321, 600 miles and counting.....
 

Just got back form New Jersey with my "new" 300SDl.

For thise who don't know it, it belonged to Turbodiesel, another forum member.

The car ran well. Much quieter and smoother than my 300SD that I wrecked. Also had lots more power.

Tranny shifted right, although a bit firmer than I am accustomed to.

Car handled well and brakes were very good.

Temp guage was steady @ around 90 degrees. It never got to 100 degrees even in Georgia when the ambient temp was around 92 degrees.

Negatives so far:

Sunroof will not close unless I manually assist in closing.

Loud clunk in right front tire area over bumps, premature tire wear.

Pads were recently changed, yet rotors were showing rust?????

AC works, but air only flows thru defrost and side vents.....??????

The battery was recently removed, causing the radio to need resetting. John tells me only the dealer can do this. Actually, he had it done and experienced some staic. He removed the radio to resolve the static, now the radio needs to be reset again.

Question... can an indy do this, or do I need to go the dealer?

Addiitonally, could he have dislodged a vacuum line, while removing the radio, causing my problems with the ac vents(listed above)?

The interior is being detailed as I typed and I should have it up to speed soon.

Any respomses appreciated.

About the radio.

The old 1986 - 1988 radios are pieces of crap. If I were you I'd get another radio. If you wanted that original look, get the 1989 - 1993 MB radios. Those radios have a 4 digit number code that may be entered by the owner to activate the radio.

I hope the SDL provides many years of faithful service. Its only got 321K miles on it after all!:)

I neglected to metion that I average 27.5 miles per gallon coming home.

I just picked it up and it looks completely different. The interior anyway. It had been sitting for awhile and was pretty crudy, almost grey. Now it looks a lot lighter.

The paint is dull and will get repainted as soon as I get the bugs worked out.

Well, I need some money too but.....you get the point.

I rubbed some compound over a quarter sized section of the hood and I believe it will buff out quite nicely until the paint job comes around.

Thanks

Re: 321, 600 miles and counting.....
 

1) try oiling the rails, and motor drive gear and cable

2) check your shocks

3) either wasn't driven much, or got some wheel cleaner on them, or aftermarket rotors, the rust will go away after lots of braking.

4) more than likely....

Rick, nice to see you made it to Miami without a hitch. How is the A/C? The rotors accumulated some surface rust because I didn't drive it in about 4 months, it will wear off with normal use. The clunk and tire wear are both most likely from the idler arm. Not sure on the vent problem. The sunroof was a little sluggish on humid days.. I would definately oil the cable and slides. Good luck with it, I miss it already. Send some before and after pics.

The ac was blowing cold, albeit thru the wrong vents.

I will look behind the radio tomorrow and look around for a dislodged vaccum line.

I will also grease the rails and cables as soon as the rain lets up.

The trip was slow as it was rainy and foggy all thru the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. Took about 30 hours as opposed to the normal 17-18.

The interior looks completely different after detailing it.

Will post pics soon.

Rp

Rotors ALWAYS rust if the car hasn't been driven. If I wash my car in the evening and let it sit overnight, the rotors will be rusty in the morning.

I don't mean rust on the surface where the pad meets the rotor, I mean flaking chunks of rust in side what I can only describe as vents or ports on the rotor.

If you were to look at the rotor from the front of the car, or side view of the rotor, there are lots of little stepped ports, vents that go around the rotor.

See attached

Anyway, they are very flaky and appear to be falling apart.

Hey, I made senior member.



:)

You'll just have to smooth them out with a grinding wheel. Be careful not to hurt anything though.

About the rotors, they are corroding internally. The ribs separating the two sides are there for cooling, they become as hot as the rest of the rotor during braking. Unlike the swept surface, however, they aren't cleaned off by the pads, so they rust.

I have never heard of the rotor failing because of corrosion, but I have to believe that it is possible. Consider buying a new set of rotors at your next pad replacement, or sooner for peace of mind.

Tom

I think that's what I'll do. although the car is braking fine.

Do your discs look like this? If so, I don't think it's a problem. My front disc is about a year old and lives in otherwise rust-free Texas. The fins look pretty rusty.

The rusty part are the fins shown here. Another member said the rotorswere rusting/roting internally.

Ok.

I took it to an indy shop here in Miami to get the front end checked out. Turns out it wasn't the the idler arm that was making noise but the camber bearing. I also needed tie rods and upper control arms. Got all that doen and the sterring is tight as it shoud be. Also got a wheel alignment.

Additionally, the radio crapped out and bought a used one. Working fine.

AC was blowing out of the defrost only. Had the little vacuum things(7) replaced and she is blowing cooooold.

Total repair bill: $925.00 plus $100.00 for a used radio.

Now I know for sure it is mechanically perfect. Will post pictures tommorow, after I wax her up.

Great car.

Glad you like it. I honestly thought it was the ider arm.. sorry about that. You didn't need any R12? Please do post some pics.

No big deal. It's kind of hard to get those things checked out without getting it up on a lift and really suppress the suspension.

There are always going to be things to fix when you get these old cars. I don't think it was too bad. Jsut hope the engine and tranny go another 324,000 miles.;)

Pics tommorow.

I have the same problem with the A/C in my W126 too. It's going to be a few bucks to fix it because it's going to require the whole front dash to be removed. I'm going to wait because it's cooling down here, and the car cools down fine through the side and defrost vents. Have fun with your SDL, I test drove one once, very nice.
-Joe

I actually saw the procedure for replacement of those litte guys and think I could pull it off. There are two panels on either side of the radio and ac controls, or center console. Once you remove those, you should have reasonable access.

The other area they were concentrated on was behind the glovebox. They removed it and had some additional access.

Do a search, I am sure you can find out more.

In case you were wondering, the total labor and parts(Mercedes) was $330.00