I just recently acquired a 1972 220D from a friend in Santa Barbara, CA. They were just looking to have it hauled away to the junk yard since they were planning on selling the home that it's been parked at. The 220 was owned by my friend's father. He bought the car in Sarasota, Florida in the early 80s and used it to drive several times from Florida to Santa Barbara. He passed in 1991 so the car has been parked in the garage since then. I have all the service records dating back to the mid 1970s. Its just about rust free, solid floors, trunk, doors. It has been resprayed its original color at some point in its past, I suspect the Florida and California sun damaged the original maroon paint. The pictures shown were after several washes and a quick polish. I have not attempted to start it yet nor has anyone else since it was parked in 1991.

Any recommendations to properly get this baby on the road again? Thoughts? Thanks!

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Man that looks like a really nice 220D. If there is fuel in the tank you could drain it out quite easily through the screen hole plug in the bottom of the fuel tank. But if the fuel is not contaminated with a bacteria which can live in fuel, and it well could be that it is not, I would recommend replacing both the primary fuel filter which is a small in line filter down along side the engine and the spin on fuel filter which sits above the injection pump. Make sure you refill that spin on with fresh fuel when you put it on. Then you will have to pump the fuel up with that little pump located just behind the injection pump. Pump it up hard, tell it starts to squeak. You must turn the knob loose before it will allow pumping. It probably will leak after sitting so many years, but a new pump is low cost and much easier to operate. Give it a glow on the glow plugs, yours would have the pepper shaker type of indicator on the dash, when it glows red pull that "gorilla Knob" and crank it up. But do check the engine oil level and make sure that there is coolant in the radiator. I had one like that a 69 which I got in 71 and I really liked that car. If I could find one like the one you have found, I would really enjoy it.

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Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

My dad's 220d sat for 8 years before I took over ownership. Believe it or not, it started right away without even needing to charge the battery. Odd, but true. In your case, charging the battery or jumping the car is probably going to be necessary. Honestly, I would do as little as possible before you start it, because you may introduce some new problem that you hadn't intended. Certainly check fluid levels, but I wouldn't open up the fuel system unless obviously necessary. Less is more, in my opinion.

The one thing I wish I had done differently is I wish I had drizzled some oil on the cam shaft by taking off the valve cover before starting the car. As part of that, I would turn over the engine by hand a few times to make sure nothing is seized and to spread the oil around a bit. After closing up the valve cover, I would try the gorilla knob to see if you can get glowing of the indicator on the dash. If it glows (may take 10-20 seconds to start), then you know the rest of the glow plugs are likely working as well. After giving it a nice long successful glow (30-45 seconds), I would pull harder on the gorilla knob to test the starter. If the starter works, I would just start cranking to see what happens. Don't run the starter for too long, so you don't over heat it. But 10-20 seconds should be fine. You might have to push on the accel pedal as you try to start it. Some people say that is unnecessary, but my car starts easier if I push on the accel pedal a little. If it does start, watch the oil pressure gauge carefully to ensure it pegs within a few seconds of starting the engine. if you don't get oil pressure within 5 seconds or so, I would shut it down and report back. If it doesn't start, there are lots of other things we can recommend. But don't overcomplicate things right now. Good luck.

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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).

wow...thats a beauty

That is gorgeous....amazing they were just going to tow it to the junker.....now we know how so many gorgeous ones get there.

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I don't know much about these, but I wonder about the rear crankshaft seal, and if it's a rope seal, does it need to be soaked in some way? I'd probably change the oil, if it were me, and/or dribble some over the valves like mentioned in a prior post.

The cooling system will likely have rust. I'd change the coolant ASAP. Hopefully whunter, or another moderator with more know-how will post their suggestions. Let us know how it goes !

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Marshall Welch
Seattle, WA
1982 300D-T

I would change the oil and throw a battery in and then start it up. My 240D sat for about 3 years before I got it and it had no engine issues and I would think yours should as well even though it has been sitting much longer.

Once you get it running you will need to change all of the fluids and be prepared for some brake work. My front calipers had rusted and seized from sitting and I would imagine yours have as well.

That is a great looking car BTW. Medium Red on Bamboo... my favorite

SB has a bit of a humid environment so you may want to get a 27mm socket on a ratchet and turn the engine over by hand very slowly in case the rings have rusted a bit. Maybe shoot a bit of motor oil into the cylinders through the injector or glow plug holes and let it soak a day before turning it to ensure the rings don't score the cylinder walls.

Other than that, previous replies have said most of what you should do.
Change the oil and filter. Change fuel filters. Make sure to change the injector pump oil.
You will probably have to drain the fuel in the tank and refill with fresh diesel. Pay attention to the weird sized hose which connects the fuel tank to the hard fuel supply line. It can develop leaks as can every other hose but its different size at either end makes it unusual so it can't be replaced with just any fuel hose. Hint: the "cigar hose" from the 300D is the perfect size if you cut it in half. Then you have two of them.

Looks like a beautiful car! Great score and keep us informed on your progress.

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

Thanks for all the advise. I will probably wait a month until temperatures warm up a bit in this part of the country before I dive into it. I'll keep everyone up-to-date on progress. I'll use this time now to gather parts that I need, starting with the engine start pull knob. The knob is broken. Battery, belts, gaskets, hoses, seals, etc. Once the car is running I will tackle the less critical areas. Most of the weatherstriping around the doors, truck, hood and windows are stiff. I will rebuild the braking system and make sure everything performs.

Cosmetically, the car has its share of paint chips and a few dings. The molding and trim is scratched and spotty in a few areas. I need to see what I can do to restore these areas.

A few more attached pics.

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Glad you saved it!

What's wrong with those people

Anyways, best of luck with it from Germany

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-1990 W124 230E; Winter car
-1985 W123 230TE; Ex-280TE, daily driver
-1976 W115 200D; Restoration project

man why can't I ever stumble into anything other than abused rust buckets that people want outrageous money for!

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1978 Mercedes 240D
1981 Mercedes 240D
1982 Mercedes 240D

Oh my goodness! A crack-free dash!
You scored a true gem.

For your rubber parts, Lemfoerder or genuine MB are what you want. At least for the windscreen and rear window seals. The URO ones suck. I know. I battled mine for three days in warm New Mexico weather. 17 attempts and I couldn't get the chrome trim in, in spite of following the FSM and other hints on this and other forums.

The side glass seals and sweeps can be hard to find sometimes. For your door seals, URO are fine. Same for the trunk seal. Also get a new seal for the hood-firewall.

I can speak for a lot of folks here probably by saying I'm insanely jealous. I paid a few grand for my car which is in excellent condition but still worse than yours. Green with envy!

Keep us posted!

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

That is a real prudy car, and looks to be in great shape.

So she has been siting for 23 years, I would replace the hoses and belts along with the Flex Disks, or at least look at them real close for cracks.

Would be a good idea to replace the tires, that is a long ways across the country to Chicago, or close to it.

Pressure bleed the Brakes and the Clutch system.


There was one similar to this one in PNP last month, same color but with red interior and a gasser with stinky old gas in it. Looked like it too had sat in a garage for a long time. But she is gone now.


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

Thanks,

I shipped the car from Santa Barbara to Chicago last week. Yes the tires were flat when the car was parked. My friend pumped up the tires just enough so he could roll it out of the garage and onto a truck. The tires luckily held air but they are heavily rotted.

I looked at the firewall/hood seal and it breaks apart in my hand.

Is it possible to find a new, replacement or used starter pull knob?

What are the flex disks?

I need to educate myself with the mechanical details of these cars.

Dealer might be able to get a new gorilla knob, and certainly worth a try. The original Knob was made of a semi hard plastic, probably polyethylene, but you could probably turn one out of wood which would be better than metal in your climate. Have to pull on it for quite a while in the winter, hence the term 'Gorilla knob'.

The flex discs are tough rubber discs and are the MB equivalent of u-joints in the drive shaft. They have two yokes attached by thru bolts and alternate bolts attach to the front yoke, with the others to the rear one. Typically two flex discs per car, one near the rear and one near the tranny.

Does the car have a manual tranny? Not sure from pics.

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1961 190Db retired
1968 220D/8 325,000
1983 300D 164,150