Transition of advice power... Looking at a 300sd soon! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

derburger · #1 12-20-2008, 03:23 PM

I'm thinking about buying a non-running w126 300sd for a second car. The car has 240k miles, good repainted exterior and good interior, maint. records, but had an oil cooler line episode. A pulley wore through the cooler line because one of the motor mounts was bad, the owner was at a stoplight and the car started to run funny, he opened the hood and was sprayed with oil, he shut off the car and had it towed. I don't know how much oil was lost because of this I'll have to ask again, but he replaced the oil cooler lines oil cooler afterwards.

Then he took it to a pressure wash to wash the oil off the engine, now the car cranks, has a new battery but doesn't start, the seller just wants it gone now. The owner is a old chevy guy and doesn't know much about diesels.

If the motor is trashed because of low oil, would it just crank and not start? Or would it be seized and not crank at all? It lost compression and won't start now?

Do 300d's engines that lose oil by the oil cooler lines cut just lose compression and only crank, or seize and not budge?

If the motor is still usable with glow or fuel issues, I'll buy the car. I don't really have the time or space to replace an engine, though. The car is in good enough condition to warrant an engine swap.

I could test the glow plugs with a multimeter or loosen the injector nuts to see if the engine is getting fuel while cranking.

So, your thoughts? This might be one of those cars that has a fuel or glow problem and the owner wants it gone, or maybe not. I'll find out how much oil was lost when the cooler lines wore through, but that's one way to kill a MB diesel engine. Should I go for it? I do like 300sd's too.

barry123400 · #2 12-20-2008, 06:24 PM

Engine in most of the oil cooler line failing cases are finished. You might do a compression check to see what is left.

Even with fair to good compression the bearings may be damaged. There is no absolute way to guess his engine. You must assume it is toast unless you prove otherwise.

Again failure of the oil cooling lines dumps all the oil in less than a minute. I personally have never noticed anyones engine surviving this senario before.

The odds are basically against you. You may have a slight chance but percentagewise it is not too high. Just my opinions by the way and if the vendor described the full incident it might enlighten you a little.

JimmyL · #3 12-20-2008, 06:41 PM

First off, I like your thread title. You have been paying attention!

[that may be playing to a small audience]

I must agree that your engine most likely has serious issues. Just the loss of oil is not going to make it run funny, as the oily owner experienced. I guess it could cause an odd sensation if oil was all over the drive belts in the car, but I'm afraid oil-less friction inside the engine might be a better guess.
If the car is worthy and the price is cheap, 617.95X engines are not that hard to come by, and a pretty easy swap as far as engines go.

TylerH860 · #4 12-20-2008, 07:29 PM

Transition of workhorse power? Do you plan to make the CD your weekend show pony?

I agree with Jimmy. If the body and interior is as nice as you say it is, its worth taking a risk for under a grand.

derburger · #5 12-20-2008, 08:10 PM

I want my CD to by the winter garage pony and not the midwest salt sacrifice

. Rust just started on my CD after a winter or two.

I took a look at the car today. The interior was nice, dashboard had a crack, some wood was cracked, nice leather though. Paint was maroon and a decent repaint in factory color, no dings or rust on the car that I could see. The engine bay was the exxon valdez...

At 240k miles, I doubt that engine survived being run out of oil. Everything, and I mean everything was soaked in oil. The oil cooler and lines were new but had a "pipe and hose clamps" quick fix.

Unfortunately, it would be like playing russian roulette buying that car, since if I can't get it running and driving I don't have space for it and I'm screwed. I do know where a few good engines are but I'm afraid there's no time or space for a swap, don't have an engine hoist either. Body is good enough though, no rust that I could find, good paint.

I did notice some things as to why it wouldn't be running. The battery was way too small but new, the fuel filters looked old and cruddy, old original hand pump that probably sucks air, everything was covered in grease, something connected to the IP was held on by clear tape (unfamiliar with turbos but ill look for pictures of it) plus 20 degrees outside. If the engine was still good, I'm sure an hour of work would get it running. It's surely dead though, oil everywhere. It still cranks with that tiny battery.

Who knows. I have the tools, a car that can haul an engine (not the CD) and possible space in the garage. Sorry, no pictures, my camera was out of juice. I would like the project of swapping engines but I would have to figure out the logistics first. Decisions, decisions

TylerH860 · #6 12-20-2008, 08:16 PM

Cuanto cuesta? If I may ask. Mine blew an oil cooler hose, coating the engine completely, but did no damage to the engine as far as I know. 15,000 miles and two engine bay details since...

81300sd · #7 12-20-2008, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barry123400

Engine in most of an oil cooler line failng cases are finished. You might do a compression check to see what is left.

Even with fair to good compression the bearings may be damaged. There is no absolute way to guess his engine. You must assume it is toast unless you prove otherwise.

Again failure of the oil cooling lines dumps all the oil in less than a minute. I personally have never noticed anyones engine surviving this senario before.

The odds are basically against you. You may have a slight chance but percentgewise it is not too high. Just my opinions by the way and if the vendor described the full incident it might enlighten you a little.

You personally didn't witness mine, but mine survived just fine. There was still oil pressure and oil in the engine. If the hose is completly severed then maybe a minute, but mine went a dozen or more miles before I noticed it.

Check to see how much oil is left in it if he hasn't added any. If there is atleast 4 quarts left in there I wouldn't be worried at all. Mine lost about 3 quarts I figured and oil was everywhere, I only noticed it because when I got home and walked infront of the car, oil was dripping from the front of the hood.

derburger · #8 12-20-2008, 08:45 PM

Well, the owner said he was at a stoplight then the engine "ran like s***" so he opened the hood and was splashed with oil and the turned the car off and got a tow. The motor mount was bad, a belt or pulley wore through the line, probably explains the projectile oil spatter on the poor guy. He added oil later and replaced the oil cooler lines. I didn't catch if it was running after the oil episode. His driveway was covered in oil from replacing the lines. I'll ask him if there was anything left on the dipstick after the cooler incident. Again, chevy guy and he said he's not familiar with these cars at all.

I didn't discuss $$$ but the guy wants the car gone before Xmas, I think the equivalent of 300 fastfood cheeseburgers would suffice. If I would buy this I would have to prepare to have a spare engine lined up, but a bonus if the engine in it's still good. I could easily see why the engine wouldn't start but who knows even if it's trashed it still cranks. Small battery, bad filters and cold weather.

TylerH860 · #9 12-20-2008, 08:50 PM

If it was running like crap when he shut it off, he probably did some serious damage.

Fast food cheeseburgers are getting pretty expensive.

81300sd · #10 12-20-2008, 11:01 PM

Mine was showing nothing on the dipstick and was still fine. I bet it is still fine. It was still pumping oil when shut down or it wouldn't have sprayed him. Why it wasn't running right is the mystery. 7 PSI is all it takes to sustain bearings.

derburger · #11 12-21-2008, 12:25 AM

I'll talk to the owner more tomorrow about the specifics of what happened to the oil cooler. I don't remember if he said it ran after the oil cooler episode, I think it might have been driving until he took it to the pressure wash to de-gunk the engine and he had to tow it away from there. I think the hoses had been leaking from age and he had a machinist buddy make some new ones, which were promptly worn through by the pulley, then were replaced again. I do know it ran poorly at a stoplight which led him to open the hood and get sprayed, but I don't remember if it ran after that. If I can prepare for "worst case scenario" engine swap it would be a better idea to buy it.