as I had to break down and buy a new battery for it for $103 (last one was 7 years old).

I sold my Wrangler (went to a guy who sold his just before his daughter went away to school and now that she's done and out of the house, he's buying all the toys he had to liquidate-I saw my future ) so I figured I'd pull the TD out of mothballs in case we needed a second vehicle over the summer.

I changed the oil, checked the trans. fluid (had to add a quart), checked the linkages, turned the key...nothing. Not even a click. Not wanting to fry the electronics on my wife's Odyssey, I ran to work to get the old Powerstroke E-350 workhorse to jump it. Hooked the cables up, gave it a minute, turned the key and it fired right up.

Took a little shakedown run up and down the street in case it didn't want to cooperate. Oil pressure good, temps good, a little trans flare, a little brake squeal, but it was up and moving on its own after sitting for a year. I took it a little further each time and finally got brave enough to take it on a short highway jaunt and made it back in one piece.

I should go through the brakes (no stopping issues, just some squealing, but I've never gone through them), see if my luck holds out and adjust the SLS up an inch or two (no leaks but...), replace a couple hoses and I should probably put some new tires on it. Then address the fender and under-the-battery-tray rust issues. However in the meantime it should suffice for running around town in a pinch.

It felt good to bomb around in it again.

__________________

1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Long life the TD!

They always continue to surprise. My friends 280CE sat for a while...fired right up on the first shot.

Yesterday I was looking at a 300TD wagon that hadn't been run in months....put the terminal on the battery and fired right on the first shot without hesitation.


Long live the W123

__________________
1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."