Hello All,

I am a sixteen-year-old who has been enamored with cars ever since he was driven home from the hospital (literally!), and last year on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, my father and I drove 90 Miles up to Goshen, NH to pick up a 1984 Mercedes-Benz 300D Turbodiesel with 140,000 miles and no structural rust that we can find. The motor has not run in two years, but it turns over and seems to have very good compression (I can hardly move it…). I got it for $600 because it was missing exhaust, the radiator, the ignition tumbler, a glow plug, the glow plug relay, the driver’s-side power window switches, radio, air cleaner mount, and probably at least one other item that I have not discovered. Since then, I have bought & installed a radiator, a glow plug relay (thanks, DeliveryValve!), and purchased all other parts crucial to running it. Currently, the plan is to get the car running so that I can confirm that the engine is healthy enough for me to throw money at the rest of the car, and then to get it inspectable. Since this is the only 300D that I have ever popped the hood on, I have questions for you guys (I have enjoyed the forum for many months now, and finally decided to sign up!). All pictures referenced are here: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/members/jooseppi-luna-albums-questions.html

1) Did anything I said above sound stupid or off-base?

2) Picture #1. Will this impede starting? What do I need to do here?

3) Picture #2. Please tell me that this is not structural...

4) Picture #3. Is the resistor OK?

5) Picture #4. Should the '84 have anything else here?

6) Picture #5. Is this OK?

7) What I want to do to get the car started is install the needed parts, flush the cooling system, adjust the valves, purge the motor, clean the tank and fuel lines, and start the car. Is there anything that I am omitting, or is this overkill?

8) How does the oil cooler attach to the radiator?

I'm sure I'm missing something here, but I'll put this up for now. Thank you for any and all advice!

In Christ,

Jooseppi

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Not overkill in the least bit. Valve adjustment is needed every few, so adjust them since you might not know when they were done. My father had a 84 300D and was a Benz tech since 83 and the car had a fuel pump issue. Like yours. It's definitely worth checking into. A question is never stupid. It's stupid not to ask. Good luck young man.

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97 W202

The rust on the spring tower looks like surface rust but could be bad underneath. I would check for rust under the battery tray and the floorboards. The oil cooler is bolted to the side of the radiator.

It looks like you are missing some relays in pic #1 but I dont have my 300D any more so I dont remember how many should be there.

No way of checking a resistor by looking at it. That is resistor is related to the HVAC system and shouldn't have any effect on starting.

The wiper looks mis-aligned but again not a concern for getting the car running.

Overall the car looks like a good one and for $600 a bargain even if it ends up as a parts car.

There's a Lil saying that we use in the south... " Fire it up boy!!"

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Current fleet
2006 E320 CDI
1992 300D - 5speed manual swapped

former members
1984 300D "Blues Mobile"

1978 300CD "El Toro"

Congratulations.

My coupe has the the relays you see in the pic.

A wonderful free tool available can be found here:
EPC-net Online

They want a valid U.S. based credit card number, but don't charge anything.

This:
Model 123 Maintenance Manual Index
is also helpful.

Remove the wiper arm and install properly.

Be sure to provide clean, fresh fuel when you attempt to start. You can rig up a temporary fuel "tank", as in a diesel purge set up.

The spring rust may be just surface, but find out.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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83 SD

84 CD

before digging too far into this car, you will want to pull both fender liners, and inspect the rocker panels. you have a lot of rust in places that don't rust around here... so THOROUGHLY inspect the places rust DOES collect!
pull the battery and the tray underneath. look over the drain holes under there. both sides, look at the swaybar mounts... spring pockets on the hood, pull the liners in the trunk, and look under there for rust...
crawl the entire floor of the car underneath, and look for signs that the undercoating is bulging... pull up all the carpets, and look into the drain holes for the soundproofing... water/rust is a bad thing here...

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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!

Oh! One more question. How should I release compression in the cylinders? Glow plugs or injectors? I was going to use the glow plugs, but the injector lines make them hard to reach...

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

I assume you want to release the compression so you can turn the engine more easily to adjust the valves.

Normally if the belts are tight enough you can turn the motor under compression using the bolt on the power steering pump. Motor turns CLOCKWISE on these cars. Never, ever turn it counter-clockwise (in other words, if you miss the position when lining up the cam lobes, go around again, don't ever go back, not even a little).

However, given the circumstances of this car, the belts may be beyond that.

To pull the injectors you need a deep 27 mm socket, and a torque wrench to reinstall (70-80 ft lbs). Either way, whether you pull the injectors or the glow plugs, the steel injector lines have to come off. Use a 17mm wrench and be patient, they are tricky to work with.

If you pull the injectors, you need to buy new crush washers (aka seals) for the base of the injectors for when you reinstall them. You can use VW diesel washers (usually easier to get).

You also need to buy new injector return line (sold by the foot) and a new end piece for the fifth injector. Be careful when you remove the old line from the injectors. The return fittings have barbs that hold the lines in place... if you damage a barb, you may get a leak.

If you choose to pull the glow plugs instead -- if I were you I'd seriously think about buying a new set to reinstall. But you can certainly reuse the old ones... it would be a good idea to test them when they're out of the car. If they're weak or some are dead, they won't do you any favours in starting at this time of year in MA.

Testing glow plugs (I copied this from another post... I change mine every two years so I've never done this): Remove glow plug and apply 12 volts to the terminal and attach a ground wire to the body. Plug should glow red hot in just a few seconds. Not a dull red or just get hot. Red-orange hot like an electric range top element.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Yes, why do want to do this?

Please turn the engine over with the crank bolt, a 27mm or 1 1/16inch socket.

If you remove the injectors, as mentioned, you'll need new heat shields.

Remove the metal fuel line "rack" to gain access.

You can utilize a handheld momentary starter engager to turn the engine, if that will help.

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83 SD

84 CD

I am turning the engine over with the crankshaft bolt, but it was still next to impossible to move. I assumed that this was due to one of the cylinders going through a compression cycle, but since discovered that it is due to the fact that the old belts stuck to the crankshaft pulley and got jammed between the fan/water pump and crankshaft pulleys. I removed the glow plugs before I discovered this, so now I can inspect them as well as put together a pictorial on glow plug replacement...

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Keep us posted.

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83 SD

84 CD