? Did you have a comment to add ? .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I guess he just really likes my two cars and my wet floors.

Just wait until Summer and you go through getting the AC to work only to discover puddles underneath the carpets..... .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Ok, so i was going to post here that i got my downpipe replaced by the shop on friday. AMAZING! Big difference in so many ways. Mostly, the whole situation is so much more pleasant. Much much quieter running. And there is just simply no smell/fumes whatsoever in the cabin now. It's great. Driving around is just so much quieter and smoother sounding. I kinda miss hearing all the revs and shifts though

I drove around yesterday in pure cushy joy. Took off of work just to enjoy it.

Two problems have suddenly crept in now. I guess that's the game we play...


ONE

When de-accelerating and coming to a stop and when the trans shifts down to 1st, it is quite a noticeable thunk. Now, i'm like 50/50 certain that it wasn't doing this before. I distinctly had paid attention to these clunks down to first because i had already had them when i first picked up this car and hadn't yet replaced the vacuum pump. Obviously it was clunking like mad and the whole assortment of other vacuum pump-less symptoms came along with it. When i swapped pumps from my part car, everything vacuum related worked great immediately (aside from the locks which i blocked off from the system)

Also, yesterday when at one point i pulled in to my work parking lot to feed the workshop cat, the engine took JUST a little bit longer than usual to shut off. This could be my imagination because i was looking for the issue. But my question is.. would the vacuum pump slowly get worse and worse before dying? Would my shifting slowly get less ideal and my other symptoms build up like this? Or would it be dead obvious if the pump was going. The brakes feel the same, fyi. Is there an order of events? Would the brakes stay good the longest?

TWO

This morning, just now, i went to go to home depot to get a few bolts, and i go through the normal routine starting the car except this time after waiting for the glow plugs and a good bit after... i go to turn the key and.... "click", nothing. There is literally no reaction/sound in the car at all when the ignition is placed in full rotation. The only sound is the key turning. This has absolutely never happened before.

The radio is on, the dash lights / indicators are all on. I can turn the interior overhead lights on.

I have only been a car owner for a couple years now, mind you, but i had assumed that when the battery is nearly dead that the car at least tries to turn over a little. There is none of that going on here, just pure silence.

If i were to make my guess, i would guess it was the ignition switch itself somehow, or something electronically just after the switch stage.

Any thoughts? How do i isolate the battery from being the issue? I don't know enough about power usage from the battery, so I'm skeptical thinking that just because all the accessories come on that the battery is fine. Or maybe it is fine.

Guess i'm home for the day!

Gonna order tires today too. Really excited about that.

Problem 1: Sounds like a vacuum fitting got pulled out of something somewhere when it was at the shop. Lack of vacuum will result in the transmission shifting hard AND your slow shutoff issue. Go run an eye over every vacuum fitting under the hood. Be aware the door locks are an extremely common source of vacuum woe in the W123.

Problem 2: Since all the lights are coming on and the radio works, the battery is working. Try shifting into neutral and starting the car. If it starts, the shifter bushings are likely worn out or missing from the shifter (another REALLY common issue). You can tell if that's a potential problem from how the shifter feels in your hand. It should be very firm feeling with no slop. If it feels loose, or there's a little bit of vagueness when shifting between gears or directions, I'll guarantee those little plastic bushings are history.

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

I will check out the cabling. I already have the locks isolated from the vac system. I will look elsewhere.

Ok interesting about the shifter bushings. Yes, the shifter has a little slop.
Why would it start in neutral then? And will i always able to start it in neutral if it does this time? Is it bad to start in neutral?
And if the bushing are the issue, what am i looking at in terms of solutions for it?

ok, started up great in neutral.
i would love to know why this works!
and what do i have to fix NOW haha

The shifter bushings make sure the shifter rod is correctly indexed to the shifting arm on the transmission. When they wear out or fall off (which is what usually happens!), the rod becomes sloppy and can fail to push the neutral safety switch all the way forward to engage it. The result? No crank. Shifting to Neutral moves the safety switch and because the crank is in the mid section of it's control range, you're more likely to have it slot into the right spot. The result? Engine cranks! Magic or madness?

No idea how hard it is on the W123, but on the W126 it took me less than 5 minutes to change them out. Search the forum here, there are guides on how to do it. To make life easy for myself, I removed the shifter arm from the transmission for easier access. It's a single nut and it pulls right off. It's indexed, so you can't put it back on wrong.

The replacement bushings are VERY stiff, I made up a homemade "press" using a couple of washers, a long bolt and nut, and a socket from my toolkit. It makes a huge difference in how the shifter feels. I've seen mentioned a special tool that's available to press the bushings in, but I didn't feel like shelling out money for yet another tool I'd probably only use once then end up in my toolbox taking up space.

For the time being, you can start in Neutral until you get the bushings changed, it won't harm anything at all. Just keep your foot on the brake to keep the car from rolling!

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

As mentioned, the shifter bushing wear and cause improper alignment of the starter's safety switch .

One way is to firmly press the brake and use your left hand to hold the key to the start position and slowly move the shifter with your right hand, when the switch passes through the sweet spot the starter will begin cranking the engine .

About the shifting issue : go look at every vacuum hose, tube and nipple connection, usually one will be apart but close by ~ replace that bit of vacuum hose and any other that pulls apart without a twist and hard tug .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Yesterday I was tinkering with the floorboards in rear seat area and bumped the underside of the plastic covered run of vacuum lines that head to the rear of car.
There’s a chance I hit one with a screwdriver. I was poking around some rusty spots from the underside of the car, poking upwards.
I already have my locks vac blocked off from the vac system up in the engine bay. But do some of these tube runs to the rear via covered plastic still get used by the vac system even if the locks are blocked off? To the air tank?
I may have caused this.

The ones under neath the carpets are lock (yellow/green) , unlock (yellow/red) and vacuum reserve (solid yellow), as long as both yellow pipes coming out of the firewall under the hood are capped off, the ones under the carpet don't matter .

Take the time to *gently* tug on each and every vacuum hose / pipe under the hood first, then look underneath the car as there's a thin black plastic pipe from the VCV on the IP to the transmission's shift modulator on the _right_ side of the tranny where it's always covered in crud and close to the exhaust pipe that was just repaired and so might have softened up and fallen off or been bumped loose .

Never skip steps, even when you know you just did something or whatever .

This vacuum deal is fiddly but very simple .

Skipping one step means you'll be sure to be chasing your tail endlessly .

My '84 Coupe's shifting and shut off systems work perfectly yet when I chcnaged the oil the other day I bumped the brown pipe leading to the IP's shut off valve and it _fell_ off, so I replaced that short bit of vacuum hose (most would have nipped off 1/4" and called it good) and no change was noticeable but I know from experience that hose was going to fall off going over a bump or other little thing and cause me grief .

You're getting into the good part of driving an old Mercedes Diesel, don't go lax now .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

haha. i will not go lax i promise !!
the other day was THE first day i've had available to do anything whatsoever for the car. I'm thrilled with the result. I put the passenger seat back in too and am ready to take some friends for a spin.

I'll definitely go through the vacuum stuff this weekend.
This is going to be a very annoying question for some of you, and sound lazy, but sometimes it's so much faster to just ask for small favors..
Can someone tell me the three or four different standard ID/OD sized tubes that are used in the bay?
I will just order bulk (15-20 feet of each?) and have it all on hand and measure accurate lengths and do full replacements.
I do restoration of audio circuits and analog tape machines and it's much easier to just do full scale replacements of aspects than it is to try and diagnose things, and then of course the result is very nice on the conscience going forward.

I've got two major daunting things remaining, and then the rest is detail in my book...

One, the floor panels. Rust spots everywhere. Needs to all be replaced if i'm going to be serious about it lasting a long time. I have a certain jerry rig at one spot that will hold me over for the rest of the year if i need.
Two, i will be taking the manifold and turbo out of the former vehicle and cleaning up the manifold aspect of it (the turbo is already brand spanking "new") and then taking both of these out of the current vehicle and putting the fully cleaned up set up in it.

I'm going to get new tires shipped to a local installer, and they show up tomorrow.
Any suggestions on what to have done when they install them?
I'm going to take off two wheels from parts car, and use the two spare wheels, and end up with 4 nice enough looking alloy rims. (I'm not at all a fan of the hub cap look that came with second car)

Consider me oblivious to tire/wheel tech. Should i have balancing done? What all do i need to request for them to do?

Replace valve stem (they should do that anyway).

Request a 2-speed balance if they do that. They'll balance at low speed (~30mph) and again at highway speed (~70mph). It makes a difference, believe me.

If the wheels are used and you're not sure if they're bent or not, it may be a good idea to have them checked for straightness or bends. Some shops will check that free of charge, some won't. May be worth it to ask.

The name of the game is to get the tires installed and balanced to minimize vibration. Your suspension will last longer and so will your spine!

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Well i called a couple places and asked about two speed balancing and was recommended to call the one place that is known all around here as being the best place for balance/alignment. They were referred to (by nearby shops who could have tried to sell me) as the most fully equipped shop for all things wheels with the most advanced tech.
So i called them and they'd never even heard of two speed balancing either. They do high speed. They are very nice and perfectly informative, not pushy whatsoever and very understanding about wanting to do whatever i want. I just decided to make an appointment for 10am tomorrow rather than try to scour the whole region for two speed balancing.

Thoughts?

I have the ability to have them do alignment as well. Including tires and everything it's 475, or just 400 without alignment. There is also a 50$ mail in rebate from the tire purchase.

It's certainly been a while since the tires and wheels have been addressed so i'll probably just do the extra 75 for alignment for peace of mind.