Tyl604,

That is what your suppose to do, with the vac gauge. I don't have one so I would always, unplug everything, test each component with the mity vac, plumb it all back up using the diagrams on the forum. My wagon shifts great, even with a small HVAC vac leak.

On a side note: my 300d is very simple. Once I swapped to a 5 spd I removed ALL the vacuum crap. The only two things using vacuum are the brakes and HVAC. I literally have a pile of vac/egr crap sitting on my garage floor.

There is a 1200 page thread about how to adjust your vacuum on the 617... goodluck with that.

__________________
08 R320 CDI current

Past
95 E420
87 300D Turbo 5spd
90 300TE
83 300SD
85 300TD
92 400E
85 190D

I'm working on it, I'm working on it!

__________________
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 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Guys - I turned the tee on the modulator one half turn ccw and took it for a ride. Shifted decently a time or two but after the second stoplight it would not shift out of second. Limped back home and adjusted it back one half turn cw; another ride and it is shifting again but hard like yesterday. But at least it shifts through all gears.

So I figured I must still have a vac leak. Yep - the leak is on the bottom Y. That Y is now configured: EGR side blocked, the other line goes up past the brake booster and through the firewall. Of course the one through the firewall is the one leaking.

Anyone know where that line goes?

I found it. It is a vent to the cabin.

According to the Peter Schmid transmission website that someone was kind enough to send me, I find that this line is merely a vent to the cabin. So it was never supposed to hold a vacuum. What was the purpose of venting in the cabin, I have no idea.

So now I have no vac leak. However I wonder if the top Y at the proportioning valve (end of injectors) is supposed to hold only 5 lbs of vac; if I pump up the mityvac, it drains down to 5lbs and then holds there. If I unplug the Y from the proportioning valve and test the Y and the lines, they hold 15 or so lbs. So the rubber Y and the lines are for sure good.

Getting there slowly...

Well, the tranny is sorted out and the alternator is working so I am back on the road now. Here is a picture of the SD taken today.

Looking back I am glad that I did not let the towing company take it in exchange for the $250 towing charge.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Indeed - although it would be a convoluted argument you could try and say that you are now a member of the cheap rides (wagon) club!

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I cannot believe it has been six years since I had the new tranny installed. I finally got the vac all sorted out and it is running just like a champ.

So glad that I did not let it go to the towing co for the $250 towing charge.

Thanks again to all for the help sorting it out. Pic from Sept; nothing has changed.

That car is gorgeous, glad to see you didn't scrap it. I really want an old SD. How many miles does the old girl have?

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

262K

Very nice car. You would have regretted it if you sold it.


Only 262k? That means you only drove it 4K since 2011?

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"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

I'd be happy if my cars were that good. Hopefully they will be. The 85SD is to go to my 15 yr old son as it was his Grand Dad's when new. I only have 6 months to get it straightened out but am hoping that the referral to a bodyman works out.

edit: Damn, I'm close enough to have driven down with the truck to get it. Glad you kept it. I intend to just keep fixing mine. It is an interesting process to think about not buying more cars - well, perhaps a few when these are finished or sold.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Update. 2018 and it is still running like a top. Love this SD. Glad I did not let it go to the towing guy for $250. Have 269xxx miles on it now and not doing much driving except to Habitat work sites. But it still drives great.

tyl604,
Just noticed this thread, so thanks for updating it!
It reminded me of my own experience. Wife's '85 300D sat undriven in garage for 20 years. She wanted to have it towed away by an auto buyer for $100 which would have been a terrible loss for a car in great condition, although undriven, with under 64k miles.
I would have liked to have reconditioned the car myself, but wife wanted everything done yesterday, so had AAA tow it to a foreign car repair shop that had done routine maintenance on it 20+ years ago. $5600 later, it runs every bit as well as it did when new, and it is a joy to drive.
I really enjoyed this thread and think your '85SD looks great!

Thank you much appreciated. Actually is a 1981 so now 37 years old.

Beautiful 300sd, glad you kept it. I daily drive mine here in Los Angeles and I rarely see other ones on the road anymore. Up until about 8 years ago when everyone was converting these 300sd and w123 turbodiesels to biodiesel they were everywhere.