Everytime you do something yourself the involved stress increase your self confidence to no end. Thats exactly how we learn. Enough things tackled and you become self confident even. Little or no actual stress up to a certain point is experienced. I guess this means you are in control. Most people never do get started yet it can start with something as straightforward as changing an ignition tumbler out.

If a job is too involved most members will mention it based on your experience. With this site your car should be able to miss most mechanical labour bills if you wish. The retained money usually always finds another place so it is not really a problem.
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Also it does make you miss the times when you are ripped off bad on occasion. They leave a real sour taste when you are aware of them. Most people are neither aware or try to justify what happened or bought the B.S. There is enough out there to go around. Thats how it all thrives it seems.

There are so many ways you can justify doing it yourself. My personal favorite is you almost always save enough to pay for any of the new tools you aquired. You pay for them the first time you do a job with the labour and parts savings. After that they are basically free. For the rest of your life.

Also your incidental knowledge has to expand. This type of car is probably as good as it gets to get started with. For most owners the garage option is not a good choice with a vehicle this old anyways.

Next thing to become familiar with is how to source parts economically to meet your needs. Learning how to equate quality at the same time.

Worthwhile in my opinion and you can refine it up to any stage you want. It in many ways is an art form. The other part is you will eventually influence others to be more self sufficient as well. Absolutly best of all these aquired skills are transferable to other areas of your life. They all tend to become cumulative.
Anyways glad the change out went well. I thought it should. I felt as I always do. If you got enough encouragement to do it yourself you would reap the rewards in some fashion. In my opinion you did. Congratulations and remember most people out there do not have the backup this site presents. That is also priceless in my opinion.

I've done the full monty replacement job on my girlfriends '77 240D. Car came with one original key and multiple brass keys. AARRGGGHHH. Keys started sticking and had to replace tumbler. Steering lock was also sticking so I had to replace the lock mechanism as well. Since the car was a '77, I had to upgrade all parts to the upgraded replacements as some had been phased out. The longest part of the job was transplanting the pre-glow microswitch from the ol assembly to the new one (had to make a tool so that I could remove it without destroying it). Two weeks later Worldpac started stocking new microswitches for about $12.

Now lock, tumbler and column are very tight and reliable again.

I appreciate the encouragement. Next thing you know, I'm gonna be doing brakes and suspension work But first I need tools

I have no problem taking anything apart, it's just getting things back together without breaking something that usually worries me. That's okay, because sooner or later, I'll get a camera and document my adventures

Thanks again!

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1982 240D, sold 9/17/2008
1987 300D TurboW124.133 - 603.960, 722.317 - Smoke Silver Metallic / Medium Red (702/177), acquired 8/15/2009
262,715 and counting

you should already have the tools necessary to change the brake pads on your car, and flush the brakes too, it's worth it. for that you will need a 8 or 10mm box end wrench. I would buy a set of gearwrenches in metric, they are awesome and well worth it... DON"T buy the store brand of gear wrenches... very annoying!
to do the brakes right, you should really have a floor jack and a pair of jack stands. but you can do it one wheel at a time with the car's trunk tools.
all that's required to get the pads out is a screwdriver and a nail or those needle nose pliers again...

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I have access to a floor jack and jackstands when I get back up to MA. We also have a bit of tools, but I'll probably get a set of my own (Craftsman, perhaps?)

When I do my brakes, I want to put new rotors on as well...and fix the e-brake (which doesn't do a whole lot at the moment).

If I do a lot of stuff myself, I can rationalize more tools (and my girlfriend can't argue with the money I spend )

I think something like this would be well within my price range. Should I find a torque wrench, too? http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00934239000P?vName=Tools&cName=Tool+Sets&sName=Mechanics+Tool+Sets

__________________
1982 240D, sold 9/17/2008
1987 300D TurboW124.133 - 603.960, 722.317 - Smoke Silver Metallic / Medium Red (702/177), acquired 8/15/2009
262,715 and counting

Good job, MacGyver!

I ordered a new cylinder from the dealer for under $60.00, and following advice from guys on this forum, replaced it in less than 10 minutes. You should consider doing it your self. If I can do it, anyone can!

$60 is a very good price, I think I paid around $100 (including a key; maybe two keys, I forget).

My wife likes me to have tools so I spend more time under a car, and less time in the house.

That may be an additional stratagy of my wifes as well. Never considered it before. .

Got my tools ordered today. I found another set for the same price with two more wrenches...odd. Fine by me . It even had $25 off (of every mechanics tool set) http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00934240000P?keyword=00934240000&sLevel=0

My girlfriend was good about it. She even helped me compare all the different tool sets. She's really good with numbers (PhD candidate in Physics), so, all I really had to say is if I saved that much money on rekeying the ignition...just imagine the other jobs I need to do... No resistance whatsoever.

PS. I should have access to an impact wrench in our shop. I'm pretty sure I've seen one around. Not sure about the metric impact sockets, but I can always buy a couple if I need. Much cheaper than the impact wrench itself.

I'm also armed with a set of 8" digital calipers from back when I worked in QC. They're simply amazing They don't call them super calipers for nothing

__________________
1982 240D, sold 9/17/2008
1987 300D TurboW124.133 - 603.960, 722.317 - Smoke Silver Metallic / Medium Red (702/177), acquired 8/15/2009
262,715 and counting

OOPS, I meant to post this on another thread, similar discussion.....

Hmmm, brass dust? I wounder if that's my problem.

My key does not want to turn. It's like the cylinder is jammed. If I jiggle it a bit, or a lot it will then suddenly turn.

My car has 450,000 miles and the key that came with it appears to be brass and very worn (lots of miles).

I got new keys from the dealer, nice sharp steel.

But is sounds like brass keys wear and the shavings or minute bits of brass over the years jam the lock cylinder.

Can you just remove the cylinder and tap or blow out some of the filling to free up the lock instead of installing a new one?

__________________
1987 300TDT
1981 VW MKI Caddy 1.6 diesel, waiting on engine swap
1983 D-50 Power Ram 4x4 "Mitsubishi" 2.3 turbo diesel
assorted gas powered crap and motorcycles

RIP: 1984 300TDT, 1982 300TDT, 1984 190D 2.2, 1992 300D 2.5, 1987 300TDT, 1982 Maxima LD28, 1983 Maxima LD28, Isuzu C223 P'ups X3, 1983 Holiday Rambler 6.2 Banks turbo diesel, 1984 Winnebago LeSharo 2.1 TD, 1985 Allegro 6.5