I spent the weekend cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. I can't stand a dirty vehicle, and this one's gone 30 years without ever having been cleaned by me. I started with the wheel wells and back sides of the wheels (the latter being almost a lost cause). I ordered a gallon of Meg's Wheel Brightener just for this job. If this cleaner wouldn't cut it, nothing else will besides media blasting. Unfortunately I didn't get after pictures of the wheels. They came out about 90% clean. I didn't even bother with the 'rear face', it was too far gone. I had to use a combination of the acidic cleaner and #0000 steel wool to even get the rest of the barrels clean. Very tedious job with a wheel that has so many holes.






Brought the car in the garage for buffing. The paint is original I believe, and in really, really nice shape considering the age and mileage. The only picture I took was after wash, clay, wash. I even used a mild degreaser to strip anything left on the paint from before my purchase. It was hard to capture, but the vertical line separating the left and right side of the trunk shows the 'haze' on the paint before buffing. Haze on the left, buffed clean on the right.



Restored the grill and faded plastic/rubber trim. I used a charcoal plastidip on the grill, flat black on everything else, with a satin clear on the bumpers and mirrors.








Depending on how I feel when I get home from work tomorrow, I still have to detail the interior. The paint has been buffed and sealed (Meg's #83 DACP, Klasse AIO, 4* UPP x2), the windows have been buffed (Klasse AIO, cutting pad), wheel wells thoroughly cleaned, backsides of the wheels cleaned. Still need to polish the metal trim and I'm debating on redying the faded portions of the MB Tex. I'm trying to find a local car wash with heated water on their pressure washers so I can get the engine bay done. I'm pretty sure I have 3 leaks. Valve cover, oil pan, and the third I forgot what it is. Back of the engine, driver's side, right next to the valve cover.

While the W123 was in the garage, my AMG and BMW bike had to sit outside. I caught this cool picture of the AMG to show off the surface tension of the freshly detailed paint as it started raining:



And the whole car. It's hard to make silver look special, but this car is glowing. No filter on this picture:

I really like those wheels. I have the same ones on my SDL.

__________________

All Diesel Fleet
1985 R107 300SLD TURBODIESEL
2005 E320 CDI (daily)

LOTS of parts for sale!


EGR block kit
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/355250-sale-egr-delete-block-off-plate-kit.html

1985 CA emissions 617 owners- You Need This!
Sanden style A/C Compressor Mounting Kit for your 616/ 617 For Sale + Install Inst.

Sanden Instalation Guide (post 11):
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/367883-sanden-retrofit-installation-guide.html

How did I miss this one? Right in my backyard.

Traded directly to Phillips, who then called my buddy because they know he's a fan of these cars, who then called me, who then brought it to ATL. Chances are you may not see her now..

I pulled the fuel sender again to check to see if it remained clean. It did, and inside the tube looked as clean as when I cleaned the gunk off last week. I peeked in the tank with the light on the cell phone and there's still some stuff floating around in there. I also changed the 1 week old fuel filter so I could be sure nothing dislodged from the tank was clogging it. It looked relatively clean, but there was a little of the gunk clinging to the mesh. The fluid inside was also nearly black. Is this normal? After putting the new one in, the fuel that filled it from the hand primer was perfectly clean and clear. Also, I returned an average of 23 MPG. This includes half of a commute on the highway, and the other half in stop and go. I imagine all highway driving would net me upper 20s?

I've been wondering, is it weird or normal that the windows in this car develop a haze on the inside very quickly. I have had to clean the windows every few days since I've had it, otherwise it's almost difficult to see out when driving into the sun. Is it possible there's oil/fuel smoke coming through the HVAC? This was an issue in my backdated 911, but that was because half of the plumbing had been removed and oil leaked onto the heat exchangers. Thoughts?

Pulled the W123 out of the garage after detail. I still need to refinish the back bumper trim. Otherwise, she looks pretty good for 30 years, 301k miles IMO. At least the paint has some reflectivity to it now. I finally went through my first whole(ish) tank after the Start Tron treatment. Look at those clean wheel wells!

On the windshield, that is possible. My w116 300sd did that a little for years.

You say "windows" so I assume it isn't just the windshield... that suggests it isn't a HVAC issue.

Did you or the guy you got it from use a detailing fluid or spray on the vinyl? Some commercial products (and baby oil) will fog the windows for days after application if they are used too enthusiastically.

__________________


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

So, satin clear plastidip on bumper rubber, you say? Interesting idea. My bumper rubber needs some kind of attention, at minimum.

No. Sounds like diesel fungus. I haven't read the whole thread. If you've already done a biocide treatment it will take a while for all the dead fungus to work its way out. If you haven't used a biocide yet, you probably should.

Possibly. When mine was an automatic it usually got 25-28 in mostly highway use and I just touched 30 once.

I had that issue on my Lincoln. It turned out to be a bad heater core leaking a fine mist of coolant into the cabin.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

It is all windows. It's possible someone before used a dressing of some kind of the interior, but there's no residue on the vinyl. I haven't gone through the interior myself yet.

Satin clear on top of the flat black dip. It's cheap, easy, durable, and makes a huge difference. Plus I can peel it off if I should ever decide to.

I did a Star Tron treatment in the last tank. I think I'll do another in the next tank.

I hadn't considered the heater core, but that's not bad thinking. Is there a way to diagnose? Honestly, it's not a big enough concern to warrant pulling the dash if it is the heater core.

Thanks for the tip. I may be trying this in the near future.

If it's coolant fogging the windows it will come off rather easily with plain water, but be somewhat hard to clean off with window cleaner. Also, if it gets worse you'll be able to smell it.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

No smell as of yet. Would that be something where a stop-leak product could help seal any weak spots in the core?

To answer the OP's prior questions.

The cigarette lighter housing has a connector to the engine harness. It might be unplugged. Easy to forget when you take it out to install a new radio or work on stuff in the dash. Remove the wooden console to get it out. Read first so you don't shear off the rear plastic pin on the console.

My sunroof stopped working. About the same time, two diagonal windows stopped working, which are fed from the same fuse. In both cases, the fuses had corrosion on the tip. I removed, sanded the ends, and coated with silicone grease, then everything worked fine. Not a genius, I just measured the 12 V supply dropping to nothing when I actuated the switch. Next time I'll avoid the tinned fuses which tend to corrode faster. To do any electrical trouble-shooting, you need a multimeter (free w/ coupon at HF).

BTW, I lived in Atlanta for 20 yrs, but wasn't an M-B owner then. Beautiful car and house. I wish my paint was so nice, but the CA sun is not kind.

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the information. Seeing you're in CA, my family has friends named Grissom somewhere in SoCAL. Small world or coincidence?

I will try to work on the cigarette lighter this weekend. It's the only thing in the car that I really need to work that doesn't. I keep my phone plugged in as I'm constantly running around town with the GPS on. No way to charge is bad.

My sunroof started working! Turns out it's probably a bad connection or dirty connection. When you press the button at just the right pressure/place/alignment of stars, it actually operate very nicely. No lagging, no shuddering or noise. Just smooth and quiet.

You also may need to hold your mouth just right for it to work next time.

__________________

All Diesel Fleet
1985 R107 300SLD TURBODIESEL
2005 E320 CDI (daily)

LOTS of parts for sale!


EGR block kit
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/355250-sale-egr-delete-block-off-plate-kit.html

1985 CA emissions 617 owners- You Need This!
Sanden style A/C Compressor Mounting Kit for your 616/ 617 For Sale + Install Inst.

Sanden Instalation Guide (post 11):
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/367883-sanden-retrofit-installation-guide.html

Nice one! I have a 1985 300D Euro non-turbo than alternates between sitting and a daily driver. I live in the North Metro Atl area. Just a few comments/observations.

I gave up on the sunroof. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. The last time my wife used it, the entire electrical system went nuts. Warning lights came on, roof jammed, lights went out. It stays shut now. I expect the electrics are different on mine, as the Euro version has hand cranks for the windows.

I had fuel issues too. I had my tank cleaned, and it helped a little. Pretty soon it was clogging up again. I had trouble finding biocide in the Atlanta area. I got some at a marina in the Fort Myers FL area. Probably should have waited until I got home to dose it, but at that point I was changing filters every 300 miles. It let loose a bunch of crud. I had to change the filter three times in less than an hour. I keep a dozen in the trunk now.

The lighter is another issue. On mine it will work if the ash tray is in just the right position, and you fiddle with the jack. I've tried to clean the ground contact, but if I hit the ash tray putting the car in park, or hit it to fiddle with the radio, there is a good chance it will go off. My 1989 300E does the same thing.