I've the car about a month. All in all a great car. A few days after I bought it, the drivers window made a thunk noise. It still worked but I took the door apart anyway. I found one of the plastic feet that holds the operator to the door frame had broken. The little bolt that held it in place was loose. I suppose it was loose for 18 years. I cobbled together a fix with the old parts and a new bolt with a fender washer for support. I also ordered a used operator that I have but haven't installed yet. Today, the left rear window went down but didn't go up. I could hear the motor turning. Not a good sign.

I took the door panel off and found that the plastic piece that slides along the track at the bottom of the window had broken. I put it in the up position and put it all back together with the switch unplugged in the door so no one can accidently operate the window until I buy a new operator.

I noticed that the sliding part really only moved along the rear portion of the track. It looks like when the window was down, it was half out of the track. I also noticed that there is a lever with an adjustment on it. After I get a replacement mechanism, I'm going to try to move that lever, it has an adjustable stop, to prevent the window from going too far down.

Are there any adjustments to stop the motor from turning when the window gets to the upper or lower limit?

Thanks
Dave

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1986 300SDL

Dave,

The only adjustment to stopping the window at the top or bottom of its travel is the speed of your right index finger. The trick is to pull your finger off the switch at the precise moment that the glass gets to the exact top (or bottom) of its travel to prevent the motor from overdriving the regulator and breaking that plastic piece.

After you go through a few plastic pieces, you get used to it.

Did they figure out the surging in the tranny yet dave?

As it turns out, it was my inexperience. I took it to a local mercedes dealer. Their mechanic rode in the car with me and said that the shifting that I thought was flaring was normal. After reading about the flaring problems on this website I guess I misunderstood what it is. The mechanic told me it is very obvious and not the slight hesitation that I noticed. I also took it to an independent mechanic that I trust. He drove the car and said that it was fine but to turn the modulator in a full turn. Haven't had a chance to do that yet.
Dave

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1986 300SDL

Well, that's probably the best kind of news you can hear from a trusted tech.

I saw a cream one in similar looking condition at the Caddilac dealer by my office today. Its taking all my willpower not to stop.

Check it out! My other car is a 1990 porsche 944 s2 cabriolet. I drove it about 300 miles today. It's another undervalued car. Fast for it's time but the handling and brakes are as almost as good anything made today. As much fun as it is, on a long drive that 300sdl can't be beat!
Dave

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1986 300SDL

Well, I looked at it at lunch today. Quite a nice example. Claimed one owner from the Warrenton area. Dealer thought they might be able to get records, but they definitely weren't from a MB dealer. He said that at only 68k , there wouldn't be many .

As I said, fairly nice. Exterior was clean. No paintwork. Engine very clean and obviously freshly powerwashed. Little too much armor all inside, and the seats didn't look as good as yours. All the power accessories worked, but the AC was weak.

The price?

A balmy $17k

I tried to keep a straight face for about 5 seconds, and failed miserably. Told him I'd offer $5k right now, maybe 5.5 if the records checked out. He didn't think they would take that, so I gave him my number and told him to call me in two weeks when they were sick of looking at it.

Its at HBL in Tysons Corner btw, if anyone else is interested.

Just goes to show you, as mentioned in one of the other threads, that you just cannot insult a car dealer, no matter what you do.

$17k is crazy. $5k would be nice. One thing I've learned, don't bet on anything electrical. I've had two power windows crap out due to plastic parts failing. My climate control stopped working. It wasn't a blown fuse. The fuse was so old that the metal had separated near the tip. Not melted, broken. My high beam/low beam switch is a little funky. Mileage doesn't matter for some parts. Age does.
Dave

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1986 300SDL

And don't forget LUCK!. Some people drive these cars forever and don't have these problems.

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Alan Hamm
'87 300SDL 277K Miles
'89 560 SL 68K Miles