I just bought my first Mercedes-Benz, a 1983 240D. What a rush!

The car is in pretty good shape for its age, but far from show quality. 145,000 miles. Runs well. The automatic transmission is a bit reluctant to upshift, it could use professional attention. The previous owner put different size tires on the front and rear, I'm not sure what he was thinking, but I can take care of that on Monday morning. The A/C works but could be more effective, I'll have a pro look at it as well.

I guess I'll need to start looking for service and parts manuals for this thing. Until then, I'll pay the premium price at a specialty shop.

I'm still in love with the 300SDL, but this car was sooooo much cheaper that I'll settle for it until my finances improve significantly. Just the fuel savings over my Ramcharger will pay for the car by the end of the year. I expect to get a .25 gigameter badge by then.

Any advice on window tinting? The Texas sun is really fierce.

Any other words of wisdom?

-- Matt

On that car, vacuum to the tranny controls the shifts. If you do not have vacuum, it will up-shift at the maximum rpm. Take a look at your vacuum lines under the hood and make sure they are not disconnected, cracked, etc. It's probably a vacuum issue, not a transmission issue.

Way to go! What color combo so you have?




My words of wisdom, are to get you a cool or warm beverage, maybe a snack, get comfortable, and look at the top where it says "search". You have enough info for days of reading, and it is very interesting reading at that. For the search forum target be sure and select "diesel discussion" to get the most pertinent info.

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

The car currently has 175s on the front and 195s on the rear. I have no idea why. So, should I change the rear tires to 175s or the front tires to 195s?

Inquiring minds waht to know.

-- Matt

Just last month, I too purchased a 1981 240D. It also had two different sizes, and not sure why.


I went to Firestone and came out with 185/70/r14 turanza series with a 70,000 mile guarantee. Also purchased their ‘for as long as I own the car’ alignment agreement. So I will go back in 5,000 miles.

These tires are just a little smaller, then what I should have gotten. When I drive 100 miles on the car, my GPS states I have gone 97.5 miles.

but, I still average right at 30 MPG, factoring in the smaller tire.

Here in NC, the summers are also hot and humid, the A/C works, could be better, but at least I do not sweat.

Bob
1981 240D 172,000 on car, 2,000 by me

Welcome to the forums and happy motoring with the new ride.

__________________
1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair