just bought a W124 . . . I have a LOT to learn
 

Hello,

First off, I know a lot of these questions might be answered with the search, but I am so overwhelmed right now. I'm not even sure what to search!!

Today I bought a 1987 230TE . . . the body is good and the interior is very clean. I was shopping for a manual trans wagon in my area and have been for a long time, this is the first car I've come accross in my price range that had a good interior and good body, I figure everything else I can fix . . . or can I?

First, I don't even really know what I have. I am a complete newbie to Mercedes. I've learned that it's a W124 chasis and that it was apparently imported from Germany to Canada some years ago.

Being a 230TE my understaning is that this model was never available here? Would I be right to assume the motor is a 2.3l 4cyl? So for parts, would I be looking for 300TE body/interior parts and 190E for engine parts?

Couple of problems that will need my imediate attention:

There is a strong smell of gas in the car after an extended drive, is there aything common to these cars I should check first?

The sunroof is flaky. It will quit, but if I jiggle the wires and/or give the motor a couple twists with a wrench it will work again for a while - is this common?

And lastly, and what I'm most frightened of:
I have the load leveling rear suspension as it's a wagon. The back of the car feels like there is no suspension at all. When driving over a speed bump, the back of the car just comes down off of the bump with no give what-so-ever. It's darn near solid. You can imagine how bouncy the ride is. When I test drove this car I assumed (oops!) that the bouncy ride would be caused by worn out shocks - no big deal. Not till I got it home and started to do some reading did I discover this might be quite major.

So, any ideas as to what this might be? Is this something a DIY guy could attempt, or is this a job for a mechanic? Or the MB dealer only? How much might I be looking at? I have a repair manual, but it doesn't include a trouble shooting section so I don't know which compnent of the self leveling system to start with and how to diagnose.

I am more than happy to spend the money needed to get this thing going and in tip-top shape, just trying to get an idea for what I'm up against.

Thanks very (VERY!) much for any help, tips or advice.

James

just noticed the w124 suspension bouncy thread a couple down, oops!! I'm not off to a vrey good start here :rolleyes: .

I'm off to read that thread now.

James:

welcome aboard.

You need to ask yourself two preliminary questions:

1. How good are you with a wrench?

2. What made you get into a Benz in the first place?

If you answer yes to #1, then a lot of the items that you mention can be DIY.

Why did you get a Benz and particularly this Benz?

If you are a fan of the brand and can appreciate the build quality and technology that went into making these cars, then I suggest that you buy the Repair CD from Benz of America and learn how to fix these "little" things.

If you are not a fan of the brand then maybe you will be happier with another car.

Whatever you do, however, DO NOT take it to the Benz dealer for repairs--unless you have a visa card with a huge credit limit.

Find a good, honest indie in your area and go with it.

Enjoy the ride! I like my 300TE wagon very much.

Congratulations....years ago i owned a mercedes and reluctantly sold it.

Then I started reading about 124's. I was always ok with a wrench...just don't understand electrical stuff

Anyway to make a long story short, with the help of this board, these are some of the easiest cars to work on...and now i am hooked... We have 3.

Get the CD!

Welcome aboard jrhaze!

I am also a newbie here and I must say if you stick with this forum you can learn a lot.

I am pretty good with a wrench, I've rebuilt a couple engines, swapped suspension on several cars etc. The main thing that really intimidates me is that rear suspension!

I got the mercedes for a number of reasons. I previsouly owned a 80 series toyota landcruiser, which are known to be as overengineered as a vehicle can be. I wanted something better on gas, manual trans and with close to as much interior space . . . the mercedes seemed like a logical choice. That or an older volvo and there's just something about the mercedes that drew me in.

I'll do some looking around for this repair CD you speak of . . .

thanks!

To me the key phrase is " This is the first car I've come across in my price range ."

I hope you understand that the purchase price is not what determines your price range. It is the purchase price plus the cost of bringing this thing up to snuff. Not only do you have a 20 year old car, but you have a odd ball model. I'm telling you that you can dump thousands of dollars into these wonderful cars, and that assumes doing your own work.

I would think that if you are after a 124 wagon, buying a good one that has been maintained would be far, far cheaper than trying to bring this wagon back to good running order.

Steve
'90 300E 175K (former)
'92 300E Sportline 242K well maintained with over 10K U. S. $ spent
'97 S320 116K

Steve:

It all depends. If he is good with a wrench, then his only cost, for bringing the car back up to snuff, is the cost of parts.

Also, the 300TE is not an oddball model at all. Other than the Self-Leveling-Suspension (SLS) the 300TE is no different than any other W124. In fact the 300TE is closer to a 300E than the 300CE is.

My 300TE with 209k miles is a solid and reliable car. It runs strong, it pulls strong and under some circumstances it feels tighter than my 300CE.

The 4 banger engine is very popular in Europe. It provides reliable service. I would prefer the 6 banger, but I suppose that the 4 banger is fine too.

If jrhaze can do a lot of the work himself and if he can prioritize repairs, he can still come out ahead.

"In my price range" means it fell within a random and arbitrary range that I picked out of thin air one day in order to shop for a car. I am in no way stretched so thin that I can't afford to repair this car in any way it could possibly need. I came from a 1991 Toyota Landcruiser that I bought (and sold) for $19,000 . . . and still maintained it the way one would expect for a 15 year old vehicle. Furthermore this was the only wagon within 400km of me, and the first one I've seen come up in about a month. Not much to chose from!

I can do much of the work myself as I said, I am not going to have any trouble maintaining this car, and I am well aware that it will potentially need MUCH more maintenance than my previous cars. I'm willing to accept that because I'm already growing very fond of this car. To get it up to snuff does not sound as bad as you are making it out to be.

Soo, no need for anyone to worry about my ability to maintain this car, nor my willingness to do so.

Sunroof seems to be fixed, it was a loose wire at the motor, I hope it works consitently now . . .

I'm pretty sure you have a euro spec 230 wagon

And I'm also pretty sure your accumulators for your SLS are shot. You have described classic symptoms of that. It's not a terribly expensive fix.

The sunroof I'm not so sure about, but every few years the track rails should be lubed, there is a special Mercedes Benz paste that is recommended for this (not any old lube). Unfortunately Mercedes only sells it in HUGE tubs, pretty expensive. But Jonathan Hodgcock will sell you a small tin of it for less than $10, he is a forum member who owns Blue Ridge MB parts and shoot him an email. I believe Rusty Cullens of *************** will sell a small tin and George Murphy of MBC might, too. There are ways....

I have no clue about the smell of the gas, but wouold perliminarily urge you to check the gas lines and fuel pump in any event as part of the search.

The W124 vehicles are really great cars, unargualbly quality machines, long lasting and sturdy.

If I see ever see an Almandine red cabrio or a Sportline CE for sale, I am going to be in real trouble....

That was very informative, thanks for taking the time to help me out!

check this beauty out! I'd buy it if I am not stuck with my 300CE.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCEDES-1988-300CE-ORIGINAL-AMG-EDITION-EXTREMLY-RARE_W0QQitemZ110120612713QQihZ001QQcategoryZ6330QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

a real nice one with 32k miles just sold on ebay for 7400, i think..

i am just too tapped out now... i would have definetly bought it..

i did some due diligence on it... mileage seemed real

I am looking into ordering replacement accumulators for my car . . .

Can someone tell me if these will be the right ones:
http://www.professionalautoparts.com/store/buy.php?make_text=mercedes&model_text=300_series&ml=300-e-002&year=1987&part_name=accumulator&brand_name=corteco-fs-freudenberg&make_code=MB

It says they are for the following cars:
Engine/Chasis
103.983 124.030 from 1990
603.960 124.193

Thanks,

James

I meant no offense. It's just that there are people who have posted that they have just bought X MB and are now going to fix it. The implication of the post is that they got it cheap. That's what your statement about price range implied to me. Happy that's not your situation.

You will find that MB are a pleasure to fix. The thing I have always liked is that when you replace parts, particularly rubber suspension parts, the car returns to a like new condition.


Steve