New '85 300SD

[Chuck816]

Hey guys, I decided to buy the sd I was looking at and have a couple questions...

1. What is the best manuals for these cars and where can I get one...

2. What is the first thing I need to do about a totally non-functioning tach (I tried the search but couldnt find a definitive starting point, i.e. location of fuse, fuse number)

3. The car leaks a little bit of oil, which I have heard is normal for a diesel, right?

Thanks for the great help guys, I have already found this sight to be extremely valuable!

[andmoon]

1) I have found all but the expensive mb manuals lacking
2)search cigarette butt (no joke)
3) I think it depends on where and how much it is leaking.

Half the fun is working on these things!

[MTUpower]

Cig butt trick doesn't work on a 85- there is no tach amp on the later 617 models. Open the fuse panel on the driver side engine compartment and look for a small black relay which has a clear/red fuse stuck into the side of it. Check the fuse. Is your ABS light on also? Then it's this fuse for nearly certain.

Check the links for steaky.org. and others for online manuals. Haynes is the better for engine manuals, but alot of it applies to the smaller chassis the D, CD and TD models (aka w123) Yours (SD) is known as the w126 chassis.

A little oil leaking is okay, just try to find the leak and monitor it. Perhaps you could find it and stop it, perhaps not.

[Hatterasguy]

Most of these cars seem to leak a bit of oil. I have been working on mine I am down to a handful of minor leaks. ie wet seams no drips or anything like that.

[Chuck816]

Thanks for the help guys... MTU my ABS light is on yet the ABS seems to be fine and the previous owner said their mechanic had been through the brake system and couldn't find anything wrong so hopefully this is it!

I appreciate the help guys and I am sure this forum will prove invaluable throughout my ownership of the car... along with a set of metric tools.

Thanks again guys

[Chuck816]

I spoke too soon... I replaced the fuse which in turn shut my ABS light off but my tach is still dead, no movement what so ever... where do I go from here? I have read about the kick-down switch, but my transmission seems to kick down alright when I stomp the accelerator although it is much more subtle than a gasoline engine, which I would assume is just due to the fact that the car is a diesel.

Thanks for the help...

[MTUpower]

the fuse is blue and it's a 15 amp. glad you found it.