Welcome aboard... Sorry to have crapped on your purchase... I was in a hurry at work, and just had to comment that the paint and hood/fender alignment was off... Looks like the car has seen some form of damage...


See... One of the things we do on here is critique a car for sale, and I have an eye that zooms in on problems... Sorry.

Welcome welcome welcome!

The great thing about us is... We help ya FIX all the issues!

Howdy Scott!

Important to add your location as sometimes folks (including me) reference that for potential vendors or shops in your area. This can be helpful if you need to know where to get something or who to go to for stuff you aren't going to do yourself. Also useful when we're traveling and wondering about stopping by to say HI.

I'm sort of the resident non-Mercedes guy on here. I have a 617 in an S-10 pickup that I race. My input is often aimed at making stuff functional rather than returning it to stock. I'm NOT concerned with "stock"! I picked the Mercedes engine because it was cheap and met the class requirements for the class I wanted to race and not out of any love for the Germans. That said, the engines ARE tough and will outlast the car by decades.

Have fun with it!

Dan

Hi Scott !
 

WELCOME ABOARD ! .

Don't worry about Jason , he's very helpful in fact and like me , has experience in older , past prime cars .

Everyone here is amazingly helpful and collectively knows everything about your lovely new 240D , I really like the color .

$1,500 for a decent runner is pretty good these days , take the time to tune it sharply and tinker the little niggly things as you drive it ~ they're not speed bombs but perfectly fine unless you simply cannot drive the open highway at or below 65 MPH ~ that's what beats the 240's to death .

The cool thing is : like your Spridget , it's well engineered and dead easy to fix using mostly basic tools .

Winter is nearly here so hurry up quick and buy (? make ?) the special valve adjustment wrenches and do the routine valve adjustment and check all four glow plugs , do a " diesel purge " and change the filters , buy a BIG bottle of " Power Service Diesel Kleen " in the white bottle : white for Winter , silver for Summer , use about 4 oz. of it oer fillup and always enjoy easier cold weather starting .

Tight valves and even one bad glow plug will make cold starting difficult to say the least .

Yes , you're going to put in more $ than you paid but you'll be driving it the entire time and hopefully loving it , I love my three W-123 chassis Mercedes diesels , oddly the slow pokey 240D best of the bunch .

Parts here too , new or used , just ASK first so you don't buy some crappy thing @ pep Boys .

Nice looking 240 there. Is it a manual?

Thanks for all the great advice, everyone. Thought my first project was going to be replacing the brake booster, but it turns out it will be either alternator or battery replacement. (just developed last night and haven't had a chance determine whether the alternator is charging sufficiently)

Good news is, my boys are already fighting over who gets to drive and who has to ride shotgun. :-)

Almost forgot, it is an automatic. The boys and I would have preferred manual.

BTW, where is the best place to buy the valve adjustment wrenches? That was on my list to do.

There is a place in Washington state, Mercedes source, that's where I bought mine. Not an endorsement.

They work fine, tho.

Mercedes Source...Isn't recommended by many....Over priced junk, as well as selling crappy uro brand parts as genuine mercedes prices...

Home made wrenches..
Mercedes Diesel Valve Adjustment Wrenches | eBay

Hazet wrench
Mercedes-Benz HAZET 2769 Diesel 615,616,617 Valve Adjust Wrench Set 615589000100

Thx, gentlemen.

For the most part, the Hazet or Hyuco valve wrenches are NLA. You can find them
on E-bay, but the price is usually up there.

Do a search and you can find where a lot of the guys made their own, some
look rather crude.

I have a set I picked off E-bay several years ago along with 5 tools total for $58.
lucked out on that deal for sure. Don`t use them a lot, but I have them when needed.

There is the third wrench that come in handy every once in a while.

Here is a set of new one`s.
https://www.ecstuning.com/Mercedes_Benz-1982-240D-123.123-Base-Sedan-L4_2.4L/Engine/Tools/ES1817815/?salesrep=KSarich&utm_source=benzworld&utm_medium=forum&utmcontent=KSarich&utm_campaign=postreply

I did a Google search, check this out.

https://www.google.com/search?q=mercedes+diesel+valve+adjusting+wrench&biw=914&bih=610&tbm=isch&imgil=GJZh994n_oJYxM%253A%2 53BGqLGRUpqy7lcNM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.thegaragegazette.com%25252Findex.php%25253Ftopic% 2525253D21376.0&source=iu&pf=m&fir=GJZh994n_oJYxM%253A%252CGqLGRUpqy7lcNM%252C_&dpr=1.4&usg=__151kCq P6Q5MDz9DCbADmpznjH_0%3D&ved=0CGEQyjdqFQoTCOqVmaWUhMkCFYGWiAodHZsNdw&ei=G_9AVqqcMoGtogSdtra4Bw#imgrc =wB4jNMVDOkQdLM%3A&usg=__151kCqP6Q5MDz9DCbADmpznjH_0%3D


Charlie


sent from my pos computer

Mercedes source seems to generally be hated on around here, but I personally had good experience finding some weird odds and ends for my car, like the weirdly shaped oil cooler support brackets.

Anyhow, welcome to the forum! This is an amazing source for great advise and friendly people! The folks here certainly have helped me out. I don't know nuthin', but with the help of these guys I replaced flex discs, motor mounts, tranny mount, got my transmission fixed and oil cooler lines changed. They're awesome.

Also, 1500 bucks for a driving W123? Not bad! Mine was exactly the same price, and for 1500 bucks I got a W123 that I think might have been in a wreck at some point as the hood doesn't sit 100% evenly (has a bigger gap on one side than the other), and the previous owner spray painted parts of the car. The spray painting I'm kinda OK with, the fact he messed it up and also spray painted some of the chrome white, not so much...

Of course, I did not notice this when I bought it in the middle of winter and it was kind of a gloomy day.
Mine also has more rust than I initially thought, the seats are terrible, the wood trim in the interior is falling off, the climate control has a mind of it's own and basically can only do either full heat or none at all and the steering box has a lot of play (though I've been able to adjust most of it out). Also the tach is dead, but the cruise control does actually work perfectly, but the enjoyment of a working cruise is offset by a loose dashboard that rattles.
The radio stinks, the right front speaker is blown and I can't get the ashtray closed in the rear right passenger door for some reason.
There are also 266.000 miles on the odometer, but I have noticed the odometer doesn't always count every passing mile, so the mileage is probably much higher, the sun roof leaks quite badly, and I have a plastic sheet in my garage where I park her, so I don't get engine oil pissed all over the floor.

But...Ya know, for 1500 dollars she always starts at first try, drives OK, brakes OK too and I have fun driving around in it. If a car doesn't make you smile when you're cruising around, you're driving the wrong vehicle.

And even an old tired W123 gets people to notice you, since you just don't ever really see them anymore.

Basically what I'm saying is: I don't think you did so bad.:) Also, that color is really nice, I like it.

Welcome!

Once you have tried doing the valve adjustment several important design consideration become obvious with regard to the valve setting wrenches.

First is that the good ones allow you to use one hand pushing two different directions to tighten the lower nut to lock the cap nut. That may have to be done many times to wind up with the lash setting correct. For this it is important that the upper and lower wrenches slide over each other... preferably in contact with each other... so you seem to be holding to just one tool and they stay in place.

Second is that third ( hand ) wrench.... that has a little ' foot' on it which swings down to hold it in place... unless you have three or more hands yourself... that will be very helpful. Your other hand will be using the feeler gauge and the other tightening those two wrenches....

It is pretty much impossible to home make that third lower wrench.... it has to be thin and strong.... it is really helpful when the lock and cap nuts are STUCK....

Now is when all sorts of people will start posting that they have used adjustable wrenches for holding the valve still..... good for them..... but that back cylinder on a five cylinder is hard to get to....

So I recommend you get the legit tools if you can find and afford them....
Don't do what I did the first time... be in the middle of setting the valves....and find ONE nut I could not get loose... and have to put it all back together and drive to the MB house...the next day since I was working on Sunday....

BETTER Valve Adjust Wrenches
 

BUY THESE ! they're vastly easier to use as one is *slightly* longer than the other so they nest as you're doing the job , this really eases things greatly .

I have both types and use my home made (cheaper elsewhere) ones all the time now , the $pendy factory ones remain in the garage .

-Nate
[QUOTE=cooljjay;3538594]Mercedes Source...Isn't recommended by many....Over priced junk, as well as selling crappy uro brand parts as genuine mercedes prices...

Home made wrenches..
Mercedes Diesel Valve Adjustment Wrenches | eBay

I got the ones vwnate1 recommended and they worked perfectly. I guess the guy has done well, he seems to have a lot made and available. I would buy from that guy again. Nice handles and they were well made. Obviously made by a guy in a garage but they were made well with round handles.

Looks like a good one! Love the color.
240s are great reliable easy to work on cars, welcome to the community!



I had a pair of seats completely reupholstered by a shop for about 550 once, foam to replace horsehair and new covering. Never mind your seats look fine and if they are saggy you can toss a pillow down for zero dollars.