Talk Me Out Of A 1993 SD... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

oilslick · #1 07-07-2016, 09:34 PM

I have found a '93 SD with 171k on the odometer. The car has been sitting for three years. According to the owner, his wife drove the car. It needed brakes and he began to notice it losing water. He said that he never could see it leaking water until one day while it sat in his driveway idling he noticed water dripping from near the water pump.

I am very well aware of the stigma these engines have ( I owned a '91 350SDL and it used a quart every 1k miles). I asked about oil consumption and he said that it would always be a quart low between changes. He said the change interval was 5k and he used Rotella (dino). The car is parked on a fairly steep hill so the oil level was just barely to the middle of the bottom red indicator on the dipstick. The coolant expansion tank was empty, or course. The head is a number 20 from what I could read.

He claims to have paperwork showing where the AC system had "extensive" (his word) repairs done before he bought it. He claims that the car never gave he and his wife any problems. He says that his wife wanted another car and so she ended up with an SLK. The car was parked to the side of his driveway on the grass and it has sat there for about three years. He said that he went to move it a few months after he parked it there (wanted to cut the grass) and the battery was dead. He said that he had no interest in dealing with it at that time and so it was placed on the low end of the priority list.

The interior is intact. Its not a rag. It's dirty but will detail nicely. If I purchase the car I will have to trailer it home. The tires are still good from what could be seen. The owner is an older gentleman. The neighborhood was very nice. Nice home, nicely kept. Kinda hope that carries some merit. He has owned numerous Mercedes and shared his #14 head story of when he owned an '86 300D. Maybe I just want to believe that the man is sincere when he says that he just parked it when it exhibited the water loss, needed brakes and his wife wanted another Mercedes. It's kinda hard to tell these days when someone is trying to "take you for a ride." I offered him $800 for the car and he accepted my offer pending he finds the title. I plan to go get it unless y'all talk me down from the ledge.

ykobayashi · #2 07-07-2016, 10:31 PM

You cannot go wrong for the price.

KrustyKustom · #3 07-07-2016, 11:13 PM

How can you go wrong at that price. Is the body nice?
It's with that parted out, why not make a driver out of it....

dude99 · #4 07-07-2016, 11:16 PM

The head is probably worth that..... I'd buy it

oilslick · #5 07-09-2016, 11:52 PM

$800. Trailered it home. It hasn't been driven in 4 years according to the expired tag that was on it.

I left the car on the trailer, put in a battery, plumbed a temporary fuel "tank" (my diesel purge set up) and loosened the first two injector lines so to bleed the system. Surely it had lost its prime. My brother turned the key and I'll be a monkey's uncle, the engine fired up on about the third-fourth rotation. It sprayed diesel all over me! I yelled for him to shut it down. I tightened those two lines and he turned the key again- it fires right up! I know you won't believe me but she ran very clean considering. I let it run until it reached operating temperature. No ominous signs. It may be an expensive boat anchor when it's all said and done but I didn't really expect it to crank. I was actually wondering if it would even turn over.

After fiddling with most of the interior switches I've been able to get things working. The AC compressor did not kick in but this is not the first MB I've bought that had an inop AC system, albeit this could be the most expensive system I've ever repaired.

I've not figured out how to post multiple pics so bear with me while I post a few, post by post.

oilslick · #6 07-09-2016, 11:54 PM

Pic 2

oilslick · #7 07-09-2016, 11:55 PM

Pic 3

ROLLGUY · #8 07-10-2016, 12:16 AM

Good score, I'd say you did great. Keep us posted on your progress. You can rent a pressure tester from most every auto parts store to check the cooling system. If the water pump is in fact bad, you can test the system after replacing it. If that is all that is keeping the car off the road, you are golden......Rich

wwii · #9 07-10-2016, 05:03 PM

Very cool, I think you scored. That engine bay looks cleaner than mine. There's $800 of parts there. I'll take the PSE pump and fan shroud if you don't need them.

oilslick · #10 07-10-2016, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwii

Very cool, I think you scored. That engine bay looks cleaner than mine. There's $800 of parts there. I'll take the PSE pump and fan shroud if you don't need them.

I'm gonna tinker with it for a little while. I actually pressure washed the engine on Saturday after I got it running.

Today I drove it down to the corner fuel station to put more "tinker" fuel in it. I'm pretty sure that the driveshaft center support has deteriorated from the four year hibernation sitting in the grass. The tell-tale thump in the center of the tunnel gave it away. The water leak that the PO told me about has shown up now. I'm pretty sure the water pump is the culprit.

I noticed that when I tap the accelerator while the engine is idling that the oil pressure gauge jumps from 0 to 3 repeatedly. Once or twice the low oil pressure light came on when this happened. That may be a sign of doom or it may be a sign that the sending unit or gauge is not ready to be awakened just yet. We'll see, I guess.

I made a video of it idling so folks could lend their keen ears.
https://youtu.be/UlrDnOvNB24

jay_bob · #11 07-11-2016, 04:40 AM

The oil sender can short and fail. Fairly easy to replace but Unhook the battery first. The starter is right below where you are working and the main B+ stud is uncomfortably close. You will only lose about a teaspoon of oil so you do not have to drain the oil to replace it.

There is not a low oil pressure light on the 124 implementation of the 603, not sure if they provided one on the 140. There is a low oil level light that goes off a float switch in the oil pan. This is set up switched to ground and fail safe, so if the wire is loose it will show low level. I would go ahead and pick up a gasket for this switch at least, when you do your next oil change, at least reseal this sensor on principle, they seem to leak quite often.

oilslick · #12 07-11-2016, 10:31 AM

That's what I'm thinking, just an electrical gremlin. The w140 has an oil level light and a light incorporated into the pressure gauge to warn of low pressure. Thankfully I do not NEED this car so I can take my time and tinker. I can't even begin to imagine what a ride this was when it was new.

I told my wife that a lot of great things originated in 1993. One of those is our marriage. It was pretty easy to get the car then. LOL!

jay_bob · #13 07-11-2016, 12:11 PM

The W140 was the pinnacle of pre Chrysler MB engineering. In early 90s dollars it was almost a $100k automobile...MSRPs in the $70-90k range.

Many of the electronic innovations of the 140 migrated to the 210 and 202. Except the oil pressure monitorning, the 210 got neither a pressure gauge or light. The 606 filter stand (just like the 603 design) has a pipe plug where the sender was on the 124.

I need to try that line on my wife, we met in 1987 (married in 1988) as justification for the money pit that is the 87 300TD. I would love to pick up a 140 but my wife would never forgive me after the 300TD debacle. The new ones just don't have the soul of the older ones. Saw the video trailers for the 2017 E class, way too much Big Brother for my taste.

My DD the 98 E300 was born the month before my youngest son (car DOM 6/98). I taught my son to drive on a car 1 month older than he was, and he has been DDing a car 11 years older than he (the 300TD).

vstech · #14 07-12-2016, 03:02 AM

Also... im nearby to help with the car...

oldsinner111 · #15 07-12-2016, 06:05 AM

compared to the price of a new car,even ordering a diesel engine from ebay.de would still save money. They have the 4l. v8 diesel engines too.