Update: I went and drove it again and after it got warm it started stalling, running very poorly, etc., barely made it back. I left it with the owner. He said he would get some filters and check it out.

Went by there yesterday and he had moved the car, but when I talked to him he had not changed the filters, but did purchase them. I changed both filters out and got the car to running pretty good. I have more questions though, and will try to get photos on here late this afternoon to help me decide whether or not to purchase the car.

1. a fair amount of smoke....definitely visible.......comes out the valve cover when you remove the hose that goes to the air filter housing. With it installed, there is light smoke below the air filter housing that I first thought was oil smoking from getting on the exhaust manifold. I believe now that it is coming from valve cover blowby.

2. If you run the car out hard, all shifts are good and firm and well placed, however, if you accelerate more slowly, the tranny wants to shift too fast. Any ideas......is this just an adjustment? Vacuum leak, etc.?

3. Clunk in the rear if hit bump, and the hydraulic oil reservoir under the hood is very low. Assume rear hydraulics are toast? It doesn't bounce excessively over rough roads though.

4. throttle linkage begins moving as soon as you move pedal, but pedal must move at least 2 inches before engine begins to rev.

5. odometer has 128K on it, after watching it, it doesn't work at all. I have seen other mercs on ebay with over 300k that are in way better shape than this one. what to do?

6. valve cover doesn't appear to be leaking, but I still have an oil leak very close to the front. Any ideas?

Maybe I will get off work early enough today to check out more of the undercarriage, maybe find the oil leak, etc. I really appreciate everybody's advice. I am interested in getting it for $1k, but I would rather spend $2k on one that needs little.

Waylan

I never saw a lot of 300td's when I lived in La. So, I guess it depends on how many are available. I sure as heck would not work on a car that I had not bought. All you are doing is making it easier for the owner to sell to someone else, (unless he promised not to sell it). Either way, whats your time worth? seems like you allready have alot into getting to know this car. I bought a 79 300td from a friend for 1100, which sounds alot like your car. (small rust, some blow-by) adjust the valves, change the oil, doo all the things that need to be done. If it is anything like the one I bought, I think it would be well worth it. I like the smell of biodiesel enough for that. also, ours i slow! I have to plan the accleration, like start pulling out before the oncoming car has completely passed...

__________________
Wilmington, NC. Board member of Cape Fear Biofuels.
www.capefearbiofuels.com
1982 Rabbit on WVO (sold)
1979 300TD on biodiesel
1985 F-350 6.9 on WVO and Biodiesel
1983 Factory Turbo Diesel Rabbit.
1985 300SD 252,000 for sale (sold)

I have maybe 4 hours into this car.......working on it and checking it out. It was running so crappy when I first drove it that I wanted to see if I could get it running good instead of buy it first and then find out I couldn't get it running good. Well it just turned out to be fuel filters and needing fresh fuel to get it to run good. Once that was taken care of, I got to looking the rest of the car over. Something is worn out in the rear end.......it makes these clunking noises. The hydraulic oil reservoir is extremely low.....about 1/16" of oil on the dip stick, so I assume there is a leak in the system. There is also a metal tube that runs from the air filter housing to the block, just above the oil pan. This tube has been removed and reinstalled incorrectly......and this accounts for the oil leak. Everything is real dirty around this spot, and it has me concerned that there is extensive engine damage from dirt/dust being ingested through this. The air filter housing has been welded and one of the studs that mounts it is broken. The odometer broke at 128K. The motor mounts rattle, the vacuum system is all butchered.....not sure if these were needed changes or what? On the other hand, it does run out well and shifts good, but I'm just a little scared of buying something that MAY need ALOT of time. That is why I thought I would spend a little time on it to begin with instead of possibly ALOT of time after purchasing. If it helps him sell the car now, that's great. Not many people are trusting enough to let you take something like that to your home to mess with for a few days. I know I wouldn't have.

Waylan

300TD for a 1000 bucks that starts, runs, and looks decent is a deal, so offer him 500! I would be more concearned with the rust, that be like the Energizer Bunny, it just keeps growing and growing.

At a 1000, figure at least another 1-1500 bucks, now what can you buy for 2500 bucks? If you like it and you do because you already got grease all over you...buy it....I bet you could get her shiny and at least break even if you sold out.

__________________
Mark
1983 300TD Wagon
Even a broken watch is right twice a day