81 300SD, A Saga Begins. . . .Maybe. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

imagesinthewind · #1 02-04-2008, 03:46 AM

So Friday I'm on CL looking for a car and on the Boulder CL there is a new ad for a MB with Greasecar kit. 81 300SD. Tom and I own a bar and have unlimited access to WVO, we changed our bar kitchen to pizza and we deliver. Would this not make the perfect bio-green vehicle for our company car??? We already make our own glasswear out of our recycled beer bottles and in the summer our cars (now just car) runs on the WVO in a one tank dump it in and top with diesel kinda thing. Having the MB with greasecar would just be the cherry on top of an already green establishment. The press we would get!!!! But I digress.

The ad states the car is up for $2500. I call, talk and agree to meet after lunch. In the couple hours I have I do research, post questions here and go look at part numbers. The brakes on the 81 need new rotors. The brand new brake system we just put on our now parts car will fit on the 81. Two windows on the 81 don't work well, the parts from the 79 will fit. 81 needs new tires, the wheels/tires from the 79 will fit. Cool!!! Just a brake job and I can teach Tom about brakes.

Time comes and I arrive. I'm the first to see the car. She's white and is in deparate need of an intro to Turtle Wax. Some surface rust, not terrible and an easy fix. Interior is beat to chit. Back seat top has large holes, bottom back seat is ripped and bad. Front seats have small, manageable tears but sag to the ground and the driver's seat wants to tip you out the door. But it's only interior, it's fixable. I secretly hope the seats from the 79 can somehow be put in the 81, even without the electric seats.

He pops the hood and shows me around the grease system. I'm not the impressed by the system, I'm familiar, I want to know more about the engine, tranny, etc. The car is parked in a driveway and the in-laws came and parked their third wheel in front of it. Can't be driven until they come back from shopping in Denver, round 5. Okay. I check the oil, and let him start the car. Check for blowback and dancing- none. Car starts up on first try, just VROOOM. Good start. He wants to show me the gauges he put in for WVO temp, we look at the fabu job that was done installing it. The 13 gallon tank sits in the wheel well in the truck and cannot be seen, no spills. The trunk is the only part of the car taken care of.

I take pics of the car and send them to the DH at work so he can see and feel like he has ANY say in the purchase of the car. He's shown himself to be a bit excitable so he's no longer allowed to have much say. He know, accepts and understands that if a man can't change his own oil, he can't have more say than the wife who can.

He revs the engine, white smoke. We talk about the fuel tank level indicator on the dash and he tells me it's not always right. I make a note, it's not THAT big a deal to me, I go by tripometer most of the time in case my car decides to start lying to me about the fuel useage. We go through all the lights, horn, dahs lights, etc to make sure those are in order, reverse lights don't come on. I make a note.

I decide that driving it would be a good thing to do next, give him $500 right-of-first-refusal-refundable deposit so he can't sell it before I get to drive it. We make another appt for 6pm that night for a drive.

6pm. The drive.
Didn't go well. We back it out of the drive, put it in drive and head out. Until it hits 2nd gear to which it says, 'I'm tired and don't want to move too fast.' We end up driving about 4 miles maybe, stalling a few times, starting right back up, driving, not getting past maybe 1200rpm on the tach.
We finally go back and let him know the problem. It's only 6:30, we figure it's a fuel problem, when were the filters changed last? Uh, well, I don't know, never changed them! So, Tom and I hit the auto parts store and get the in-line. The spin on is out of stock. I verify the part numbers for the spin on are the same for MY car and the 81. We go back and replace the in-line. Black inside but no floaties when I hold the fuel from it in my hand. We drive. There is a marginal difference. I get under MY hood and take off my spin and replace his with mine. Drive again, not much better. It's cold, it's dark, I tell the owner that I'll do some research and get back to him on ideas.

Tom and I drive home, smelling like diesel. Not a terrible smell, it means I got to get my hands dirty a bit. We talk and think of different things the problem could be; water in the tank (been sitting 6 months with 1/2 tank of diesel), air in the lines (I did crack the lines I should have and pumped up the in line-a small fuel leak was fixed with just a better twist of the primer pump), not getting air. . .

Saturday I went back and meet him at the car (parked at a friends) with some diesel dry, diesel kleen, and my tool box. I made him drive the car (he hadn't) so he could feel the power loss and he stalled down the street. Got it back, no problem. We added a bit of the dry to the tank and a bit of the kleen. Had him go out and get some diesel for the tank so there was some good fuel in it. Turned off the engine to recrack the top of the spin on (don't remember the correct term) and repumped the in line. Started it again and it stalled in the driveway. Tried to restart and it just wouldn't catch. Finally a last try and nothing. The starter didn't disengage. Tapped the started with a big wrench and that worked. But just wouldn't catch. Then he has the bright idea that maybe there fuel gauge was wrong and he didn't have much diesel in the tank (and I just dumped a bottle of iso heet in it!). He said then that the leat time he filled the tank with diesel was almost a YEAR AGO!! So, I'm thinking water, fungus, small mice. . .

In the end, he got the number of our mechanic and is dropping the 81 off there tomorrow. I'll call my guy and have him do a once over on the car while it's there and check for anything major that might be around the corner before making a final on this one. So, we will see if the universe say it's for us or we need to move on.

Thanks for reading, I'm finally tired now.

t walgamuth · #2 02-04-2008, 04:58 AM

Ginny, did the white smoke stop once the car warmed up? If it did It is likely just a glow plug or two out.

The stalling sounds like a fuel problem which You seem to be on top of. Diesel will keep for decades if there is no water in it, if there is water it will grow bacteria and that will plug your filters. A good dose of biocide will take care of that...I am not knowleggable on the wvo but I think it will grow bacteria too, under what circumstances i am not sure.

The benz will have many of the mechanicals in common with a eight one three hundred d.

The price sounds about double what I would be willing to pay for a very tired benz.....but I dont know what the wvo conversion is worth, the interior should be pretty available, I wouldnt be surprised if you could find one in our classified here.

Good luck.

I admire what you are doing with your business on the green things.

Tom W

toomany MBZ · #3 02-04-2008, 07:43 AM

Considering, offer him $48.00.

kerry · #4 02-04-2008, 10:31 AM

I'd continue looking for another car. There's currently an SD on Ebay in the general vicinity of Denver. Can't recall the price.

Here it is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BLACK-BEAUTY-300SD-NEW-TIRES-Diesel-Great-MPG_W0QQitemZ290203638584QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item290203638584

Maxbumpo · #5 02-04-2008, 12:24 PM

Probably broken rings (burning VO does that).

imagesinthewind · #6 02-04-2008, 01:57 PM

Well, whatever it is, he's getting it fixed. Or at the very least getting a quote on what it would cost to fix it. If it's a large amount, I'd suspect he calls me and offers to sell it for less so he doesn't have to shell out to fix it. Then I can decide to fix it myself or pay the shop to do it.

The Colorado Springs car is nice, but I don't want to pay that much for an old car. Even an MB unless there is absolutley nothing wrong with it. I got mine in minty fresh condition for $2500 two years ago. I can wait to get another good deal like that.

Hatterasguy · #7 02-04-2008, 02:28 PM

That car sounds trashed, pass. Or offer him like $500, any car that drives down the road is worth that.

Mismost · #8 02-04-2008, 02:43 PM

Quote:

That car sounds trashed, pass. Or offer him like $500, any car that drives down the road is worth that.

I agree with the trashed. I disagree with the any car that drives down the road is worth $500....the $500 is just the ticket to play "the spend a bunch more ball game"!

You BOUGHT a minty MB for $2500 bucks. You KNOW what you are looking for...this one ain't it...no power, rust, trashed interior, starter...THAT car is telling you to keep looking!

gatorblue92 · #9 02-04-2008, 03:48 PM

hmmm from the sound of it you should pass on that car

Hatterasguy · #10 02-04-2008, 09:41 PM

I sold mine for $1k and shocked myself, I was half ready to call the junker.

Any car that runs well enough is worth $500, drive it for a few months and throw it out, you got your money's worth. Scrap value is what $200 these days?