Howdy
 

About three weeks ago I bought a '78 240d 4spd, which is my first Mercedes and my first diesel.

My background in cars up until this point has been primarily Japanese sports cars, Miatas, 240sx's, MR2's, etc.

I picked the car up for $1,500. 280k with a new radiator, new steering box, new-ish clutch, and new exhaust. Some rust, none structural. Solid rockers/jack points/strut towers/rails.

Replaced the dry-rotted tires with new Michelins and replaced the front brake calipers since the right side was leaking. Drives great now aside from a leaning driver's seat (need to re-stuff) and a hissing noise from the rear (diff, wheel bearing?).

I'm using it as a daily driver presently, and other than the crazy engine noise at 75mph in 4th, it's been very nice. It needs a head unit that isn't paleolithic, however.

Anyone have any luck improving shift feel with different MT fluid?

Happy to be here, thinking of putting together a "Shxtbox Classic" MB Diesel rally, one overnight, through the Shenandoah Valley in the Fall with a few other friends who own these, anyone here would also be welcome. I'd have to source some big driving lights and mudflaps. :D

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6...0c04622a_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6...b606b765_b.jpg

Nice car, good purchase price.

It certainly does look nice. Hope it is as good as it looks. I suspect that if your shifting, (shifter) doesn't feel right, first you should inspect and replace if necessary the shift linkage bushings on the shift rods. Could be that they are worn out or even quite possibly missing. That is an easy repair. You should at the same time make a 6mm pin to adjust the shift rods. The pin fits through all the shift levers with the transmission in neutral and so you must adjust the length of each rod to make this work. If it still doesn't feel like it is shifting correctly then I would think the shifter mechanism at the bottom of the shifter would need to be repaired. There are a number of low cost parts in that unit and it is easy to get it all out. Get it up to snuff and you will be happy. As far as fluid goes, the manual calls for automatic transmission fluid. On my manual 4 speed I tried Mobil 1 5/40 and had terrible results. I thought the transmission was done. However I switched it back to mercon/dextron and all my problems disappeared in a short mile - gone. My four speed is the one piece found in only the 1983 240's. The earlier 4 speeds are very much the same, but the bell housing is not integral with the transmission, so it is known as a two piece. I do have basically the same transmission in my 300E but it is a five speed. I am using Mobil One in it, it is hard to shift when cold and I am going to go back to mercon/dextron. It rakes about a quart and a half. Always remove the filler plug before the drain. A number of people on the Forum have switched out the 240D and installed the 300D/Turbo. It is a good swap and not very difficult, especially if you can buy a cheap donor car with a worthwhile engine..

The linkage feels fine, very direct/positive, but it seems tough to accomplish really smooth downshifts on the go, maybe I just need to get used to it. Thought a fluid change might help.

I hope it's as nice as it looks also. Some rust in the front right fenderwell, a spongey right passenger floorboard, and some surface bubbling under what is obviously a respray, but otherwise it seems solid enough.

Engine is a terrific cacaphony of noise, but I'm also not used to a diesel, so that doesn't necessarily mean that anything's wrong with it. Rock solid idle, new fuel filters, painless cold starts, decent gas mileage, no visible smoke.

We'll see. I like it so far. Thanks for all the info.

Nice colour! Car looks very tidy overall. Welcome to the forum.

Paleolithic head unit? :D:D

Real great condition. I would like to have a stick.

Sorry to hear that. Well you just can't have it all...at least not right away. Just hang around here and wait. If you're lucky, all that will change. (sarcasm)

Welcome.

Yeah, Blaupunkt cassette unit. Works fine for radio despite the lack of an antenna, but I'm not about to record a bunch of stuff onto cassette.

I guess I could try to get a cassette-to-iPhone adapter and run Pandora.

Ah, but think of all those additional tables you can browse at garage sales....

Nice find, newbie! And, welcome to the club! You won't find a more helpful bunch of guys (and girls) than this forum. I bought my first MB in 06, and I can honestly say that this forum is the reason I am still driving mine today. I don't mind turning wrenches, but if you don't know the tricks that you can easily learn by this helpful group, it would be nerve racking sometimes.
First thing I'd like to mention is that you should probably start by checking the "drain plugs" that are along the bottom of your trunk and cab. (You mentioned a spongy floor). These cars have so many good ideas engineered into them, it's unbelievable. Those rubber drain grommets can get clogged up, which will cause rust problems. Easy job, even if you have to replace a part. (I'm sending you a PM, so check your home page). Anyway, I also noticed you have a light cover cracked. (See PM, also). My daughter had an 82 240d manual tranny, and it worked very well. She got great mileage with it, too.
Anyway, nice to se you got a good deal, and a nice car. Like I said, this forum is fantastic for help and good DIY walk throughs. Being a union Ironworker, I have taken a lot of flack for owning and driving an MB. But I honestly have to say, this is the easiest car I've ever worked on, and after finding a place to buy my OEM parts that won't baknrupt me, I can't say enough about the quality, craftsmanship and thought that Mercedes has put in the 70's and early 80's models. And the idea that I can carry a gallon of vegetable oil for emergency fuel is icing on the cake! Glad you are here! Lee

How are the window seals on it? Any cracking?

Yes, seemingly all of them. Rubber trim is pretty terrible.

I haven't noticed it leaking though, and I've been driving it in abysmal weather.

Do you own a Honda Super Cub? I've got a 1960 C100 that I'm putting back together.

Purtee car Grey--me likee.
same color as my 85 cd--the original dealer window sticker calls it desert red.

I thought it looked like Orient Red, which is what my daughters was.

the cracked window seals, they leak water into the inner door panel, and rust out the bottom of the door, so get them replaced asap. they are cheap, and very simple to install.
click the Buy Parts button at the top of the page!
WELCOME to the forum!
if you want great sound, you need to get some speakers in the door panels, and install some Dynamat in there as well. You'll also need to either upgrade, or install speakers in the rear deck, and upgrade the speakers in the dash. I like to install MR's in the kickpanels under the dash, and setup a SMALL Woofer box above the gas tank... ventilating the first aid tray area should do it.

do you have the plastic clipped hubcaps, or steel?

if you wanna keep it close to stock you can have an Line input added to the radio...

for the transmission, you might wanna drain the fluid, and replace it with some 10w30 motor oil. if there is gear oil in there, you might wanna fill it with diesel and slosh it around some, then drain it well, and fill with straight 30, or some other cheap motor oil, then drain that and fill with 10/30 to get out any of the gear oil... some old timers think the manual trans is supposed to have gear oil in it, and it's NOT.

the car sounds and looks, GREAT!