I am going to make an offer on a 84 300D tomorrow and need an idea of what an a/c compressor for it would cost. The belt is missing and owner assumes the compressor froze up. I know it will need a drier and flush out the system but this will be my first Mercedes and I dont have an clue of what parts cost. I don't mind working on it I just have never work on a Mercedes yet. Very clean car check it out what do you guys think?
http://members.aol.com/toptriode2/
He's asking $3200.00 for it but said hes willing to come down alittle because the a/c not working.
Thanks for any help I will probably be back for more if this works out. Kenny

The car just looks fantastic...I think you got a very good deal. For parts try www.************************ Very reasonable prices.

My car has the exact color combination like yours...I wish the paint was as good...but I only paid $1,700 and mechanically is almost perfect with 150,000 miles. The interior is also very good.

These cars are very easy to work on...and they'll reward you with thousands of miles if you perform the preventative maintenace recommended in the owner's manual.

Your car seems to have a very good service record, so...search for the records of fluid changes and valve adjustment...if you can't find fluid changes within the recommended intervals, I'd suggest you change all of them + filters just to be on the safe side. If you do it yourself you won't spend more than 100 bucks.

Camshaft gasket $ 7
Change motor oil and filter $ 20
Change power steering fluid and filter $ 10
Change brake fluid $ 10 if you use top of the line fluid
Change coolant $18
Change Automatic Transmission Fluid + filter 30
Change the differential gear oil $10 if you use synthetic.

A new compressor will be a couple of hundred dollars FOR THE COMPRESSOR. In the case of a compressor burn out, you need to plan on completely flushing the system, adding a filter drier and check for leaks. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that a bad leak led to the failure.

I don't have particular information, but I was told by someone in the business that the thing to do is to put a suction side filter in the low side line leading to the compressor after a burn out. In fact if you do that plus a filter drier and evacuation, you might get by with not flushing the system.

If I were you, I would not enter into this purchase with the idea that the a/c repair will only involve a compressor. The climate control system is the achilles heels of these cars, and their repair can run into big bucks.

Best of luck,

Excellent car! I should know, mine (also) is almost identical!

The A/C in my '84 was completely redone professionally (just before I bought it in August, 2000) to the tune of about $900. That included the compressor, condensor, receiver/dryer, but sticking with the *far* more efficient R12 (versus the cost effective R134). Your may not even need all that. Price sounds pretty good, especially after the a/c discount. A lot of people have paid a lot more..

Knock-on-wood, in 20,000 miles this car has cost me nothing besides fluids, filters, belts, and a little elbow grease!

Good luck - you'll love it!

-Reed
'84 300D/T 143,xxx
ex- '91 300E - the money pit
ex- '82 280TE
ex- '81 300SD

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The '84 300D uses a Delco R4 compressor. It's about as inexpensive as any compressor out there. Brand new units can be had for ~$225, remanufactured are ~$150 or less. Because of the relatively small price difference I recommend going with the new unit.

I'll second Larry's advice - it's never going to be 'just a compressor.' There are two problems which must be solved. 1) When the compressor locked up it fragged the system. There are now small metal bits scattered through the a/c system. All this loose metal must be flushed out, which requires substantially disassembling the system. It's not rocket science, but it does require a few hours of labor. 2) Why did the compressor lockup? If the system has a leak somewhere it must be found and fixed. The lubricating oil which circulates inside the a/c system escapes out the leak, along with the refrigerant. When the oil is gone, the compressor locks up - just like running the engine out of oil. If you're lucky it'll be the front seal on the compressor and the leak will be fixed simply by replacing the compressor.

You'll also need to replace the dryer and expansion valve. These run $35 an $25, respectively, DIY prices.

If you have a shop perform the work double the parts prices and toss in about $400 for labor - that's a good ballpark estimate to repair the a/c system.

- Jim