sounds good Bryan, i'll do that.

in preparation for NC safety inspection, alignment, and new tires, i started working on the front suspension today. i rented the spring compressor from vstech (thanks again!!) and began disassembly. i had previously removed the wheel and shock absorber, so that saved me a little time today.
overall, the disassembly process was very straightforward, and took about an hour to get to this point. there were some significantly wasted parts. i am glad i am doing this before an alignment!

here are some pics of today's work:

Attached Thumbnails

         

Yo. Hazet. Wilkommen in "Peach Parts". There goes the neighborhood.

Looks good, and looks like you're going in the right direction on it. Go through it stem to stern, don't cut any corners, and put it on the road the right way for years and miles of dependable motoring.

I'm sure the other folks have covered this already, but if this was a "new to me" TDT, I'd:
*Power wash engine
*Pull valve cover and adjust valves
*Replace timing chain and tensioner if it hasn't been done in 100k (cheap insurance)
*Check and adjust injection pump drip timing
*Drain coolant and replace belts, hoses, thermostat. Check waterpump for bearing looseness
*Replace alternator brush pack with genuine Bosch- cheap and easy
*Pull starter and inspect solenoid operation, brushes, and bushings at both ends of the motor. Replace as necessary. Clean mechanism and lube for smooth operation
*Replace short battery ground cable to body unless it looks NEW
*Same for the drivetrain to body ground
*Go thru brakes and suspension, as you're doing. Flush the special fluid for the rear hydraulics by bleeding it out the bleeder at the levelling valve. if there's any extra "bounce", be prepared to replace the accumulators, which we always called "the bombs", because they resemble little H-bombs.
*Drain and replace all fluids and filters, trans, diff, power steering. And yes, there IS a P/S filter.
*Change all rubber fuel lines
*Change fuel filters, and replace the little hand pump. HINT: Fill your main fuel filter with ATF and you'll not only not lose prime, you'll clean and lube the injector nozzles and pump.
*If it were me, I'd replace all glow plugs and injector nozzles now. Do NOT use parts from India.
*Inspect function of all vacuum components such as climate control flaps and door locks. Repair as necessary. Why? Vacuum leaks will make the car not shut off when you want it to, and it'll make your transmission shift like crap.

All of these procedures will be in your blue repair manuals.
Sounds like a lot of work, but I did all this to my wife's '85 300TDT when we got it, and in 175K miles and ten years, I've had to deal with relining brakes again, replacing the battery again, replacing belts once, and replacing tires once. I redid the chain and tensioner at 200K again, also, just for peace of mind.

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1968 230S Automatic, Elfenbein
1975 O309D Executive Westfalia Camper Bus, Blau/ Weiss
1972 280SEL 4,5 Dunkelrot
1966 VW Type 34 "Grosser" Karmann-Ghia
1963 VW 1500 Variant Pearlweiss
1969 VW Variant Automatic, Perugruen
1971 VW Squareback Automatic, Clementine Orange
2001 E320 4Matic Wagon- Our belated welcome to the 21st century! Polar White
1973 280SEL 4,5 Sliding Roof "The Bomb", Dunkelblau.

love the wagon and the color

So is it done yet?

__________________
1968 230S Automatic, Elfenbein
1975 O309D Executive Westfalia Camper Bus, Blau/ Weiss
1972 280SEL 4,5 Dunkelrot
1966 VW Type 34 "Grosser" Karmann-Ghia
1963 VW 1500 Variant Pearlweiss
1969 VW Variant Automatic, Perugruen
1971 VW Squareback Automatic, Clementine Orange
2001 E320 4Matic Wagon- Our belated welcome to the 21st century! Polar White
1973 280SEL 4,5 Sliding Roof "The Bomb", Dunkelblau.

5 more minutes!

i've been working on a lot of things at the same time, so i really needed to stop taking things apart and focus on what i had been doing and get those things finished. the front end is back together except for tightening the bolts on the steering damper (and an alignment). i've been replacing fuel and vacuum hoses like crazy. i've been installing a myriad of small, odd-ball pieces that were either missing, broken, or just plain worn out.
i also went to vstech's yard the other day to help him strip out some cars and to get some things i was needing for my car. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/304936-misadventures-rednecks-front-yard-final-crush-date-changes-aargh-post2793328.html#post2793328
here are some pics of some of the progress from today. these things all came from vstech's yard, so i am glad these parts can live on.
nasty original headlight surrounds:








after replacement parts installed:








intake flange gasket missing:


installed:


cowl drain tubes installed:




air filter grommet missing:


now one is installed (i still don't think it is the correct one, but it does fill the hole):

i bet your tachometer will work after you replace the OVP relay fuse. it's a two-prong red plastic 10 amp fuse under the kick panel below the glovebox. just search on here...

oh yeah, and she looks great!

__________________
1985 300d champagne/palomino ~133k
1979 300d dead parts car ~???

thanks for this tidbit of info! i did find the relay after i removed the trim panel under the glovebox/right side of the dash. the relay was rather obvious on the upper side of the panel. when i removed the relay and checked the fuse, lo and behold, the fuse is popped! so now i need to get a 10amp fuse and if that solves my tach problem, i will be more than ecstatic!
relay location, for future reference:




however, i also found something else that was a little more disturbing. i had found a few mouse houses in the car while cleaning it out. i even evicted a mouse from the inner fender liner--it jumped on my arm and took off when i removed the liner. there have been mousetraps set out, but have caught nothing so far.
anyway, the mouse house under the dash wasn't all that "fresh" (didn't smell recently lived in), but there was some chew damage and pee/poop damage to the padding of the trim panel, and some chewed wires and a chewed vacuum line. i repaired the vacuum line with some vacuum hose, and spliced some wires and reconnected them to the control device (a/c something or other).
hopefully this will be the last mouse house, as i have looked pretty thoroughly at just about every other area of the car. fortunately, i have found no other mouse inflicted damage to the car.

mouse house:


mouse damage:




repaired:

well, it's time for a long overdue update. i have spent a lot of time doing all kinds of things to the car. my wife and i also had our second baby during all this, so it's been a little crazy around here, and not as much time to devote to getting greasy.
some of the things i've done recently are: replaced rear accumulators (what a HUGE difference!), replaced rear sway bar links, rebuilt the SLS valve (thanks Andrew!) that was a very easy job, got 4 new Michelin tires, replaced the fuel tank with an undamaged one from vstech (thanks A LOT!!!), replaced fuel hoses, removed and sold the trailer hitch, replaced all 4 brake hoses, rebooted the rear axles (thanks again to vstech!!, replaced the 4 muffler donuts (the dealer had them, when nobody else in town did), adjusted the emergency brakes (wow, they were really poorly adjusted!), replaced the glow plug relay strip fuse (see horrible pic below), etc etc etc. basically i got everything put back together and finished my first round of issues i wanted to or needed to tackle before getting the car inspected.
tonight i changed the main fuel filter, primed the system, hooked up the battery and it fired right up, sounded really good, and the rear end raised as the system filled/bled itself. that was neat to see. i still need to correct the engine oil level and the atf level. i overfilled the SLS system a little, but unless someone tells me that will cause a problem, i am just going to leave it alone. i still want to replace the steering pivot pin bushings, but other than checking a few other minor details, the car is pretty much ready for an alignment and the state safety inspection. all the lights work, as do the wipers, horn, so i am hoping there will be no issues with the inspection.

well sir, we have a winner! when i started the car and after monitoring the fluid in the SLS as it filled, i went back to check the dash cluster, and YES! the tachometer works! thanks again for that tip, it certainly fixed my problem.

here's what the old glow plug relay strip fuse looked like when i removed the cover. needless to say, it has been replaced with a new one.

... another soldered fuse... ahh well.
glad you got a good one in there. those headlight doors look good on your car, glad they came in handy!
I should have given you the vent tank while I was handing out stuff for you. yours is plastic, and the one I have is steel... next time.
I'm fairly confident that you have by now seen a DIRTY undercarriage. most of mine are NASTY, and you've been a huge help.
lets get that car on the road! a good road trip would be to drive here down here, and lets get the valves adjusted, and tune the car! and of course, tear down some more cars. I'm sure you are getting plenty of rest with a sleeping baby in the house!

__________________
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 wagon. Its cool to see you jumping right in and replacing all the things that haven't been attended to in past years. These are such nice cars when you have all the systems in working order. You might consider getting the 7 inch euro headlights, makes a huge improvement in night time deer evidence.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

I'll bet Army would be proud of the way you've taken your car to bits and got it back together even.

That wagon is an enviable color and does look to be in great shape.

Congrats!

__________________
Codifex
1981 240D ChinaBlue (Got her running with a donor engine.)
1983 300DTurbo w/sunroof.
1984 300TD manual sunroof. (Electrical Gremlins)

update and some questions:
i finally got the title in my name, insurance, inspection, registration, and a license plate! what a long ordeal, especially the title hassles. i got new Michelin tires, an alignment at the dealership (and a complimentary car wash too!), and the local independent shop fixed a few things that i was not comfortable dealing with at this time. it truly runs and drives like a different car.
i drove it for nearly 100 miles the first day it was road legal. this was not only to see how things felt after all the rebuilding, but also to begin the list for "round two" of repairs.
the first thing i noticed was that the water temp gauge did not go above the line between 40* and 80*.


when i bought the car, there was a "made in china" thermostat in the center console. i figured they took out that pile of crap and installed a better one. regardless of what i thought, i purchased a new Behr thermostat, knowing that i wanted to install that, because i also needed to replace the bypass hose on the thermostat housing since it was leaking.
i get everything taken apart, only to find............


.......yup, no thermostat, a super cracked gasket, and a bunch of some kind of silicone sealant. good times!
here's a pic of things torn apart.


i fully drained the system, flushed it out for a while (till the water ran clear). i got everything back together, the new gasket on the housing, the new thermostat installed, the bypass hose installed, and everything reassembled before i ran out of daylight. this morning i filled the coolant system (Zerex G-05 and DISTILLED water, 40%/60% mix), ran it, checked the level and finished. no leaks!
the temp gauge went to 80*, and even a little higher. this was at varying engine speeds while in the driveway, not on the highway.

the electric fan in front of the radiator never kicked on. how is this fan regulated to come on? is it strictly when the a/c is on? if not, how do i diagnose a sensor or relay or ?? as to what makes it come on and at what temp? i removed the fan from its mounts. i checked the fan electrically and it does work. there are two wires to the back of it, a black one and a brown one. when power was put to the black wire, the fan spun. i am presuming the brown wire is a ground to body because i did not even have to run a ground to the fan for it to work when tested as above. the best part was when i was reinstalling the fan to the brackets and one of the bolts snapped. woo hoo, good times.

other than that, it drives well, even though the steering is a little "swimmy". not much, but noticeable. very similar to the VW busses i am used to driving. i still need to flush the power steering and put a new filter and fluid in there. i also noticed that my upper alternator bracket bolt was loose, so i tightened that.
i have "heat" now, which is much warmer since there is a thermostat. the heat blows out the defrost vents and the left dash vent. i have read that this is vacuum related, flap related, etc, so i am not ultra concerned about it at this time. i am just happy that there is hot air blowing out.

Yup, it's just an aux fan for the A/C condensor. I think on some models it might also come on if the coolant temp exceeds 100C, but I don't think yours is one of them.

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1981 Mercedes 300TD, 1994 Honda Civic Del Sol
http://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/67195.pnghttp://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/103885.png

thanks!

It's based on the temp of the receiver dryer. The sensor with the pig tail wires. That trips a relay, which provides power to the fan. There is a specific temp, but I don't know offhand. I believe diesels have a lower temp sensor than gassers, but I could be wrong.

For airflow management, you can check here: Scans of airflow for W123 climate control

Vacuum, electrical and sensors. Most common failure mode is a pod diaphragm, then some other vacuum leak, then some electrical issues, maybe a bad foam tube for the dash sensor...

Some people say you can get heat from the center vents, some say no. The flow diagram indicates it shouldn't, but I think I've seen a different factory diagram that shows you can. I never checked the plumbing to verify.