Hey guys..

So just scooped up another project. I've always wanted a bigger Benz since getting the 240D years back. Came across this one on marketplace and decided to see if it was still there.

It had been listed for nearly 5 months with not much info given. I messaged the person and they still had it. Long story short, picked it up for $700 and a 1.5hr drive.





Paint is shot but the body is solid. No blow by to speak of and no odd cam wear could be seen. Its running but seems to be missing on 1 hole. I'm leaning towards an air intrusion issue.

The kid that had it didn't know much about it... popped the trunk to find this...


Yes that is a heated fuel tank and lines... then found the heated filter under the hood... and paperwork for the Greasecar kit in the glove box.

Also found this in the glove box...




Every service up to ~150k had been recorded. Oil changes every 5k. Car now has ~200k and I was able to talk to the previous owner (before the kid I got it from). He was a gear head and maintained the car the same... just didn't record any of the info. He was the one that did the conversion on it.

So.. not terrible for $700. Only 2 spots of rust on the car.. driver's side rear floor pan has a hole which will be easy enough to repair... and the battery well has a small hole but not into the cabin. No dents or dings.

First plan is to get it hitting on all 5. I'm going to pull the supply and return lines at the lift pump to eliminate all air and nonsense from the system. Hopefully that'll get it running smooth. If it does, I'll pull the fuel tanks and clean them out... run new fuel lines and such. Will likely rebuild the injectors in the near future as well.

Once that is sorted, I can start driving it and finding the other little issues with a car that has been sitting for ~7yrs.

More to come.

Good luck to you.

__________________
Current trouble maker:
1983 300SD (W126)
Subscribe to my YT!
https://www.youtube.com/helpinghandautorepair

Got it running good last night!

I cut the fuel lines that went to the 6 port valve from the greasecar kit and ran them straight to a 2 gallon fuel can with fresh fuel. It took quite a bit of effort to get the car to fire off after pumping the hand primer quite a while. The old fuel hose is still sucking air as at random, the primer would go soft and an air bubble would form in the prefilter.

Anyways... got it running glass smooth on all 5. After 10 minutes or so, it started to sputter again like it was before which leads me to believe its accumulating air in the pump from the old hose (which was hard and brittle) and then dropping a cylinder.

I cracked the line at the cylinder the previous owner said was the problem and no foam... just straight fuel which also pushes me towards just an air issue.

I went on and ordered 2 main and pre filters... motor mounts, trans mount, shifter bushings... and 10' of B100 rated fuel hose. I'm going to pull the main fuel tank tonight or tomorrow and see if I can get it cleaned out.. possibly line it. I'll clean the hard lines and test them for leaks... clean or replace the strainer and replace all of the soft fuel hoses (deleting the greasecar kit for now as it needs completely reworked).

The car did move under its own power last night as well... trans seems to work as it should other than the linkage.

I'm in a debate on if I should just try and replace the fuel tank or try and clean it. New ones don't seem to be easy to find... not sure if I'll be able to get it clean though.

We'll see.

Replaced all the rubber fuel supply and return lines under the hood tonight and got it running on the fuel jug again.

Engine ran much smoother but having hanging rpm / uncontrolled speed and a high idle issue. Have some tweaking to do on the pump yet.

Went on and ordered a set of bosch glow plugs as well as I'm pretty sure the ones in it are dead. I need to pull the relay and see if its functional. Pull it apart and clean it up a bit as the light doesn't always come on and when it does, it only cycles on for ~5-6 seconds.

More to come.

Nice work and looks like a great deal. Get some more pics up!

__________________
Sold them all but I'll be back...

Wow, looks like a good deal .

Clean the fuel tank, they're never rusty outside, only minimally inside and very good quality steel means easy to clean .

Too big for me but I've crossed America in these several times now and they're fantastic automobiles if you like 'em large .

__________________
-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

Going to be cleaning out the tank as soon as the weather starts cooperating.


Verdict is still out on it being a good deal. I found out that the hanging revs were being caused by the throttle screw being threaded in too far. Backed it out and it doesn't want to stay running and is misfiring.


We've done some testing and its either the pump or compression related.


Went on and adjusted the valves. Everything under the cover looked great but the valves were tight.

















I'm waiting on the compression tester and some parts to show up. I ordered a couple quarts of KanoLabs Kreen to do a piston soak for a few days. Figured it certainly couldn't hurt considering the veggie oil thats been ran through it. The more I've looked into the system, the more it looks like the previous owner was just winging it which is likely why its having these issues.


We'll see. Was kinda disappointing but it's whatever. Based on how things look, it may be a head gasket issue or something along those lines but I doubt and severe mechanical issues such as scored cylinders or what have you.


More to come.

Have you considered a Diesel Purge to clean any schmutz out of the injection pump and injectors?

For $700 I can't see how you're disappointed in any way...

Agreed, you're prolly going to need to work through all the sludge from the veggie oil crap .

I also think the KREEM is an outstanding idea ~ let it soak as long as you can .

My '84 300CD came to me with carbonized canola oil in the piston ring lands, the # 5 cylinder was gouged -so- badly I had to re sleeve it and replace the pistons, all of them (not cheap !) .

I'm betting that taking your time to do this one properly will yield you a nice driver that's comfy, reliable and fast .

You may well be able to sell it on at a profit if you take the time to fix the AC as well .

Get it running 100 % then fool with the suspension and so on....

__________________
-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

Did you make the 14MM tappet wrenches in post # 7 ? .

They're very nice, do both have the same length off set at the open end ? .

__________________
-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

Already done. No change but did clear some junk out of the pump.

Yeah I was just hoping for a simple fix to get it running under it's own power so I could drive it while working through the issues. I hate letting stuff sit.


As for the wrenches, yes. 2 14mm wrenches.. heated with an acetylene torch and bent (open end offset facing opposite directions). Took ~5 minutes and a few bucks in cheap wrenches. Worked great. I've got handles to add to them for leverage but not really needed.

I think it's time to yank the injector and have them pop tested....

I bought the cheapest Harbor Freight Diesel compression tester, it's crude but works just fine for a DIY'er.... maybe $35 (?) .

I bet you can find one cheaper in craigslist...

The different proper pop pressure and spray pattern makes is incredible .

My first Diesel coupe was a 1978 NA and it ran fine but had ever greater difficulty starting when in the 40's temperature wise .

So, a nice fellow in my yahoo Diesel group told me to bring him my injectors and he'd test and adjust them on his home made rig, I did so and was amazed at how early they popped and how bad the spray pattern was .

He was a Dentist and used those screw in things they use to clean out your root canal to "clean" the nozzles ~ I tried to explain to him that a fuel injector needs to spray a cone shaped fine mist but he insisted this was fine so I took them home and re installed them and the car started easily and didn't smoke at all (?!) .

It took me a while to be able to afford new nozzles or maybe properly rebuilt injectors but a valuable lesson was learned....

I have also learned that a Diesel Purge is best done using a small fuel tank under the hood and use undiluted Diesel purge with paper element filter i the return hose leading from the I.P. to the fuel bottle, then drive it or run the RPM's up and down, then down and up, it takes a while to really do the whole job .

Good luck and keep us posted .

__________________
-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

Somebody sells a Purge kit (Kent Bergsma?, Dieselgiant?) that consists of a bottle with a couple hoses. You connect the bottle to the input line at the fuel pre-filter and the return line to the tank. Fill it with Purge and start the car, keep filling the bottle until all the purge is gone.

I bought my '85 10 years ago for $700. Guy thought the trans was toast, I replaced the broken B2 piston and put 150K miles on the car. When I brought it home I had to run a couple cans of purge thru it. I then used a lot of that fuel additive and replaced the pre-filter every week or so for a while until everything was cleaned out.

I just bought the clear plastic filter, some 7MM hose and a one gallon glass jug from the .99 cents store...

It's been twenty years and I'm still using the same $15 dollar home made tool...

__________________
-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