|
|
|
#31
|
||||
|
||||
keeping in mind, that I am a decent mechanic...
I paid $400 for a rusty 79TD one year, that did not run... towed it home, bled the fuel and put on filters, and glow plugs, started it, and took it around town a little, got a call from my brother to be groomsman in his wedding in Ohio 600 miles away up the mountains... I tossed a few tools and an extension cord in the back and drove the car. only thing that would worry me in your car is the winter weather and salt... that new subframe is tough, but no point in hammering it with salt!!! go, have fun! drive the car!
__________________
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! |
#32
|
|||
|
|||
Bodhi First let me say, Fathers worry about their little girls, I know I do. I want you to jump in that car and have a great safe trip. When you get home you will be so proud of the car and yourself. Of course have a cell phone and call Pop every so often and he won't worry so much. Wife and I just went on a Flordia trip from NC in our 84 500 SEL and had a great 1900 miles.Well it only has about 260K miles on it and I had no reason to worry. Mercedes Benz is the only way to travel.
Paul
__________________
84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles) |
#33
|
||||
|
||||
Mine has squeaks on pretty much every suspension part, knocks when the engine is cold, burns a bunch of oil, has unknown amount of miles (likely 300K+) and I drive it 300+ miles per week.
I took it from Sacramento to San Diego and back in July. I decide after every trip that it was up to it.
__________________
1979 240D w/4 Speed Manual, Light Blue Estimated 225-275K Miles - "Lil' Chugs"
Sold but fondly remembered: 1981 300TD Turbo Tan 235K miles, 1983 300SD Astral Silver 224K miles |
#34
|
|||
|
|||
CCC, drive the 300D. you know you'll enjoy every minute of it!
__________________
Matthew McIvor 2016 E350 4Matic Black/Black 2007 GL450 4Matic with Off-Road Pkg Silver/Black 1995 E300 Diesel White/Gray 1994 S600 Euro Black/ Black Velour 1986 560SL Blue/Blue/Gray 1986 190E Blue/Blue 93k |
#35
|
||||
|
||||
Oh yeah, one thing I think I should mention is unless something comes up at the last minute, I try not to do any work on the car for the last week or so before a trip. I plan to avoid doing even routine maintenance during that time. The reason is it's easy to inadvertently break stuff while doing other repairs, and sometimes that isn't apparent for a little while afterwards...
__________________
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 |
#36
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
The only other advice that I would give is to make sure you carry some extra Rotella T 15w-40 with you at all times (Thank you again by the way)
__________________
1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out 1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out) 1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481) "The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care." |
#37
|
||||
|
||||
One little check I dont think you have done Bodhi, take the reg out & check the brushes if you have not replaced them in the past few years.
Its a PITA when something so small causes you grief. A part from that, it sounds like everything that could go wrong on your car has been replaced. I would probably be happier driving your car a few thousand miles than a new one. Just remember if you have a smart/i phone you can always contact Peach Parts Diesel Discussion road side assist !! Many have done so in the past.
__________________
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort.... 1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket. 1980 300D now parts car 800k miles 1984 300D 500k miles 1987 250td 160k miles English import 2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles 1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo. 1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion. Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving |
#38
|
|||
|
|||
I don't have much to add to what anyone else as said, but I'll contribute my story.
We bought our '74 in early June without even as much as test drive. The PO and I drove across WV back roads for nearly two hours to the closest DMV to do the paperwork, then another few hours to take him home, followed by another hour back to my house. At the time, the PO stated it hadn't been driven that much in one day for several years. Throwing caution to the wind, my wife and I loaded up our overnight bags and headed out of state for the weekend. We came home with another 400 miles on the clock. All told, that's about 600 miles in a nearly 40 year old car in, at that time, untested mechanical condition. I've since discovered some issues, but no show stoppers aside for some cleverly masked corrosion. Anyway, drive it. Being a diesel, your only concern is getting it to light off. So long as there's compression enough to get it fired up it's only going to stop running if there's sudden and extreme mechanical failure (which you probably wouldn't discover beforehand, anyway) or it runs out of go juice (clogged filter, rupture, etc.). Everything else (flats, coolant leaks) are fairly easy to deal with on the road side or, at worst, by any mom and pop garage.
__________________
1974 240D "Boldie" 170K.- New timing chain/freshly rebuilt IP/replaced valve seals/injectors/upgraded stereo/new Bilsteins with Yokohamas/fresh paint and rocker panels plus lots of welds. |
#39
|
||||
|
||||
1980 300SD. My second...
Flew down and drove her the 600 miles home 6 months ago. 8000 miles later and she's a better machine. Faith and wrenches bro... Faith and wrenches...
__________________
My occupational hazard bein' my occupation's just not around... 1980 300SD 1980 300SD |
#40
|
||||
|
||||
Everything I own is old
And it's hard to kill a well maintained diesel on a road trip. Philosophically, it's a trust issue. But these old diesels like to roll...
__________________
1985 300D-189k The 'UD', Ivory and Pinkamino 1979 300D-211k Dark Gray, Parchment A 1980 Harley-~166k and A 1994 Ford diesel pickup-349k and A 1990 gasser Volvo wagon-145k |
#41
|
||||
|
||||
My wife and daughter flew to Tampa Florida, picked up the 82 240 and untested, drove it to Orlando put it on the car train to Virginia, and then drove it up to Vermont. Probably a total of 600 miles. Uneventful trip for 2 non mechanical people.
__________________
1981 240D 143k 4 spd manual -SOLD 2004 VW Jetta TDI 5 speed 300k -still driven daily |
#42
|
||||
|
||||
i drive my 81 240D 800 miles round trip at least once a month from LA to San Jose and back and its the best road trip car ive ever had. -i know the trip well, so i know where to gain extra speed to get up certain hills...!
i do regular maint on mine, but havnt done nearly the work that you have! your car sounds brand new next to mine... that being said, i've never had an issue other than fuel filer clog, but ive got that down to under 5min and back on the road. i went to harbor freight and loaded up on cheap tools and supplies that always stay in the trunk no matter where im driving- screwdrivers, metric wrench set, breaker bar, PB blaster, jumper cables, battery booster/jump starter, fuel filters, duct tape, work gloves, FLASHLIGHTS!, folding emergency cone (in case you get stopped in a dangerous curve or something...), a little fuel hose, RTV sealant, a couple hose clamps, coolant, motor oil, bottled water(for drinking), wheel chocks, spare tire, working jack, fix a flat can, and a BLANKET- in case you have to hang on side of the road for someone to rescue you, you will at least be warm (something i learned growing up in MN) i figure simple things that go wrong i will be prepped and tooled to fix, bigger things i wouldnt know how to do anyways and would have to have someone else fix them whether i was at home or in the middle of nowhere.. so if it breaks it breaks. thats the beauty of road trips- being in control of your own destiny- good or bad... wouldnt be a road trip without a little living on the edge..!! but i swear, once the 240 hits the open road, it almost floats. .... it does sound a little like we are peer pressuring you to go for it... so DO IT!
__________________
1981 240D ... 265k 1977 240D ... 265k 1977 240D ... 250k |
#43
|
||||
|
||||
Ahhh... You're coming to visit me... If you have a problem, just bring it on over...
Added to the list of what to carry, get a box of chocolate bars in case you get stranded in cold weather, and you may want to put snow tires on and carry snow chains... Drive the car... Nothing is guaranteed.... I drove my 300 SDL for 3 months to work and back with a blown head gasket.... Carry a good emergency survival kit... Add to that a tomahawk, and a cold steel spetznaz shovel, some matches, and a book in a ziplock bag called the survival handbook, and a good longish knife, you should be golden... When I drove truck, I always made a point to carry at least a weeks worth of food with me... The heavily preserved stuff... Not the healthiest, but it'll keep you alive...
__________________
All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to stand by and do nothing. Too many people tip toe through life, never attempting or doing anything great, hoping to make it safely to death... Bob Proctor '95 S320 LWB '87 300SDL '04 E500 wagon 4matic |
#44
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
From someone who also owns both an 87 300D and an 05 Jeep Liberty CRD, no doubt in my mind - take the 87. And if the Jeep CRD is still mostly stock bean-counter Chrysler, then for gawd's sake DEFINITELY take the 87!
__________________
Just say "NO" to Ethanol - Drive Diesel Mitchell Oates Mooresville, NC '87 300D 212K miles '87 300D 151K miles - R.I.P. 12/08 '05 Jeep Liberty CRD 67K miles Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club |
#45
|
||||
|
||||
Cooling system in good shape? Timing chain, vacuum pump?
Ah, hell, just drive it. If you get stuck, I'm sure there will be plenty of local forum members to lend a hand.
__________________
1982 240D, sold 9/17/2008 1987 300D TurboW124.133 - 603.960, 722.317 - Smoke Silver Metallic / Medium Red (702/177), acquired 8/15/2009 262,715 and counting |
Bookmarks |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|