New to Me, 1987 300D W124 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Rangerat · #1 08-18-2013, 12:23 PM

OK, my elderly auntie finally let go of her 1987 300D, not free, but very reasonable. 120k miles on the clock, starts and runs, but of course a few little problems. For one, the trap oxidizer is still in place so I'll have to deal with the dealer to go through the recall issues. Windows, doors, sunroof all working, driver's window and door locks really slow. Passenger headrest, rear headrests, antennae riser unresponsive.
Ok, the meat of the matter, pretty loud and chattery on startup, my first diesel so I'm not sure if it's really bad. Transmission shifts hard, if your foot is in it, it shifts REALLY hard (only tried that once). Fuel leaking after parked, stops after about a week.
It has spent the last twenty years primarily parked in a garage, but with the door open. I know, German Habitrail. Been cleaning out rodent carcasses and nests, have noticed some chewed wires but not too bad. Any impressions or cautions welcome. I can do most repairs but will leave the deep mechanical to the pro as I have found that to be economically prohibitive to do myself. Oh yeah, already checked the fuses, all good.

TnBob · #2 08-18-2013, 04:21 PM

Welcome !
You mentioned fuses, Id suggest replacing them with new copper ones so you have a true known to work with.

Rangerat · #3 08-18-2013, 07:57 PM

The type of fuse used in my MB is a type I am less familiar with. A plastic cylinder with metal nipples at either end and an exposed metal strip varying in width and color according to ampacity. I kind of like them because I imagine a blown one will be readily apparent, right? I am an electrician by trade so I could easily test them each individually, which i trust even more than fresh out of the box for reasons i don't need to explain. I should probably also clean all the terminals because I can certainly imagine that being at least a potential issue. I will be trying to repair the smaller issues myself and will probably start by checking that power is making it to them before I start tracing every wire down and looking for tooth marks. Guess I'll be spending some time under, on and in it!

Rangerat · #4 08-19-2013, 06:29 PM

Ok, here it is.

ROLLGUY · #5 08-19-2013, 08:06 PM

Your hard shifting is caused by a loss of vacuum to the modulator valve. There is probably a bad rubber connector ("Y" or "X") somewhere in the system. Do yourself a favor, and get a vacuum tester (Mityvac is the popular brand) for testing vacuum systems.

Rangerat · #6 08-20-2013, 12:01 AM

That is very interesting in the context of the rodent issues the car has had. I would be willing to bet when I get under the old girl, I will find plenty more to post.

t walgamuth · #7 08-20-2013, 06:46 AM

Congrats on the purchase and good luck with getting everything humming. YOu can find lots of help here.

Rangerat · #8 08-20-2013, 11:18 AM

Thanks, and I'm excited to get rolling on my project. I'm already getting useful input. I haven't had a project vehicle for quite a few years and I've been wanting something like this for a long time. Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to get this off the ground in more ways than one.

Rangerat · #9 11-14-2013, 11:54 AM

Ok, well here's why I'm not a mechanic. The combination of time constraints and garage space restrictions plus the fact the old mare started leaking like a sieve kind of forced my hand. The pool of fuel that would gather under the car after running it combined with the fact that it had usurped the garage space belonging to the wife's car caused it to be ejected from the garage. The fact that I was having a hard time figuring out how to even safely get it off the ground was my own learning disability. So I had to knuckle under and bring it to the mechanic. Probably a good thing as I trust him and he found it necessary to replace the transmission pan and pump seal and o-ring, trans filter, pinion seal, valve cover gasket, and while he had the tranny off, he did the rear main seal, not to mention driveshaft center support bearing, all in addition to the injection pump seals. It's shifting much better now that I've doubled the cost of the vehicle and it's not peeing all over the driveway anymore. I've managed to fix the driver's seat adjustment and the passenger headrest adjuster by simply giving them a little "manual assist" while actuating the control. The remote rear headrest retractor just seemed to start working on it's own. It seems like the only remaining issue of note is the stereo and power antennae. The antennae is seized in the down position and the stereo won't even power on. I imagine there may be a fuse on the back of the head unit and that there is a battery in it as well but since it is tied in to the alarm system, this may be a job for the dealer. Besides, I want the dealer to have a look for unresolved recall issues. I will say, she is already super comfortable and smooth to drive and my wife will even voluntarily drive her! Now that's saying something!