So ;

What to do when it's raining and the internet is out and I'm waiting for the cable guy and plumber to come because also the toilet is backing up into the shower (ugh) ? .

Work on the car of course .

The '85 300TD's door strikers have begun to fail, requiring slamming the doors to make them latch ~ I don't like this so I ordered in a full set of upgraded strikers from the MB Classic Center and broke out my American made Milwaukee electric impact gun and buzzed the old ones off *much* more easily than I was able to do with a battery powered impact gun on the '82 240D ~ this time the screws all came zipping out, no stripping of Allen heads ~ not one .

It turns out that these re designed W126 strikers are slightly taller so I didn't need to re use the shims the car came with when new .

You'll need to install the new strikers with the shims and position them as closely to their old position as possible, if the door doesn't close easily try loosening the four screws and removing the thicker of the two shims, the thin one serves to gusset the rubber block .

A nice gentle push shut now closes the doors again, I hope my Foster boy can be re trained to stop slamming the bejesus out of them ~ since the wagon's doors have begun to mis behave he's been slamming the hell out of every door he closes .

Then I popped the hood on my coupe who's air cleaner 'T' bracket broke last week , the new original MB one I ordered finally came in so I was in Harbor City before sun up to fetch it .

I saved the old broken bracket and will ask my welder guy if it's worth welding or maybe I'll just go find more unbroken originals .

I replaced the uro (cheap crap) brand rubber support with a nice original made in Germany one that has Mercedes logos molded into it (also from The Classic Center) ~ no point in using the aftermarket ones as they keep failing after a year or so .

During the pre dawn drive to Harbor City in the '82 240D the wiper blades chattered on the windshield so I took along a pair of duck bill pliers and dressed the wiper arms until that stopped ~ I really dislike chattering wiper blades and we're supposed to get more and heavier rain to - morrow so I might as well fix the problem to - day in between the storm cells passing through ~ my timing was *perfect* ~ just as I was finishing and closing the hood I felt the rain beginning again .

Park the cars, close the gate, take a nice hot shower & scrub the tiles, made a big pot of chili, someone ate all the sausages I had stashed away so none on this pot but Shirley says it's very good .








It's now much later and the rain has increased quite a bit ~ too bad it's raining in Southern California, to end the drought we need rain up North for the reservoirs and in the Sierra Nevada mountains to increase the snow pack ~ that's where most of our water comes from .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

those striker plates must be a fortune to buy?!

Yes, they are .

I used to get used ones from the junkyards but SWMBO allows me to $pend a bit of $ here and there, she likes driving anywhere in our old Mercedes 'cause they don't break down, are comfy and SAFE (important to 76 year old Women) .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Did you shoot a little grease in the latch mechanism? My thinking is that this is the cause of the strikers wearing out.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

Yes, I lube them at least once a year .

They're just aging out ~ look at the small rubber lip piece, when that gets compressed the latch doesn't fully latch .

Mercedes sells boat loads of these strikers .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Monday the 14, Jan found me standing out in the rain (also in S. CA and it has rained on and of for this week so far) troubleshooting a no cranking situation on the W123.

During the 45 minuets I was standing in the rain my aging west German Army Goretex pants and parka rain suit leaked badly. When I got home I found that all of the seam sealing tapes inside of the hood and especially where the hood attached to the rest of the parka had all peeled off. The adhesive brittle and flaked off.

You can see the wrinkled area on the sleeve indicating that the Goretex membrane had delaminated on the sleeve that leaked.

I resealed the seams on the suit but have not had the need to stand out in the rain as long as previously.

Never did find the clicking but no crank issue (only clicked when I used a jumper wire to bypass the neutral safety switch). The next day the Engine started normally and has started 6 times normally.

For close to 5 years now we have badly needed the rain but I got used to it raining for a day or two with several days break in between. Not this time it has be raining on and of with barely one day of no rain for 2 weeks.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

In BOSCH systems 99 % of the time the solenoid on top of the starter is the culprit, the key indicator of this is : it'll crank when cold but either hesitate or not crank by the key when hot .

Sometimes the starter switch in the key is bad ~ easy to check ~ look at it, if it's yellow instead of white and/or has any cracks in it, it's kaput, replace it before it fails completely, another simple job but mind the wires don't slip out and get mixed up .

If you decide to do the bigger job, dismount the starter and replace the solenoid with either a BOSCH or Echlin (NAPA brand, they make BOSCH products under license in Mexico, good stuff) one, new only! never use nor trust a 'rebuilt' BOSCH solenoid .

If you're not set up to do the starter job (I highly recommend cleaning it and replacing the brushes too plus proper grease on the bushings before re assembly & it'll out last you), you can try one of those tiny cube typ relays ~ they're simple and easy to add right there next to the three connection terminal box, wire it so the key's current kicks the cube relay and the relay sends direct battery current to the solenoid .

If you're a junkyard junkie, most European cars use these cube replays and have them scattered here & there mounted my little tabs and one screw, the BOSCH & HELLA ones are continuous duty and often rated at 50 amperes .

Don't trust any 'rebuilt' starter from your FLAPS unless it says 'rebuilt by Robert Bosch' on the box's label .

I wonder if the good Military Surplus Store in San Pedro is still there ? they might have a new good quality rain suit, or Major Surplus in L.A. a bit North of you on Fig. more $ but larger and usually piles of whatever the item is so you can sort and find the best one .

It's Thursday and the rain came back in force last night, glad to heck I fixed all the water leaks in my '82 240D, the trunk remains nice and dry but I'll be running errands in my '84 300CD Sports Coupe to - day, hopefully the little rust holes under the back light won't fill the trunk....

I was expecting comments from the middle America on East folks, my buddy in Wi. says it's -20 degrees and no snow .

Be safe out there ! .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

It's been miserable here, too--temperatures in the 50s and 60s and lots of rain. I got my storage shed sealed up just in time. I've had to turn on the heater in the house a few times.

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Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/

DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

Folks in the northeast, the Midwest and even Georgia are shaking their heads at us whiners on the west

It’s raining but the furnace isn’t running and we even cracked open some windows. It’s wet but not cold. I suppose that’s relative to SJ rather than AZ.

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon
02 C320 wagon

Yes, but southern California is not designed for any amount of rain. We have flooding in the condo complex where I live. Last big rain, the Walmart where my girlfriend works had about 2 feet of water in the parking lot (drains were clogged with mulch).

Plus, drivers out here see a drop of rain and promptly crash into each other.

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Milan Brown 1979 240D, rebuilt OM617.952 turbo diesel, rebuilt 722.315 transmission (my only daily driver)

Instagram: @maximed93

It very well could be the solenoid. I have owned the Car since 2007 and had zero issues with it cranking till now.
I have been driving it to day and still starting with no more issues.

When I knew the battery was OK but it made that soft click click and not crank it made be think of in the past when grease or crude in the linkages keep the Solenoid from moving back fare enough to make contact to start cranking.

If it is a gunky grease issue cold weather can effect parts coated with it.

As soon as the News Media has a whole day with no rain my plan is to put the new mastery cylinder on one of my other Cars so that is running then if I want to I can check out all of the wires and cables and remove the Starter on the Mercedes if that is needed.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Well I have 2 West German Rain Suits. The parts of both suits got mixed. I only found the New Pants and the old parka.


I sealed the seams of the Parka Externally and plan to spray both suits down with 303 fabric care. In theory it is supposed to allow water to run off any cloth you spray it on.
So besides it mostly being water proof already spraying it down is going to be way cheaper then buying a new Gortex or more advanced rain suit.


The 303 Fabric Care is one of the top 2 in tests and Home Depot claims to have it.


It might be since I re-sealed the hood neck area there is no issue left except the one lower below the elbow sleeve. Getting my lower arm wet was as the Water continues to run out and away is not so bad but wetter down your back and shoulders is a pain.


Note that the importance of the Goretex or other similar inside coating is that it allows perspiration to wick out instead of condensing inside of the suite as happens with non-breathable suits.


Note the various water proof fabric sprays claim that the garment will still breathe.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

You can also just replace the hard rubber inserts that go bad instead of the entire metal part for $18 which includes shipping for 4 doors.

They appear to work fine. Remains to be seen how well the rubber ages.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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'83 SD, 2x '85 SD
You are entitled to your own opinions, you are not entitled to your own facts.

Its going to be 14F here this weekend.....currently 28.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

*VERY* good ! .

California is the -only- place I've ever been where the locals SPEED UP when the rain begins .

The incompetence of the freeway designs here is staggering ~ it used to be that roads were designed to run the water off now they're designed with low spots that create lakes of standing water that cause hydroplaning and crashes .

Some have skinny little drains built in, drains that are rarely serviced so they're full of accumulated dust and road debris long before the rain ever arrives, they're also almost never serviced .

Out in the remote areas I know plenty of roads built in the 1920's that drain properly and have not yet needed repairs.....

We were out running errands, taking SWMBO to the Dr. etc. all day, off and on we got a lot of rain .

The Rain-X coating finally failed .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better