New 240D Owner - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

JB3 · #46 11-10-2015, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicBus

Congrats on the purchase and welcome to the forums. Your car looks really nice. I haven't seen that color in person before. Most of the light blue ones I see are China Blue. Very nice. Good luck with it.

Looking at the pictures, the car in question is, at minimum, 36 years old. based on that alone, you may be right, but I get the feeling sure Redpeople is well aware of that. Very few people are getting in to these cars anymore thinking they'll be cheap. Most folks I see buying them now have a pretty good idea as to what they're in for. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he understands that $1500 is his starting point. For a car that looks that nice, $1500 might not be a bad starting point.

As for the seats, it can be expensive to put them back to the way they were when they left the factory. But, it's not hard to fix them much more cheaply if you make a few compromises.

I rebuilt the seats in my 240D a couple of years ago. My car's a 1983, but my seats came out of my 1979 parts car. The upholstery was nice on mine (aside from two large tears on the driver's seat that I patched up, and a few broken springs in the driver's seat) but the padding was done. It was all there, but my parts car sat for years and the padding all turned to crumbly stone. I stripped all the seats down, repaired the driver's seat springs (sectioned in spring pieces from an upholstery supply shop and added some extra support springs), added a layer of canvas to the spring boxes, and then cut new seat pads out of an old 4" memory foam mattress topper.

I've only had the car on the road for a few weeks at this point. The seats are supportive and comfortable thus far. I expect a lot of miles out of this fix. The memory foam and additional springs did change the character of the seats a little, but considering I probably spent well under $100 to re-pad them, I'm quite happy with the results.

I can confirm magicbus's seats are superior to the original issue benz seat. In fact ive been planning to steal his memory foam seat pad idea for my work van.

vwnate1 · #47 11-10-2015, 10:51 PM

Actually , mine were made by a buddy in Colorado who's in my old Mercedes Diesel Club , co$t Members $35 the set and don't have the rubber handles , they have vastly better tubular handles .

The main thing here is to begin driving and enjoying the car , tinker it back to full health as you go along .

German cars are all designed to me touched , massages , whatever on a fairly regular basis ~ those who do it love their old Mercedes , have little troubles and extremely low operating co$t$ .

Those who are lazy , always have problems and are the ones who experience " the most expensive car you'll ever own , is a 'cheap' Mercedes " .

Drive and enjoy ! your Boys will be very safe in this car .

Redpeople · #48 11-10-2015, 11:15 PM

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement. Tomorrow is a day off for Veterans Day and will be alternator replacement day for me.

Mölyapina · #49 11-10-2015, 11:33 PM

Ooh, hope the adjuster isn't rusted... that thing can be a pain. Good luck, brother!

vwnate1 · #50 11-11-2015, 12:23 AM

Actually , the alternator proper rarely gives up ~ what happens is : the brushes wear out so it stops charging .

A $35 regulator / brush holder does the trick 99 % of the time .

here's the cool part : it seems no brand of voltage regulator other than BOSCH , will make it charge 100% . there are numerous articles about using old SAAB or VOLVO alternators because the Mercedes one is only rated 55 amperes and the SAAB one is 85 (IIRC) .

Doesn't make any improvement if it's still only charging 12 ~ 13 VDC .

I tried the fancy-schmancy alternator then began installing BOSCH brand regulators every time the brushes wear out and Lo ! my headlights are brighter and the battery remains @ 13 + VDC all the time .

Give it a try , you'll be well pleased and it co$t$ less and you can usually replace the regulator/brush holder in situ .

I left a custom made 125 Ampere alternator on my '78 300CD when i sold it , it was $ wasted .

charmalu · #51 11-11-2015, 02:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwnate1

Actually , mine were made by a buddy in Colorado who's in my old Mercedes Diesel Club , co$t Members $35 the set and don't have the rubber handles , they have vastly better tubular handles .

The main thing here is to begin driving and enjoying the car , tinker it back to full health as you go along .

German cars are all designed to me touched , massages , whatever on a fairly regular basis ~ those who do it love their old Mercedes , have little troubles and extremely low operating co$t$ .

Those who are lazy , always have problems and are the ones who experience " the most expensive car you'll ever own , is a 'cheap' Mercedes " .

Drive and enjoy ! your Boys will be very safe in this car .

Nate, ya you got that right, do it once, do it right, and she will run a long time w/o major problems.

Patch em up just enough to get by, and they will be coming back complaining what a POJ these cars are.

Charlie

sent from my pos computer

MagicBus · #52 11-11-2015, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JB3

I can confirm magicbus's seats are superior to the original issue benz seat. In fact ive been planning to steal his memory foam seat pad idea for my work van.

Not to derail this thread, but the only drawback, if you can classify it as such, is that memory foam behaves like memory foam. When you get up up from the seat, the seat does spring back into shape, but it does so slowly, like memory foam is apt to do. Kind of weird to watch it happen in a car, but like I said, after a moment, it does regain its shape - just not instantly.

I'll be happy to provide long term updates on these seats if possible, but it just goes to show that you can fix up these seats cheaply if you're willing to make some compromises. If one does use memory foam, I recommend looking for a used (but clean) pad on Craigslist. They tend to age well and are worthless used. I got mine for free. As it was going to be covered in relatively thick MB-TEX, I wasn't worried about using used foam.

For what it's worth, I learned the techniques I used from my father, who's a professional antique furniture upholsterer (not automotive) with over 50 years experience. So, I wasn't just futzing around - I did repairs that I knew had a chance of lasting for many years.

vwnate1 · #53 11-11-2015, 12:48 PM

Thanx Charlie ;

I grew up on a Farm where one had to make do with whatever was at hand , that frugality has remained with me my entire life , both as a Mechanic and a Consumer ~ I've always bought others cast offs and returned them to good economical service .

Both my elder Brothers tried to get me into Mercedes Diesels (any Diesel in fact) in the 1970's , I resisted but when SWMBO said ' I want a Mercedes Diesel Car ' I didn't fight it ~ my beloved old 1982 240D is that first one we bought for $1,000 , I've had 5 more and all have been very good cars , I doubt I'll ever sell that first slow pokey '82 sedan with slush box .

Rather well engineered and over the top build quality means they'll go as long as you want them to apart from tin worm and collisions .

Does anyone know the actual color code and name for this car's lovely blue ? . I'm quite fond of Chine Blue but this is sweet too .

Redpeople · #54 11-11-2015, 01:13 PM

Thanks for the tip on the regulator. I'll probably try that. I had a few hours of hope for the alternator this morning. I discovered that the belt was so stretched it was barely doing anything, even when adjusted all the way out. Got a new belt that I could tension properly but still not charging.

vwnate1 · #55 11-11-2015, 02:40 PM

That old Mercedes are simple cars , well designed and better built .

Don't over think things , just dip in and take a look as German cars in general are made to be taken apart further than you can get parts for making them incredibly easy to maintain in a D.I.Y. method .

cooljjay · #56 11-11-2015, 02:47 PM

Is the battery light on the dash lighting up?

If the light on the dash, doesn't light....Then the alternator won't charge....It excites the alternator to start the charging....

There are ground points, that should really be checked and cleaned....That can solve a lot of issues....

Battery to inner fender....Behind passenger headlight....Behind the instrunment cluster, large amounts of brown wires.....One near gear shifter.....One under passenger taillight.....Also a ground strap that runs from the transmission bell to chassis under drivers floor....

The alternator also grounds threw the bracket....If the bracket is corroded....Cover in grease/gunk it won't ground properly...

Redpeople · #57 11-11-2015, 04:13 PM

Battery light on the dash was lighting. Confirmed it was the alternator. Possible replacement of just the regulator and brushes would have done it, but I already had the alternator ordered into my local small town parts store, so I just went with the swap. Replaced and it is charging quite nicely. Did check the grounds and all seemed clean and solid. On the plus side, all was well with the alternator brackets and adjustment mechanism. I understand those can sometimes cause problems.

Thanks again for all the advice. On to the brake booster.

vwnate1 · #58 11-11-2015, 04:31 PM

What's the deal with the brake booster ? .

Most often the vacuum pumps valves fail causing hard brakes , easy to fix even using Junk Yard parts in a pinch .

Redpeople · #59 11-11-2015, 05:36 PM

Brake booster seems to be leaking. I have vacuum at the line going to the booster.

cooljjay · #60 11-11-2015, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redpeople

Brake booster seems to be leaking. I have vacuum at the line going to the booster.

As boosters are pretty pricey, I would check the seal between the master cylinder and booster. You may get lucky and that is cracked/rotted...Its like a tenth of the price of a booster...

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