk here is a pic.

if shes had basic maintenace then the engines are pretty bomb proof. If you don't know the hx I would flush all the fluids including PS and tranny.
The creek could be ball joints , shocks or a myriad of other things. Clunks are a little more worriesome.
Bleed lines are a piece of cake to replace, also make sure you rplace the plug as well.
Replacing glass is not a DIY project unless you have had some experience in window repair. If you do it yourself, make sure you have a new seal and you clean out all the junk and gook in the channels before reapplication.
If your AC was blowing cold and died it could be a relay . Look at the compressor and see if you see any oily film. If so it may be toast. If you post more details about this situation I am sure we can help.
I have rebuilt my 300SD and have been able to do most of the work myself. This forum is great, someone always can point you in the right direction.
Smoke is OK at night, I kinda like it :D
Good luck

Creaky front end. To isolate. Raise car off the ground, both sides, on jack-stands. Remove the tie rod ends. and move the wheels around to see if there's noise at the ball joints. Listen close since they'll be a lot quieter with no-load. Do this on both sides. No creak, have someone turn the steering wheel. If it creaks now it is probably the idler-arm bushing, big bolt rubber bushings attached to the steering box. Super easy fix and cheap.

Regarding stearing creak
 

it would seem that the majority of the creaking, no clunks, is comming from the drivers side of the vehicle. It is worst when turning the steering wheel, but there is some creaking if I bounce the front end up and down while parked. I should have some time to investigate things more this weekend.

Also regarding the AC, it was blowing some cold air, not super cold, but some when the car was picked up. Since then all coldness had gone. In addition before when the AC was on and the engine idling there was a noise which sounded like an intermittant bearing squeek or grind. Not a good sound, but not so bad either. If I turned off the AC that noise went away (compressor?), now there is no noise at all when I turn on the AC. That is another thing I dont understand, what are the various buttons on the climate control? And what the heck is the wheel with the trapazoidal markings next to the power mirror joystick in the center console?

How much did you pay for it ?
It sounds like you have a beautiful car with only minor problems needing fixing... sure glad that overheating problem was so easily fixed out on the road...
Post more pictures....

Leathermang; paid $2750, did I get stung? I thought it was a fair price considering the mileage, but I'm really niave about these cars. Got a couple more photos.

If your engine is half way strong.. and the body is nice... what you have to compare it to for price is what POS you could buy at a dealer these days for $18, 000 which would have a computer you could not service yourself, a bunch of emmisions stuff you could not service yourself..... and for which you would not be able to get used parts for in a few years... and the factory would stop supporting NEW parts way too soon...
I think you got a fine deal .... and had a lot of guts to do a 900 mile trip right out of the bag.... LOL
AND that POS would look just like every other car being produced these days.... hard to really bond with machinery like that..
If you study up and do things correctly your grandchildren might wind up driving this car...
And that $18,000 POS would probably require comprehensive insurance and interest on the loan which runs up the relative costs for comparison purposes....
While I am in a HOT / DUSTY climate and thus prefer white cars... that blue really looks nice...

leathermang, I would have to say that the engine feels more than halfway strong, it seems to love cruising at 75 all day long. Actually it wants to go faster than that and I have to pull in the reigns, don't need any citations. ;)
Drove it another 120 miles yesterday, no problems. I love it when the turbo kicks in, I feel like Mario or AJ, it's hard to remember that it's only a 5 cylinder engine.