Just got this car. PO ran it out of fuel. Gave it to me. With 107K original miles, I think it's just getting broken in. I dont think there is a single replacement part on this car.

This car still has the mercedes tire valve stem caps. The PO was given the car after his grandmother (original owner) died. After 4000 miles, the car (appeared to) die as well.

After adding fuel, it ran great. With a valve adjustment and an oil change, even better. Needs brakes.

Now the bad news: The car came from Illinois. As a native New Mexican, I've never seen so much rust. A car that runs this good would be a nearly perfect find, if it had been driven here.

Would I be better off parting this, or looking for a car that needs a transplant?

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1986 300e 5-speed 223k
1995 Volvo 850 T5 wagon 65k
1985 F-350 475k

Need pictures of the rust... particularly around the jack points and the suspension arms to give opinions on this...
Look at door bottoms...and in floorboard under carpet... Does it leak when it rains in addition to the rust from roads in the North ?
Is it auto or manual ?

Drive it up here for a vacation and it will look brand new once it crosses the Michigan border

Don

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DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

My '73 220D (nearly the same as your 240D) died by body rust.

The drive train was working very well with 175K miles since a rebuild and 340K miles on the car. What happened was the front top shock mount broke away from the body on the left side (it raised the hood up a couple of inches when this happened). The engine/tranny has been transplanted into a '68 200D body and now has another 30K on it and running strong.

Rust is what kills an old MB (or running the engine out of oil!).

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current Benz
'87 300TD (white) 168K (on the odometer as of 15 April 2004)
past Benz owned & miles I put on them
'62 190D 20K (white)
'63 190D 20K (beige)
'65 190D 35K (white)
'73 220D 175K (metalic green)
'79 300D 135K (metalic blue)

driving a Benz diesel since'77

Even running one out oil won't necessarily kill one. I've heard from one mechanic about one that was run out of oil. They waited until it cooled down, added some more oil to it and it came back to life.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

My sister drove from Mid-NC to DC without the oil cap on her 240D. Needless to say she was a touch low on oil when she arrived (6+ hours later). We refilled it, expecting the worst, and it was fine. I'm not sure what the oil capacity of the 240 is, but we added a few quarts before it registered on the dipstick. We bought her a new oil cap, and then found the original one sitting on the intake/exhaust manifold beside the valve cover.

She was later rear-ended on the highway (a hit and run no less), which moved the back end down and to the side about 6". Some minor bodywork involving a tow strap and an Isuzu Trooper and the trunk shut (and mostly sealed). At that point it was given to me.

-Tad

The 300 I just bought had the same thing, they replaced the blown cap with what looks like a fuel cap, and I found the original cap on the manifold also, had been there for a while!

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'84 300SD veg-oil bliss
'83 300SD veg-oil beater