I've had my 240D on the road for a week now, driven about 120miles. Relatively incident-free.

This is the first time I drive a car that I "fixed up" myself. So naturally - I am nervous about breaking down on the side of the road.

I do have a CAA plus membership which includes 200km of towing.

I am kinda anxious because I bought a brand new speedometer cable and it seems to be making a noise and my needle is bouncy, especially noticable when I'm coasting in neutral when the engine is quiet. A slight 'clicking' noise coming from the cluster. I has poured a bit of oil down the top of the speedometer cable, maybe a tablespoon's worth, it quieted down for a bit but now the clicking & bouncy needle is back. I'm starting to think that if this is the kinda thing that stresses me out, maybe I'm not cut out for w123 ownership haha.

regardless, how many trouble-free miles do you get our of your 240D (or w123)?

__________________
1982 240D 4-speed
2013 Jeep Wrangler Sport - 4.10 e-locker

I let a friend drive - it's a 4 speed manual. Ever since he drove it, the clutch makes a "bark" before fully engaging, that's kinda worrying me too.

__________________
1982 240D 4-speed
2013 Jeep Wrangler Sport - 4.10 e-locker

If you fix most things early, as a preventative measure, you can go a long long way without any troubles.

My '79 300D had issues when I bought it. I fixed most of them via preventative maintenance. Therefore it has gone almost two years with only one breakdown. That was related to an overheated axle that was on my to-do list. It's still on my to-do list. The car still drives great around town, just gets noisy at 75mph.

And my $800 "doesn't run" '85 300D just completed a trouble-free shake down run round trip to Phoenix and back, about 200 miles. It wouldn't have if I hadn't replaced the axles early. One was leaking, and the other started to leak as soon as I touched the boots during the removal process. Same for the leaky brake hose I found in back.

Yeah, if you're new to the fix up game, you can get nervous after the first few fixes but you'll gain confidence. I never saw myself doing an axle swap on a Sunday back when I first bought my first W123, the '79, but now I know it's an easy job if somewhat time consuming.

The speedo-cable is probably just a bad part out of the box. If so that's not your fault, and it's not going to strand you.

Not sure about the clutch. But I have a motto that friends don't get to drive my car unless they are running from Candyman or something. I'll give them a ride any time.

__________________
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

The Baja Arizona Oil Burners Send a message if you'd like to join the fun
Left to Right - UberWasser, Iridium, Stuttgart-->Seattle,, mannys9130

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

thanks for sharing your experience!

yeah, I'm starting to think that the cable is faulty, or came unlubricated

__________________
1982 240D 4-speed
2013 Jeep Wrangler Sport - 4.10 e-locker

Clutch barking? Does it seem like "clutch chatter" would be an appropriate term for it?

X2 to uberwasser. Rides, yes; borrowing, no . I can think of only two people that I know who I'd be willing to borrow a stick-shift car to; and one of them is perfectionist who runs his own high-end limo service.

__________________
"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."

The car needs to be brought back to good working order then it will be fairly trouble free.

Do all of the maintenance things - shocks, brakes, valve adjust, brakes, trans filter, other fluids. Do the entire system or at least major portions. For example, when you do brakes, if you need a caliper, do both calipers, hoses & pads and at least finish 1 end. You can leave the other end & the master until you need it. If you leave one end, it will likely go soon unless it was taken care of earlier.

When you do vacuum, try breaking a plastic line. If it cracks, replace it and all other brittle lines that you find.

Change the glow plugs and ream the holes prior to winter. Check for proper resistance on your block heater cord.

Keep 2 sets of extra fuel filters in the trunk with tools to change them.

The car will never leave you stranded. It may have you hot in the summer or cold in the winter but never walking - if you get to wrenching. Keep a log so you know what you fixed. Those systems will likely last a long time..

__________________
85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

In my experience, these cars tend to "fail gracefully". If you pay attention to the noises and the vibrations, your car will tell you well in advance when it is not happy and needs some attention. Get under the hood often and pay attention to fluid levels. Fix leaks and any other problems immediately. Understand what normal noises are and what are abnormal noises. You are wise to be cautious at first, but once you get all the issues sorted out and have some experience, these are great cars and you can drive them with confidence anywhere.

The common things that might happen to this car are common to all used cars (i.e. dead battery / starter / alternator). Fortunately almost every parts store will be able to get those things.

The worst case scenario would be a transmission going out, they tend to last about 250k to 300k miles. Again, the car will talk to you if you are listening; if there is significant delay between shifting from park into drive and actual transmission engaging and moving the car, your transmission is getting tired and probably you need to start planning for a rebuilt transmission.

__________________
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 let a friend drive - it's a 4 speed manual.

I would advise against loaning a car to anyone. Either take them where they have to go or rent them a car.

__________________
'83 300D, 126K miles.

This is EXACTLY what I'm getting.

__________________
1982 240D 4-speed
2013 Jeep Wrangler Sport - 4.10 e-locker

When I recondition a car to drive, it usually gets a major fix up. I'd rather have the car down on my schedule not at random. Repairs can be split into two catagories. If this fails it will be sudden and might stop the car / this is a wear part that will slowly get worse.

Items include but are not limited to:

All coolant hoses , water pump if it looks old, fan belt any other under hood hoses.

Brake hoses, pads sometimes rotors or at least refacing them, sometimes caliper / master cyl replacement, front wheel bearings if taper roller ( low cost ) ,

All tune up parts / filters / fuel pump / fluids

Ball joints / tie rods.

light bulbs if they are silvered / filament looks grainy.

Starter / alternator rebuild

You get as many miles as are left on the warranty for trouble free miles.

After that the trouble is always yours and it's not free.

Sorry to burst your bubble!

__________________
Cheers!
Scott McPhee

1987 300D

Well, then the bad news is that you'll probably have to replace the clutch . The good news is that all the common reasons for this noise will be replaced in a clutch jo, so there shouldn't be any extensive diagnosis.

You should also be able to milk it for a while, unless the clutch starts slipping or something more drastic.

__________________
"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."

x2.

You expect to have trouble when you drive a 25+ years old car. You need to have a spare car just in case you need a part from the auto shop. No one has a crystal ball and every breakdown is random and independent. Preventive maintenance means nothing, it is not a plane where everything is serviced or replaced on a schedule, including the plane's engine. We cannot afford to do that with car. OTOH, you can feel how your car behaves in general. You need to improvise if the car breaks down on the side of the road, $hit happens. Make sure you have some basic tools in the car but nothing prepares you from snap oil or timing chain. I have been driving 27+ years old MBZ up and down California, 1000+miles round trip and the cars had never failed me. I took different cars all the time. I have changed filters on the side of the road but nothing more serious than that. However, I had ran out of fuel, oil chain snapped in town. So they are all random crap shoot events.

Good luck with your car.

__________________
Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed.

W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html

1 X 2006 CDI
1 x 87 300SDL
1 x 87 300D
1 x 87 300TDT wagon
1 x 83 300D
1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry.

The answer is; there is none. Especially on a car over 30-years old.

The only (((resonable))) reasonable expectation when driving or buying any (especially) very old/used car, is that it performs per mile transportation for far less $ than a new/newer car.

A 240D is a total wild card on trouble free expectation, in 2014.

I agree, always have a spare car! This is why most of us own 2 or more w123's.....just in case one takes a crap...

They an be trouble free daily drivers, I have been daily driving mine for 7 years....my euro use to see 100-400 miles of driving every weekend.

I have driven my 78 to and from cali 3 times.

The key to keeping these trouble free, is to know your car, inspect it every time before a long trip or ever week. So you can catch anything that may arise.

Do regluar filter, oil changes and valve adjustments.

It's just these guys need maintenance and tons of it....I can take my euro across country tight now....but I can easly make a list a page long of things I would like to do before the trip.

Your speedo cable is probably fine, your speedometer may very well be the issue...they are known weak points....also consider a trans fluid change.

__________________