After a long happy distraction with ancient Volvos, VWs, and the occasional Saab, I finally pulled the trigger. Just bought a 1980 240d, manual everything and 27?xxx on the clock, for 800 bucks. Clattered merrily home 3 hours with nary a hiccup, except when I stopped for gas and it refused to shut down, although a perplexed call to the PO solved that. This car, knock on wood, seems fantastic --
A couple issues, which I will no doubt seek your wisdom with as time goes on, are
-new speedo cable, although the my speedo goes up to 125 and seems not to be original; will it be accurate?
-a bit of play in the steering
-the ubiquitous vacuum leak, although this one seems to be intermittent (sometimes it turns right off and the locks work, other times its cranky)
-Finding a decent source for touch-up paint, as I'll be welding in a patch panel or two in areas of annoying rust.
Thats all for now, good to meet you all -- If there is a different section for introductions, I apologize; just found peachparts...
James in Baton Rouge

Congrats on the purchase (we hope) and welcome to the forum. I'm originally from Zachary; still have family that lives there. I just purchased a 240D 4speed manual that I'm parting out, so let me know if you need anything.

Please post pics of your new beast. Everyone here likes to see the new cars.

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

A MightyVac will be your best friend for fixing vacuum issues. Great ebay item too.
One great thing to do is to NOW replace all your fuses with nice new copper ones.
Your 125mph (assuming) speedo will probably not be accurate as its geared for a different gear train.

Ask away, lots of much better than my knowledge here.

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1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

X2 on pics!

The shutoff issue may be related to the vacuum leak. What did you do to shut it off?

The 125 MPH speedo is most likely geared for the 3.07:1 differential used in the 300D/CD/TD turbos. Your differential is a 3.69:1, so it is definitely not accurate. What's the part number on it (it's at the bottom of the gauge)?

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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."

Yes as was said the speedo isn't correct, so like the majority of us....you'll have no actually knowledge of the miles on the car....could be higher, could be lower....as you'll find out, on these cars if there is rust...its actually rot....patching works great on american cars, but on these...you soon find out it has spread into structure of the car, cutting that out and repairing it is impossible....best thing to do is kill the rot and fix it as best as possible then drive the car till its dead...think of rust on these cars like termites in a home....once you knock the walls down....you find the real damage...times 5 on pictures!

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I'd find a local mechanic who specializes in front ends and get your steering checked out and aligned. Don't want to be shredding front tires - gets expensive.

Check your main vacuum hose from vac pump to brake booster. Make sure there aren't any cracks in fittings and isolate leaking vac systems. The suggested MightyVac is an excellent tool. You can check your shutdown vac device by hooking a hose to it, starting the car and appyling MightyVac or mouth pressure to it - car should shut off.

Welcome, Congrats and waiting on the pics.

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Codifex
1981 240D ChinaBlue (Got her running with a donor engine.)
1983 300DTurbo w/sunroof.
1984 300TD manual sunroof. (Electrical Gremlins)

I think the one Member meant Copper Fuses with Ceramic Bodies; as the ones with Plastic Bodies the Plastic sometimes Melts before the Metal Strip does.

There is an adjustment on outside of the Steering box to adjust the Steering Wheel Play. If it is rusty get some Penetrating Oil on it and let that soak for several days.
You are supposed to have some play in the Steering Wheel. If you over adjust the adjustment the Wheel will sort of stick a little on each side causing you to rock the Wheel Back and forth to try to remain straight when driving.

If that does not work get the front of the Car up on Ramps and start the Engine and while someone is safely under the Car have someone else turn the Steering wheel back and forth gently and see if the rest of the Steering Linkages want to follow the Steering Wheel turning (you can see when the Pitman Arm on the Steering Box is moving).

If you have some loose Joints on the Linkages those parts will move later than the other parts.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Thanks for the help so far.
My posts will probably be sporadic; I work down in the Gulf for good chunks of time on a pretty wonky schedule.
Heres the car, although I will take more photos.

Found a good replacement left front fender at pullapart, in the process of painting it with paint matched to the faded blue.
Haven't gotten into the vacuum system yet --
Could somebody point me to the "shutdown vac device" that Codifex Maximus referred to?

Hello again folks,
so I've replaced all the fittings between the vacuum pump and the brake booster, and my engine still doesn't want to turn off of its own accord. Ive been stalling it out in 4th gear to kill it, but it gives me the willies to do it every time. A couple of posts above, Codifex Maximus referred to the "shutdown vac device", which I can't seem to find in my manuals.
Can anybody help me with this?

Touch Up Paint and Accessories | AutomotiveTouchup a great source for touch-up paint.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

The shut down devise that was mentioned, is on the rear of the Injection Pump (IP). look between the Oil Filter Housing and the pump. You will see a vacuum line going to a small round can. This is the device that cut the fuel to shut down the engine.

There is a brown vac line going from it, through the firewall to the Vac Valve on the Ignition/Steering lock assy. then there is another brown vac line from the large black plastic line from the Vacuum Pump (on the front of the engine) to the Brake Booster. this is where it get it`s vac source.

You can put a vacuum hose on the Vacuum Fuel shut off valve nipple, and suck on it, and the engine should shut off. However, if the diaphragm is torn inside it, engine oil could be on the vac side and you could get a mouth full of oil. (YUK) use a clear tubing. or apply a Mity vac to this device. also use clear tubing.
If it shuts down immediately, you are good. if it stumbles to shut down or not at all, then the device is bad.

On the firewall where all the vac lines enter the cabin, there is a yellow check valve. two yellow lines out the back side. one line goes to the drivers door, and the other to a vacuum tank above the fuel tank in the trunk. this is a supply tank for the doors, fuel door and the trunk vacuum actuators.

The green line is for the climate control Vac actuators under the dash. there is one on the right side. think the 80 240 only gas the one.

You can unplug the various lines from the vacuum source and plug them off with a Golf "T", to (You do play Golf...right?) this will isolate the various systems to determine where the vac leak is.

Con grats on a very nice looking 240D, nice color that will wax out and really shine.

Your 80 240D should have the 85mph spedo, and a 3:69 Differential.
The original spedo probably quit and some one just stuck in another one not knowing any difference. the spedo is geared to the diff ratio.

Looking at the diff from under the vehicle, the lower left corner of the case has some numbers stamped on it. scrape off the gunk, and the last 3 are the diff gear ratio.

Here is a vacuum diagram that will help you.

W123 Vacuum InterLock Diagram


Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Holy Moly, thanks a lot!
i spent the morning outside in Louisiana August heat with the mityvac and the drivers side door locking device. For some reason, I am able to build a vacuum with the piston out (locked) but not in (unlocked). That doesn't seem normal to me, right?
Also, when I put the piston out, such that there is vacuum being built, run the car for a while, and then shut it down, it does turn off by itself although its quite slow. This is compared to not shutting off at all otherwise.
I'll be messing with the brown line to the shutoff, which seems to have no vacuum, and the green line to the climate control stuff which also has no vacuum.
Basic question: this is supposed to be a closed system, right? as in, its all connected, it all draws from the same vacuum, so there shouldn't be any leaks at all, correct? No exceptions?
Thank you all very much indeed, and yes, once I finish repainting the replacement fender from the pull-a-part to match the rest of the car, i will be waxing it out.

I believe you have a Manual shutoff somewhere near the middle of the Valve Cover on the Linkages. The Paper Sticker that identifies it is often missing.

If you cannot figure out where it is reach over and grab the very last Linkage Rod that goes down to the Fuel Injection Pump Throttle Lever.
Pull up or push down on it. I believe pushing down on the Linkage will shut it off and allow you to see where the Manual Shutoff Lever is.

The Vacuum Line from the Vacuum Shutoff at the Fuel Injection Pump goes to another Vacuum Valve mounted on the Steering Colum Lock. Sometimes that Valve is plugged or no good and some times the Hose connectors are not good.

From there is another Vacuum Line that eventually connects to some Y connector and the main Vacuum Line. The line connectors or the Y connectors can also be bad.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Not exactly a closed System. If you have an Automatic Transmission there is a Vacuum Valve for that; that controls the Vacuum to the Transmission Modulator. That Valve always bleeds off some Vacuum.

When you connect your Mighty Vac directly to the Shutoff Valve on the Fuel Injection Pump does it shut off correctly?

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Ok, so the brown lines up to the ignition form a closed loop, with no leaks.
When I hooked the mityvac up to the shutoff valve with the car running, it shut right down with a squeeze.
so then, I looked at the green (climate control) line. it seemed to be the only one that was not forming any vacuum at all.
On a hunch, before I tried anything else, I put all the climate controls (heat dials and non-functioning AC) to all the way Low, or Off. then I hooked up the mityvac again, and lo and behold: Vacuum. So now, although there is still miniscule lag, it pretty much shuts right off with the turn of the key.
Whats the deal? German engineers with a sense of humor and no sense of thermoregulation?
This instantaneous internet majiggy is quite remarkable, it was like having you guys drinking beer inside while i tried stuff and then reported back.