Hello,

Well, I just could pass up a good deal and now I am the proud papa of both an 85 300D and 80 240D. I get to drive the 240 cross country from CA to FL in Nov.

Larry,

If you read this, I want to know how hard (in speed) I can push a well maintained 240D cross country. Its showing 260K. I am also curious to know if it can do another 120K miles without a rebuild assuming it has had regular oil changes?

I would not hesitate to push the 300D Turbo 85+, but I am concern about doing 80 in the 4sp 240D or should I just keep it at 70?

.. I plan to use this as my daily in-town driver. I have a premo 95 Explorer w/112K I want to get off the road and only use for trips home to see parents.

My wife will be driving the 85 300D and me the 240D. I would appreciate any advice anyone might have to offer when I pick it up. I already have several things I look for but I would be interested in the groups comments/opinion/.02s etc...

Morph

Diesels love to be driven, floor it until it won't go anymore! Trust me, it will love you, seriously.

If it's in good condition, you won't hurt anything but your ears. There is a long term price to pay if you make a habit of driving it as fast as it will go all the time.

That said, if it were me and I was taking off for a coast to coast drive in a car that I'm not familiar with, I'd want to check everything closely before leaving and check everything prettly closely for the first few hundred miles before I let it rip.

As far as how long the engine will last, nobody on earth can answer that. If it uses no oil, and everything is in good shape, you use universal grade oil and change it hot and often, there's no telling how far it will go. But there are never any guarantees. My original 240D engine only went 380,000 miles. The rear main seal finally wore to the point that it was no longer touching the crankshaft. Had I been willing to only put a rear main seal in it, maybe it would've gone much further. But I was not going to pull the engine and only replace the seal.

Best of luck,

Besides fuel and tires, what else get wasted driving long and fast????

Like a Porsche the MB's seem to handle better above 60 mph than it dose at lower speed,both my 240 and my SD come alive at about 65.......
William Rogers....

Even if you drive 3000 miles at 85 miles per hour, this is not much mileage on a car that may rack up over 500,000 miles during its lifetime....I dont think much can go wrong. Even with such things as improperly adjusted valves, bad injectors, dirty oil filter, etc., there would not be much difference between driving 3000 miles on a highway at 80 mph vs. the same mileage around town. The car will still go, and minor damage will occur over 3 thousand miles.

I would be most concerned with factors that may cause a breakdown during a long trip. If it were me I would do the following, in the category of "relatively easy things to be done prior to a long trip"

- bring a basic tool kit (metric wrenches, adjust. wrench, channel locks, screw drivers, etc.
- top off all fluids (oil, trans, diff, coolant, brake, steering), and check regularly during trip
- bring a new thermostat in case of overheating, check cooling system for leaks, buy 3 to 4 gallons of bottled water for the trip home just in case (also bring 3 to 4 gallons of beer for overnight stops!)
- bring a set of drive belts and replace if really bad
- check for oil leaks and buy oil as needed for the trip home...check regularly during the trip (I once drove an old leaking Datsun from Massachusetts to Nova Scotia in 18 hours and used about six gallons of the old "Sapphire" brand oil getting there!)
- check tires, inflate as needed. Replace as needed at local service station if really badly worn or damaged.
- regarding the battery and charging system, you're probably going to hope for the best here?!? I think maybe I'd go to an autozone where I would pick up supplies for the trip, and have them check it. If the battery is NG, replace it. Keep your fingers crossed for the alternator.
- brakes??? even with marginal brakes, you can get the car home fairly safely. Check for major leaks and buy fluid for the trip if needed.
- bring an assortment of lightbulbs and replace any that are out...this may not be a breakdown condition, but it is a safety concern and you dont want to get stopped and hassled by cops for this.
- bring a cell phone
- bring your listing of favorite mail order parts suppliers ... in case of breakdown, you may find that having your supplier overnight a part to you (such as an alternator) at a motel and possibly be able to put it in yourself with your limited supply of tools is better than being at the mercy of a local unknown shop.

Thats about all I can think off, good luck!

Oh yea... in case the engine shut off doesn't work, bring a couple thermoses of coffee and a bunch of sandwiches, make regular fuel stops, and drive the bastard straight home!!!!

__________________
1984 300TD Wagon, 407,800 mi (current daily driver)
1985 300DT Sedan, 330,000 mi (gone to that great autobahn in the sky)