Problems with 83 diesel sitting for 10 years?
 

I have an opportunity to pick up an 83 300 Diesel that has been sitting in a garage for 10 years. What kind of problems does that present? The body and interior are in great shape and price is around $1K.
Matt

The garage door hinges and latch are probably rusted shut....

I think the rubber can get hard if the cars not driven once in awhile. The doughnut the driveshaft runs in can give you the shakes, but is an easy fix. I’d be a little careful about just cranking it over. Turn it a little by hand, and RR the old oil and fuel filter. Drain the tank etc. For a grand I’d cross my fingers and trailer it home- maybe even offer less for not even starting it.

I'd be careful about paying $1000 for it. Plenty of running MBZ are to be had for the same price or less.

If the body and interior are real nice than I would pay close to $1000. The body's worth that alone if its nice, change the oil and see if she fires. I don't know if diesel goes bad like gas?

First find out why it was parked. If it ran fine when it was parked i'd go for it. Don't start it until you change all fluids, and then i'd even drop a little bit of oil into the cylinders and let it sit overnight or so, just to be on the cautious side. Then, charge up the battery and see if she fires. you'll probably need alot of new hoses/belts/rubber mounts and seals though.

Ryan

What to do to an engine has been talked about before... but I can't think of what the search words should be.....
But for sure I would not turn the engine over without putting an ounce of Automatic trans fluid into each cylinder and letting it sit over night.... and then turn over at least twice by ratchet ....
I myself would not try to run the engine without putting new valve springs in it... the ones under compression will be much weaker than the rest..... and if they break might cause piston damage.....

The car was part of an estate sale which is why it sat so long. Thanks for all the input on changing fluids. I don't know about diesel going bad either, but it probably wouldn't hurt for the amount of time and money involved.
Matt

For sure take out the diesel fuel that has been sitting in it.... syphon... then put five gallons in the tank and then syphon that out... and put a new screw on fuel filter on with Diesel Purge filled to the brim... then hand pump .....

leathermang, interesting thought on the valve springs. topical here too. have a motor bike, a bmw r100rs, that has not been started in some 18 years. damn, knew i had seals and a bunch of other things to worry about. never thought about the valve springs.

Why bother with the fuel tank until you know it runs? Just start it on a can of Diesel Purge.

thank goodness on our diesels the changeout is pretty safe to do... not so with a gas engine where you need to use air pressure and lock the crank.... with our pistons at tdc our valves will not fall into the bore....

Yes, you could just do a regular Diesel Purge right from the start... but I sure would not reconnect and draw any of the old diesel fuel into the system if it can be avoided.....

I'd just want to see if it fires. It should run on the diesel purge long enough to build up oil presure and let you see if it will run decent. If it runs that might be a real good buy.

If the tank is not full, in ten years you can almost be guaranteed there's some algae and/or water in there due to condensation. I also second the ATF or light oil in the cylinders before crank over. You can do a lot of damage in a short period of time waiting for the oil pressure to come up. You may see some leaks from old seals that are now hard and you should expect that the tires are flat spotted too. Check the shocks as well because if those seals have dried out they may be shot. None of this should slow you down as long as you are prepared to do a little work. By the way, personally I'd probably take the chance on the valve springs and leave them in but in any event it might be a smart idea to jot down which ones have been compressed for 10 years in case you want to replace them later you won't have to replace them all. Oiling the cams a bit while you have the valve cover off probably isn't a bad idea either.