Need help with 300SD purchase.

[GottaDiesel]

I'm hoping you folks can help me.

I have the chance to buy a 1983 300SD with 218K. This is the second owner, he does have some paperwork, i.e. trans service, etc.

First the bad:

The car has been repainted and is starting to flake/bubble around hood, trunk, etc.

The "rubber" plug that is inside of the wheel well (on one side only) is rusted out (plug gone and heavy rust around edge).

The rubber plug in the trunk to the left of the spare area is also rusted through.

The jack points are not heavy rusted. Minimal surface rust (if that).

There is also some light surface rust under one of the headlights and the chrome on the rear bumber has two spots (on each side of the lic. plate) that has faded to a gray color. There is also some surface rust behind the rear well -- but nothing straight through like I've been seeing.

The interior has a rip in the side bolster on the driver side. And there is a 3" tear in the material next to the seatbelt B pillar. The rear seat back (on top) has two tears (where the seams are toward the middle.)

The rugs are perfect, the headliner is probably 8.5/10 -- maybe a 9 after a cleaning.

She shifts slightly hard from 1st to 2nd, rest of shifting is good.

Starts up quick and easy -- engine seemed cold when I got there.

Now the good:

Brand new tires (new)
Brand new batt, starter, and a bunch more parts (I saw receipts for that car... I think a ball joint -- not sure.) Rubber boots, etc. look good. No drips all over driveway, etc. A little wet on pans etc, but didn't look like a dripper -- minimal, if any smoking.

The dash has two 3" cracks one on each side leading to the defroster area.

The heat works, the a/c does not.

Power lock, trunk, windows, sunroof, radio, antenna, seats all work.

It is quite sluggish -- owner claims, hasn't been running in 6 months. To be honest, I've never driven one, up until today, so I don't know what the "get up and go" should be. All I know is even if you floor it, it sort of just takes it sweet time getting itself moving. I don't know if that's a turbo issue, or just from hanging around, etc. So any ligght you can share would be awesome.

Soooo... with that said, what do you think it is worth, and what are some other questions I could answer.

Thank your reading my long-winded message. I'm still new and need the help.

Thanks.

[BoostnBenz]

If that car were on ebay it'd probably go for lower $1ks. Then again ebay is quite an interesting fluke market....

Oh, and the 123 can should be able to go 0-60 in about 13 seconds. I believe the 126 should be a little bit faster.

[GottaDiesel]

Lower $1K? -- I just did a search on ended auctions... I didn't see any going in that range... what am I missing?

[Wasuchi]

I wouldn't worry about it being sluggish, probably needs the boost line that goes to the IP cleaned out or something.

You should pull the breather hose off the valve cover and see how much blowby this old diesel is offering up. Then get it warmed up and plug that line with your thumb and check your watch. If it dies in less that five seconds you may have a real worn out engine. Some die in less than two seconds. To go five seconds or better is an indicator of good things.
Some disagree with that test, but it is usually on the money with the turbocharged diesels. Of course you need to evaluate a lot more than that.
That left seat rip is a standard MB feature from the seat belts.
The comment about the ALDA line needing cleaning is probably correct. When that boost line gets plugged the ALDA don't dump enough fuel into the engine to keep up with the turbocharging. Result is a real slow getty up. If it runs right it should lag for a little and then start to wind up quickly. Look for black smoke when attempting a hard acceleration. If you see none, then it is a good bet the line to the crossover and ALDA is gummed up. Easy fix, but few seem to know about it, except here.
Remember, this is a twenty something year old car. It ain't going to be completely sound.

I purchased a 81 300 SD in March, and it consumes way more oil than the person who sold it to me claimed. ALso He thought it was from leakage, it's really from burning it. THis is turning into a nightmare for me. THe car seems to run great, has good power and looks nice. But the oil thing a big deal. Basically I'm trying a last ditch attempt to clean the engine, otherwise it's a new engine or junk the car. So buyer beware! By the way, I did have it checked out by a reliable mercedes shop and they said all was pretty good also. I paid $2000 for the car, high on the scale, but this car looked and ran well, I saw many others from between $800 junkers to $2500 or so. Good luck!

Also I've had to replace my turbocharger ($1000 for a used one installed), and do a bunch of other stuff. i expected to put some money in, but not like this...

[GottaDiesel]

Wow! Thanks for all the help.

What do you folks think about the two rusted out "drain" rubber plug type things?

Is this pretty normal -- or something to shrug off? I know it's 20 years old... so I know not to expect the world.

Truthfully, if I can run this car for another 100K and put 1-2 thousand dollars into it, I'd be tickled pink.

The more info the better.

Thanks.

[GottaDiesel]

I'm really on the fence about this car.
The rips in the seats, etc... I can deal with all that.

The rust I spoke of, I quess can be cut out, patched, and then sprayed with the black rubberized stuff...

Here's one thing I don't know if you can tell me... how can I tell if the turbo is shot or not without ripping apart the car in his driveway? Are there any tell-tale signs.

Or... based on your own experience, on a 300SD ('83) what is the likelyhood (w/ 218K miles) that the turbo is shot? Say on a scale of 1-10... 10 being very likely shot, 1 being very unlikly... I have no idea if this is one of those "things" that often go... like the vac. pump (which in this car's case if working fine)... or if the turbos are as bullet-proof as the motors...

Thanks

[BobK]

Turbos go bad eventually, but can last a really long time with good oil changes and letting it idle for a minute or two before shutting don. When they go bad, call Majestic turbo in Texas and get a new cartridge and cold side for less than $400 and install it yourself. Be sure to flush the heck out of the oil supply line. Be sure to order a new set of oil line gaskets with turbo. Been a few years since I had to do one, but as I recall it was a pain, but do-able.

[BoostnBenz]

Normally when a turbo goes it could attribute to some bluish smoke at idle, or excessive oil loss. Sometimes you can hear it as well. If you just need to know and take the air filter housing off there then you should be able to feel if there is any play in the shaft that the turbine and compressor blades are on. In and out is normally ok, but up and down or side to side isn't. If the car just feels weak odds are it is just the banjo bolt in the intake or ALDA which is clogged which results in the lack of fuel being sent to the motor. When you start getting into the 200ks it all varies, if the car was never taken care of there may be a fairly high chance, if they did take care of it there is a very low chance of it being a bad turbo. The turbo going bad isn't a very common complaint in these diesel MBs. Speaking of vacuum pump you can see if it failed before or if there are any near future problems by checking the lines for an oily residue.

[GottaDiesel]

With the last two comments... now I'm *really* on the fence.



Ok... so, with all this being said and done.

What would you pay for this car?

(Then I promise -- that'll be the last question)

[BoostnBenz]

I don't know what about that would make you that uneasy, if there is oil in the vacuum lines then the vacuum pump either quit before or is about to. It isn't that big of a deal, just something nice to know. (if there is oil, and you do buy the car be sure to add an inline filter ) About the turbo thing why don't you just take the bolt out and look at it? If it is covered in gook then there is really good chances that it was just that.

It is hard to say without seeing it. I don't know to what extent things are. I mean if there is a spot of paint the size of a quarter bubbling or it is a whole panel. If the rust is the whole bottom of the rear panels or it is just a little around the plug.

[GottaDiesel]

Boost,

Thanks for all your help.

The rust is just around the two drains (trunk and front drivers side inside fender (there (was) a plug about 2.5" inches wide, the hole that that plug was in is what rusted out. As did the plug that is one the inside... trunk to the left of the spare (there is a "foam/rubber" piece... under that... is where the plug is that rust out -- clean through).

The turbo for $400 makes me think it is no big deal...

The bubbling of the paint is: hood lip, trunk, and quarter size places here and there.

The "flaking is worst on one fender, (rear passenger) where there "was" a cell-phone antenna (so that would need to be removed, and/or plugged.

I pulled the rugs under the floor mats... my fist didn't go through the floor or anything liket hat.

Thanks again for reading all this.

Edit: flaking size varies from a 5"x6" area to quarter sizes...

[GottaDiesel]

Shoot, I knew I forgot another "bad" thing...

The rear window, in lower right corner has become "delaminated" (haze w/lines) about 3"x5" in size...

[rickg]

The rear window thing is normal on these cars. If you buy the car, try to just live with it. I here it's way spendy for a new one. That's what I'm doing.
The rust thing. Well, I don't like a car with rust. If you can see some, there's going to be more that you can't see yet. I thought my car was rust free when I bought it. Now I have it in the same places you mention. I don't take it out on rainy days anymore unless I have to. They don'y call rust "cancer" for nothing. It's always going to be getting worse, unless you can afford to have the car totally stripped and the body restored top to bottom. Too much expense for these old cars. If you live in a dry climate, it'll last a lonf time yet. If you have wet weather where you live, it'll just keep progressing(regressing?)
I wouldn't pay much for this car. Maybe $2 max.