What tools to bring to pickup my 280SEL 4.5? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Kurt Smith · #1 12-11-2003, 12:44 AM

Thanks for the responses and encouragement with my new car post this morning. Thinking about this car I have a question to ask of the group.

I am buying this car from an eBay sale and have not seen anything but the pictures. Foolish maybe but it really does seem to be a desert preserved example and the pictures look amazing for what I am paying. Knock on wood.

I am flying down to get it in Reno Saturday. Need to determine if I am going to drive or be renting a U-haul and dolly. Since I am flying by myself I would be too hard to lug a big toolkit but I want to bring enough to poke around and determine if it is up to an 800 mile trip up I-5 from Reno to Seattle.

Can you help me build a short list of tools to bring?

I think I am going to ask the same question at the Phil Smart MB Classic shop by my work and get a fuel filter if they have one in stock. If I can I will try to find a dealer open until 5PM in Carson City or Reno but if I don't I plan to go to a quick lube and have them change all they can and let me look at what comes out.

Here is the list of tools I can think of besides my trusty Victronix leatherman:

Set of metric sockets and wrenches from 10MM to ?
screwdrivers (should I bring allen's or ???)
sparkplug socket (help what size are the plugs?)
big adj. wrench and slip joint pliers (not ideal but good for emergencies)
Flashlight
multimeter
I did not ask about the MB toolkit being in the car but maybe I will before I leave.
If I need tire tools I will buy them before I hit the road and yes of course I will have plastic and cash.

Is there anything funky about checking/replacing tranny and diff fluids?

That is all I can think of right now... please help if you will and thanks.

#2 12-11-2003, 01:22 AM

800-mile trip alone in a 30+ year-old car that you've never driven before? This screams for a U-Haul and dolly, or even better a drive-on trailer. The only smart way to go.

Can anyone provide long-distance towing instructions?

I suspect that the driveshaft has to be disconnected. If so, you should call ahead and ask the buyer to ensure that the parking brake is in good order, as disconnecting the driveshaft renders "Park" useless as a method of securing the vehicle while parked.

Kurt Smith · #3 12-11-2003, 02:24 AM

Yeah Paul I expect you are right but if everything sounds right and smells good I may cut out Sunday morning after driving around Reno some. I have AAA and we are talking I-5.

I am going to see if those drive on U-haul things I have used before are in the area if I can for sure.

Borrowing a pickup up here might have been the ticket but I don't have time to drive down and back and I don't want to pay a hauler.

I could drive it onto my Unimog but it would take 3 days one-way!

Litton · #4 12-11-2003, 08:24 AM

When I bought my 280sel in LA last month, I struggled with the best way to get it to Tucson. Like you, I did a sight unseen but never even took it for a test drive as it was unregistered. Finnally hade it shipped to Tucson for not much more then renting a u-haul and trailer. Plus, I didn't need to go through the Califonia regestration hassle. It think the charge was $500.00 to drop it at a terminal about 3 miles from my house.

Then I just got a 3 day temp registration and drove it home where it has been a garage decoration ever since.

Best tool set I picked up for this project was a Sears "project center" with a 90 piece tool set all neatly imbedded in two drawers. (about $100.00) It has had all the metric stuff I have needed so far and rolls right up to the car for a work surface. Other odds and ends included all the "stuff" for tunning like vac pump, vac gage, dwell/tach, and timing light.

One other thing I finnally did early this week was to vist Fast Lane and order bits and pieces like injector seal, exaust nuts, hoses, and etc. They are cheap but can just kill progress if you don't have them. I think I dropped about $50.00 for a box full of "stuff"

Good luck with your new toy

Dick

#5 12-11-2003, 10:09 AM

.

Tomguy · #6 12-11-2003, 11:03 AM

Gas cans (at least 5gal full of 93 octane). ALWAYS a help if you're in the kind of situation I was last night (I never realized how few gas stations in my area are open at 2:00AM)

300SDog · #7 12-11-2003, 11:25 AM

If car is currently registered and been used as daily driver, why should it suddenly break down?? Maybe provide link to the ebay listing so we know what kinda car you bought...... $500 bargain bucket or $3000 one-owner 108 with service records?

Check the battery, fanbelts, fluids and condition of tires - otherwise just go ahead and hit the road...... 800 miles is an easy distance to drive. Thats just my opinion.

Hell, I'd even bring my own plates and drive illegit if necessary.... just make sure the car is insured first!! Cops care more about insurance than say, issuing $100 ticket for driving unregisitered car to someone who tells them they are just heading home with ebay purchase.

Otherwise, if you gotta tow it - use flatbead style rig that carries 4 wheels off the ground.

Tomguy · #8 12-11-2003, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 240DieselDog
Otherwise, if you gotta tow it - use flatbead style rig that carries 4 wheels off the ground.

Oh, absolutely agree about this one, it prevents any damage to the transmission/rearend. The manual specifically states either (I forget which) not to tow over 50 miles without disconnecting the axle or not to tow at all! (I think it's the latter). When ours had 3 flat tires (bad neighborhood + veterans day + good weather = bad kids looking for fun) we had to have a flatbed of course, but the other time (when the ignition box failed) we requested one because of the damage that might occur to the drivetrain. Not to mention that I just wouldn't want to tow a split-axle vehicle with a LOT of its weight distributed on the rearend, and that the rear of these cars tends to sit low enough as it is without the vehicle being tilted backwards more.

bconrad · #9 12-12-2003, 12:01 AM

If you do drive it back I hope it goes as well as my drive from Reno. I picked up my 72 350 SL and drove it back to Kentucky. Problems, no. Foolish, Yes. Pic of the SL in Wyoming.

PK2 · #10 12-19-2003, 09:25 AM

Have you bought it?

Kurt Smith · #11 01-14-2004, 02:43 AM

Okay so those that said head straight for a trailer with it go to the head of the class! Wish I had listened but it is so tragic you have to laugh at me! I tell you I sure do! Now here is the tragic comedy with photos.

The continuation of the what tools thread came down to this. Since time was off the essence and the guy was picking me up I decided that I did not want to wait for check baggage and so I just go with the "it looks good enough to drive with AAA backup or trailer it."

The adventure starts then the week before xmas with me flying down to Reno to get the car. I get the car and yes it is a dissapointment. The body is quite good. The inspected and everything works description is a lie. The car has ALL the typical age problems and then some. I can't check the heater fan if the controls are all gone now can I. Yes you can start laughing now.

There appears to be so many vacuum leaks (door locks don't work etc.) that is hard to tell how well it could run. The brake booster will give up and pedal will head to the floor if you stand on the brakes for long. It is missing as I drive away. It is an even miss actually even with the vacuum leak I think the new spark plug wires may be crossed. I don't want to get upset because I really wanted one of these cars to take apart and learn about. Mercedes engineering fascinates me and I can't dabble and explore if the it is a car that deserves someone who knows what they are doing.

I decide to drive onto Reno from where I can get a trailer just so I can drive the car. Along the way I stop at a Midas shop to have them do a oil change lube and because their is still time to rent a trailer and truck. This car has not been taken care of too well by the last owner but the there are not bad noises from the engine it just misses like hell and so there is alot of fuel in the oil. The $%^&* that sold me the car gunned it like no tomorrow after starting it to try to blow the miss out or something. I had to smack him to get him to stop. I see no oil smoke at all though just flippin smoke from an idiot flooring a cold car. But it is quite obvious I have to head for a trailer.

Because I am an idiot and still want some adventure I head onto Reno for a U-haul shop there. The car actually drive and tracks quite well aside from the missing. I keep up with traffic and the car needs shocks but the car tracks like it is supposed to actually that is to say better than any other car I have ever driven.

So pulling into Reno all hell breaks loose. The one thing I asked this jerk was if the fuel lines had been inspected. Yes in fact he says he has had some replaced. I can see them but not all of them and what was I thinking. You can answer for me; I wasn't.

I am sitting a light just off 395 headed to the U-haul place I had scoped out and gasoline vapors just assault me. I shut the ignition off immediately. Gas is pouring from beneath the car. Not good since I am in the middle lane of a six lane thorough fare. I can't get anyone to help until a cop shows up and he helps me push it to the shoulder. I have already called for a tow at this point but the best time AAA operator can get is 2 hours! While waiting I call around for a trailer and you got it. The one I had called and talked to just the day before and said they had three car trailers are now all rented.

Since I would play hell pushing the thing onto the trailer I decide to spend the night and have the tow driver drop the car a block from my Motel at a 76 station with mechanics. No they can't get it in tonight the kid tells me but they will have two "techs" in the morning and if it is just replacing fuel line they should be done in the morning. I figure okay I have found a trailer across town that I can drive to. Try to relax and come get the car in the morning.

Morning arrives and get so does snow. Lots and lots of snow. The forecast was for like 20% chance over the weekend when I left for my whole route. Okay now I can miss one day of work but it is now chains required for the Donner. I walk over to the service station to check on the car (luckily I was at least bright enough to pack snow capable shoes) and the young girls tells me the other kid was all wrong. No "techs" are going to be in. Really doesn't matter with as much snow as was coming down I was not going to get a trailer over the pass for who knows how long.

I call a taxi to take me to the airport after leaving instructions about the car with the girl again since oviously the other kid was brain dead. I tell her be sure you note that their is a bad fuel leak. Here is my number in SEATTLE. Yeah, yeah she tells me and my cab is waiting so I take off.

Couple days go by and I don't get a call about the car. I am hoping they won't charge me for storage so I don't sweat it until the about the fourth day. When I call the brain dead kid answers the phone. He says oh... THAT car. "Dude we didn't have a nubmer for you and when the "tech" went to pull it in burst into flames. "Was anyone hurt? How bad is it?" No one hurt he says "but flames shot like 150 feet in the air man". I WANT TO REACH THROUGH THE PHONE AND... Arrgh! "You will have to call back when the manager is here.", he says.

Next day I call back and get the "tech" that caught the car on fire. "What do you want to do?", he asks. I resist telling him what I want to do and have him describe what burned instead. He says that just the sound insulation caught fire and that was the worst of it. He says they got it put out before the wires a fuel likes caught on. I picture it in my mind and remember the insulation. Since I have decided not to let a <$2k car stress me out I tell him I will call back and talk to the manager. The manager did not seem to excited about the fire and so I figure what the hell and ask him what I owed. He says $79 dollars and yes it runs.

Okay a couple weeks go by before I find someone in the Mog group that will haul the car up on a flatbed. I miss the phone calls from them and the car is already in Seattle before I see it. Turns out the car only ran for a few seconds and then died when he was loading it. He winched it on.

Well I have to get back to IT. let me know if you have any "constructive" advice. Yeah I already know I am a fool so that is covered. Here are some pictures of the damage.

If I were to say what about this car probably makes it not worth messing with might be the transmission if not the burnt wireing. I don't know much yet since I have not had hardly any daylight time with it. Oh did I mention that. I does not hold park and the shift got less smooth as it warmed up. Pretty smooth shifts when it started but surged more after driving awhile. The body and interior (if the heater works) could be dealt with pretty easily and had there not been the fire I think the engine was going to be okay. Like I say I haven't even been able to look a bushing and such yet.

Well anyway here is the fire damage. Don't worry this will not rune my life it is just a shame not let these great cars go to junk.

I will include a funny picture of my Unimog too.