My car went for a ride today...

[bachlauter]

on the back of a TOW TRUCK!!!

I've sent the beast to a REAL mechanic...finally. I OBVIOUSLY would have preferred to send it to MB Autowerks.....but the tow bill would have been outrageous!!!!

It will be so exciting to find out what is actually wrong with it! I can't wait to know and I'll let you guys know!! (I hope someone cares..hee hee)

The guy who is going to work on it has been working on Mercedes-Benzes for 40 years!! He's a master tech!!! I hope he's as smart as Steveflb...

~Christy

I can't wait to find out what your mechanic says! After all of the posts on this car, who wouldn't be interested? Let us know so that we can finally figure out what it is...I am sure that others are having the same symptoms as you were!

I hope the work of the mechanic won't cost you an arm and a leg.But it must be great when he is done.
Then you finally get to ride your MB !!!

[bachlauter]

I was really optimistic too....

I got the call today and the guy basically said that the car is TOTALLED...I got ripped off..and I'm a MORON...I couldn't AFFORD to have it fixed...etc...

Anyways...here's what is wrong with it...
"...found the following.
Severe rust out at critical locations on under body. (patch job?)
Fan clutch and blades are bad. (is that important?)
All fuel lines are dry, rotted, or rusted. (bull*****!)
Motor mounts are bad. Subframe mounts are bad. (isn't EVERYONE'S???)
Upper and lower radiator hoses are dry rotted. (ok...do-able)
Sway bar bushings are rotted.(I knew this..no biggie)
Steering dampner is bad. (What's THIS?)
Transmission tail shaft seal is leaking. (just a SEAL..)
Differrential pinion seal is leaking. (seals are cheap..right?)
Rear bumper is loose and rusted. (What???!!! is NOT)
Front and rear brake rotors are rusted solid.(yikes!)
Front and rear brake pads stuck in calipers. (EEEEEE!)
Right front wheel bent. (???)
Drivers side mirror glass is broken. (big wow)
Right side marker lens is broken. (ebay..5$)
Right side head lamp lens is broken.(see above)
Left rear tail lamp lens is cracked. (and???)
Right rear marker lens is not right one. (fits doesn't it??)
Right front door latch sticks. (I'll push it harder..)
Left front window regulator broken. (who needs a window!)
Turn signal switch will not hold. (no, my HAND does just fine..)
Engine will not run. (would have if you'd set the timing and balanced the carbs..)
Head lamp switch out of place.(is this illegal??)
Transmission cooler leaking.(I'll fill it frequently)
Water leaks at rear window. (Ahhh THAT'S where the water is coming from!)
Hat shelf is damp. (I'll just WEAR my hats...)

Now...there are a few serious things, but it seems like a bunch of petty BULL***** to me...

Opinions...PLEASE!!!

Is this car TOAST???!!

~Christy

[skalie]

Christy, your car deserves it's own website, inclusive forum, and webcam.

What did you ask the mechanic to do?

I thought the idea was to get it running, not check for rear window water leaks.

The car in question is a 250C, isn't it? Imagine the cost of putting your car in good order vs. the cost of finding a 250/280C in good condition. Unless I'm mistaken, you can find a good one for four figures, or approximately the cost of rechroming the rear bumper on your car. Throw the old girl a retirement party. If you manage to get it running without replacing those rotten fuel lines you could even have a barbecue!

What I find annoying is that this guy spent all that time looking to see if the f#@%*ng lenses were broken and if the rear window was leaking, etc.! With the ever-so casual mention of the engine not running, was there a hint at what the problem really is? Isn't this what you sent it there for? Unless this guy has been changing light bulbs in Mercedes cars for the last 40 years (and I don't mean the difficult bulbs like the dash) perhaps you ought to ask him! I am furious for you, Christy, because the same thing happened to me when I picked up the 250C in Virginia. I paid the guy for an hour of his time and I got the same runaround. And this was a Mercedes "specialty" shop. All I really wanted was an opinion about the drive train. I drove the damned thing back to Tucson anyway. Call him back and ask him why it won't start.

[MikeTangas]

If I'm not mistaken CTH has seen and crawled around this car. If it was really as bad a basket case as the mechanic is saying, I'm sure CTH would have advised Cristy to dump it posthaste. So what if it has some rust, so what if the tailight lens is incorrect (I'm sure as thing progressed, the details would be corrected) or that the mirror is cracked (what's that mean???7 years bad luck ). If CTH didn't tell you to dump it, there must be some life in the old girl.

[cth350]

Yeah, I spent a few hours in or around that car. Lets face it, from the mechanic's perspective, the guy is right. If he's going to fix the car, these are the things that need fixing and the list is so long, it's not worth his time or Christy's money.

But that wasn't the point of the whole thing, so the guy made a serious mistake in judgement. At least you know have a laundry list of things to do.

My take on the list is that it should be split into 3 groups. Stuff to do NOW (get it running and pass inspection). Stuff to do real soon (or else you might break down or worse). Stuff to do sooner or later when you have the time, money or the whim.

NOW:
- Transmission cooler leaking. (we'll presume he means the obviously broken hose)
- Set the timing
- Balanced the carbs.
- Head lamp switch out of place. (check for wiring problem)
- All fuel lines are dry, rotted.
- Sway bar bushings are rotted.
- Steering damper is bad.
- Front and rear brake rotors are rusted solid.
- Front and rear brake pads stuck in calipers.
- Right front wheel bent.
- Drivers side mirror glass is broken.

Soon:
- All fuel lines are rusted (boil & coat the tank).
- Motor mounts are bad.
- Upper and lower radiator hoses are dry rotted.

Someday:

- Severe rust out at critical locations on under body.
- Fan clutch and blades are bad. (a warm weather problem)
- Subframe mounts are bad.
- Transmission tail shaft seal is leaking.
- Differrential pinion seal is leaking.
- Rear bumper is loose and rusted. (Unless shop says do it now)
- Right side marker lens is broken.
- Right side head lamp lens is broken. (I hope you mean frame)
- Left rear tail lamp lens is cracked. (bad?)
- Right rear marker lens is not right one.
- Right front door latch sticks.
- Left front window regulator broken.
- Turn signal switch will not hold.
- Water leaks at rear window.


I believe that this division of trouble is accurate. Anybody think it should be ordered otherwise?

The worse news, is that the only things you can do right now without purchasing parts is the stuff you knew about before, setting the timing and balancing the carbs and replacing the hose.

The single most expensive task will be the major brake job. That's between 100-300$ for parts, plus the labor and expertise.

-CTH

[bachlauter]

Yeah....I asked them to fix the transmission cooler hose FIRST...then said that I wanted the timing set and the carbs balanced...I also DID want to know what the car would need to pass the safety inspection....so..they did the inspection FIRST, then decided that the car is JUNK and it didn't make sense for them to continue with the other work.
When they called...they were basically through with the car FOR GOOD. The man EXAGGERATED the above list to sound 50 times WORSE, so I didn't see the point in saving it either. HE said that " the ENTIRE underbody is COMPLETELY rusted out and it'd would need the ENTIRE undercarriage COMPLETELY rebuilt, which would be 5-6000$..." Meanwhile, from what I can tell from the mechanic report, it's just specific LOCATIONS...."...and we need you to pick up your car IMMEDIATELY....oh...why don't go ahead and pay over the phone with a credit card.." They didn't even want to DEAL with me...So, by this time I was so offended and let down that asking them to continue working on the car wasn't an option...


So..mechanically, I don't have a CLUE....STILL...as to what is wrong with it.

I want to keep it and little by little try to work on it...but I'm having serious doubts that I will be able to..

~Christy

CTH

Id' move the subframe bushings up a group to soon. They make a car handle nasty in a side wind (like mine) and throw off the alignment (tire wear etc.) liveable but I'd have mine done if I could get into my garage.

Christy

ask around for a good mechanic sounds like this guy didn't want to do the work for whatever reason and looked for an out. Hell this guy didn't even try to sucker you into some of the fixes. There are good wrenches out there.

[ctaylor738]

Sounds to me like you ought to let this one go. The frame rust, completely shot brakes, and a worn-out engine are the killers. You will spend thousands of dollars that will add very little to the value of this car.

There are cars out there for $1000 - $1500 that will make a lot better starting point. Take what is good off this one (like your beloved carbs and distrbutor - maybe the engine and transmission and do a rebuild), junk the rest and move on. Find one that you can add value to with your own labor, using what you've learned from this one.

You go girl!

Chuck

Seems like a shame to junk it yet when there is so much that you could learn about the car just by taking it apart. The reason that I got the rusty 250C was to learn how the car was built...without great expectations of having it run for very long. I think that if you look at it form this perspective, the least you could get out of this car is the knowledge needed to do a really nice resto job on a more solid car when the time comes. I don't know if you are as crazy as I am when it comes to reading the manuals, etc., but every so often something begins to make sense and I get to see what the problem really is. This kind of information is not available anywhere. It just takes hands-on experience. How was I to know that my coupe would be running a year later? As far as brakes are concerned, it is easy to learn how to replace your rotors, calipers and pads, and even the master cylinder. I just did a complete front brake job and it cost me 100 dollars in parts and my time. It is not hard to find rebuildable calipers out here in AZ that are not rusted or siezed. The car stops on a dime and does not squeal. And now I want to disassemble the engine!!! It is supposed to be a hobby, remember?

If you insist on trying to bring it back from the dead:

1. The rust-out really concerns me, both from a structural safety standpoint and as potential entry sites for exhaust gases into the interior. Pittsburgh is not known for balmy winter weather, and people still die from CO poisoning while sitting in idling swiss-cheesed vehicles with the windows rolled up. If you have any serious thoughts about reviving this car, have a good body shop evaluate it from these perspectives, NOW.

2. On a related note, make sure the entire exhaust system, from the engine/manifold gaskets to the tailpipe is PERFECTLY airtight. The only open hole should be the one under the rear bumper.

3. I would move the fuel line replacement and tank boiling/coating from the Soon to the NOW column. Why spend five seconds tweaking finicky Zeniths when you can't even guarantee that the fuel is contaminant-free? Rust flakes have a terrible time clearing filters and jets.

4. What exactly is wrong with the fan blades? If they are bent or cracked, I wouldn't be comfortable driving the car for long. I sure as hell wouldn't be under the hood in their vicinity.
I think this may be a NOW column candidate.

5. I think I would promote the subframe mount repair to the Soon column at a minimum. If this was my car, I would actually push it up to the NOW column, joined by the motor mounts. To me, these are safety issues.

I still think you are going to sink a ton of cash and sweat equity into this car and not be fully satisfied with the result. If you are enamored with this model, leave yours in the garage, don't touch it, and save your money for a better foundation (car) for a restoration. Right now, your car is at best a parts car.

[bachlauter]

I agree!

This IS a hobby....I'm NOT trying to make this car like new or anything and I've never had any expectations of it running for 10 years...I'd just like to get a couple of years out of it...

The brake job is severe, but it's one that I would attempt...one wheel at a time...

The steering dampner does NOT seem like a fun or easy job....nor does replacing all of those mounts....EEEEEEE!!

and what's involved with the hole repair?? ASSuming that I CAN patch it..does that require WELDING?? Rivets?????

And THEN...if I DO fix this stuff...I STILL have a bad engine...Chuck DOES have a point.....but Chuck, buying a new (old) car is not an option for me...THIS is the car I've got....and it's NOT even a coupe (aka: not valuable)....but I like it.....if I try to UNLOAD this car as/is....what could I realistically get? 300$ if I'm lucky??
That's not gonna get it...I'm gonna be paying for this car for the next 5 years, whether I dump it or not...so I think I HAVE to keep it as a hobby.

Maybe I should just move to OHIO where a safety inspection isn't required.... :p

~Christy