I bought my first 300D! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Silvio · #1 05-21-2010, 02:22 AM

Well I bought my first MB Diesel and I can't be more excited!

It just felt right, it seemed like the right time and the right price for this beauty.

The car has 192k on it. Here are a few pictures.

It was a bit dirty, but once it gets cleaned up it is going to look fantastic. So far the problems that I was told are going on are few but I'll lay them out in hope someone can let me know if I got taken or not.

The body is perfect, there is no rust that I could see anywhere, it is just dirty and the guy didn't really want to spiffy it all up and sell it dishonestly like a show car. I respected this greatly to be honest, he was just a down to earth guy looking to bring this car to a good home.

The tires are pretty good,about 65% of the tread left, all original hub caps and a fresh spare that has never been used.

The vacuum system for the locks has been taken out and has been converted to electric so it works on the keyless remote that he has with the car.

The vacuum system for the AC / Heat is also done. He said he has a repair kit but I am probably going to just let this stay inoperative for a bit since money is sort of tight and I live in the bay area so I can live with the climate.

The interior is pretty great, the middle console has some cracking on the wood looking stuff that's all glossy. There is also a narrow wood panel piece that has fallen off but it is in the glove box, can put this back on tomorrow. There's a new cd player in there, all original speakers though. Otherwise looks great but the plastic that goes around the window buttons is missing.

The only other mechanical thing that was going on was that he said at times the fuses would need to be flipped around. This would solve the problem if the fan / air system wouldn't be working or if a headlight was out. He had extra fuses in there, not sure if this is a sign of a greater issue.

I got it for 1960 with a brand new battery that he is putting in tomorrow afternoon then I'm picking it up. Did I get a fair price?

So where do I start? I want to put love into this baby and pretty much make it my daily car for the next 10 years solid. Should I take it in to the local shop that works on Mercedes Diesels (Hayes European in Santa Cruz) and see what they think about it? I'm not going to be able to put a ton of work into this myself as I have pretty limited knowledge to be honest, I just fell in love with these cars and need to live with one for a decade at least!

Hope I posted this in the right place! Thanks!

cirrusman · #2 05-21-2010, 03:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silvio

So where do I start?

A wash would be a good way to start... j/k...

Congrats on your new ride, by the way. Looks promising and with not too many problems. I'd check the fuse issue first though... I'd get one of them Mercedes techs to check the electrical system and make sure you didn't just bought yourself an electrical nightmare. And where to start depends on what your budget looks like... it could range from the said wash to a total re-doing of the car...

fruitcakesa · #3 05-21-2010, 06:46 AM

Welcome and congrats on your new ride.
The fuse situation sound like corrosion/bad fuses, Easy to remedy with a good contact cleaning and new ceramic fuses.

charmalu · #4 05-21-2010, 08:43 AM

Congratulations on your new life in the world of Mercedes ownership. your life will never be the same again. soon your front yard will be full on them.

I would use Water Star Motors off River st here in santa cruz. Henry knows these cars and has been around them for ever. I would stay away from Hayes, just don`t trust the guy. your call.

get a inspection of the car up on a lift to see what they come with. It can get pricy taking it into a shop, where the hourly rate is over $100 hr. this way your will get a base to start from.

start with changing all the fluids, filters, and swaping the fuses for the copper ones. the aluminium ones get corroded. probably why the guy said to flip the fuse. might even be due for a valve adjustment.

You posted in the right place, welcome.

Charlie

ImBroke · #5 05-21-2010, 08:55 AM

You've already gotten a place to go, and some other solid advice. A concern for me is the removal of the vac system stuff. It's not a hard system to troubleshoot/repair. That being said, there are two ways he could gone. The correct way, or hack way. Need more investigation to determine. And the vac for the heat/ac has been disabled? That could be a simple vac pod gone bad, or something else leaking in the system. Looks pretty good from the pics, get her cleaned up and show some more. After all, we're a visual bunch over here.

vstech · #6 05-21-2010, 09:28 AM

the good news is, it looks like your car has the original R12 still in the car, so A/C will work well, when you get it fixed.
you have the original coolant overflow/expansion tank, they are known to crack along the parting line. also, it looks like you are low on coolant, and it appears to be green.
MB coolant should be gold/yellow. Zerex G05 is correct. get that flushed and replaced, change all your other fluids is different from what most think.
1. Automatic transmission fluid including draining the torque converter! and change the filter and pan gasket. most here use the latest Dextron release, VII I think is the latest, synthetics are also good.
2. Power Steering fluid and filter! yeah, MB has a filter in there. use standard Power Steering fluid. nobody makes the type F fluid anymore that it was specked with.
3. Brake fluid. all of it. you don't wanna get stranded because a little rust seized the caliper, and or water boiled off making stopping difficult. any Dot4 is fine
4. Differential fluid (75W90) first open the fill plug, then open the drain plug, and let it all drain out, then refill.
5. oil and filter (nearly 8 quarts!!!) remember, the oil filter can has a large o-ring on it, be sure you remove the old one before you put on the new one. use a quality diesel rated multi weight. 15W40 is the most common, several brands to choose from. and if your filter of choice comes with a copper washer or two, the small one goes on the oil pan drain bolt, the larger one is for a different car. (i use the fram made in india 2930 that does not come with a washer) if your filter does not come with copper washers, get a new one that fits your bolt (10mm) and change it.

Silvio · #7 05-21-2010, 01:15 PM

Wow guys thank you so much for the great responses so far. I will be going to Water Star Motors for sure instead of Hayes. I was hoping someone local could steer me in the right direction. Ron over at Advanced Auto has treated me well in the past with my current car but the diesels aren't his thing, thank you so much Charlie for the tip!

Well I'm really excited to get this beauty into the shop and see just what all is going on with it. I want to take very very good care of this car and make sure that the way it is being handled is suitable for it to live on for many years to come.

From what I saw with the vacuum system and the impression he gave me he probably did it the hack way. I am hoping that he didn't considering that he also had a ton of the old manuals and is also a race car driver / gear head, but well I guess that could go either way.

Here in Santa Cruz things are pretty mild in terms of how dependent one really needs to be on AC. I'd pretty much like to work on whatever will make the car run smoother and longer at this point. If it's a question of my personal comfort, the car comes first.

I'm going to pick it up this afternoon and will be sure to get it cleaned up and snap a lot of pictures so I can post them up here. I'm really excited to get some detailed shots up!