Finally...Combining TWO 1985 300D's - Page 15 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

vwnate1 · #**211** 06-30-2018, 07:21 PM

Don't want you coming back crying coulda, shoulda, woulda........

I did that more than once when I was a young Man, it sucks .

Diseasel300 · #**212** 08-23-2018, 09:37 AM

It's been a couple months.....how's progress?

300Drestoration · #**213** 08-23-2018, 09:59 AM

I had to move a few blocks away august 1st because my landlord gave me notice since her family was taking over the house to flip it on the market.
It was totally occupying to move, and also put a hitch in things. It was very difficult to navigate the car work scenario going forward.
I have my parts car, with it's newish engine mountings, and with its newish turbo, and a plethora of other good stuff still, parked in a rental spot in a typically empty parking lot where i can pull up my main car and work on things outside. Only 25/month.

The cooler lines have not had a single drip of leak in a couple months now. I know that doesn't mean much. My eyes are glued to the oil pressure gauge. And i only drive a handful of miles at a time.

The reason i've been holding off is cost.. when i go to do the cooler job, i need to replace the engine mount stuff too. And i already have that on my parts car. It was installed a year ago. I refuse to drop another few/several hundred dollars on that stuff when i just have to take it off my parts car. And also, then i can do the engine mounts myself. And.. the damn cooler lines.

Conveniently, i have it parked literally across a residential street from a local guy who does informal but professional work in his large front property. So if i need a tool, or a hand, i can ask him.

I aim to do the big project some time in september while it's good comfortable weather for a couple days.

Will need to prop up two engines at once basically.

I'll ask my mechanic friend there if he is willing to do the actual cooler line work whereas i do the rest. We'll see. I've not looked into the difficulty.

In other news, my sunroof suddenly was willing to electronically open a few weeks ago. I don't know why but i randomly hit the switch for fun and it opened a few inches. I was beside myself because i assumed it was rusted shut and thus deteriorated somewhere. But it's not. It's just very stiff. I had to slowly but surely, so as to not burn out the motor or teeth, bring it back out in increments. But it's all the way out now. However, naturally, it didn't want to close AT ALL. So, i taped a square of clear vinyl to the roof for the time being. Works great and i enjoy the light haha. But that is a project to pursue now as well. I imagine i'll need to pull something from my parts car.

My floorboard under passenger front seat is basically on the cusp of not being able to support a person sitting in seat. That is a whole project too.

Damn these wonderful cars.

Diseasel300 · #**214** 08-23-2018, 11:00 AM

Sure nice of the landlord to give notice in a timely manner! I swear some people only think of themselves!

Can't say I blame you for wanting to harvest the NEW parts you put on the parts car, I'd do the same thing!

My sunroof is screwy too, I think it's just a "thing" for these old cars. Mine needs new glides on the rails. It tends to bind up going forward or backward, but pops up just fine (I don't think the 123's have the pop-up feature). I'm waiting until it cools off to do a bunch of work to mine - sunroof, driver's seat, front suspension, turbo rebuild, etc. Just been too hot to think of doing anything else!

Keep on keepin' on!

300Drestoration · #**215** 09-26-2018, 10:47 AM

Any thoughts from anyone about fully closing a sunroof that doesn’t behave well?
I “got” mine open fully, and now closed back up, except it’s resting down at an angle do that the rear seal is not made. There’s like a 1” gap where rain can slide right into the inside section of roof of the car. Not good.
Is there any way to get it cranked fully back up into place without using the motor?
My motor does try to do it. I think the motor is fine, and possibly even the teeth, but the sunroof itself is rather stiff due to age of sliders. There’s no rust along them, so I think I can restore it all. However? I’d rather just get it properly closer for the winter.
Any suggestions?

Diseasel300 · #**216** 09-26-2018, 12:59 PM

My SDL's sunroof tends not to "rise to the occasion" either. I typically give it a bit of a push by reaching up under the cloth to help it pop up into place. I generally just leave it closed so I don't have to fiddle with it. A sunroof is something I can easily live without.

300Drestoration · #**217** 12-18-2018, 02:29 PM

checking in again here with some strange new behavior, brakes....

JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!!

(i love my car but it's on my bad side right now)

Suddenly, as of maybe two days ago, my brake pressure at the brake pedal goes away if i hold it down for a couple seconds. There's a subtle repeated pumping feeling as it goes down. Like anti lock, but smaller and like 7 or 8 small bursts as it deflates.
If i pump the brakes relatively quickly with large pumps a few times, the pressure builds right away and seems good. But again, when i hold them down the pressure goes away and the pedal sinks easily to the floor with multiple small deflation spurts.
I isolated the main vacuum pump and get a solid steady 23 psi or so.
When i reconnect the main VAC pump to the brakes and otherwise plug off the rest of the cars vacuum connections, this doesn't change the behavior described above. So, this brake issue isn't to do with the vacuum pump, nor a leak in the extraneous vacuum lines outside of the main tube between VAC to brakes.

I have been advised by a friend, via messages and not in person, that it seems to be a fluid issue with the Master Cylinder.

I've done a little bit of homework and know that there could be an issue with the connection seal between master cylinder and the brake booster. That seems to me to be the only simple fix to attempt, before this becomes a much bigger project leading to bleeding the whole system after swapping major things like the booster or the cylinder.

I have the parts car still. I would imagine that both the Cylinder and Booster are both fine. That system was already bled, and of course has new fluid.

I also am aware that if there is in fact suddenly a leak in the Cylinder, that there could now be fluid inside the booster, rendering the booster damaged and probably doomed.

I think i may have caused this by not changing the brake fluid quickly enough and it corroded the Cylinder. But this is just my amateur guess knowing what i know now that this happened.

Any suggestions for a sound and sober process of evaluation and procedure?

This sucks!

Is it 100% stupid to drive like this? Are the brakes bound to completely fail? Or is the worst case that i just end up with zero brake booster power and have to push fully manually.

Diseasel300 · #**218** 12-18-2018, 05:20 PM

If the booster fails, you just get a hard brake pedal. You can still stop the car.

Sinking pedal indicates a leak, water-laden brake fluid (old), or a worn master cylinder. Park the car or fix the brakes. Don't drive it like that, it's a serious safety issue.

vwnate1 · #**219** 12-19-2018, 09:54 AM

This is a standard early Winter failure, when I still had my Indie shop I always made sure to have plenty of master cylinders in stock on November 1st., by January I'd have changed at least 5 and often 10 or more .

If the master on the parts car is any good just swap it out and pressure bleed all four wheels, when it's off you can look into the booster and see if any fluid has leaked in, often it's dry and the whole job is two hours .