Should I buy this '88 190d?
 

I'm new to the diesel world and so was the current owner of the 1988 190d with 131,000 miles. The current owner bought the car in hopes of having a good commuter car. It was purchased by him as a project car because the prior owner hit a deer and got rid of it.

The car starts and runs but he is having problems with extreme power loss. The car just refuses to get up to speed. He admits that he has no knowledge of diesels and hasn't taken it to a garage.

I took a picture under the hood and I'm curious as to what the first things I should try replacing if I purchase the car for $350. The body is rust free and the interior is nice.

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...119_165955.jpg

When The engine lacks power, is a sign of fuel starvation,First thing change the fuel filters, primary (white plastic) and secondary (metal) by the power steering reservoir.

I'm no mechanic but if the interior is nice and the body is rust free, it will be worth more than $350 just in parts so if you find out it is too expensive to repair, you could part it out and make your money back.

If it has a manual transmission and it's near Baltimore I'm interested ;)

Low power is usually nothing very serious if the car idles smooth. Even if the turbo had gone dead a pick and pull one could get you going. Since you do not have a turbo that cannot be an issue. That or an exhaust restriction are about the most serious issues usually I can think of.

There are quite a few lesser things to check out first though. You always change out the primary and secondary fuel filters before doing anything else . They can and do fool people. Consider it just general maintenance if it does not help. You may be getting one hell of a deal overall in my opinion. Unless the deer hit damage is pretty bad. If you do not know thse cars try to find someone that does to help you evaluate what is there.

Get someone to step on the fuel pedal and look to see if the linkage on the injection pump is moving all the way to it's stop. This is safe to do prior to a fuel filter change. You also do not just start arbitrarily changing things. This is called shotgunning and in general is to be avoided as both too costly and not the smartest approach. Do not repair it in the guys driveway unless you have paid for and own the car. Even then I usually drove cars to another location first.

If it's rust free like you said then don't wait. Go and get it immediately or someone else will... as mentioned above, change the filters, possibly the tank screen and you'll probably be good to go.

Thank you all for the advice. I bought the car and will let you know how it goes.

The deer busted the driver's side headlight and made a half dollar size dent on the hood so I'm not too worried about that.

It's funny that the shotgunning method was mentioned because that's exactly what I was going to do until I read that post.

If I fail in my attempt I will be sure to let all of you know.

Just use the guidance posted on this site. It is up to you to post the questions. You will both learn and run the issues down. It is too expensive in general to take cars as old as this to most garages.

This is still a pretty good type of car to learn on as it is not too complex. Most of us on site are obviously not mechanics either. Yet we manage to get through issues with guidance from the members when required. Eventually you can help others yourself.

If the odometer is factual and sometimes they are. You may have quite a find. The deer hit sounds fairly minimal. This model will also be decent on fuel consumption.