I will pat myself and my SDL on the back it has been running pretty good this year. I have not really fixed anything major (over $100) since the end of April. I took it on a few trips, one 650 mile one back in May and it runs like a top. Next weekend maybe I'll take it up to NY and run another 300 or so on it.

Last year was hard but this year is going great!

249,417 miles today and she still doesn't burn any oil! I almost wonder why they bother to put a dipstick on these!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

So you mean "the rebuild" is not continuing?!

__________________
"I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brillaint blaze
than it should be stifled by dryrot.
I would rather be a superb meteor,
every atom of me in magnificent glow,
than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time."

-Jack London 1876-1916

1983 300CDT (running WVO since 12/05)
1981 300SD (parts car)

Hattie,

That is great. You have a lot to be proud of. Happy motoring.

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Anders

1995 E300
2015 VW TDI Sportwagen 15K
1977 240D (197K)
2002 Subaru Legacy L Wagon (115k) (Wife's)
Gone but not forgotten:
2005 Buick LeSabre
1998 C230
1984 300D
1983 240D
1981 300SD
1974 240D
1974 Fiat 124 Spider
1968 Triumph TR250

Wish I could say the same Hattie. I just found out that my AC compressor is toast. Ahh, the vacuuming of my wallet by my MB continues. RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

My 1987 300sdl has 304,000+ miles on it. I have put over 15k on it since I bought it last Thanksgiving. I could have afforded a new car, but I fell for the big old yacht. I'm 6'5" tall, and after experiencing the sdl, I just can't go back to Japanese. My 14 year old son is 6'4" and he can ride comfortably in the rear seat behind me - not many will accomodate things like that lol.

I find myself looking for things to upgrade/repair on the car. No one who sees it or rides in it can believe that it has over 300k on it. Arctic white with burgundy interior, and other than a very small worn spot on the driver seat near the door, the interior truely looks almost new.

So far no major problems, just routine stuff and minor component cleaning. I have found that the wiring connectors need cleaning, and also that most everything appears to be rebuildable to some extent. I did flush the coolant and replaced the 'blade' on the aux. fan (one blade was broken which cause vibration at idle).

The car ran about 10 deg cooler after I sprayed a cleaning solvent onto the radiator on the 'engine side', hosed it off, and then used a 3 foot long extension wand/ blower with a rubber tip (to prevent bending rad fins), and carefully blew dirt out from the engine side. By holding a cloth in front of the car, I could see the stuff being blown out of the radiator fins. I didn't remove anything, just worked around the shroud as best I could. Figured it couldn't hurt. Of course, when I think it is necessary I will pull the rad and do it the 'correct' way, but for now this has really made a huge difference.

The fluid-filled clutch on the engine fan is a weak point from what I can see. I wonder how many have tried their fan to see if it is working 'properly'. I would think it rather rare to have a properly functioning fan-clutch on these cars. Safer to wire the aux fan straight (always on). The fans aren't that expensive to replace - much cheaper than a head lol. This car, btw, has the original '14' head.

Anyway, good luck to you all and I hope that we all go over 500k with no major problems !

How about that sunroof? get that fixed yet

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1980 500SE/AMG Euro
1981 500SEL Euro
1982 380SEL
1983 300TD
1983 500SEC/AMG Euro
1984 500SEC
1984 300TD Euro
1986 190E 2.3-16
1986 190E 2.3
1987 300D
1997 C36 AMG
2003 C320T 4matic

past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350

i feel ya,im almost done rebuilding the front suspension in the sd. other than that i havent had any problems

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

For those people new to the forum...you might mention the COST of your car thus far

300SD...281k+ miles and most expensive parts/time spent so far...oil cooler hoses

Hattie, I think I'm gettin in your shoes though it has cost me and my parents much less than yours has. I'm getting bored enough that I'm retrofitting the rear power/heated seat in. It's taking a lot of work but I think it will be cool when it's done. All that remains is:
-body work (being done next week)
-paint (will probably do it myself at the end of summer)
-recover LF seat back and RF seat bottom (currently on order with a member here)
-replace B pillar covers (torn, on order with same member)
-install an oil cooler and hoses (saving up to buy from a member)
-replace hard fuel and brake lines (sitting in the parts room at work)
-replace front crank seal (next this coming week if I can get the tool on time)

I hope to have all this done by the end of summer when I go away to college. My car will have to stay at home. This list doesn't show some other minor things like power steering flush and filter or rear-end drain/fill.

Thanks
David

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2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

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Oh the rebuild continues I am just putting off the major projects until winter. Since my car will be sitting in my garage from Nov 1 to April 1 I might as well fix things then. This winter I plan on:

Finally pulling and fixing the trans leak. Along with a driveshaft rebuild.
Finish rebuilding the front suspension, including rebuilt steering box.
New rear discs, (cross drilled) new calipers and stainless brake lines.

I also want to pull the head and replace the head gasket along with the timing chain. While I am at it I will seal up every oil leak I can find and rebuild my turbo. Then send the IP out to get rebuilt.

Also I will refinish the wood to like new.

I need to add everything up but I must be over $10k. This will be a $20k car after I go through the body though.

My sunroof is still broke. I need to replace everything up their I am putting that off for awhile. I bet that costs me like $600.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Well, contratulations.

However, it's a sad commentary when making it two months without a $100.00 repair will generate such satisfaction as to warrant a new thread.

But, I'm beginning to understand the exact feeling.

I congratulate you enormously my friend. My 300SD would have ended up being "cheap" to own/run if not for the $4600 I'm digging in to get the front end repaired after hitting that deer. God, it did a lot of damage. Didn't quite look it at impact. The price tag is very high, but after looking around for a replacement 300SD of similar mileage and condition for about two weeks I've decided to just bend over and take it in the rear like a man - dig in the money and fix it. And since I'm insisting on not going into debt over this, my S350 rebuild project has been put on hold indefinitely.

Hey your car's wheels will look ultra sharp after you put in the cross drilled rotors.

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver

Richard I hear you, whacking a deer is a major worry of mine as well. My area is loaded with them and they do tons of damage.

I need to figure out what to coat the new rotors with before I install them though. From the pics the Zimmerman(sp?) rotors look like plain steel. Maybe I could use some high temp paint on part of them to prevent rust.

But they are going to look sick!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Oh yeah man, I never knew the damage would be so severe. I just told my girlfriend that our December vacation plans are off since the money for this repair has to come from somewhere. She didn't take it lightly. Oh well. What makes me so mad is the fact that I had just removed full coverage insurance from the car before it happens. Life really is full of lessons. I'll never have a car without at least comprehensive insurance from now onwards (at least if the car is worth it - my insurance company pegged the value of my 300SD at $4K-$6K so I really should never have done what I did).

Make sure to keep us all updated with the progress on that 300SDL. Pics will always help.

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver

That's what I did with mine (run the aux strait) and it runs at 80 to 90 all the time even with the a/c on. My fan clutch is also bad and just dont have the time to replace it lately

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87 300d Turbo 241K with original #14 head (blue)
87 300d Turbo 198K will run great again someday (silver)
84 300sd sold ( buyer drove it to Paraguay )