300td engine swap
 

Hello, I just purchased a 1984 300td wagon, non turbo. The engine is not running so was considering replacing it with a turbo300 engine. Will this be a problem as the car is a manual trans car. I found a car with a good engine but bad trans but don't want to commit if it won't all work out.

Douglas C

My 1980 td has an engine that is diffrent than the sedan engines.If yours is like mine you have to find a td engine.

Engine Swap
 

Douglas;
There is an M.B. salvage yard in Sun Valley Ca. that has exactly the engine/trans combination you are looking for,if you're intrested the number is 818 834 8881, ask for Steve.
Good luck M.F.

Pete's Auto Salvage
 

Douglas,
Where are you in MI?
There is a GREAT place in Jenison called Pete's Auto Salvage.

www.PetesAuto.net

They have a 1983 300D-Turbo with about 240K+/-.
I have seen it the day after they brought it in. They ran compressions tests, etc. and all look good.

They are asking $500 which includes a 30-day warranty.
They are flexible on their prices...

I have no $$$interest in this place, other than I have purchased from them on a regular basis since purchasing my 1981 300TDT.

Give them a call...they are great to work with.
Their website does not show this engine in their inventory, but I confirmed that it was still there after reading your post:

616 669-6592 and ask for BRIAN.

Yes, the car is definitely a gray market vehicle. The loaner vehicle is also a wagon but not sure if mine has the self leveling suspension. Will check on that, Thank you all for quick and helpful replies.

Douglas C

It does have the self leveling suspension, I did find the reservoir for the fluid under the hood. Is the pump something that can be added to the sedan engine?

Curious...
 

Not sure if I am starting something here...
But my '81 300TD-T has had the rear leveling system disconnected and standard shocks in their place.
Maybe this would be a good time for you (wagony)to do the same?
Might save you a little headache finding a good engine, and also down the line when the rear leveling goes out on you.

I did not do it myself. The PO had it done.
Not sure how he went about it, but I enjoy it. Very nice ride too...

TxBill,
No, I have never looked that closely. (only had it a couple months)
I will get underneath this weekend *now that the weather is nice!* and with the help of rs90kirk and diesel don will try to post more information on this subject.

Yesterday worked some on starting or seeing if engine would start, it may not be as dead as I was lead to believe. It didn't run but it did fire a bit while turning over. Oil pressure rose quickly with the starter turning it over. The information I got when I bought the car was that a friend was driving it and claimed to hear a clunk sound from the engine area, it was towed to a mechanic and they tried turning it over by hand, it turned a ways then locked up, wouldn't move any further. They told her it would need to be torn down for an inspection and she didn't want to spend the money at the time. So took it somewhere else. They did get it running so they told her. The valve cover was off when I got it and everything looked well from what I could see. My thought is would like to do a compression test, wondering how to do it. I have a gauge question is what is good compression range for this engine and where would I put the gauge to check for compression. I have done compression test on gas engines but I didn't notice that this diesel had the spark plug holes. (hah hah) Trying to think what could be possible sources of a clunk sound, possibly injector?
Thank you for any help advice.

Douglas C