Thanks for the replies guys - how much brake fluid to do a flush? Is a half litre bottle needed? Getting my stuff together to give this a go on the weekend.

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1981 240 D in the Toronto Area
Ivory with one black fender

Until what comes out is clean and without air bubbles.

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1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/10414-help-i-need-check-stretch.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

People often wonder about their master cylinder. It's easy to eliminate the master cylinder from the suspect list. Just pop off the three brake lines and plug the holes in the MC. If your MC is OK the brake pedal will be rock hard.

The plugs I used came with a new MC I bought, but it turned out the old one was OK.

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1984 300D Turbo 350K 50K WVO (two tank) "Maeby"

Except that MC usually fail at the end of the travel....

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Ah, thanks for the correction. I'm glad I posted that and learned something.

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1984 300D Turbo 350K 50K WVO (two tank) "Maeby"

Topped up the brake fluid on the weekend, and now the brakes are solid. moreso than they've ever been in the past 6 months. I guess its just pumping fluid into the brake booster. I have parts on hand to do the master cylinder, I'm hoping to do it this weekend.

Reading through the Haynes guide, it looks like I'll be bleeding off the clutch slave cylinder. While I've done a master on an autobox, the clutch slave is new to me. EDIT

Anyways, for reference - here's pics of what drool from a failing MC looks like...

At a casual glance, it all looks pretty normal - just that the MC has lost a little fluid.



But if you look under the fitting, its got drooly bubbly paint syndrome:

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1981 240 D in the Toronto Area
Ivory with one black fender

Got 'er done this morning with no surprises at all. Thankst all for the help here!!

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1981 240 D in the Toronto Area
Ivory with one black fender

New developments...

The rubber line going from the rear reservoir to the clutch master cylinder behind the dash is now leaking. It is cracked and brittle. Is this a special hose, or can it be replaced with any run of the mill tubing? There is no pressure on it, and no special fitting at the master cylinder end, but I dunno what is on the bottom end fittings-wise.

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1981 240 D in the Toronto Area
Ivory with one black fender

If it's my eyes or my monitor then please forgive me... but in those pictures it looks to me like the rear chamber of the reservoir is completely empty. I would call that more visually dramatic than "just lost a little fluid."

To me it almost looks in those pictures like all the fluid is gone from the rear chamber (thus causing soft pedal because half of the brakes weren't doing anything at all, and also explaining the fairly large amount of fluid leakage in that vicinity).

Could just by my eyes seeing a lighter color of fluid or a more opaque chamber plastic section causing it to look that way.

As an aside, good luck with the project. I don't get very many "amens" when I say things like this, but brakes seem to me to be a fragile link on these cars. I just put two more rebuilt front calipers on my 240D to replace a matched set of rebuilt front calipers that seized up after 14 months of use... one of which was a replacement for still another rebuilt front caliper that lasted three or four years and then seized up so tightly and with so little warning that the first symptom of trouble was the loud bang, following by grinding, as the rotor disc separated from its own hub due to heat.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL