Regarding the color, does it look like a repaint? Is the engine compartment the same color as the outside of the body? Photos are deceiving, but your photos look essentially the same color as my "Beige" 220D.

Assuming you are correct that it is definitely light ivory, then the car has been repainted. More evidence that it is unlikely to have 16K miles on it.

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

Okay that's good that is rust inhibitor....let's me know the windshield was never screwed up at another time....

When I installed my chrome trim in the rubber, I didn't use any soapy water on that.....actually I didn't use any soapy water at all.....I had an issue on setting the glass in the frame and had to bend a screw driver to help get the seal over the seam...

I just hear everyone else say to use soapy water.....so you may want to try installing the trim dry....that may help and just use soapy water on the seal that goes over the seam...

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This won't be much help but I have read that people do struggle a lot more with URO window seals. Perhaps you should search the forum to see how people are doing it with that brand of seal specifically. Someone put one in a few months back (not sure who) but maybe they have advice for you. I think it was in the Vintage forum.

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

Every part of the car is the same color. Interior, door jambs, under the rear seat, inside the doors. I read that there was a bit of variation in paint codes between US and Euro models. If that is beige then that's cool but it sure looks like the light ivory swatch on paintscratch.com.

Now I'm on my second attempt at the rear window today. I can't get the seal in the car while keeping the trim in the seal. Should I just glue them in? I have no clue how people do this so easily regardless of the brand of seal.

I'll look up to see what happened with other URO seals. Looking at the design, I feel like Mercedes were just sadistical in their planning of how incredibly awful this job would be.

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

It could also be, because your trying to use wire to set it in.....everyone I know whole installs windows, uses clothes line rope.....just a thought...

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I got the seal in but gave up on the trim as it kept popping out. So now the car just looks worse but at least the rear window doesn't leak. Well, so far. I'll hit a car wash soon to test for leaks more extensively than just squirting water around the seal and looking for leaks.
I'll keep this seal in until I can find a Mercedes seal and some good chrome trim (I'll get the trim at the pick & pull this week.)

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

I've been searching all over and can't seem to find what the reserve capacity of the fuel tank is once the light in the instrument cluster comes on. Any definitive answers for this on the '72 220D?

Thanks all!

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

The diesel forum is just the best for serious tech help.
I should have posted this thread here instead of Vintage. There just isn't much traffic there.
Any help with finding this bushing mentioned in the other thread? I don't want to double post so I'm just linking it.

EDIT: Found it, thanks.

Thanks all!
Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

Today I went back to the pick & pull to get a few things I've been meaning to replace.

I got a radiator that looks new compared to mine.

I pulled another heater control cable so now I have a complete spare set.

Found that I could remove the heater core and easily pull out the heater blower, instead of removing the whole dash. I don't know if I'll go that route when I install it but considering the car is getting a new radiator next week, it may make sense to pull the heater core and really flush it good out of the car. I tested the blower on all three speeds, hooked up to the harness in my car and using the resistor I pulled from the same car a few weeks ago. It works well on all three speeds and it works very strong!

I also got a fantastic condition fuel level sender but it was from a 250C. Is there any problem with putting a gasser fuel level sender in a diesel tank?

I also got the front license plate bracket which I took off a car a few weeks ago but forgot to bring it out. It was still right where I left it!

After the junkyard I dropped the radiator off at a shop to get flow and pressure tested as well as painted. Should be done by Tuesday.

After that, she's getting flushed with a hose then with distilled water and filled with Pentofrost NF. Also going to get a new thermostat. Right now the cooling system is filled with green antifreeze and I want to get this settled and right before winter.

If I can get a few days off where I don't need the car (I'm shooting for a local paper here in New Mexico for a couple months) I'm going to install the heater blower at the same time as the radiator.

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

I've thought for a while (since driving in West Virginia last month) that I've needed a new alternator because the tape deck varies in play speed with the engine RPM.

So, I thought I'd give an hour or two towards cleaning the electrical system before I jumped on getting another alternator.

I disconnected the battery first.

I started my cleaning at the alternator and removed the strap and cleaned the ground contacts. There was a decent amount of corrosion and I wound up using a Dremel tool to grind it off and get a good bare metal contact.

Then I pulled off the condenser wire, cleaned those contacts and put it back together.

I moved to the three prong plug and cleaned it out with a small round file.

Then the big part came. The ground contact on the voltage regulator was covered in corrosion so I hit that, the body where it made contact and the voltage regulator bracket.

I cleaned out the plug with a folded piece of sandpaper and the male contacts with a small file.

I had the voltage regulator off and noticed it had a strip of electrical tape around the base. I removed the tape and took the top off and saw the contents.
The capacitor inside was fine and the contacts that the electromagnet drives were dirty. I used the sandpaper between all the contacts and put it back together. I used a strip of metallic chrome tape to join the cover to the base of the voltage regulator.

I bolted it back to the body and made sure all the contact points had a good bare metal surface for contact.

Reconnected the battery and fired the car up then took a drive.

I turned on my Becker tape deck and the RPM of the car no longer had an effect on the sound of the tape! So I dove to Autozone where I was about to order an alternator and had them test my system.

At idle it was charging fine. At idle with the lights on it was still charging fine. Revving up it was great with and without a load. So it turns out the only problem was all the corroded and dirty contacts in the charging circuit.

One day I may change the alternator for a higher amp unit but when I do, I'll rewire the engine. This is fine for now.

No alternator needed! Now on to flushing the cooling system, sticking in the new heater blower (with new brushes) and replacing the radiator with a newly flow/pressure tested and painted one I pulled from the junkyard last week.

I'm wondering if the rear bumper from a 1972 250C would work on my car. It wraps around a bit more and protects the quarter panels. There is a very nice sample at the junkyard which I may pull and swap for my bumper if it will work and look nice.

Thanks all!

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

Stick some white grease on those contact points to keep 'em good. It is possible you've removed the anti-corrosion coatings on the surfaces (or someone else did) so now's the time to keep 'em protected before it comes back. The base metal always corrodes faster once the electroplated surfaces have gone.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Last week I went to the pick & pull and got the radiator out of a 1973 220D then dropped it off at a very reputable local radiator shop.

It was boiled out, flow tested, pressure tested and finally painted. I picked it up today and it's waiting for the radiator mounts to come in the mail.



I'm also waiting on new brushes for the heater blower motor. Once all that arrives in the mail, the cooling system is getting flushed, a new Behr thermostat is getting installed and she's getting all new coolant. Right now it's green but after the flush it's going to be Pentofrost NF. While I've got the cooling system apart, I'm installing the heater blower and then we'll be good to go.

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

So, if you've followed the thread, you've read that my heater blower motor wasn't working. After freeing up the blades and lubing the motor I got it to run but only for a few minutes until I smelled burning lacquer then the motor quit.

Fast forward a few months and I'm out here in New Mexico visiting family. I pulled a heater blower and a radiator from cars in the junkyard in Albuquerque. The radiator was boiled, pressure tested, flow tested and painted. I cleaned up the donor blower and resistor. Pulled the brushes and cleaned them and the contact points. Then I tested it by hooking up the resistor plug to my car's switch plug and ran it on all three speeds for a minute each.

Two days ago I drained the cooling system of the old green antifreeze. I flushed out the whole system then removed the center console, ductwork and the heater core.

I pulled the old blower out and replaced it with the "new" working one. Pulled the old radiator (which needed replacement because the cooling fins are just falling out) and replaced it with the newly refreshed one. I stretched in new radiator mounts, put the fan shroud back on and routed a new overflow hose. I replaced the old thermostat with a new Behr unit as well.

While putting in the heat exchanger, the lower "clamshell' which securely holds it in must be attached at the front end by a single clip which is the bane of one's existence when doing this repair. After a fight and quite a bit of profanity, the clip and lower part of the duct were in. Getting the heater core back into the car was a big pain in the ass and I learned that the upper duct it sits in needs to be loose but still mounted to the dash with the sliding bots it hangs from. Once I loosened those up a bit the heat exchanger went in fine.

Then I set to replacing hoses that I thought needed it. I would have replaced all the hoses but both couldn't afford it and couldn't find one particular shaped hose. Not to worry though, since the hoses I left on are still strong and not cracked at all, inside or out. After I replaced all the hoses and ensured everything was buttoned up, I mixed a few liters of Pentofrost NF 50/50 with distilled water then filled the radiator. I then took off one of the heat exchanger hoses and filled that until the radiator was topped off to help fight against air pockets.

I started up the car and let it completely warm up, looking at all the hose clamps for leaks. I found that I had let one of the heat exchanger hose clamps go a tiny bit loose so tightened that up and stopped a leak. I saw a tiny dribble at the back of the thermostat housing and tightened those down, stopping that leak.

By that time, it was late and quite chilly so I cleaned up and stopped for the night.

This morning, all I had to do was put in the center console, hook up my switches and hazard relay and reinstall the stereo. Once all that was done I had to go to a photo shoot about 30 miles away so I got the car good and hot on the freeway. no problems at all. After the shoot, I came back to the house and finally plugged the heater blower resistor in. Last night I didn't have time to pull the fresh air cowl and push the resistor plug through the firewall so I just left it off knowing that I had to work today. Blower got plugged in and it works just as I expected.

I'm looking forward to warm air blowing on my cold feet this winter! We have a cold front coming through tomorrow and it's going to dip the temps down to the 20s at night. Hello winter!

Now the only thing I have left to do here (with stuff that I have here) is install these fogs that I got from forum member Ziad:


Does anyone know the correct relay for these lamps? They are 12v 55w H3 bulbs, correct for these fog lamps which are correct for the W115.

My apologies for not taking more photos during my work. I've been pressed for time and working alone so grabbing the camera just takes too much time out of getting these things done, especially pertinent, absolutely necessary repairs like the cooling system.

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

Last update I asked about the relay for the fog lamps. With a search on the forum here I found out that the unpopulated plug in the signal/marker lamp housing is the socket for the fog lamps. It's all hooked up to the switch and ready to go.

So this morning I was itching to install the fog lamps but had a photo shoot for the little paper I'm moonlighting for. I drove out to Moriarty, about 9 miles east to the location I was supposed to meet a veterans group and no one was there. Drove around town a bit at the locations where events were supposed to occur and no one was around. Made a few calls, left a message for my editor then came back to the house.

I got out the tools and cleaned up all the ground contact points on the fog lamp brackets. I measured out where the hole is supposed to be and drilled it then drilled a hole for the power supply wire. On the underside of the body where the plate touches the car, I sanded it to bare metal to give it a good clean ground.

I had to make myself a male plug to fit into the socket so I cut off two of the wires from an old blower switch, unsoldered the wires and used the male plugs for my two power supply wires. Soldered that up then put shrink tubing over the end.

I didn't have any small grommets and don't want the wire to ground itself after rubbing inside the hole in the body so I snaked the supply wire through some small fuel hose (the spare unbraided stuff I've used for injector return lines) and rand that from the grommet in the lamp bracket through the body. I only wanted to ensure the wire not getting cut and grounding but I also wanted a clean look so the housing runs from the lamp all the way through the hole. It looks much nicer this way.

After hooking up the wires and shrink tubing the joints I put the headlamp bezels back on and fired up the car. (I had tested the connections earlier for current.) One of the H3 bulbs is dead and needs replacing but the driver's side lamp works just fine.

Here's a photo of the car with the hood up showing the new radiator I put in the other day.


And here's one of the old girl with the hood down.


This was a pretty easy fix and I'm glad Mercedes-Benz had the foresight to install the wiring for aftermarket installation of these lamps.

Next lighting fix will be to upgrade the low/high beams to Cibie H4s.

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

Very nice looking! If I were you, I would try to hunt down some nice euro lamps in the future.....they are pricey but they sure look nice....

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