How do you decide if your car is fit for a 1,000-mile trip? - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

vstech · #31 10-18-2011, 06:53 PM

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!

pmckechnie · #32 10-18-2011, 07:15 PM

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

chetwesley · #33 10-18-2011, 07:38 PM

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.

matthias08 · #34 10-18-2011, 07:38 PM

CCC, drive the 300D. you know you'll enjoy every minute of it!

Orv · #35 10-18-2011, 07:42 PM

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...

Fulcrum525 · #36 10-18-2011, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dropnosky

x2.

Highway use is easier on the vehicle than around town. If the car consistently makes it 50+ miles without overheating or otherwise breaking, I characterize that as a reliable vehicle that will probably make it 500+ miles without breaking.

Personally I prefer to do stupid road trips in untested vehicles. Makes life more interesting, makes a trip into a journey.

just drove my 74 240 400+ miles on a failing alternator, and loved the drive. Previous use of the car had been a grand total of 65 miles over a year.

dropnosky has the right idea. A long highway trip is less of a worry then typical day to day stop and go. If by some 1 in a million chance your alternator does go don't do like I did and turn your engine off. Once it starts it won't stop

. Based on all the work that you've done to your car I would say that you probably have one of the most well sorted W124s on the forum.....

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)

layback40 · #37 10-18-2011, 07:54 PM

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.

bipolardave · #38 10-18-2011, 08:18 PM

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.

1980sd · #39 10-18-2011, 08:34 PM

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...

wildest · #40 10-18-2011, 08:50 PM

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...

fruitcakesa · #41 10-19-2011, 08:18 AM

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.

wilburtual · #42 10-19-2011, 03:00 PM

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!

amosfella · #43 10-19-2011, 09:20 PM

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...

retmil46 · #44 10-19-2011, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BodhiBenz1987

Thanks everyone for the replies, and inspiration, if you will.

The more I read, the more it seems the stuff I'd have to worry about is stuff I've already taken care of. New in the past two years are the rear suspension (mounts, links, diff mounts, wheel carrier bearings), axle boots, all calipers, discs, hoses, rear brakes lines, shocks, front and rear wheel bearings, center link, steering damper, flex discs, center bearing, trans mount, radiator, coolant hoses and tires. When I makes that list I feel pretty confident. I think the thing that concerns me most is that it does leak oil (onto the engine's bottom, very rarely onto the ground), but it also make sense as a few of you have said that if this isn't a problem over the course of 1,000 miles of work commute, it wouldn't be after 1,000 on the highway. I don't hesitate to use it for everyday driving. I don't have to replace any oil between 3k changes, let alone 1k miles.

I do try to remind myself, and my dad (who really worries even more than I do), that a lot of road hazards can happen in any car an in any place, like RML said. Example: I sustained $6,400 of damage to my Jeep last winter when I hit a massive deer a mere 2 miles from my house.
Assuming everything goes well over the next two weeks, I think I'm gonna give it a try. I took an extra vacation day to give myself extra time to get up there. I used to approach road trips like they were the 24 Hours of LeMans but I think I'd rather enjoy the road anyway. My alma mater is on the way, and I'd like to marvel at Niagara Falls a bit too.

Good lord, with what you've done to it, there should be no question that the car is up to speed for a 1000 mile round trip - hell, I didn't do that much to my first 87 300D before I did a 3000 mile total 3 week trip down to Texas back in 08.

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!

Crazy_Nate · #45 10-19-2011, 11:17 PM

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.

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