I'm familiar with the motor and trans but not the body so much. How well do the other systems hold up? ( Other than the usual ball joints / brakes and such. )

The story is: bought when near new as MB certified pre owned by current owners Mother, driven in salty areas for a few years the off to sunny climes. Daughter got it in 01 for college, married someone and in 10 shipped non running car long distance to new home with intent of fixing it later. ( the throttle actuator is supposedly bad. ) During the now 3 year storage a mouse ate part of a engine wiring harness and car is now up for sale.

Car is being offered for 1,200 , I'd end up fixing and giving to Mom and Dad to drive rather than fix / sell so I'm not concerned about exceeding "blue book". I think nothing of buying a buying a basically solid but troubled car for $ 500, installing $ 1,500 in preemptive repair parts , having a car that "books" at not much more and getting another 100 K + miles nearly trouble free .

Thanks

Looked at car, it isn't bad but needs help to bring it back.

_NO_ rust, or even signs that it was driven much in salt. Usually edges of suspension components / bolts start to look brown. Motor oil looks clean.

Interior is in fair condition, needs a good clean. Windshield has a chip that needs repaired, rear bumper/ body has a scuff that will buff out, center bar on grille is slightly bent. No evidence of repaired body damage. Needs engine harness due to mouse cutting completely through harness. Tires need replaced, wheels look OK, brakes steering unknown. Covering on sun roof slider is coming off. I can't hear it run, owners hubby says it was fine until throttle body started failing and car would not go over 40 MPH, then 30 then just moving, then just idling. They did ship the non running car across many states with the intent to fix so I tend to believe their story. Current state licence plate is 3 years old so that fits with the story, previous states plate in the trunk.

After seeing a picture, I was hoping for Smoke Silver exterior but it looks like the color is actually Desert Sand or similar. It is silverish with a pinkish adobe color, interior is a very light tan. Not the colors I really wanted but rust free trumps color. Ext color is close enough that it could be painted Smoke Silver without doing the door jambs.

I'm going to end up buying it, non rusty cars here are rare and $ 1K isn't exactly high dollar for something to hang parts on.

I think I've seen a fair amount of comments about the C280 under the Tech section. I recall most of them being positive with some of the requisite caveats you noted. I have purchased two MB's for $500 this year (an '89 260e & '95 c220) with the exact same intent as you stated. Fix them up & maintain them and have fun driving them with little regard for blue book value. How firm do you think the owners are on their $1,000 price?

I missed a number typing my first post , it was advertised for `$1,200 . I offered 8, they said 1K which was pretty much what I had wanted. I tend not to battle too much over a few hundred $. They need to get paperwork taken care of, the owner is out of state at the moment to return in the next few days.

People in salt free areas have no idea how badly salt makes things rust. A car that would be worth sub scrap metal price in sunny climes has much more value in rust areas to the right person. Also, the "cash for clunkers" deal took out a lot of stock that will be felt for years so I'm not worried about buying something that needs lots of bolt on parts over welding metal back in.

Yes, "book" means nothing when you are building a better car than you can buy for the same money. A few years ago I bought a 99 Blazer with a bad trans, coolant leak and general 125 K mile wear for $ 500, put enough $ into it that it bumps up against book, But, I now have a car with rebuilt engine , trans, braking system and other repairs that for all practical purposes has 35 K miles.

My 202 was meticulously maintained by its 1st & 2nd owner, but 3rd not so much... Mine was a $1200,00 car also.. A trans rebuild and head gasket and mine is EXCELLENT. Nothing but wear items so far besides the rubber fuel lines, spark plugs and a fuel pump & filter.. Good luck with this revive.. Keep us updated!

__________________
Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience with this car, too.

In my opinion, W202's are a 7/8 sized W124. They drive, handle and feel like a W124 in their driving characteristics.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Thanks all, The near term plan for this car is drain the fuel, replace wiring harness / throttle body then drive around the block a few times to assess what it needs. ( maybe even take the 18" AMG wheels off the SL and run an autocross or two. ) It will spend the winter in the garage as other projects are needing my attention.

The long term plan is to build it up and have it in storage ready for Mom and Dad to drive ( or maybe have them drive the C280 in the summer then back to the Dodge in winter.) Their current two cars are just fine and have zero issues but I want to have a back up ready to go. The 99 Blazer should go another 8 years before it gets rusty and the 91 Dodge that they've had since 95 another 10.

The last car loan they had was ( Dads ) in 1963 just before they were married . . . since then it has been living within ones means and fixing things up. Mom paid cash ( on a sectaries salary ) for a 56 Plymouth so she has never had a car payment. ( We still have the car )

. . .and I've never had a car payment either.

Picked the car up today, title transfer went smoothly as did loading the non running car onto my trailer.

Took car to spray wash cleaned under hood and outer body. The car had been sitting outside long enough that green stuff was growing in the body molding seams.

I thought car was Desert Sand, but it is actually 702 Smoke Silver, the exact same color as my 97 SL320. And, that is the color Mom says a Mercedes should be painted. Not Black, Not White, Not Blue, Not Green. ( This C280 is going to be her car. )

The service book is stamped to 125 K ish miles , ( 2004 ) I'm pretty sure title shows car had 145 K in 2009 , it is supposed to have 165 K now ( I could not check due to depleted battery )

The local salvage yard had a 97 2.8 engine, I ended up buying the entire engine for the wiring / throttle body / future use.

The battery is at 0.2 volt, not sure it will recover with a slow charge. Next up is to drain fuel , change wiring then start it up.

Will post more as it happens.

Quick update.

Yesterday

Started to pull tank but it is still in car. Finding that rear suspension cradle must droop on right or be completely removed. Most of the fuel fill tube is part of tank and is above suspension. Rear exhaust, heat shields and rear drive shaft have been removed.

Tank has two sections / level senders / jet pumps + 1 regular pump. Senders enter bottom of tank so I might be able to leave tank in place and clean through senders. Am finding that senders are a common failure point, looking at $ 120 per side. ( VDO brand from Pel parts ) Senders have a port that ,when used with special fitting / hose, opens built in valve to allow mess free draining.

Today

Changed the engine harness.

Pulled underhood computers , plastic box and brake booster to check for mouse cut wires / general clean up ( found none )

Found mouse cut wires at left headlight area, nothing hard to fix.

Need to replace heater hoses at fire wall while the above parts are out. All coolant hoses are to be replaced before car is on the road.

Used carsoft 7.4 to check computers, some random codes in some systems but nothing in the engine computer. I'm not sure if a throttle actuator can be bad and not trip a code. ( Seller says car was checked and throttle actuator found to be bad. ) Trans computer was code free.

Dash shows 161 K miles

More later

Latest progress on the 280.

Pulled the _both_ fuel tank senders, gauge was reading between 1/4 and E ( low fuel light not on ) was only able to drain 1 gal of fuel. Was able to reach into tank wipe inside then blow all lines clear. The sender lock rings are on a 93 MM circle, I made a open end looking wrench from a 3/16 thick piece of plate and two 1/4-20 bolts. The threaded portion of the bolts adds grip.

Found sensor wiper to be covered with varnish, cleaned contacts ( they have silver buttons to use care and no rough paper.)

This system looks at both level sensors then calculates fuel level. Why does it do that? Mercedes does this because the tank is located under the rear seat area and has two sections joined only at the very top to allow passage of the drive shaft.

To pump fuel from one side to the other, it uses a pair of venturi / jet pumps driven by fuel being returned from the engine. So, if you have a clogging filter and fuel return flow is low, the car will "run out of gas" when it can't transfer fuel to the right side, Add fuel and the car will run because this fuel pickup is on the same side as the fuel fill. It is a typical German complex solution to adding a 1/2" balance tube between the two tanks and letting gravity take care of things. Installed a new fuel pump as the old one was locked up from sitting 3 years.

For the time being, I'm using a generic Ford FI fuel filter rather than the more expensive Mercedes unit until the fuel system cleans up.

Jumpered the fuel pump and let it run to cycle fresh fuel to the injectors. Pulled spark plugs, cleaned threads. Cranked engine to get oil flowing, took about a minute to get oil to the cams. With the plugs back in, the motor started but would stall / not rev. Seller said the throttle body was bad, but the way the motor felt I didn't think so. Borrowed the air flow sensor from my SL320 , motor started right up and smoothed out. Motor seems fine,

Next project is to install some heat shields, lube heater blower motor,change some heater hoses, install brake booster ( removed to inspect wiring.) plus some other odds and ends.

More progress.

Changed heater hoses while I had the fire wall plate off. Reinstalled brake booster, plastic computer box, intake air duct, under car heat shield, rear exhaust. Replaced air flow sensor, added plain water to cooling system to flush out, finished fixing left headlight wiring that was mouse chewed.

Ran engine, it has a sometimes random miss fire likely due to siting with old fuel, got better more engine was run. Trans shifts so it is likely OK.

The next pending issue is lower front ball joints but this is likely to wait until I change brakes / rotors.

It will be on wheels this weekend for a round the block drive.

The next issue is locating a battery drain. It discharged a battery in a few days of sitting. With my amp clamp I see a 3 A draw with doors closed and no visible light left on. ( Even after 10 min as the CAN modules are supposed to be active for X min after car is shut off / doors closed )

Any ideas?
Thanks

Never had that issue on my 97, but afaik, the 202 didn't go to a CAN until 98. At least that's what I was told.

__________________
former: 83 300D, 97 C230, 93 400E

current: 08 C300 Luxury , 92 500SL

97 is CAN ( same as my 97 SL320 )

Can items are:

Engine computer ME 2.0 / 2.1

Trans computer 722.6

Instrument cluster

HVAC

DAS ( chip in the key for anti theft )

Maybe seat and windows

Found the battery drain, the alternator regulator is staying on when the engine is off.

DC amp clamps are great tools to have. Started at the 2 power feed wires at the pos bat terminal, both of these were 0 amp. The main battery wire showed 4 A so the problem is forward in the car. Checked the bat feed at the alt and found 4 A draw.

Confirmed that the reg was staying on by placing a steel strip against the back of alt. When the field is on the back is magnetic. I may have a spare regulator to pop in to get things going.

Got exhaust back up, ran engine and it has a ragged miss that turned to a dead miss. Pulled injector wires found # 2 cyl not firing. Swapped the inj feed with # 1 and still had 2 not firing. Hooked a test light between bat + and inj plug, the light would flicker at idle then went out after about 15 sec. ( more about this later ) Triggered the injector with 12V, the pintle clicks but no fuel is injected. If I scratch the jumper to cycle the inj the cyl tries to fire. This car sat for 3 years so old fuel damage the issue. Next up is swapping all inj from the spare engine I have.

As for the 15 sec to dead miss. The ME SFI 2.1 engine computer shuts off the injector to a cylinder that is miss firing so , if the miss is caused by ignition , raw fuel does not over heat the cat. Miss detection is part of the OBD 2 standard so all it takes is a bit of software to accomplish this. Clearing this requires cycling the ignition.

Weekend update. . .

Decided to pull # 2 plug and have a look, it was wet and black. ( prior to starting I had pulled all plugs and burned all black carbon off with a torch ) . Swapped coils around and problem followed coil, pulled a coil from spare motor and car settled to a super smooth idle, looks like injector is fine.

Mom stopped by and drove it around for a bit, so far she is OK with it.

Ran motor to 82 C, drove around the back 40 for a bit, car stalled when backing up. ( these cars never stall unless something is wrong. ) Checked battery voltage when running it was 12.6, this is low but should run the car. ( Remember the alt stays on with engine off in post 11 ) Alt was pushing 20 A so at least it was keeping up with the electrical loads.

Decided that low voltage could be cause of bad running, swapped regulator as a test, still has 3 A draw engine / key off. Swapped alternator, no more draw and voltage is 14.2V Alternator has a shorted positive diode in the rectfier bridge, this allows current to flow through the diode trio and wake up the regulator even if the key is off.

It appears these cars are very sensitive to low voltage or there is a pending problem, I've had cars react poorly to high / low voltage when a component was near failure.

Drove car about 10 miles on the road, it is fine. Checked for OBD codes prior / after alt fix , still have 2.

P0100 MAF ( air flow sensor ) circuit malfunction, says to check for 5 and 12 V at the MAF harness. Voltages check good, the 12 comes from the GM general module / relay block. 5V comes from the engine computer and also feeds the cam sensor. I will need to back probe the connector and measure voltage while running. The MAF is new as previously the car would not run with the old one, it would run with a known good test unit however. Will need to check cam sensor as a bad hall effect can drag down the 5V line causing all sorts of problems.

P0136 post cat signal malfunction. I'll have to hook a scope to this one and watch the signal.

Neither of these triggered the check engine light but, were retained as pending codes.


As for adding a left side mechanical key door lock, I pulled my 97 E320 parts car apart for a look. The door lock is super easy to remove, pull the weather stripping out of the groove in the area of the lock, insert and rotate CCW a 4.5 MM allen bolt in the hole leading towards the lock. ( you will be working left to right parallel with the key and not front to back ) the bolt will not fall out as it is trapped, pull the lock assembly out of the door.

Locks can be swapped left to right but the chrome strip will be upside down. The E ( and the C ) does not have a mechanical lock on the driver side, one could be swapped in but the linkage that the cylinder shaft engages is blocked off / not there on the E. Will have to have a look at the C and maybe pull the door panel.

I'm hoping to find a parts car as i need lots of odd bits. ( missing air filter box top, fuel pump cover and more. . . .