HELP on buying a 78 280CE. Need to know

[olpos]

Need to know about long term problems. Lets say a 200k car.well maintained .
engine life and what model number is the motor, body(123?) and trany type.
is this the fuel injection that that uses points to fire the injectors,inside dist?
elec ing or points? maybe point me to a tread that has a lot of the answers i seek
mostly interested in drive train problems
i love the 300e's and hesitant to move down in years
yes i may buy a diesel but this car is the correct color
Merry Christmas to all and a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR
RICH

[ctaylor738]

No, it does not have trigger points.

Even if well-maintained, the valve guides and seals usually need to be done before 200k. This is an expensive job. Cam and rocker arm wear is another area to check.

Until the last of the 1981's, these came with a vacuum-operated servo that controls the heat and AC (located at the right rear of the engine compartment). If you have a plastic-bodied unit, it is bound to fail within a couple of years.

[Scott G.]

I own a 1978 280ce... greatest car in the world...imo

[Tristar1959]

I bought a low mileage "Arizona car" 78 280CE for my daughter. Absolutely lovely car, and a real screamer, not to mention beautiful lines.

Having been through the entire process of reworking the Climate Control system (aka "Crysler's Revenge") - if you're not very, very good at logic troubleshooting and willing to spend many cramped hours under the dash's, find a later one or consider an equivalent 300CD if not fond of M110 engines.
One part which prevented its proper response was a disintegrated foam pipe which is supposed to conduct interior sample air temps to a rubber pipe which the blower sucks past a sensor in your RH radio grille. 1/2" foam insulation for water pipes works...as well as in the A/C drain down in to your tranny tunnel...

At one point, I even considered converting the whole heat/A-C system over to a manual version out of a parts W123 240D - and can still do that if it ticks me off again.

Only mod to date was a Sony CD stack in trunk feeding the original Becker.

See:

http://imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/281/cover.htm

for a good overview. I also have a factory "teaching" manual for techs, which I could copy and might put up, if of use...

There is a guy on eBay in Toronto who rebuilds the servos, on an exchange basis..., if you can't find a good one on a early 70's Chrysler/Dodge/Imperial in your local junkyard...

The master servo has 12 vacuum connections, 12 wire leads, and five coolant connections, to give you an idea of the complexity...not to mention the plethora of vacuum/electrical servos, switches, and lines under the dash.

Pull up (.pdf manual), or source others for group 83 and check out Type II's
which includes a wonderful non-instrumented checkout procedure which will allow you to evaluate this particular one's performance (83-601):-

http://skinnerbox.steaky.org/Service/W123/Index/Groups/83ClimateControlSystem.htm

Hers is also a California version, with THREE Catalytic convertors and one different vacuum gate valve for the air injection system...

But IF ya like M110 DOHC 2.8L engines, and all the other vacuum stuff, like central locking, seat back locks; electrics like sunroof, antenna, windows, etc - in common with other models, have a ball...

In general, I'm still glad to have bought it, did manage to peg the 140mph speedo in Texas on the way home (daughter now has a later 85mph version which is never supposed to be pegged - yeah, right, Dad...)

But for (relative) ease of heat/A-C maintenance, I'm going with the old '72 250C...

email me if you have questions - I've painfully become somewhat of an expert on this nightmare system...

[Tristar1959]

P.S. Rube Goldberg is rumored to have committed suicide after spending three weeks reading the vacuum and electrical circuit diagrams on a Type II system and troubleshooting it