I did a coolant change on my 85 300SD yesterday, and so I went to both Autozone and Advance to pick up the thermostat, which Advance had, but neither place had the gasket, and couldn't even order it! (I'm am so fed up with Autozone and Advance). So I went to Carquest, and yes they had the gasket. I get everything home, drain the coolant, flush everything, and pull the thermostat. Well, the "gasket" Carquest gave me was nothing more than an O ring, but what goes in this car wraps around the thermostat. I call Carquest, and no, this is the only gasket they have listed for this car Mercedes closed 30 minutes ago. So I put the old gasket back on, but am worried because it was falling apart, but what choice do I have until I can get the proper one? So now once I do get the proper one, I'll have to redrain the system, which really makes me mad after spending $20 on the coolant (bought the Prestone 150k mile stuff). Lesson of the day: Go to Mercedes first from now on.

Let me know where you find the gasket. I had the same problem.

use permatex " right stuff " instead of gaskets or lightly coat the paper gaskets..
you WILL not leak...

I'm going to try the MB dealer in town, if they don't have it I'm sure they can get it. I've been told that at the dealer the gasket comes with the thermostat, so I'll probably have to buy both, which is fine with me because the Stant thermostat I picked up at Advance is worse than the old one I replaced.

I believe the only "gasket" is the rubber O ring that goes around the T-stat. Phil here at Fastlane has the right stuff at a good price. The O ring does not come with the T-stat

For $20 you coulda proly bought Zerex G-05, which is the recommended coolent for your engine. (or the MB coolent)

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

Of course, you could always get your parts together BEFORE the actual moment you decide to do the change.....
As the father of teenagers I'm required by law to say something condescending like that.

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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

gasket should be fine. i recommend not to use any permatex or such with a paper gasket. the wrap around is rubber, and should be ok to reuse, even if it has a small broken place.

yeah ,of course better to start out with all the parts, but if you've never done one before you dont always realize you dont have the right part!

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Hey, there is nothing wrong with going to the dealer for parts. They are not always the 'ripoff' we tend to believe.

You guys need to outfit your survival tool box with a wider variety of generic stuff.... to wit :

One 12 X 18 roll of each of these things:

pressed asbestos

cork

paper

A tube of Red RTV gasket maker.

an exacto knife , pencil

Then when you have a gasket emergency you are prepared.. only head gaskets are not legit to do this way... although small air cooled engine ones can be made from the asbestos.

You can cut these things to match the old gasket, spread as thin a coat of the RTV on each side, let cure overnight... and you have great gaskets...

As an auto parts store owner (Napa), I'll tell you what's widely known in the industry.

AutoZone - worst counter help; low-quality parts; 100% retail sales
Advance - second-worst counter help; low-quality parts: 100% retail sales
O'Reillys - better counter help than the previous two; can get good/great quality parts; 50% wholesale
Napa - usually best counterman; good/great quality parts; 70% wholesale

If the store sells wholesale, then the countermen must have a lot of parts experience because they're trading wits with mechanics. If they sell retail, then the countermen are trading wits with the walk-in (most walk-ins know very little).

Autozone/Advance has always sold junk parts cheaply. O'Reillys sells many of the same stuff that Napa sells, sometimes even cheaper, but with B-C level counterman. Most Napa stores only hire the A players.

So you get what you pay for.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

"Napa - usually best counterman; good/great quality parts; 70% wholesale"

That does conform to my impression over the last 30 years.. including the description of O'Reilly's....

but it is a 6 mile round trip to O'R's...and 60 to my nearest Napa...

The differences in training and knowledge really showed up back in the days of paper catalogs in a 10 foot line... they had to know WHICH catalog to check in ... Sometimes the computer keeps them from finding the obsure stuff... which is usually what I am dealing with...

sure if there are any napas left in lafayette, but i am not averse to buying from autozone or advance. most of the parts i buy there are fine. of course there are many that i just know to buy over the phone from a mb specialist. but if you need something right now it is still nice to walk in and walk out with the parts.... or not.

i used to go to napa. and there were three stores here, but things change. i dont remember ever being able to get much for the benzes there though.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Just to let you guys know, you cannot make a gasket for this thermostat. It's NOT a normal gasket. The rubber wraps around the t-stat, and also has a tab that one of the bolts go through. There is no way you could use anything other than what was originally intended. Also, about Napa, my experience with them is they are the slowest people to deal with. You go in there and they take forever to even wait on you, and if they are already waiting on someone else you will have a very very long wait. Also, I avoid NAPA and Carquest because they don't have prices on anything that's on their shelves. I won't buy something if I have to first ask how much it is. I think NAPA will eventually die a slow death, because they are so unwilling to change. If they would clean up their inventory, spruce up their stores, put PRICES on everything, and teach the counter staff how to be personable, then they could be a big as Autozone. Most people don't care about quality of a part, they figure all parts are pretty much the same.

You are referring to the outer seal .... the one to the block can be made.

No, it's all one piece.