Hi all, first post here. There's a 1975 300d for sale nearby that has caught my eye. I was just wondering what things to watch out for in one of these. It's a 5 cyl. inline diesel. I posted in the diesel forum too, but thought here might be good too.

Or so they say....what should I be looking for? And price range would be good, too.


Thanks,
Dunl

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

Greetings. RUST. Especially driver's side, front corner area of floor (jack point). Also check for rust under rear bumper, especially where the bumper mount joins chassis. Also, remove a headlight and check the metal behind. Alberta car may not be near as bad as what we get here in the east for rust, but take a good look.

Cold starting is typically hard, especially if car has original series style glow plugs. You can tell this type of plug if they're connected by "W" shaped heating element wire that actually glows visibly. So don't be scared off by hard cold starting- it is typical, and the glow plug system can easily be upgraded to modern parallel type, with dramatic improvement in starting.

Check the auto trans in reverse- try backing up an incline- any slippage?

Rear end of car may be sitting slightly lower than front- new rear springs may be needed, although this is more of an appearance issue. If sag is severe, the inner tread of rear tires will wear unevenly.

Drive car on a cold day- the speedometer may start howling. If so, the speedo needs to be replaced, or you can idle the car for 20 minutes to warm interior to the point that it won't howl.

Dave

1976 300D

Sackville, New Brunswick

Thanks for the reply....I'm from north of Charlottetown.

Just called about it. It was overheating on them, so they thought it might be the pump. Not the head gasket, because they said that when they bought it the guy mentioned that it had a new head put into it.

However, now it won't run for them at all. Doesn't start. Turns over and everything, but doesn't start. He tried to set the timing three times, but has no luck with it.

And as for starting in cold weather when it was running, he said it just didn't. Sounds like glow plugs.....

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

Ha!! So you're familiar with every variant of Canadian winter!

Check out the glow plug system this way- it most likely has the original setup with series plugs, as few people would realize (unless they're regulars on this Forum) that the new style parallel, or even fast-glows can be adapted to these cars. Make sure the battery is good. Turn on the key to glow, and look under the hood on the driver's side of the engine. Look at the metal wires that interconnect the plugs- the two that are "W" shaped should be glowing dimly (you may need to be in semi-darkness to see this). If they are glowing, the whole system is OK. If not, then at least one plug is burned out.

Another very common cause for not starting in the cold is valve adjustment. As the valve seats age, the valves creep upward, making the adjustment on the cam followers too tight. Valves that are adjusted too tight do not close in time, and compression won't build enough for a cold start, even if the glows are working. Especially if this car has a new head, the valves would have seated in very quickly and would no doubt need adjusting. Normally, it should be done every 50,000 Km. anyway.

The PO was trying to adjust the timing? On these cars, timing and valve adjustments are best left to the pros. There are a lot of DIY'ers on this Forum who would say "piece of cake", but I'd never try it myself. If the PO was the type to fart around with timing adjustment, and didn't know what he was doing, this could have resulted in overheating, warping of the original head (pretty hard, seeing as it's cast iron and not aluminum), and subsequent stupidity, trying to make it all work, if you get my drift. I would NEVER expect for this car to actually need a new head in it's lifetime, unless somebody didn't know what they were doing, or if it lost all coolant somehow.

I would recommend having C$1000 knocked off the asking price, to allow you to get some professional certified Mercedes engine work done. If the body, suspension, brakes, etc and interior are all good, and everything electrical works, I'd go for it, but no more than C$1500. Then get it towed to a pro to get the engine set right. You won't be disappointed.

Dave

That's an accurate assessment on injector pump timing. It requires specialized tools and generally gets done to accomodate timing chain stretch. The sort of thing you do each 180k miles or so, NOT exactly a regular maintenance item like adjusting valves each 20k miles. And if timing is off the engine will be hard if not impossible to start.

Loop style glow plugs are obvious when they've burned out the loop end is burned through. Tie breaker on these cars is always condition of the body. With diesel engines they either run or they dont. Compression is the critical factor and should be at least 275 lbs per cylinder. You should have the compression checked.

Its an interesting time of year to be buying a diesel. All sorts of factors can occur like gelling of fuel and blockage of fuel flow through filters.

Well, he was asking $1200 CAD, but now he's looking for an "offer, but a reasonable one." He also stated that if he gets transferred, he will be in trouble, as he can't take it with him.

I'm assuming the timing, as he tried to set it three times, but "just couldn't seem to get it." So that might just be it. I just don't know if I want to buy a dead vhicle that can't be ressucitated.

It's also a GOOD time of the year to buy a diesel, if you can identify the problems on a non-running diesel that the seller cannot. I've driven past it, and it's sitting out in the cold - wonder how many problems might go away with it in a garage for a couple of days.....

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

And are you saying the guy has been fumbling with DIY injector pump timing and that's what took it off the road? Heck it could now have all sorts of air leaks in the injector lines too and maybe a couple of cracked tubes and/or stripped threads under the fittings where they attach to injectors. Plus there's always the possibility that he didnt cover exposed injectors with tin foil when repeatedly doing the timing operation, hence even a small bit of dirt could have gotten inside and screwed things up. Also injector seals should be replaced brand new so air doesnt get in, assuming his exporatory surgery could have included pulling the injectors too.

$1200 Canadian or less........ and you're driving past it each day, eh?

If it was me I'd fan about $800 Can ($600 USD?) in his face and be done with it. Then haul the car to a mechanic and get the injector pump professionally timed.

WOW, for that price I'd see what interior stuff works, and If its in OK shape, I'd lay 6 US bills on it and say take it or leave it (I have only 600 though)

What color interior?

Looks like he really botched the head install, and the timing...
Buy cheap, and get it timed to see what your left with, Could EASILY part it out if the interiors decent (map pockets, door panals, wood)

Describe the options it has, power windows? Sunroof? What?
Does every option work? Jeeze Id buy it... Kinda dishearting that a car similer to mine is worthless... BUT im not selling mine, so that MAY be a good thing for me (cheap parts cars)

Check it out again, and see
~Nate

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95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

I'll try to check it out this weekend - seeing as his ad for $1200 was posted in July of last year, it's not going anywhere......

Biggest problem....just laying down $4000 for my 1980 300SD this past September.....

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

Well, just bought her for $200, as he posted it in an ad for a garage sale today.

Time to tow her home and get her working.

__________________
79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

Picture time....











Rust spots....all located at the rear wheel wells, except for the spot on the sunroof....

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

Interior is VERY dirty...









Obligatory engine shot....

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

Thanks for posting excellent pics. I think for $200 thats an incredible vehicle, but would still haul it to a trusted mechanic to sort out whatever the other guy tried to fix. Then after its running with IP timing set up correctly will be easy to maintain.

Thanks. After being incredibly patient and waiting for it to go on the lot, it was my wife who actually noticed it on a garage sale ad in the paper and told me.

1hr later, it was mine, 6hr later, it was home.

As for taking it to a mechanic, I haven't taken my `80 300sd there yet, and I don't plan on taking this one to a mechanic until I know that I cannot fix it myself. For updates,check out this thread:

a challenge for veterans....where to start?

Fixed a minor glow plug problem today (minor - is there such a thing?), but killed the battery. Time to charge and keep moving. Thanks for the help guys, I will be referring back between the two threads until she moves on her own.

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

wow you filthy lucky creature :-) hehe

VERY little rust impressive I wish mine was that nice :-) hehe

I love this car it just LOOKS nice :-) rust or not I am not getting rid of mine :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/