Help! Dire need of advice!
 

Hello everyone.

I've recently purchased a 1981 300TD from a local Mercedes Benz Mechanic shop here. The car had 1 owner, (Or so I was told) it had 167,000 miles on it at the time of purchase. They claimed to have done ALL the work on the car for the past 26 years. I drove the car, everything seemed fine. I was told that everything worked flawlessly and that the car was in pristine shape for its age. The only thing that didn't work was the A/C which they told me would need a new compressor.

I buy the car for $3500.

Ok so fast forward, here I am 1 week later. I put the key in the ignition and it won't turn at all, it's completely stuck. I call the shop up, they tow it for me and replace the tumbler for free.

2nd week, no problems.

Week 3, I'm driving up the road and I start to loose power, I'm pushing the accelerator to the floor and barely pushing 10MPH. 1 minute later, I have no power at all, I park the car with the engine still running, the car is in drive and when I hit the gas pedal nothing happens, car doesn't move. I tried Slope, Low, and Drive, couldn't get the car to move. However I put it in reverse it worked fine. I tried adding some transmission fluid... this had no effect. When I pressed the accelerator there was no response from the transmission, I could hear something spinning or some type of whining noise, when I depressed the accelerator it felt like the car would shift into drive and I would be moving very slowly without pressing the accelerator (like an automatic in Drive slowly creeping forward), however if I did press the accelerator, no movement, no creeping forward, just a very faint whining or spinning noise.

Cars being towed back to the shop... My questions are:

1) What's the diagnosis for the transmission?

2) Are there any consumer laws which protect me from the mechanics shop? If they try and make me pay for a new transmission, is there a lemon law or some other type of consumer law to protect me against this? Considering I've only owned the car 3 weeks, and I've havn't even signed the title yet! Although we did do a bill of sale...

Lemon Law depends on your location. Here in TX it's good for only 3 days, IIRC.

Tranny could be a plugged filter, TC trying to go out, Clutch pack, valve body, or other internal tranny parts on the way out.

It's a used car with 167,000 miles. No lemon law will apply to a car that old.

Unless the seller gave you a warranty, it's just like buying any other used car: You're on your own warranty (your wallet).

One more thing to check---fuel filters.

I'm a college student. Last semester I took a business law class. I remember a case where if a person who has limited mechanical ability goes to a mechanic or an auto dealer and the person selling the car says that the car: "is in excellent mechanical condition with the only problem being the air conditioner" that his/her word is an oral contract of someone with expertise in that field. The specific case was one like mine, where a women bought a car that was in "Mint" condition and had to have lots of work done to it.

I'm not sure if this applies to me or not, thats basically what I'm asking. It doesn't matter how old the car is, if a Mechanic's or Auto dealer's business tells me the car is in mint condition, I should be able to believe their word, as it's an oral agreement.

Am I wrong?

Usually if you buy from a reputable person, lot, or dealer they will work with you, like free labor, or free parts, you pay labor, or 50% off, or even no charge. Usually if you start nice, they will be nice, if they choose to not be nice, time to play hardball.

I would think that you have little recourse in this case. The price you paid does not reflect any real indication of a car that should be in "mint" condition. Absent any written warranty,I think you are SOL. You would have a tough time proving that the mechanic knew that it had a weak tranny (if it indeed does have a weak tranny) and failed to disclose it to you.

Rick

This really sucks. Would It help my case in proving that they jipped me if the car has a vacuum leak, and also leaks oil?

No, because those a know issues with these cars.

Vacuum and oil leaks are common on 26 year old cars and are to be expected.

That almost sounds like the infamous B2 piston failure....works in reverse but can't get going forwards....could be a rather cheap/simple repair.....or, all the clutches could be worn out and the tranny is dead. Trannies aren't all that expensive for these cars....I had to have all the seals re-done in mine when I got my car....at a cost of over $2k....that was in ADDITION to a $3700 purchase price......you can get a rebuilt tranny for about $1,400 or so...sometimes less....then the cost of putting it in.

I stopped keeping track of what this car costs me long ago....but I don't care....so I am happy in my blissful unknowing state. :D

If the tranny is all thats bad, fix it, and move on, you'll get many many miles out of a new/rebuilt one.

one more simple thing to check.
have a friend step on the accelerator pedal. you look at the fuel linkage, particularly the vertical fuel rod by the IP. does it move? or do the throttle rods just pivot and not move the IP rod?
you didn't really mention if the motor revs up or not. this would prevent motor reving.
also the Alda line could be plugged, but I don't think that would prevent ANY forward movement.

I was about to suggest the same when I got to the B2 post. Rule out B2 piston. If it is, I don't think there's any test that would reveal the piston is about to fail unless you actually ripped open the tranny. Your mechanic may not have pulled a fast one.

Maybe you want to print out the B2 replacement instructions, and give them to the mechanic who sold you the car, and see if he'll do the work as good will kinda of thing.

topfrog,

welcome to the world of old diesel mercedes. you will hopefully learn to fix almost anything after a year or so of stuff going wrong. but, it's better than a car payment (to me). so, start teh troubleshooting!! do a tranny fluid/filter change first (dont' forget to drain the torque converter) to rule that part out.
check all linkages (throttle and tranny), fuel filters (primary, secondary, and tank screen), buy yourself a mity vac vacuum gauge and test some vac lines, etc., and there are even b2 piston replacement kits available...there are many resources...a good one to start with is dieselgiant.com (no, i'm not affiliated, but the owner is SUPER helpful)...good luck, and ask lots of questions.

:):):)

Sounds like a B-2 piston failure
 

I had a similar experience when I bought my 300D. I drove it for a few weeks and then it wouldn't go forward anymore. After being really upset for a while (thinking tranny was toast) I cleared my head and found documentation of the B-2 piston replacement on www.dieselgiant.com.
Not a terrible repair, but it is very time consuming because you will have to disconnect the driveshaft at the back of the tranny to lower it enough to get at the B-2. I believe that SD and SDL owners have it easier, but owners of 123's will have to disconnect the shaft to get the tranny to lower appropriately.