new car, need some help

[ned2683]

i just bought a 1982 300sd with 186K miles. it was a pretty good deal ($1850). all the accessories work fine and there is a couple of stuff i need to work on. so i just wanted to confirm with you guys if i am on the right track. it started right up in 1 key turn in 14 F weather.

1. vacuum leak in rear door. i can hear the air when i operate the lock.

2. transmission shifts a lil hard in and out of 1st gear. i suspect it has to do with number 1?

3. it seems like there is a lack of power sometimes (like every 1 out of 5 times i take off). i thought because the trans is in the wrong gear? or i might clean the tube from the intake and try again.

4. the back rest portion of the power seats do not work. fuse?

5 car shakes at around 65 mph, and pulls to one side. alignment?

i'll probably have more questions about the car later. please tell me what u guys think might be wrong with these issues. i'd appreciate any help trying to figure these out.

[rwthomas1]

Congratulations on your purchase! Here ya go:
1. Sounds like the actuator is leaking. Either replace the actuator in the door, or just cap off the line to that door and live with a door that won't unlock. Could also be just a leaky line. Chasing the leak down with a hand vacuum pump like a MityVac can be an experience.
2. Harsh shift may or may not be related to the vacuum issue. If the shift improves after fixing the leak then your okay. If not there is plenty of info on this board about adjusting MB transmissions.
3. Make sure the boost line to the ALDA is clear. They clog up with soot over time. Do a search.
4. Check the fuses, could be a wiring issue.
5. If you don't know about suspensions have an indy MB shop check it out and show you what is wrong. May be cheap, may be mega-$$$ but once its fixed they last a long time.
RT

[diesel don]

Sounds to me like you have nice issues to work on. Should be fairly affordable to bring her up to speed. I echo the advice above.

Clean out the banjo bolt at the back of the manifold. Easy, fast and generally gives instant pop to takeoff. It is a hollow bolt which slides through the banjo bolt. Might as well break the hard plastic and splice with nice rubber line after all the crud is removed.

Valves should be adjusted as well. After those two issues are done, you might look at adjusting the ALDA if you need more get up and go.

Don

[ned2683]

thxs i'll work on the stuff tomorrow. teh trannys the only thing worrying me now. but as i did a search, these things are common (hard shifting). so i'll worry less now. i'll probably post more as things come up tomorrow. thxs

[ned2683]

ran into a lil problem today. as i was changing the oil, and the filter they looked up does not fit. and i can't find one in my town.

they looked up the filter in the computer and it looked similar to the one i put in my w116. but the one that came out of this one was shorter. i always thought that they were the same engines. can anyone help me with this? does the filter vary in the 82's? do they have it at fast lane, or should i go to a dealer?.

[Holson Adi]

The shaking could be the driveshaft rubber mount. Mine does this but I'm just gonna live with it until summer.

[lrg]

Fastlane will have the right filter at a good price and can get it to you pretty fast. Buy a couple and save yourself the trouble next time. While you are at it I'd recommend getting fuel filters as well. Even if you don't need them now you will and it's good to have a spare set available in case. Good luck with the new car.

[ned2683]

the ones on fast lane looks to be the wrong kind too. and i am mistaken it is a 1984 instead of an 82. but fast lane showed that they have the same filter.

the filter people that the shops look up for me are aprx 6 1/2 inches in length. the one that came out was an inch shorter. does anyone have the same kind of filter?

[lrg]

My '85 (617 engine) takes a long filter and my '87 (603 engine) takes a very similar looking but shorter filter. Are you sure the filter you took out was the right one? In your engine the filter should fill the entire filter housing with the top of the filter near the top of the housing when it is properly in place. If you had an inch or so "space" at the top with your old filter you had the wrong filter. It may be that the PO replaced the filter with the wrong type! Unless you have some wierd engine variant the longer filter common to all the 5 cylinder diesels should fit your car.

[ned2683]

now that i think about it could the yellow part on the filter could have separate from the metal part? i checked this morning and it is a 617 engine. the filter when i took it out looked like the metal part minus the yellow part.

[lrg]

I've never heard of that happening but I suppose it is possible. When you remove the old filter (with the oil drained of course) you should be able to see the bottom of the housing. Make sure everything that can come out is out. By the way, the photo you attached looks like the right filter for the 617 engine. The large rubber O-ring is to replace the one on the filter housing top and the two washers (you only need one - I prefer the copper one) are to replace the washer on the drain plug. It's a good idea to check the two small rubber O-rings on the stem attached to the housing top and replace them if they are at all hard. These available at the dealer, cheap and are critical to maintaining proper filtering. By the way, if your old filter did break apart I'd put in your new filter and replace it after a couple of hundred miles. There's no telling what junk if now floating around in your oil!

[sixto]

The 116 300SD and 126 300SD use the same oil filter.

Could be that you had a smaller gasoline engine filter in your SD.

Buy oil but not filters from that store. Buy filters from FastLane. When FastLane sells oil, buy oil from FastLane

1) You can replace just the diaphragm in the actuator. Around $5 but not available from MB.

2) The vacuum system for the door locks is independent of the vacuum system used for the engine, transmission and ACC. This is different from the 116 and 123 systems.

4) Get some Caig Deoxit from an electronics part store. Pull the knobs from the seat switch and spray Deoxit into the switch.

5) Maybe the car was only $1850 because the previous owner saw the estimate for rebuilding the front suspension

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

[ned2683]

the vaccum is fixed now. leaky line in the door. i will get to changing that filter soon.

as for the suspension the problem was loose lower and upper ball joints they quoted me 180 for the upper and 90 for the lower. now i look up the parts here on fast lane and it is around 20. so i have a feeling they are screwing with me.

they also gave me a quote for a leaky fuel line (near the gas tank), and brake line. which i went under the car and saw none. if my brake line was leaking i would have problems with my brakes correct? but i have no problem with them.

i have a feeling they are trying to screw me over because i drove in a benz.

does anybody have experience changing the ball joints? how hard and how much were they? i need to get it passed inspection (with another garage thsi time)

[sixto]

Check out the photos courtesy of Dave M./gsxr:

http://www.meimann.com/images/mercedes/W123_suspension/

This is a W123 but the W126 is similar.

Replacing ball joints is not terribly difficult but it opens up a can of worms for related work.

I don't think you can get just the upper ball joint. You have to get the whole upper control arm which comes with a new ball joint and new bushings. You might as well replace the sway bar bushings while you have the upper control arm off.

The lower ball joint is pressed into the steering knuckle. You need a special tool to press the ball joint into the knuckle. You can rent the tool from ************************. A machine shop should be able to cobble up tool if they don't have one lying around. gsxr was able to press in the ball joint in with a generic tool by taking the ball joint dust cover off. I'm pretty sure you'll have to take the brake rotor and shield off for tool clearance so think about new rotors.

If the ball joints are worn, there will be some improvement when you replace them. However, worn ball joints usually mean worn lower control arm bushings and control arm bushings as well. Think about how much work you want to do now vs how many times you want to take the suspension apart.

The spring only has to be compressed to replace the lower control arm bushings.

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

[Holson Adi]

Make sure you look behind the rubber 'hangers' for the fuel/brake lines. Over time, salt and water get stuck in there and the lines just rust away...