Actually, to answer the question, I do a little shade-treeing myself. I changed the timing belt on my '98 Civic over the summer (over 100,000 and going very strong) with no problems. I'm just not familiar with Diesels or MBs. I like to do the stuff myself to save money and to have fun. I will pass on buying a Ford as I once had a '93 Taurus SHO. Very fast...but was still a Ford.

Ok, I can say that this is probably the original engine (240k on clock). I checked the oil today after driving it 500 miles and it was 1/2 quart low. So.....a quart every 1,000 miles.....it should be ok for awhile still. What do you guys think? How many more miles? I have test drove other 240Ds before I finally bought this one and this is by far the fastest. It really does have a lot of power compared to the others.

I checked for leaks around oil filter housing from the top on the car (will get underneith it this next weekend when I have more time) and I can't see any visible leaks. Very mysterious as you can shine a light at the bottom of the bell housing and see a couple of drops "hanging" but can quite tell where it is actually coming from.

As far as the return fuel lines go I know that they all need to be replaced as they are all wet....but I think I found my leak. All the injectors except the one closest to the firewall (the one that has diesel pool around it) have 2 return lines attached to the injector. The return line starts at the filter housing....goes to the first injector and so forth. The last injector only has a line coming from the third injector. There is no line connected to the remaining return line stud on the last injector. I looked and looked and couldn't find where that line (if it were there) should connect. So, the burning question is where should the remaining return line from the injector closest to the firewall connect?

Again, I am not familiar with diesels so I don't know if this next phenomenon is normal or if something is wrong. Everytime I start the car the glow plug light comes on for about 7-10 seconds....I then crank her over and she fires right up. But, after the car has started the glow plug light flashes on and off for about 20 times and then goes completely off. Is this normal or is this a signal telling me that something is wrong?

Again, thanks for all the advice. It's nice to get free advice that would cost big $$$ at a shop.

mike

Answer to burning question, nowhere, it should be plugged. A small screw does the job, not sure what the pro's use.

Diesel that doesn't get used gets sent back to the filter, it's a one way street.

__________________
306D 1975 (camper) - rusting away
W116 450 SEL 1975 - sold
W114 long wheelbase ambulance, 3 litre diesel 1974

VW Golf 1 convertable - midlife crisis item
VW T4 van - support vehicle

Read the posts, the stub from the last injector should be plugged, Mercedes used a rubber hose with one end blocked, but a piece of return line with proper sized screw works well also.

The flashing glow indicator light after starting of engine is indication of one or more glow plugs that are bad. This is a diagnostic circuit that is built into the glow relay. Plugs can be checked with ohmmeter after first unplugging the large plug from the glow relay that is located on left front fender inner panel.

Rob

A quart in 500 miles is "normal" for these engines, but more that I would prefer, personally. A drip once in a while will drop that much on the road!

Plug that open injetor line with a short bit of hose and plug or screw -- will raise milage quiet a bit, too.

MB's are a different breed, but the W123's are a dream to work on. Just get advise before diving in -- saves time and money over "discovering" there was a better way!

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

The plug on my retired 300D was a rubber cap that fit over the stub. The original was cracked and leaked. I don't remember where I got the new part from. Maybe the dealer. A short hose with a screw in the end will work in a pinch. (or a golf tee)

I wish this forum was around in '84 when I got my first MB. There is such a wonderful wealth of knowledge here that a great number of individuals are willing to part with. I am certainly in debt to many of them. I'm also certain that my old 300D would have been better maintained. We all aren't born with this knowledge and have alot of learning to do. Why prolong it?

When it comes to our cars, which are not only expensive, but we put our very lives in their hands, I wouldn't want to "learn the hard way". It may cost us dearly in more than one way.

I think that one sign of intelligence is the ability to ask questions when you don't know the answer. Mike has asked some very good questions. My hat's off to you.

__________________
Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

Leaking dripping coughing, smoking,pooping and anything else is what the Benz will be doing and it will still be going.
And do you know where that Ford will be?
Back in the melting pot in Japan being recyled into a rice burner.
None of my Fords or anything else for that matter is still ticking but my old Benzs are still going

Good luck and happy trails with your purchase.

__________________
Ricali

03 C240 4matic wagon
95 300E 234,000
7 prior 240;s 5 still going
81 300sd gone
65 230sl gone
49 Studebaker Champion
90BMW convert.167,000
60 Dodge D-100

Mike,

If I understood you correctly to say that it used a half quart in 500 miles, you may very well be able to drive this engine for many, many miles. A quart in a thousand miles is workable, and it's not impossible that it could have been burning this much since new. In the eighties, MB did not consider that much consumption to be excessive.

Change the oil and filter religiously, and often and this car might surprise you. I remember when my first 240D hit 190,000 miles, I started calling around pricing engines and such. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my engine, but I just assumed that there still would be. I traded it at 280,000 miles and the engine was still fine, the rest of the car was just not pretty. At that point I said "if I knew this car was going to last so long I would have taken better care of it". I then bought ol' Silver with 17,000 miles and she's over a half million now.

Just take care of it and enjoy the solid, reliable miles that you get out of it.

BTW, you can get the correct plug for the rear injector at the dealer for just a few bucks or order one from FastLane.

Enjoy it,

I want to encourage you to try some of these repairs yourself. I've been doing most all of my own wrenching for the past several years. I'm convinced that if I didn't, I couldn't afford to drive a car.

I've done a lot of stuff that veteran mechanics said couldn't be done. I've pulled and repaired engines successfully when advised not to. I've rebuilt the automatic tranny in my Caravan when told it couldn't be done (and 50,000 miles later it's still going 60-100 miles everyday!--plus it cost less than $100 total vs. $600-$800 for a rebuilt!). And just this past Friday I made some tools so that I could align the front wheels on my 240D--it think it worked, but time will tell.

Currently I have people in line wanting me to repair their vehicles for them since I know more than most of the high-priced "professional mechanics" in the area. And I have never had one single automotive class, other than the first one 20 years ago by my father ("Undo that plug and let the oil out--AND DON'T START THE MOTOR!")

Don't listen to those who would discourage you, just give it your best shot and come back for advice when you get stuck. I've been reading a lot of these posts and the majority of these fellows are VERY knowledgeable. They're advice is better than money in the bank.

Congrats! I love my 240, and all of the points you've mentioned (esp cruise control and AC) are COMMON quirks you can have fixed or live with...there is a post somewhere on the forum on how to operate the 240 climate controls worth looking up.

I'd get copies of The Illustrated Mercedes Benz Buyers Guide, and the Haynes manual for this car. The Buyer's Guide (available Borders, Barnes and Noble, etc) has LOTS of useful info on topics just like you've mentioned.

The lack of rust on your car more than makes up for any problem you cite. In the current issue of the Mercedes club magazine The Star, three out of five experts name the 123 cars (like yours) as their "...best Mercedes ever built." The cars represent "mature technology" of the highest order, parts are available and cheap, they are durable beyond reason with a 3,000 mile oil change regimen, and their looks will never get old. IMHO, the last of the really great Mercedes.

I know someone who had leaking oil plugs in the area of the rear seal on a 617 block. I imagine those same plugs exist in the 616 block as well. Could be something to consider.

BTW, I don't know the technical name of the oil plugs. I understand they look something like freeze plugs.

Sixto
91 300SE
81 300SD

Bill Greenwood,

I don't know if you noticed, but I live in Sumner also. Different state though. Also I live 12 miles from Sumner, but that's where my post office is.

Have a great day,

Bill Greenwood

Great advice encourage not discourage. Positive thinking and not negative.

Keep up the good advice

__________________
Ricali

03 C240 4matic wagon
95 300E 234,000
7 prior 240;s 5 still going
81 300sd gone
65 230sl gone
49 Studebaker Champion
90BMW convert.167,000
60 Dodge D-100

Thanks for all the encouragement. As I stated before, I have a '98 honda that has over 100,000 on it and I bought it with only 4 on the clock. I have never let anyone touch it (oil changes and all) except for a couple of "warranty work" items that needed to be fixed. I really enjoy working on it....but nothing ever breaks or needs fixing; Just routine maintenance stuff.

So, this is my first diesel and my first experience with mercedes. The only other experience I have had with diesels was helping my dad rebuild his 5.7 piece of crap diesel engine (4 different times) out of his '80 GM truck. He got 350,000 out of the truck....but had to rebuild the engine four times. In case anyone didn't know, GM tried to get in on the diesel craze in the late 70s and early 80s with a gas converted diesel engine. I don't really consider that engine to be a true diesel.....so I am new to the trade. The 5.7 my dad had was before GM came out with the 6.2 engine. If you ever owned one...you will know what I am talking about.

I spent some money today on parts: new window seal for rear window, fuel return lines, 2 fuel filters, oil filter, glow plugs, and a rubber stopper for the last injector. I was thinking about draining the tank and checking the screen in there but don't feel like taking a diesel bath in the winter. I think I will replace all the rubber fuel hose and that screen over the summer. I will do everything except the window seal this next weekend. I hope that I can find a glass shop that can change the seal without messing up the tint. I just tinted the car before I found out the rear window leaked.

The paint on the car wasn't bad but needed to be buffed out. This past weekend I went and bought a "3 step system" by Meguiar's and worked on the car for 5 hours. I am kicking myself now. The car looks as though it has just been painted. I can't believe how well this system worked. Why am I kicking myself? I hate the ugly caramel brown color that the car is painted. It is the orinial color that I'm sure was "in" during the early 80s but looks out of place now. I can't bring myself to paint it since it looks like it has just been painted. UGLY BROWN......WAS I ON DRUGS WHEN I LOOKED AT THE CAR????

I also want to thank everyone who has posted tips about the drain holes on the 123s. The "holes" where the hood springs fold into are full of crap. I am going to take off the black plastic screens below the wiper arms over the weekend and check there too. Other than the vent sceens, holes for the hood springs, and drain holes below battery and master cylinder, are there any other drain holes I should check? This car does not have a sun roof so I don't have to worry about that. I did notice a small hole at the base of the gas cap....I assume this is a drain???? Let me know if I missed any cause I want to clean them ALL out.

If anyone can think of known problem areas that should be checked while I am working on the car....let me know. I want to eventually change all the fluids and check the brakes...pack front wheel bearings...etc. But it takes time and $$$$.

later,
mike

I forgot to add this to my last post:

Yes Larry, the car uses 1 qt every 1,000 miles. I looked and looked on the past posts for "normal" oil consumption and found many different opinions. I just wasn't sure if this was too much or not.

BTW- I looked at the original sticker that came on the car and found the engine number on it. I looked at the number on the engine block and they are the same. The guy lied to me on ebay. He said that it had a rebuilt put in it. I asked him point blank (while looking him straight in the eyes) if the car used oil....he said "no" and never blinked. I wish there was an easy way to know the answer to that question when checking out used cars.

One more vote for doing it yourself. I've owned my 300 TDT for 10 years and done everything from brakes and belts to vacuum lines and exhaust systems. Between help I've found here and my Haynes guide there's not much a reasonably skilled amateur can't do on these cars. Twice now I've asked the local MB dealer to check out problems that I didn't have the time to fix. Both times he came back with $1,000+ estimates and fuzzy explainations of why it cost so much. Both times I did it myself for about $100. The only bit of advice I'll give you is buy and use good quality tools. The only real trouble I've gotten into in wrenching this car is trying to make do with some lousy/poor fitting tool that has only screwed something up so that it took me twice as long to fix.

Good luck and have fun!

__________________
LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold