2471 miles in four days. Axle boot started leaking around Texas, did the last 1,000 miles dripping oil. Took it to a local guy who only works on old Mercs upon arrival: Accumulated along the way: Busted tranny mount, cracked axle boots, cracked front control arms, worn down motor mount ... all repaired now ... But dig, celebrate and represent: The damn thing never faltered, never stopped, and -- with everything mentioned above notwithstanding -- cruised comfortably at 65 mph the whole way.

When a car bleeds for 1,000 miles to get you there, it becomes part of the family. I don't just like or admire the old girl, I love her.

W123: Best. Car. Ever.


(And thanks again to all of you who talked me into replacing the lower cooler line BEFORE going ... no way it would have survived that trip.)

Nothing like a good trip to sort the issues.

Yep, this is what tends to happen, when these cars get on the road for a trip.....

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Great job. Glad you made it. These old diesels can definitely keep going.

I wouldn't hesitate to take mine anywhere.

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

And you haven't!

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

What?

On a W123?

Tell me more!

(upper or lower)

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

When he was ' around Texas' he must have hit some Armadillos.....

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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

Now if you're Charmalu on a road trip, he has all those
parts, and the right tools, in the trunk.
If you ever see a 240 on the hwy pulling an engine hoist,
it's just Charlie on a road trip.

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1984 300SD 300,000 miles--two tank WVO setup
2.88 diff & 500SEL anti-squat rear end

I doubt all those issues were attributable to the 2500 mi trip, or I couldn't afford to keep driving mine. Replacing mounts should be a >10 year task. Cracked control arms sounds strange, unless you hit a curb hard, and even then I would expect the upper aluminum ones to fail first or more likely the tips of the anti-sway bar that bolt to them. The lower control arms are forged steel on your car, so should bend before they break. The lower guide rods or mounts are more likely to fail. My 1984 suffered cracks in the K-frame to frame rail areas and tears at one LCA mount, but that was from being stolen and crashed into a curb before I bought it.

I did the Atlanta - SoCal drive 2 times round-trip, but in a 69 Dart. As you start a trip like that, every little issue worries you. Front wheel bearings and the starter disabled me the first time, but quick repairs. I got the bright idea to change the bearings in AL after hearing slight squeaks on hard turns, but should have left them alone. The new one on the left failed in MS and the right one failed 2 years later. "If it ain't broke". But, nothing like the road trip in "Grapes of Wrath".

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

I bought my w123 1000 miles away sight unseen and drove it home. It hemorrhaged all the fluids, which we fixed one at a time on the side of the highway. And it had a completely torn axle boot. My fix was to jack it up by the control arm (so the axle was relatively straight), put new moly grease in the boot and clean up the outside really well. Then I wrapped several feet of gorilla tape around the entire axle boot, threw a few zipties on there and it's fine. I honestly forgot all about it until just now, oops! It's been probably 2000 miles like that now.

Time ages things. Years ago we drove two home on separated occasions with no issues at all. One was about 1700 miles and the other about a thousand in atrocious weather.

That just made my evening right there...

My first 300D made tons of long trips, back before I knew any better... Now that I DO know better, my current 240D seems to constantly teeter on being parked for repairs.

I made a >800 mile round trip in a different 240D I used to own, at the age of 17. I drove through some very dark roads. The car decided to start pranking me with a horrific howling sound on one of those roads. I thought I was being attacked by ghastly creatures from another dimension... so I floored it. (Too many ghost stories I guess?)

I ran 85mph with the loudest oscillating howl I ever heard, for almost 120 miles before finding a nice well lit area that was occupied with other people to pull over in... only to find out that a piece of PVC pipe had somehow become lodged in my wheel well at such an angle that not only was air blowing on it and making a noise, but my tire had been rubbing on it for well over 100 miles.

Sometimes, you don't think logically on deserted stretches of road. LOL

Ha, when I bought Betsie it was 350 miles from my house. After buying her I just got in and drove home over icy Alaskan roads (it was February). It took 9 hours to get home. Couldn't see a thing in the dark on the unlit 300 mile stretch of Parks Highway, because the headlights are so terrible. Also, "highway" is kind of a big word for that dangerous two-lane road that happens to be the only way to get from Anchorage to Fairbanks.

Drove her all over town in the summer too. Now that I know what all is failing on that car, she's been sitting parked for the last couple of months while I am trying to get the money, courage and motivation to do work... Still can't believe it drove for 9 hours without a single complaint.

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"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

Yea, when I found my current ride, I just checked the fluids and jumped in to drive it up from LA... but I was on a real freeway and had the wife following. Still, for just the right find, I could see myself hoping a flight across country and giving it a try.

I'm older now, but my roadside assistance plan is way better.