Am I asking for troubel if I buy this car????

[240diowa]

87 300E for sale in my area in which the owner put it the wrong battery and hooked it up backwards and he says he saw smoke coming from the alternator and it is fried. Car has now been sitting for two months. He just wants to sell the car since he is not mechanically inclined (needs rear windows fixed and the sunroof. Body is good, interior good, 150K miles. It has new tires, he wants $400 OBO.............He did hook jumper cables to it and it started and ran fine with all the lights working etc except the radio doesn't work now........Am I asking for trouble since the battery was hoooked up backwards. I know I will have to get a new alternator and rewire it but did this car just turn into a donor???

[mbdoc]

I wouldn't be afraid of that car.

However, any 25 year old car can cost $$..will the car start?

[Ferdman]

240diowa, does the radio show "CODE" when it is powered up or is it simply blank? If it shows "CODE" because the battery was disconnected then you simply need to enter the radio code (on a card in the black pouch with the Owner's Manual).

[240diowa]

Car starts up and runs fine off of jumper cables. Owner said their is a load somewhere in the electrical system. I'm thinking some wires are shorting out that had the insulation burned off of them. He put new tires on it with 500 miles on them

[oldsinner111]

I'd look for burnt wires under fuse box.My SD had melted wires under there I spliced new wire in place.

[Holmesuser01]

If the fried alternator is still hooked up, I would suspect that as being the battery drain.

I'd go for it.

[240diowa]

Owner said it also has a small trans fluid leak he said he replaced the pan gasket and it is still leaking (about a quart every two months). It is coming from the passenger side of the trans (not the front where you access the torque converter plug). I'm thinking he over torqued the pan bolts and warped the pan a bit. For $400 the new tires are worth that much.

[hobberslobbers]

the smoke could have just been from the voltage regulator, which IIRC is on the alternator. this is an inexpensive part and should take an hour or two to replace. i doubt if anything in the fuse box is melted, but you can check the main lead going to it and pull all the fuses to see if there are any blown. also, look for anything charred. you're probably ok with this one. for the price, i'll buy the car if you pass on it.

[86560SEL]

I would not think you would have to rewire the entire car.... just put on a new alternator and all should be fine. Fuses should have protected the rest of the electrical systems.

In addition to the above reply, if its only the voltage regulator, I replaced the one in our 1988 W126 in like 3 minutes. I warn you though, dont get a cheap one, get a German one from the site here. Ours is less than a year old (I bought a cheap one from Autozone) and the lights are already "fluctuating" again.

Originally Posted by 240diowa

87 300E for sale in my area in which the owner put it the wrong battery and hooked it up backwards and he says he saw smoke coming from the alternator and it is fried. Car has now been sitting for two months. He just wants to sell the car since he is not mechanically inclined (needs rear windows fixed and the sunroof. Body is good, interior good, 150K miles. It has new tires, he wants $400 OBO.............He did hook jumper cables to it and it started and ran fine with all the lights working etc except the radio doesn't work now........Am I asking for trouble since the battery was hoooked up backwards. I know I will have to get a new alternator and rewire it but did this car just turn into a donor???

[sptt]

Agreed. Get a new alternator (easy to put in), check the fuse boxes / wires. Most of these owners also do not buy the right size of battery for these cars. They are BIG!!!