Joined the madness...
 

Spent 3 hours going over a 1983 300DT Turbo wagon, 150,000 miles, no maintance records...checked off a looooong list of items I picked up from lurking on this board...most seemed to check out OK...new inspection so the tires are new, brakes great, tracks straight down the road, steering is a bit sloppy but tie rods and bushings all looked and felt good...could not tell if the SLS was really working or not, back wiper motor is kaput, A/C is out, and the cruise control is on vacation this week. Shifts are off abit with flares if you don't "feather the pedal" (check the vac lines, adjust modulator?) She fires right up, no smoke, little blow by...seems kinda pokey (valve adjust, banjo, aldo work required)...decent looking car, no rust (life-long Texan), compounded a small area and the paint looks like it will buff back up, the interior needs lots of attention...dash wood, front seat covers, shampoo carpets....odometer is in-operative, but the vaccum system works all the doors and all the windows work great! Seems to be a solid platform to start to work.

To bad it didn't make home! She was running like a top, nice and smooth, 70 mph, pulling about 3200 rpm, temperature sitting between 80 and next hash mark, oil pressure pegged at 3.....she just started losing power, felt like it was running outta fuel...pull over and it idles fine...take off again and there it goes again....I'm thinkin' it is a fuel supply problem, but I also read all 18 pages of Bonehead Doctor's saga on power loss which will make you crazy just reading it!

As "luck" would have it, I was across the highway from the brand new Mercedes Benz dealership....I took that as sign from higher powers and limped it into the service bay. She is gonna get their 40 POINT INSPECTION SERVICE...I think I am fixin' to learn why you guys call them "Stealers" instead of dealers!

It was quite a sight to see 3 guys come running with the little paper seat covers, clip boards, tire guages and then when they saw the inside....the look on their faces...but that is a different story.

Well, let's hope they don't charge you $500. to put primary and secondary fuel filters in it ($15. in parts).:(

Welcome to the 300TD "Wagon Owners" we're a proud bunch. (I own two of them!)

Did you sit down in their waiting area and have a free cup of coffee and cookie?

Well you need to tell them you will have it towed to XXXXX (name of local indy shop) the first thing after they tell you it needs a bunch of expensive stuff. Its probably got algae, I'd place bets on the strainer is plugged or the filters need to be replaced.
Does your insurance cover towing? You may have to drive it out and then call for a tow if their policy prevents towing from a shop to another shop (I understand that some do).

The car sat for about a year....my bet is on filters too, for the same reason, algae. Missed the free coffee and I'm on the way to gym to work off some of those "free" cookies from Christmas! I still got a good feeling about this car!

Uh Oh!
 

I think the reason a lot of people buy these cars is because they are technical masterpieces, will last decades if taken care of correctly, and because (like me) they are too cheap or financially challenged to be able to take the car to the dealer of to any repair facility.
I hope you got a price up front for the 40 POINT INSPECTION. I am sure it will not be $40.
To give you an example: I did a complete brake job on my 85 300TD this summer that included all quality German made parts including discs, pads, sensors, front bearings, rear caliper rebuild kits (I rebuilt them myself), rebuilt front calipers (from Autozone with a lifetime warranty) and new ATE brake fluid for the whole system. I spent $420 for this and some odds and ends.
I just bought another 300TD this weekend that had a brake job by a local foreign car repair garage, and they did not do all that I did and the previous owner spent $1,250!
Having been overcharged in the past, unless I am really deperate, I will NEVER go to another garage!

Welcome to Shop Forum. You can checkout anytime you like, but you can never leave. :wacko:

aaaahhhh!
 

hotel california.

me and my eighteen year old's favorite song. when it comes on the cd or radio my wife cringes. she cant stand the guitar. my youngest and groove on it.

tom w

You will soon find out that the only cheap Mercedes is the one you fix yourself. Without this board and the search feature I would have been sunk.

The Land Rover came with included 50,000 maint. (basically fluid changes). At the 30,000 mile service the dealer informed me the 2003 Disco needed brakes and discs all around to the sum of $1,175 +tax. :eek:

There was no pulsating and all the rotors were still fairly smooth. I checked the front brakes and there was plenty left, the rear brakes were fairly worn, which I replaced in a couple thousand miles with $20 pads. The fronts lasted and additional 9,000 miles, at which point I replaced them with $45 front pads. Today, at 53,000 miles the $65 brakes are still going strong.

I did order two sets of Ferodo pads and 4 (UK) rotors for $400; far better than $1,175. :eek: They sit in the garage until the ($65) pads wear down.

-John :cool:

Fuel Strainer, bet ya.
 

Same thing happend to me. I had just got the $500 rust bucket a couple weeks before and was merrily trying to burn up the full tank it came with. The day before it stopped and I had to change the inline filter on the road. It ran home 5 miles home great. So I said, "Ill have to get a couple more ." But then the next day I got about to the same place as day before and could not get anywhere even after strainer change. I did not want to drain 12 gal. of diesel in the nice persons yard I was parked in and was too stupid to think of siphoning it off and then taking out the strainer so I paid for a tow home.

Be sure to post back what you here. Attached is pic of my strainer.

Now what would you all do with the 12 gallons of fungi infected diesel fuel? I have some startek(sp?) biocide . Should i pour that in and let it work for a day and then pour it back in my car and keep filters on hand? It is about $30 worth of fuel.

I suggest you read these threads.
 

I suggest you read these threads.

Do It Yourself Resources
Fuel Delivery:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diy-links-parts-category/142399-diesel-fuel-delivery.html

one of us one of us one of us


serisouly... id clean those banjo bolts out and think about having the mob whack that egr... and maybe an alda tune up

Sounds like a perfect platform to start working on. Good Luck!

Are you in Texas, or was just the wagon from Texas? Welcome from a fellow wagon owner. I didn't have much luck with my first one (which I loved). Jury still out on the second one. Front end was worn out thousands of miles ago.....


Tom,
Hotel California is a great song, no doubt. I'm partial to Desperado, but my all time favorite song from any group is still "Best of my love", from Eagles: On the Border. My first 8 track!:eek: :eek:

We're showing our age....:(

Jimmy....both the myself and the wagon are life-long Texan. So where is Sunnyvale? BTW, in my orginal post, did the RPM, temp, and oil pressure sound about right for these cars? I don't have a "base" to compare them to, so I was constantly scanning the globe, I mean gages as I drove.

I really like that MB hood star floating over the road in front of me....the seat spring pokin' me in the butt I could live without....reckon it's one of those ying-yang things...or is it a yee-haw thing!?

My list of things-to-do-to-car has grown by 2 pages overnight! Are these cars like houses, you never get completely finished with one??

BTW...Steely Dan..."takin' it to the streets"...new theme song??