OK-Am I in the Dog house now?

[KYCOL]

Hey Guys....

I'm new here, so bear with me...

Just bought a really-really NICE 1983 300D Diesel 5 cyl ...AND

I've got some problems, then after checking parts and catalogs, I think, Ive had a stroke!!! $$$$$$?????....LOL

It runs GREAT, gets great milage, looks great inside and out, just serviced it today.. now, heres my problem:

A. No heater/Blower.. apparently..not working.

B. No Air Conditioning...

C. Climate Control Unit appears not working...

HELP!

Also for "Those that Know" give me a brief evaluation of this year/model ( reliability?) etc...

TNX

KYCOL

***Foremost, anyone-anywhere that can share the address and Phone # of a cheap Mercedes parts/or salvage place..I need it!

[KYCOL]

Question?

Can I replace all of the "OLD-TYPE" Ceramic fuses with the "NEW" ones sold at parts houses? I have a whole handfull of new 25 amp., glass type, for German Cars right now..... those OK??

[moparmike]

Check your Push Button Control Unit first. Make sure that it is working perfectly, as these are notorious for going out.

[sixto]

Are the glass fuses the same shape as the ceramic bullet fuses? If the glass fuses have flat ends, they won't stay in the fuse holders. Typical glass fuses are held by the ends with no stress on the glass tube. Ceramic fuses are held by pushing on the ends. Glass fuses might not last very long structurally under pressure.

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

[KYCOL]

On the push button climate control unit, when I push the buttons..nothing...

Now remember you're talking to a Mercedes "Lay-person"..Is they're another way of checking the unit??...operationally though its.... nada, nothing.... no response.

Thanks, Also any other tid bits on anything else about this model notorious for "going out" or things I might "do or need to do" to help or prevent things from going wrong with this car?

I really like the car, but if its looking like a "High Maintenence" and "BIG $$$$$ Project", I'm afraid, I'm married to a red-head...nuff said? LOL


TNX

[sixto]

As mentioned, first thing to do is replace all the fuses. Don't even look at the old ones, just throw them out. Don't even trust the color or rating of the fuse in each location, go by the sheet that tells you what color/rating fuse goes where. New fuses are kinda pricey at an MB dealer. Should be more reasonable at a VW dealer or a shop that caters to aircooled VWs. They're very cheap on-line (FastLane link above) but it'll take a few days to get them delivered.

Moparmike is right that the push-button units can get flaky but the typical case is flaky, not absolutely dead. With the engine running, switch between ACC modes. I take it the blower isn't blowing. Do you hear things moving behind the dash within 5 seconds of selecting a different mode?

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

[Cap'n Carageous]

If you have an Advance Auto Parts nearby they should have the fuses you need.

[BrierS]

Please don't get discouraged.
Like you, I am relatively new to MB. Use this forum's "search" as often as you can. I have gone through thousands of postings/threads and learned alot.

Have a manual and parts guide? If not, use the search and draw your conclusion as to printed or CD being best for the manual. Possibly both. I have ordered the CD and the OE parts numbers through e-Bay.

These folks are great and have already created a wealth of help through their experiences.

Prices? I use FastLane & PartsShop above and if I cannot find what I am looking for I search both e-Bay and salvage sites that have been provided by this forum's members.

I am loving this '87 300TD and all that goes along with owning it. Best of luck and welcome aboard.
Steve

[KYCOL]

Ok Guys,

First thanks for the help....first thing in the morning I'll change the whole fuse box out to new fuses, then hopefully that will be it..I'll let ya know.....

I appreciate your help, I felt alittle taken aback on the parts prices, it kinda scared me....I'm a disabled Police Officer of 11 yrs and not the Handy Mechanic type, but I can do alot ( when I can afford it..
:-)

Ive always wanted a MB and this one is a real nice car.. Im the third owner, the previous being the dealer himself, who owned it twice!

I'm gonna need help so bear with me!

Tnx again!

[psfred]

Parts aren't cheap, but go price them for a Toyota before you panic -- you will be back and happy, believe me!

Completely dead climate control sounds a lot like a bad fuse. The usually failure is heat all the time, or bad temp control, not just dead.

Peter

[william rogers]

The 81 to 85 300D's and 300SD's a in my opinion are one of the best built and most reliable cars ever built(I think this opinion is shared by many).If you spend some time on this forum the workings of the MB diesels will seem logical if not simple and I'll bet with in a year you will be singing their praise......
William Rogers......
P.S. I do volunteer work for our county Sheriffs Dept. start my traffic control and first aid training this fall.......

[BobK]

I also have an '83 300D. For salvage type parts I call Bernard at European Connection in Falmouth, Ky. 859-654-8632. The sweet young lady that answers the phone is Shawna. Tell her Bob in Covington sent ya. Bernard's prices are not cheap, but fair. He has been helping me keep MB's on the road for years. Just as a side note, he does only MB and has about 6-8 acres of cars.

[psfred]

Bob:

Bernard is great, we've bought about half a W115 from him, one or two bits at a time.

KYCOL

Several things to check:

1: If you dont' have vac to the climate control, the only thing that will work is the temp control (ie heat from the heater core and AC compressor on or off) because the master relay requires a vac signal to switch the fan on. Master relay is behind the glove box.

2: If the blower motor is shot, you won't get anything but road draft air flow out of anything. However, if you have vac, the the flow should be coming out the dash vents on AC mode and up the windsheild on defrost.

Here's what I would do: toddle on down to the autoparts store and get a MitiVac hand pump (you're going to need it to fix the door locks soon anyway), open the hood, disconnect the green plastic vac line up by the brake booster, attach the Mitivac and pull a vacuum. There is a vac tank, so it may take some pumping.

If the climate control runs properly with vac applied thusly, you have a vac supply problem. If the line is busted or loose, that may be all that is wrong.

If the lines are OK, hook the Mitivac up the engine side of the green line with the engine running and see what you have for vac -- should be 17" or so. If not, check for breaks, bad rubber connectors, or a plugged orifice (looks like a while or yellow plastic butt connector).

If you have vac, and you don't hear the vac servos moving the flaps as you change modes on the PBCU, check the top and bottom of the fuse in the fuse box to make sure you have juice to the CC.

If everything works but the fan, you need to unplug the connector under the passenger side dash and apply power directly to the blower motor. Must spin -- if not, bad motor or open resistor network so no juice gets to it.

Peter