Noob intro thread

[Ben Froelich]

Hello everyone! Thanks for all the great info on this forum. I've been reading up, but still feel out of my element when it comes to diesels. My last car was a Jeep Grand Wagoneer, I rebuilt the engine/carburetor, r/r'd the gas tank and rear end, etc. So I know a little about gassers, but I'm pretty clueless about these diesels.

A couple months ago, I picked up an '80 300D for $2200+battery. Supposedly, it had about 130k on it and maintenance records for the first 90k or so. The interior is in great shape so I'm inclined to believe the odometer. It's been a California car it's whole life. The first owner had it for most of its life, then he died and passed it on to his daughter, who sold it very quickly. Last oil change stickers indicate that the oil was last changed over 5 years ago, but driven very little in that time (~1k miles). For the first 90k, it was taken to Plati German Auto- a very reputable mechanic in Los Angeles. Not sure about the last 40k.

Since I bought it, I changed the oil and filter, air filter, fuel filters, and driven it almost 1k miles. I also ran a couple cans of diesel purge through it (before changing the fuel filters), and washed the sludge off the engine. Only problem so far was a clogged prefilter. It was full of algae I think.

Performance wise, the car is a slug, but gets up to 75 on the freeway after a while (been driving at 56 most of the time, though). I think it’s missing the transmission throttle linkage, so it shifts wayy too soon and also has a 2-3 flare up. It also idles like one cylinder isn’t doing anything and the car shakes, especially when warm. I’m hoping it’s not too serious, but the car does have some blow by. My current plan is to have it looked over by a shop or anyone in the San Fernando Valley area and then dig in. Thanks for reading!

By the way, I will provide copious amounts of beer to anybody in the SFV area who knows these cars and is willing to teach me how to do stuff like a valve adjustment

My old car, in all its 11mpg glory


Sorry about the cell phone quality pics








Service records:










So comfortable!