Hello,

Just purchased a 1985 W123 Wagon that is in awesome condition for its age, but has been sitting for about a year at an MB dealer. It starts right up, and everything works as it should less the antenna, Becker radio, and THE DOOR LOCKS!

As this car is a decade older than I am, I expected a few problems.

My Vacuum woes begin.

Car shuts off fine, but hissing can be heard from rear of car after shutoff. Drivers door lock works fine with key, and drivers rear door slowly creeps down sometimes. Before I start gently "ripping" door panels off, I would like to throw this by y'all. I have come to the conclusion that it is the resivior that is leaking because the front locks work as they are closer to the vacuum booster, and the hissing at shutoff is distinctly from the aft of the car. I dont think a tear in a vacuum line could make that much of an audible noise. Thoughts?

Secondly: The Becker does not turn on, but at night it will light up around the cassette opening. I'm assuming this is an internal radio problem and not a fuse problem as then the light would not work as well.

Thirdly: Pushing 6'4" I find this car a very odd fit for my body. My head is in the sunroof well, and the rearview doesn't adjust high enough for my eye-line. Any taller w123 owners have tips? The seat does not adjust vertically I take it, or is that the lever that is visible when initially opening the door, and operated with left hand while seated?

Also, what's the risk of burning old diesel. If this were 1 year old gas, I would drain and refill, but as diesel is more of a lubricant than a solvent, I would assume it would not evaporate or go foul as Gas would.

Lastly,

Any S. FL w123 owners with experience working on these cars, I could use some help in the future. Payment is in the form of E63 AMG rides, and Starbucks giftcards from last Christmas

Thanks, WagonFreak

The vacuum system, to properly repair, needs to be diagnosed. Guessing is not really viable as there are numerous components. Here is a guide on diagnosis that I wrote:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mercedes+W123+Vacuum+Lock+System+Diagnosis+Technique/20201

Guide was written on a sedan, earlier model, but the theory of diagnosis is the same.

Here is a guide on door panel removal:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Disassembling+Mercedes+W123+Door+Panel/20198

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1979 300D 040 Black on Black - 1985 300D Maaco job (sadly sprayed over 199 Black Pearl Metallic) on Palamino

http://i.imgur.com/LslW733.jpg

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Visit the W123 page on iFixit for over 70 helpful DIY guides!

Becker: Try replacing ALL of the fuses with new copper fuses, you would be surprised how many electrical gremlins will be banished.

Seat: Yes, there is a lever on the left side which allows the seat to slide up/forward and down/backward. The mechanism may be rather stiff if it hasn't been used in a while. Be careful not to break off the handle, only a gentle force is required to lift the handle, but you may need to really push backward on the seat to get it to move down/back.

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Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC

I'd treat the fuel with biocide then "smoke it if you got it".

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The hissing at the rear at starting might also be the SLS system bleeding off. Mine does this .

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1981 300TD 4 speed manual
Euro bumpers, zender valance and skirts, H&R springs, billy HD's, leveled sls, real AMG Pentas 16x8 et11, vdo boost/egt gauges intergrated into ash tray, eurolights, led 3rd brake light

Yep, that's the height adjustment lever. You may really have to throw your weight around if it has not been used in a while.

The main risk with burning old diesel is that it attracts water and then algae growth, which can clog filters. If it's only been sitting a year, though, I'd just pour in a little biocide and use it. Diesel is expensive these days.

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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."

Thank you all for your replies. UberWasser, Danke! Your iFixit guides are an excellent source of information. Top notch quality on par or BETTER than dieselgiant or **************.

Drove the wagon to Harbor Freight to buy a Vacuum pump and some metric sockets. Bought the Harbor Freight brand over the MightyVac because it was metal, and it looked eerily similar to the one Kent of ************** swears by.

Now, In regards to the SLS system on a wagon, I have a few questions:

What is normal ride height in the back unloaded? Does this change with the car running or not running? Currently, I cannot lay a ruler on the top of the tire and have it extent out of the wheel well parallel to the asphalt as I could to on the front wheels. Is this normal?

To test the system, should I just start stacking weights in the cargo compartment with the car running?

I found a post on this forum from 2007 with instructions on how to rebuild the SLS valve and a member here sells the O-ring kits I believe.

EDIT: JUST FOUND THIS:

"** A word about proper ride height: The unloaded curb weight of the car should be carried entirely by the springs (i.e. If the car has good springs, the unloaded car won't sag even if the SLS is disconnected). I keep repeating this because its important. The fix I describe in this thread is only part of the job (the easy part), and if you don't replace the springs (or shim them) you will likely have to repeat the job all too soon (or worse, prematurely wear out the actuators). When the SLS system is working properly you should never know its there until you put a heavy load in the rear cargo area with the engine off. This is the only time you should see the car level itself on start up."

these things were designed for male german bodies in mind. being considerably shorter than that i find it annoying i cant reach the dead pedal. also the only option i wish for on these cars is a tilt wheel. figure out your seat adjustment up/down and i bet you can make it work.

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1981 NA 300D 310k miles

Just one more note on the seat: I am 6 ft 4 ins and know what you mean, in fact I passed on a w123 when I first went shopping for a diesel Mercedes because the seat was jammed on the one I tried and I thought I would not have enough room, so I switched to shopping for w116s.

So be sure to also check that the seat is actually all the way back. If the tallest person to drive the car was 5 ft 6 ins, or a couple of coins have made their way down into one of the fore/aft slider tracks, the track could be gummed up or jammed.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Seats 101

i am 6'3 250 and my partner is 6'4 300.....we both fit amazingly comfortable in the seats with plenty of head room...

Now here are some things that will cause you to not fit in the seat

rebuilt front seat bottoms, not utilizing the factory but pad....

the pool noodle trick

Dirty seat tracks causing the seats to not be able to be adjusted....even found change wedges in the tracks before...

Secondly, a totally free and easy way to gain more room, is to remove the locking nut...that goes through the seat track and into the rail by the height adjuster pull.

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There is a fuse on the back of the radio itself, you'll have to pull it to see if that's the problem.

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83 SD

84 CD

Thanks to all,

Got the seat to go back. Pistachio lodged in the track! Found 56 cents under the seat and several almonds and some sunflower seed shells. Guess the PO was big into the snack scene.

So another question.

Where I live we don't need a front plate, so I took the front holder off. A little rusty I noticed. The back one was too.

So I decided I would paint them. But then While changing the air filter, I noticed the lid for the canister was flaking off paint. The battery tray might be painted while i'm at it too.


So I'm debating between the cheap-o black rustolem that is made for painting grills to do all of this, or powdercoating the parts.

Maybe this is a grand waste of time and I should just leave them, but I have nothing better to do, so I thought why not.

Also, 1985 here so the air filter is CA spec way down in the left front corner of the engine bay keeping it much cooler than the non CA air filter housings.

Your $0.02 appreciated

I you need the CA air filter, go with that, pricey, for sure, but what are you going to do?

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83 SD

84 CD

A suggestion. When I bought my 240D it's front end looked like this...


So I did some cosmetic work on the front end and happily as AZ also doesn't require front plates I left it off. With this result...


In my opinion they look a lot better without the front plate. I'd leave it off if you can.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

the front license plate holders are $$$. if you take it off and dont need it you could probably sell it here on the forum

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1981 NA 300D 310k miles