1995 E300 Newest diesel in the fleet. Literally..... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

JimmyL · #1 01-20-2009, 11:34 PM

Well, I finally made it home with a W124!! Been wanting one for awhile and I'm glad I stayed with diesel.
It ain't perfect, but is that really a surprise with Mercedes? I think not......

These are awful pics. It was too bright and just out in the driveway, but wanted to at least get day one photos. We're nerds that way aren't we.

And awful camera phone pics from a couple days ago:

Of course I already have several issues.
First, the tach is mostly inop, but every now and then it will hop to life for a few seconds, then dead again. I pulled out the OVP relay [red cap, right?] and both fuses are fine [wouldn't have worked ever if one of the fuses blown though I guess]
Second, the outside temp display also works very randomly, but does not coincide with tach operation.
Third, and most serious, the accelerator cable linkage is broken at the valve cover, I think leading to very sluggish acceleration and awkward shifting. Have it rigged for the moment, but it will need one of those.
Oh wait, fourth, and definitely most serious, is that the #3 and #5 glow plugs are dead. Infinite resistance on #3, 173 ohms on #5.

Odd. The other 4 are 1.0 to 1.3 ohms. Glow plug light inop at start up, but comes on for afterglow.
It is smooth to drive, handles nicely and just feels more refined than my W123's. Actually, the Squash was actually smoother suspension wise, but he was exceptional in that category.
It was also a pleasant acquisition today as I got to the small dealership almost exactly at Obama's swearing in, so we all sat around and watched that prior to starting the never ending paperwork. I don't think I'll ever have a problem remembering the day I bought this, as of yet un-named MB.
There is an early leader in the clubhouse, though...

TylerH860 · #2 01-20-2009, 11:41 PM

At least its not a head gasket, like mine...

Welcome to the Excelsior class; I'm glad you're finally with me.

TylerH860 · #3 01-20-2009, 11:47 PM

Oh, I forgot to ask. What's the wife's opinion?

compu_85 · #4 01-20-2009, 11:49 PM

Looks like there's something missing from the passenger side of the engine

I'd like to drive an NA 606 someday, on paper it makes the same HP as my 603.97

-Jason

iwrock · #5 01-20-2009, 11:52 PM

Puuurrrdy.....

Look fairly clean. Does it drive nice?

husk · #6 01-20-2009, 11:52 PM

CONGRATS! Nice looking car that engine bay looks spotless....It looks like someone had changed the OVP in the past (the original ones only had one fuse). How is the AC? Ice Cold? I love how your engine bay has none of that yellow gobbily gook mine has! interior pics?

bgkast · #7 01-20-2009, 11:55 PM

Nice. Just wax it good and the black should be fine in the Texas heat, it will just reflect all that infrared radiation.

I thought only the turbos had the louvers on the fender.

husk · #8 01-20-2009, 11:57 PM

are you missing the diagnostic port cover?

sixto · #9 01-21-2009, 12:02 AM

E300DNA?

Sixto
87 300D

JimmyL · #10 01-21-2009, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TylerH860

Oh, I forgot to ask. What's the wife's opinion?

She hasn't said anything specific about the car, nor has she even looked at it. She just complained about having to take me across town to get it.

**edit** Oh, I remember something. I had it in the garage, in her beloved FX35's space when I was testing glow plugs and figuring out the broken accel. linkage, and she commented as she walked through to the house that it had more scratches than she would have thought.....

Thank you for your support!

Quote:

Originally Posted by husk

are you missing the diagnostic port cover?

Well, if the diagnostic port is that flat thing with a bunch of female holes over near the battery, then I guess the cover is missing. Of course, I never knew it was supposed to have one....

Quote:

Originally Posted by husk

CONGRATS! Nice looking car that engine bay looks spotless....It looks like someone had changed the OVP in the past (the original ones only had one fuse). How is the AC? Ice Cold? I love how your engine bay has none of that yellow gobbily gook mine has! interior pics?

I'm sure they steam cleaned the engine bay. I vacuumed the false firewall area [not sure what that area is called]. Had to get the leaves out of there.
I did find a blown red 10amp fuse down in that area.
AC compressor comes on. Not sure how cold it gets as it is cold outside. Supposed to be fairly warm tomorrow. I might get to try out the AC if I get home in time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sixto

E300DNA?

I swear I was going to add that [E300DNA]

I wonder who the rogue NA smart-aleck will be. I've got dibs on the rogue T smart-aleck moniker......
I feel a responsibility to not call it an E300D. The trunk badge of truth just won't let me....

pawoSD · #11 01-21-2009, 12:36 AM

Wow, nice. I'd not mind having one that looks exactly like that....its my favorite color combo.

husk · #12 01-21-2009, 12:37 AM

If you end up fixing your tach problem please let me know what you did! And also I would love to see the interior!

JimmyL · #13 01-21-2009, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by husk

If you end up fixing your tach problem please let me know what you did! And also I would love to see the interior!

Look, I need you to fix the tach issue so that I'll know what to do!!!

I have no documentation at this point. But it does work sometimes, briefly, so it isn't a super hard failure. But it is most of the time. Seems to work when accelerating, never at idle. Temp display is flaky too.

Here are a couple of pics from the ad for the car. I haven't taken any yet.

**edit**
from my other thread:

What service manual do folks that have these cars utilize? I have seen several on ebay. For example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCEDES-W124-200-220-230-250-300-WORKSHOP-MANUAL-3DVD_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q 3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem350152280197QQitemZ350152280197QQptZMotorsQ5fManu alsQ5fLiterature
{8 Gigabytes!!!!}

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCEDES-300-DIESEL-W124-86-95-MANUAL-2-CD-SET_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3 a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem350152280733QQitemZ350152280733QQptZMotorsQ5fManua lsQ5fLiterature

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercedes-E-Class-W124-86-95-Owners-Bible-Manual_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a0Q7c29 3Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem250349362456QQitemZ250349362456QQptZMotorsQ5fMa nualsQ5fLiterature

or from MBUSA
http://www.classictechlit.mbusa.com/MB/cstmsearch.asp?MYID=1049&SDID=1340&MDID=1208&ENID=1146&catalog_name=Retail

Jeremy5848 · #14 01-21-2009, 12:50 AM

The black paint won't matter that much – all paint is black in the infrared and the windows are the same so the car will get just as hot, it just will happen a little faster with a black car. The real problem is those black seat covers. Maybe you can invest in some sheepskins?