Stopped by my mechanics yesterday for some hubcaps, and he came out to see the new wagon, the '85. Then he said something interesting:
There were two types of engines made for '85 300D's. One you sneak away from, and one you RUN away from.
He said the multitude of vacuum wasn't that big of a deal, but that it is a 'year model specifi'c engine, thus hard to find certain parts and/or engine itself. Something about some amount of electronic control, like crank positioning sensor, etc....
Also, and I test drove one of these, the "run away from" '85 is the one with the small air cleaner right behind the passenger side headlight area.
I'm now curious as to the differences between these two engines, and also these versus 82-84 (or 81 on wagons).
Everyone has an opinion, and his is based on having to work on them I guess. Any feedback?

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

The one with the small airbox is the California model w/ trap oxidizer. That one to me is not as preferable as the Federal model, since you may end up paying to replace the trap ox even though it is supposedly covered under a recall.

I always heard that the '85 300D was the w123 diesel to have due to the inclusion of a vac amp to smooth out shifts and a taller rear end ratio for lowered RPMs at highway speed. Don't know and first I've heard about any electronic doo-dads in the engine compartment. Never had any trouble finding parts for my car either.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

There is some discussion regarding the difficulties on the 1985 California version. The members who have this engine have mentioned some "problems" in getting it to do what is expected. Fuel economy isn't so great either.

Apparently, it's a unique beast.

I think the 85 model had a different make turbo installed on it... so junkyard replacement of that is harder to find...but I think it is still rebuildable if not blown to pieces....

For what its worth - My federal '85 300D has a kkk turbo on it.

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Rob M
Norwich, VT USA
1980 240D Euro delivery 4 speed manual silver/blue
~160K miles

I have an '85 Cal-spec OM617 sitting in my shop. The turbo has an ARV valve (like the OM603), the IP has a rack position sensor bolted to the side, and it has the trap/catalyst plumbed into the exhaust, but other than that it's the same base engine. The air cleaner is wayyyy more expensive, but is a superior design and configuration IMHO. As with the other versions, it's imperative that you defeat the EGR setup, or you get an intake full of this .

KKKs are better for city driving and Garretts are better suited for the highways. They are interchangeable from my understanding, although a previous post makes me think only with Federal models, unless you want to change out the IP and airbox and intake too.
Garretts don't spool up until around 2100 rpm while the KKKs spool up a lot sooner but peter out sooner than the Garretts.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

I specifically looked for an 85 federal version, it has all the improvements made over the years. The engine is pretty much identical to all the 82-84 engines.

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1985 300D Turbo ~225k
2000 F350 (Powerstroke) 4X4, SWB, CC, SRW, 6spd ~148k
1999 International 4900, DT466e (250hp/660 ft/lbs), Allison MD3060 ~73k

The reason an Indy might want to run from an '85 Calif model turbodiesel is because the factory has been replacing trap oxidizers in them under a campaign that calls for free replacement under no charge to the present owner of the car, provided it needs that type work (which can be as short as every 15K miles AFAIK). Thus if an Indy charged you for working on a sick engine that happened to have a plugged up trap then found it cost $1200 for factory specific components and sent you to the dealer the indy might catch hell from the owner when they discovered the factory would have done it for free. Worse yet, the dealer might not perform the work at no charge if they discovered someone had removed the trap or done anything around the turbo recently, and the owner would have to ante up for sure.
MBNA dealerships maintain a national database of the last work performed under this campaign, and will tell you what the records say if you contact the service manager.

I went out of my way to find a non-Ca '85 300TD. They do run very well, the '85 is the car to have, as d.delano pointed out the smooth shifting and taller gear ratio in the differential make for a nice cruiser.

That said, I have heard the transmissions used with the '85s are a bit weaker than the earlier ones, they are conmsiderably different and I would think that a good used tranny from an '85 might be a lot harder to find if you needed one. OTOH the lack of the stupid Airfilter bracket is a plus in my book, even if airfilters for the CA car cost $25, the housing isn't going to come loose when that bracket fails from fatigue and leaves you with a rattle trap that sounds like an old MF (Massey Ferguson) tractor.
And then there's the VDO tach module, it was replaced in '85 with the electronics moved to an emissions module located behind the glovebox (more reliable for the tach function but who needs the EGR stuff? - disconnect it! for testing purposes of course! )

1971 220 (gas) 4-spd manual 106441
1979 300TD w/ ’85 turbo engine 298446
1983 300D 244626
1985 300TD 226868
1987 300D 262300

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Interesting. My tach doesn't work, so I guess if I do a search for issues with them, unless '85 specific, probably won't apply to mine?

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John