My first W123 - ‘84 300D
 

Is it redundant to add “turbo diesel?”

They had it on the lot at the garage I went to. About four vehicles for sale, a BMW 5 series, a VW, a Ford pick up, and my new Benz, parked outside at the moment. 132K, one owner, now in a nursing home, body and interior very nice.

More details later but for now I have an important question. The cigarette lighter is dead. I’m making a trip tomorrow into the hinterland. No house current/120 available for about three days. I want to power my iPhone.

On my 300SDL I found a hot terminal under the toe kick area, it was very obvious and protected, like a radio installers dream. Always hot. I couldn’t find anything remotely similar on the 300D. I want to buy a cigarette lighter receptacle and wire in an auxiliary 12V source, at least until I fix the cigarette lighter or buy an audio system with USB ports.

Does anybody know a good line to tap into?

I installed one in my glove box using the glove box light wiring. Your cig lighter is probably just a fuse. Your fuse box is underhood at driver side firewall.

The cigarette lighter relies on a spring contact on the side of the ash tray. It is not always reliable. Sometimes pulling ash tray out and re-inserting might help. It could also be a fuse, but that lighter socket is not reliable enough for an electronics plug.

On my 300D, I spliced into the wiring behind the ash tray and ran a new wire out to a new socket just behind the gear shift on the tray. That should always be live. Same with splicing into the glove box light wiring. I think that is also always live. Otherwise, you could run a separate fused wire direct from battery through firewall to dash somewhere.

Good Luck with your new car. They are great cars!

Great advice, I didn’t think about the glove box. I checked the fuses, that’s not it. The actual cigarette lighter was still in it, so like a fool I pushed it in. Did not heat up, would not come out. I tried prying it out with my pocket knife, nothing. So I undid the two screws holding the steel trim to the body of the ashtray and took it apart.

In hindsight I could have drilled a hole into the lighter, drove a screw slightly into it and pulled it out. But this gave me a chance to examine everything inside and to make sure it was all put together right.

Glove box light wires working excellent. The clips slide right onto the aftermarket jack I bought. Not always hot, the key is needed in accessory position, plus if you close the glove box door the cut out switcis h turns it off. But those are minor issues now, the important thing is I have phone charging. Holy crap, one gets dependent on these things in a hurry.

It cannot hurt to say that because some members have 1984 European non-turbo 300Ds and the engine has some differences from the Turbo Diesel.

Interesting road trip. Perhaps not the best idea to take such a vehicle, little really known about it on such a trip. But I did not want to miss this event. And the car did well. Needs help in several areas, vacuum is not good. All five doors will lock with a turn of the drivers door lock with key but only after a lengthy drive. Vacuum is not long maintained. I discovered that one can lock the trunk easier than unlock it when the vacuum is poor. But running it for a few moments gets it open. Also the tack doesn't work. He who shall not be named as some good vids on both topics.

This car has the most useful cruise control I've used. Was a bit surprised it even works. A good cruise control is a luxury for me on a long trip. The sun roof works flawlessly and I've had less that perfect luck with them in every older car I've owned. Not a big deal, I mainly like them as a way to let in some air in a hurry.

Could use a bit more power. Not sure why but the strongest performing OM617 I experienced was in my '81 300SD. I'll look into remedies. New fuel filters helped.

If someone has not mentioned it be sure to look at the Oil Cooler Hoses for seepage. If they are seeping replace them. A few have lost their engines because the Hose slipped out from under the crimped collar and they did not know they were losing Oil.

Clearly I have a lot to learn. I was aware that tranny fluid is sent to the radiator for cooling but didn't realize that engine oil has a cooler.

I'm reading about possible NLA action on those at one time, looks like good aftermarker or even original might be available though. I have a few small oil drops on the driveway, I'll take a close look.

Well people have also ruined transmissions when the Transmission Cooler hoses have go out.

In fact the suspension has rubber parts, the drive shaft has rubber parts and so on. Even a new unused rubber part that sits on the shelf for 30 years gets stiff.

They say some of the euro cars don't have Oil Coolers. But for sure the turboed cars do.

The hoses go from the Oil Filter Housing under the Fuel Injection pump to a separate Oil Cooler between the Radiator and where the Head Light is.

When I unscrewed one of my Oil Cooler hoses from the Aluminum Oil Cooler it stripped off some of the threads on the Oil Cooler. Which as it turns out is common. (There is a repair to replace the stripped nipple.)

Before you remove them from read up on it.
Repair Links

Fast navigation http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diy-links-parts-category/146034-fast-navigation-do-yourself-links.html

Yes, all U.S. 300D 82-85 were turbo-diesels.
The ash tray base sliding contact gets power via a "57 terminal" plug (also termed "Packard"). Those are common "spade connectors" (1/4" I recall) which you can get at any hardware store, plus are used in washing machines and other appliances. 1960-70's GM & Chryslers used them and you can buy the plastic terminal cavities if you want to make a permanent adapter (better than the sliding contact). I recall yours is a 2-terminal 90 deg cavity.

Wild if not pleasant coincidence. This car leave a few tiny oil spots on the driveway. Today, shortly after arriving home I noticed a not small oil spot just below the radiator. Sure looks like the lower oil cooler line was leaking. I checked the dipstick, not that much total lost. I did a bit more driving, stopping every few miles and looking things over. It hasn't done it again but I'm going to stop driving it until I replace those. I hate leaking oil anyway and that was the biggest oil leak so far, by far.

Euro w123 200D and 240D usually don't have them but sometimes they do I don't know why that is.

AFAIK all 300D's have oil coolers whether it be a euro, n/a or a turbo

It just occurs to me that I removed the radiator on my 300SDL and there are tranny lines to the lower part but no oil lines. It's a turbo, not sure what's up with that. I've searched a little bit, haven't found a definitive answer yet. Maybe it's in front of the main radiator. Mine will be back in my clutches soon, I'll check it out.

The oil coolers are usually attached to the side of the radiator.