Hello all,

Figured I would document the progress or lack there of for my recently acquired Mercedes.

I have been looking for a W115 for some time and had my mind set on a nice looking driver quality car to tinker with and enjoy. I had looked at a couple of 240's and didn't pull the trigger hoping to find a 300.

I had an ad pop up on Facebook with a local seller selling Car Parts, when I looked at his ad he had a picture of a W115 under a shed. I asked if that car was for sale and he said he was going to part it out but most likely was going to sell it for scrap since he had no takers on it. I couldn't get him to nail a price down so I moved on. A couple weeks later it was still in his ad so I reached out again. He responded with if you can get it by the weekend I will sell it for "x" amount. Since that was going to be well under my overall budget I went and took a look at it. When I got there the Foglights were missing but the car looked overall complete and pretty solid. It has some rust in the drivers lower qtr but that was pretty much it. The interior was filthy but didn't show any huge rips or issues. I figured although it was not running I would give it a shot and paid him and got it towed to the house.

I started off just cleaning it up as it certainly was in need of some tlc.

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Looks good from 20 feet away AND it has a sunroof, no ?

Good luck getting it going.

Yes sir it, looks pretty good actually.Plan on cutting and buffing it this weekend.

Been going through replacing lines and brakes. Master Cylinder had a leak so I put a new one on, rebuilt the calipers and bleeding the system now.

I did drive it under it's own power this weekend. Shifter linkage has no bushings so need to get those. I put it in Drive and it didn't move so thought something was wrong. Pulled it all the way down and it pulled pretty good.

Restored some wheels as well to get some new rubber under it.
Also was able to repad the drivers seat and rear seat.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.

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I like that Color. Paint looks great for original.

Was out of town but got home to a lot of new parts. Shifter bushings were gone, Tranny was low on fluid so I wanted to get the bushings right and see how it would do when I can tell what gear it actually is in. Got the brakes bled and it stops extremely well. I had a bad bleeder which probably was the entire issue, At least now I have a back up Master cylinder for a spare.
I have a checklist that now has had 30 things repaired or replaced. Hand pump was all that seems to be wrong with the fuel leaking up front.
I did call the original owner who said he sold it to the scrap guy because he was tired of looking at it. He told me they had it since new and rarely drove it starting around 2000. He thought it had 130K miles but after we talked I let him know it showed 69k and he said then 169K as it hadn't rolled twice. He said they parked it due to a leaking injector pump and bad center bearing. I did get it running fairly quickly after learning all that. He lives about 4 miles from me so I will take it by there and let him check it out.
Got it on a road test after getting the tranny fluid right. Car rides extremely well, rear shocks are gone but it is nice and planted on the road.

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Looking good!!! Keep the pics coming... Those cars rode very well.

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Wow! Great before and after shots. Love the paint color.

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Milan Brown 1979 240D, rebuilt OM617.952 turbo diesel, rebuilt 722.315 transmission (my only daily driver)

Instagram: @maximed93

Thank you.

After the test drives a few more gremlins showed up so knocking them down.
No instrument lights, dimmer was shot, I actually soaked it in Ketchup for a few days and got it to work pretty good, but still decided to bypass so instrument lights work.
Was tired of looking at the crumpled speaker cover so made another one with some spare vinyl I had laying around.
The headlight switch also decided to explode behind the dash. Pullapart had a w123 so it donated it's switch to the cause.

On the test drive the car had a light vibration pretty much at all speeds. I did replace the center support bearing but am pretty sure my marks line back up, so going to go one spline over each way and see if that corrects it. It is a sorta like a constant massage so not sure if it is just normal or maybe some mounts are worn.
I ordered new shocks and sway bar links since these are all shot. Again the car drove very solid with no real issues other than the slight vibration.

It is getting there.

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Felt like I was making great progress, installed all new shocks and drove it around the neighborhood today.
Had to turn around on a steep driveway drove back on our main road and was doing about 70 and it felt like it was only running on half cylinders then no power then it died.
I am running an electric fuel pump at the back so checked it, checked the see through filter. It would crank each time when floored but would not move under it's own power, then after 10-15 minutes it fired up and I drove it home.

I wrote it off that it may be out of fuel or real low, so grabbed five gallons and went for another ride. This time it had to be floored to go up a hill then as it shifted to third it was completely down on power with the pedal to the floor it died. So my understanding wife (sarcasm since I had called her once to help me get it running again) had to tow it the 1/2 mile back to the house.It would not restart at all this time.

It really acts like fuel issues so I will go back through them, it has new everything to the pump (Rubber lines, Hand primer, clear inline filter and drop in filter)except hard fuel lines. I can see fuel in the see through filter.

It has ran splendid each time since I got it to run the first time so it is very peculiar to have just died.I would think if it was injector issues I would notice them sooner. It has felt pretty strong each time until today.

It did ride very nice with new shocks, the vibration I feel is motor mounts.

Nice looking car!!!


You mentioned the pre-filter is clear but did you check the fuel tank strainer? There way be some crud in the tank that is breaking up now that the car is on the road again.

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Marc-André

W115 1975 300D "Geraldine"
W115 1976 300D parts/tutorial car

maclaveau X2 ... check the fuel strainer.

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Thanks
I am going to, just have to get the nerve up to drain about 15 gallons to check it. Looks like the symptoms point to the strainer mostly via the internet.

I figure I will go back through it completely again.

Not really gunked up or clogged looking but removing it and replacing the front filter has it back running. The fuel flow from the electric fuel pump was very weak before I swapped both. I am borderline thinking of removing it and allowing the lift pump to do everything, just was hoping to have a little help getting fuel up.

Will probably drain again and see what is in the tank, but it certainly is fuel delivery, runs very nice when cleared up.

Thanks for the tips

As mentioned by several here, this is a notorious issue on cars that have been sitting ~ you're right it's a P.I.A. to drain the tank and remove it but it needs doing in any case .

Never, EVER run without the clear plastic intake screen in place nor reverse the feed and return hoses ! .

Nice looking car ~ even here in So. Cal. they rust out .

Please brag about how little you paid for it .

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-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

Thank you.
I have no issue draining it, just thought I was past it with the original drain and clean. I did remove it today and let about 4 gallons out then put it back in.
I appreciate that advice on no filters although I have one more in front of the in line fuel pump(which could be the entire issue). I bought 6 plastic filters expecting to change them often until I felt it was all clear.

It has only some rust in the drivers lower quarter, I was surprised at how solid it was but the old man said he kept it in a barn for the past 6 years, in the garage the rest of it's life.

It was cheap for sure, but was more than happy to get it.