So my friend Jesse found this 81 300td at a yardsale and gave me a call. After a quick look-over and some negotiations on the sellers price I slowly drove the wagon home. I have the mechanic's #, but have yet to call it. It needs a good bit of work, but drives ok as is. I'm a photographer and took it for a drive today on a photo hunt. I took a few of it to share.






I bought it in order to keep the miles off of the BMW... my fun car I suppose.


Things that don't work:
-it diesels...
-only blows hot air out the outer vents
-sls is sagging, previous owner said it's leaking out somewhere
-dry rot tires
-possibly bad booster, or another vacum leak causing power brakes to not work... much
-engine mounts/bushings/etc all shot
-leaks some oil, possibly from the front of the engine area
- drivers door requires slamming it really hard for it to shut
- rear right window doesn't operate

The good: it has a rebuilt engine and transmission (dunno when or by whom)

I'm not sure how long I'll own it, but I like the way it drives. I just need to get the a/c working in order for me to really use this vehicle on a regular basis.

An M? Sigh.

The wagon looks awesome!

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Ah an M coupe! I always liked those, don't see them around much. It looks like you've done well, nice td! A bunch of your list of things are pretty easy repairs.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

What do you mean? "-it diesels... " It IS a diesel...........

Do you mean, it wants to keep running a while after you turn the ignition switch off? If so, then that is probably related to you intermittent brake booster. Vacuum leak is most likely the cause of both issues.

If what I described above is indeed your problem try this. After you shut off the key and it keeps running, push the pedal to the floor and rev the engine. Sometimes this will generate enough vacuum to actuate the cutoff.

__________________
Joe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1980 300SD - 495k miles - 'The Ambassador'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Former Family Members
95 C280
73 280SEL
90 300D
87 300SDL (X2)
86 560SEL
84 300D
80 300SD

Haha yeah I floor it to kill the engine. It works.

An M? Sigh? Shoot that car is more fun and versatile than any other two seater can be just about.

There's a red STOP lever under the hood for the key-didn't-kill-it situations. As previously stated, it will all start working again with the vacuum leak stopped. Brakes and the engine shutoff, at any rate.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

This is a longshot but does a PDF service manual exist online? The one I have is so old that the glue from the binding has stuck the pages together.

Any idea why I have to slam the door for it to latch now? Gotta examine the striker tomorrow.

What does a 300TD go for at yard sale. Sounds awesome. I once saw a garaged old benz at an estate sale a long time ago. Beautiful. But i was a teenager and knew nothing about them. Whatever they were asking sounded expensive to me at the time.

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What Would Rudolph Do?
1975 300D, 1975 240D, 1985 300SD, 1997 300D, 2005 E320 , 2006 Toyota Prius

http://mb.auto.pl/index.php/Dok.-serwisowa-W123.html

I wish I had known about this site before buying the CDs from MB...

Your door is likely due to a broken striker. In the frame there should be a bolted-in rectangle of plastic and metal that the door latches to. Often the rubber/plastic breaks over the years and the doors don't latch right...common problem, a trip to the junkyard usually fixes it.

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Nice Wagon. It is common for 300 series cars to have bad motor mounts. Common issue on the drivers side is the hand pump (primer) leaking fuel onto the mount. It disolves and falls apart. There are several good threads on this forum on how to replace the motor mounts (and motor shock pistons).

You can buy a bag of vaccuum connectors and several feet of vaccuum line and just start replacing whatever looks bad. Best to start with the connectors - if you look carefully at them, I bet you'll find they are brittle, cracking or split. Replace the ones you can get to easily first. There are also some dash-pots (look like green or yellow plastic marshmellows) - they get nasty too and need replacment. On top of the valve cover there is a valve (not sure how different it is from a non-turbo car, which is what I have) - but it is called a 3/2 valve - it helps with the shifting of the transmission (like when you need to downshift for passing in traffic) - those are easy to replace and really helps the way the car runs.

One more thing, inspect and replace all your filters. These cars don't have alot of power to begin with. Clogged air filters and nasty fuel filters will really retard the cars performance.

As for the SLS sagging. Mine sags too if it sits for too long (a few weeks). I found that the previous owner had removed the threaded link which connects the actuator to the rear suspension. If I manually lift that actuator arm, the rear end would slowly rise, lower the arm and the pressure is released and the rear lowers. Since I now drive the car everyday, it stays up. Take a look at yours (search this forum, you'll find great photos) - and see if yours is intact or not.

Good luck, and most importantly - have fun with your new TD !

Does it qualify for the "CHEAP WAGON CLUB" ?

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81 Mercedes 300SD 289k.......SOLD
82 Mercedes 300CD 252k......slow ride

82 mercedes 300 SD...mi Unknown
83 Mercedes 300D ????ksniff..gone too
84 Mercedes 300D 148k........SOLD
85 Mercedes 300TD 386k and holding some one elses project

the 81 is a bit of a bast@rd... a few this year only parts. the speedo is electronic, not manual, so you may have to replace a set of gears when they fail, the turbo setup is slightly different, as it's the first year with it in the 123. mostly it'll all swap from any of the other 123's.
congrats! and it's wonderful you're a photographer, GREAT shots.
I like the depth of field in your first shot!
how'd you get the overhead shots? a building or tree? Helicopter? leaning out the window of your M as you "bo duke'd" it?

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Nice find, Richmond Co, you in Augusta?
I just picked up a yard sale find 300d last week, not a wagon though. Sweet M Shoe btw, love those!!

Nice looking TD. Iam not a BMW fan, so would use that as my beater car and baby the MB

as far as slamming the door to shut it. could be the striker as said above. if the rubber piece is missing. you can get one from the junk yard, but pull it from a rear door, they don`t get used as much. new ones are around $35.

When we first bought the 85 13 yrs ago, it had the same problem with the drivers door. moved the striker trying to get it to shut right. even replaced the latch mechinism from another JY donner.
one day I was down at the local indy and mentioned the problem. he had a little brush with some grease and lubed the latch. closed like a MB should.

Slamming the door will eventually break things in the door and or start cracking the sheet metal of the door. when I pulled off the door panel to replace the latch, I noticed there is a crack between a couple of the holes on the right side.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Looks like a nice find. Your photography skills make the car look like a million bucks! What did you have to give for it?

The BMW 'hardtop coupe' (if that's what it's called) is my favorite - versus the convertible. A buddy of mine in Memphis, Tennessee owned one of the first years that came out.