Diamond or Lemon? 87 300 SDL, 600 mile drive to get it home... - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

dkveuro · #16 06-27-2006, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeglassdriver

.....................................It has been sitting for most of 2 years until recently.) The current owner says that it starts quickly, runs well and has never overheated, but he can produce no service records or documented oil change records. I have a compression test and inspection scheduled before I pick it up, but here is my question...
........................................................................Assuming everything checks out with the compression, what do I need to do before I drive it back?

I'm excited, but a little worried. I'm over my head a bit.

If you have any thoughts, thanks in advance!

Lafayette (soon to be a proud SDL owner!)

Well, I service a few of these 86/7 motors and have to say they are as reliable as servicing can make them.

The car rusts at the rear of the front wheel arch.
The engine is prone to head cracking, although the last one I did had 179,000 miles on it.

Another lost the oil pump due to picking up a small metalic part that locked the pump and took the engine out too. (1 mile or so, at 70 mph.)

Another is running great at over 200,000 miles and what's more I have yet to have one with a blown tranny....although it does happen, I'm told.

Reaction rods pound out the socket assembly at the body mount....not so difficult to renew....kit form from MB specialist....but after, the car needs MB to set the alignment.

Engine mounts are still frail.

Mufflers last well, unless near the sea.

Should have had the refit for the trap oxidizer done already...

A/c compressors do NOT like refitting to R134A as it seems to ruin the compressor front seal on origonal equipment.

Seat switches act up a lot as does the window lifts.

Heavy car, but runs good ....as long as turbo puts out.

Hard on front brakes if a lot of town use.

Aprt from that as reliable as any car in my opinion...especially concidering it's age.

Remove radiator cap 'cold'....any residual pressure means combustion gases in the coolant system......start engine after replacing the rad' cap and ANY increase in hose pressure within 30 second, indicates signs of head problems.

I would deactivate the EGR valve.....these engines plug up the intake real bad as they age...especially if they are slow driven.

If you can afford a couple of thousand in preventive service the next 12 months, it's a good buy.

I would suggest an oil change before you set off in it too....fast lub' place of your choosing.

.

Dervman · #17 06-28-2006, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich300TDMBZ

Hi Dervman:
I know this is getting off this thread, but I have the same problem with my AC. I was able to get the compressor clutch off, but I could not get the replacement one in. There is a little magnet that will not stay in place. Now I havre no AC, and it is hot out there

HELP.

Not sure I can help you as I had the work done by an M-B specialist in Austin before I picked the car up (I didn't fancy driving 1640 miles in summer heat with no A/C

).

I do know there are a couple of different Clutch Assembly types for the SDL, but from my limited experience the electro-magnetic clutch portion should be part of the assembly and not loose as you describe.

dieseldiehard · #18 06-28-2006, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkveuro

Well, I service a few of these 86/7 motors and have to say they are as reliable as servicing can make them.

The car rusts at the rear of the front wheel arch.
The engine is prone to head cracking, although the last one I did had 179,000 miles on it.

Another lost the oil pump due to picking up a small metalic part that locked the pump and took the engine out too. (1 mile or so, at 70 mph.)

Another is running great at over 200,000 miles and what's more I have yet to have one with a blown tranny....although it does happen, I'm told.

Reaction rods pound out the socket assembly at the body mount....not so difficult to renew....kit form from MB specialist....but after, the car needs MB to set the alignment.

Engine mounts are still frail.

Mufflers last well, unless near the sea.

Should have had the refit for the trap oxidizer done already...

A/c compressors do NOT like refitting to R134A as it seems to ruin the compressor front seal on origonal equipment.

Seat switches act up a lot as does the window lifts.

Heavy car, but runs good ....as long as turbo puts out.

Hard on front brakes if a lot of town use.

Aprt from that as reliable as any car in my opinion...especially concidering it's age.

Remove radiator cap 'cold'....any residual pressure means combustion gases in the coolant system......start engine after replacing the rad' cap and ANY increase in hose pressure within 30 second, indicates signs of head problems.

I would deactivate the EGR valve.....these engines plug up the intake real bad as they age...especially if they are slow driven.

If you can afford a couple of thousand in preventive service the next 12 months, it's a good buy.

I would suggest an oil change before you set off in it too....fast lub' place of your choosing.
.

I would avoid JiffyLube otherwise everything is right on. Add one point, the Vacuum Pump must be replaced if its the old version. The new version has 4 torx-head bolts holding the cover on.
The small metal parts that lock up the engine or oil pump (and locks up the timing chain in my experience) probably came from the vac pump.

dkveuro · #19 06-28-2006, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

I would avoid JiffyLube otherwise everything is right on. Add one point, the Vacuum Pump must be replaced if its the old version. The new version has 4 torx-head bolts holding the cover on.
The small metal parts that lock up the engine or oil pump (and locks up the timing chain in my experience) probably came from the vac pump.

Thanx for the endorsement Dieseld'........

I would say, the vac' pump is number one cause of oil pump lock ups too....one thing I did omit was, the belt tensioner shock assembley...they'll make a lot of noise at idle and sound like the a/c compressor clutch is failing.....simple test is to push down on tensioner arm and see if noise goes away.

About the 'Iffy Lub' outfits...They all carry 'Stupidity Insurance'...prove they killed your engine...with the aid of an independent engineers report, and they pay the bill.

Not many shops in 'general repair' busines can say/do that.

.

dieseldiehard · #20 07-15-2006, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkveuro

Thanx for the endorsement Dieseld'........

I would say, the vac' pump is number one cause of oil pump lock ups too....one thing I did omit was, the belt tensioner shock assembley...they'll make a lot of noise at idle and sound like the a/c compressor clutch is failing.....simple test is to push down on tensioner arm and see if noise goes away.

About the 'Iffy Lub' outfits...They all carry 'Stupidity Insurance'...prove they killed your engine...with the aid of an independent engineers report, and they pay the bill.

Not many shops in 'general repair' busines can say/do that.

.

When the Vac Pump locks up it locks the IP. The small bits and pieces probably get into the oil pump. I saw what it did to one engine. Bad news! You couldn't turn the crank come hell or high water.
re: Iffy Loob/Jiffy Boob
Well, they must have lost a lot of engines and paid out too much $$ under that insurance because some Iffy Lubes in So CA have a new policy: They No longer accept Mercedes diesels for service! What do you think caused them to adopt that?

eyeglassdriver · #21 08-03-2006, 12:07 AM

Well, I picked up the car yesterday. Flew down with a socket set, air, oil, and fuel filters in a duffel bag (along with my satellite radio receiver, a Valentine radar detector, and GPS.) I landed at 10am with the thought that I would be on the road back to Atlanta by noon. 600 miles...what's that, about 8 hours at 90 mph? It was 100 degrees when I got off the plane (cooler than some places in the US this week) but I was excited that I had gotten the AC fixed. By the end of the 600 mile drive, I wasn't nearly as excited.

The car looked good for living it's entire life next to salt water. Ball joints were worn. The driver's seat was worn out, there was rust (passenger side) below the rear window at the trunk seam and about two inches of trunk lip crumbled under the trunk seal. Also some oxidation starting at the back edges of the sunroof (it tapped solid, was just starting to discolor a bit.)

Other than the seat the interior was awesome. (Trim 274) No rips or tears to the leather, the carpet and panels looked great, and the dash was immaculate. The car cranked right up (new battery) pulled strong (tons of black smoke,) and stopped quickly (new brakes and brand new Michilans.) The radio was showing hieroglyphics and the tint was so bad and old that all I could see out the windows was movement, not shapes. So I bought it. Paid $4075 and off I went looking for the dealership that had done all the stamping in the service booklet. I needed the radio code for the drive home, and I figured I'd pay to get the oil changed and see if I could talk the tech into putting it on the lift so I could walk under it.

Well the first dealership couldn't find the tool to pull the radio (???) and without an appointment couldn't fit me in for an oil change, but the service advisor did give me a printout of all the warranty work that had been done on the car (which I found out later was a big no no) and referred me to another dealer in Melbourne, 60 miles up the road. The day was slipping away, but I had made the radio my mission. I topped off with fresh dino and headed up I-95.

Wow the smoke. I cleared a trail about an 1/8 of a mile behind me every time I tromped on the accelerator and I tromped hard. It lumbered up to speed slowly, but moved solidly over all pavement imperfections and felt stable up to 85 when it started to wander a bit. It was still hungry to go when I hit 100, but I backed off, settled in at 90, and let it send the last couple years of low speed driving and sitting out the tailpipe.

The service advisor at Benz dealership was friendly, liked my story and arranged for a courtesy car (with driver) to take me to get a sandwich and to the tag office for a temporary tag. The tech was just finishing the oil when I got back, had installed my filters (oil, air, inline and fixed fuel filters) and threw it up on the lift so we could walk under it. Ball joints were shot. He also recommended thrust bearings and a new steering shock, other than that it was pretty clean. He dropped it off the lift, reprogrammed the radio, and I hit the road once again (still 580 miles to go) six hours later than I had hoped, but the AC was blowing fairly cold, I had some good tunes pumping and I started making time...

See, I'm actually building up to a question, because something happened that I've never encountered with any car I've owned. I ended up getting a hotel that night in Jacksonville because I ran out of daylight and discovered that the headlights weren't working (just a fuse I think) but all of the shops were closed and I had been up since 5am. As I pulled my duffel off the floorboard from behind the pasenger seat I noticed that the bag was a little wet. After inspecting, the carpet was damp in a couple spots and completely saturated under the seat. I dried it best I could with some towels from the hotel and racked out.

I pushed it pretty hard today, averaged about 85 mph, then got stuck in a backup outside of Macon, GA. As I braked to a stop, the engine cut off. It started right back when I turned the key, but the oil pressure was rising and falling with the tach's RPM's, and the temp gauge had risen to 90 or so. I decided to pull into a gas station and let it cool down a bit when I noticed it...the carpet on both floorboards were saturated with hot water. Not only behind the passenger seat, but from the firewall back and in a puddle under my heel.

I popped the hood and checked the oil. It was right in the middle. I took a towel to the the radiator cap and it immediatly boiled over, so I twisted it back shut and looked under the car. Other than the radiator, no fluid. No oil,
but also, no condensation dripping.

So, I finally made it home a couple hours ago. The car is in one piece, but the water has me baffled. I pulled the floormats. Saturated, with the passenger side showing signs of previous water damage to the bottom. I shop-vacced up everything I could and let the floormats hang outside (wow. they sew those things to a lot of foam) So here's my question...

Anyone else had this happen to their W126? It was not coolant. The AC had been worked on the week before I bought it (it had already been converted to R134A), but I didn't drive through any rain, and when I pulled everything out of the way the water looks like it is flowing from the firewall area. Is there a AC drain that could be plugged? Will run it today with no carpet and see if I can identify the source,,,

jwhughes3 · #22 08-03-2006, 03:43 AM

It sure sounds to me like AC condensation that isn't draining properly. I'm not familiar with where to look on your car, but I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that's what caused your flooding.

Sounds like it is still a good deal at this point though!

John

BobK · #23 08-03-2006, 03:02 PM

According to the manual, there are two condensate drains on the evaporator housing. One one each side and it looks like they exit thru the transmission tunnel on either side. Might want to remove the lower panels under the dash and see if you can find and check them. I usually run an old radio antenna whip up in drains (Ball end first) to try to clear them. Still, if the water was real hot, I would be concerned that you were losing coolant. I think my '86 SDL is starting to leak. It's going to get a new evaporator eventually anyway so I'll probably do both cores at the same time.

jrgslg · #24 08-03-2006, 03:31 PM

First of congrats !!! Glad you made it home safe and car is in one piece.Its just like any other used car,its going to take some time to get it sorted out,and yourself to get familiar with it.Man I dont know about the water,no coolant loss right ??? It seems it would have to be the a/c if there was no coolant loss,does it puddle water under the car when the a/c is on.Maybe its a drain thats clogged for the evaporator.How was the milage on the trip ? Johnny

crashone · #25 08-03-2006, 07:53 PM

definately check the consation drains, my 300sd had some water in the front that was from an old drain that crumpled when I pulled on it. I replaced it with some clear plastic tubing that fit over the drain nipple perfectly. Hope this helps.

Hatterasguy · #26 08-03-2006, 07:56 PM

Sounds like a bit of an adventure!

How is the smoke now?

eyeglassdriver · #27 08-04-2006, 02:45 PM

The smoke cleared up after 2 hours (or 200 miles, not sure which came first...

) I filled up about 10 miles into the trip, and got 420 miles on the first tank, 1/4 of which was year-old (or more) diesel and I filled up before I hit the reserve. Those were lead-footed highway miles, so I'll see how the highway treats it at 80-85 instead of 90-95. I found a guy that can rebuild my seat who is next door to a tint specialist (the tint is pretty bad on this beast: you can see in but not out) who is next door to an independant Benz/BMW shop that gave me a good quote on the lower ball joints and thrust bearings. One stop shopping! I cover 6 states with work, and average 1000 miles a week. I want to turn this into my road car so they will have a couple weeks to work on it before I get back off the road. Hopefully to a brand new car!

eyeglassdriver · #28 08-04-2006, 02:58 PM

Oh, yeah. Headlights still aren't working (along with the condensation soaking the floorboards) so I bought 30 fuses and some 5/8 tubing. Going to change all the fuses out and see if I can get to the condensate drains and see what is going on. The sunroof isn't working either. Maybe it will after the fuses. I'll keep you posted.

brandlj · #29 08-04-2006, 07:05 PM

It is probably your drains from the A/C. On my 86 300sdl, I had a wet floorboard on the drivers side. When I pulled everything out on the drivers side you could see water had been under there for a while. I dryed everything up and looked at the drains coming from the A/C unit. There are two, one on each side of the center tunnel. Mercedes used a foam tube with a wire coil in it to keep it from collapsing. The foam gets old and brittle and it literally crumbled in my fingers. I pulled all the old stuff out and check on new drain hoses from a dealer. They are still made of the same foam and wire coils. I decided to use some rubber hose I had laying around. It actually was a sunroof drain hose from a 1990 Volvo 740. It fit perfectly and had the consistent rigidity to withstand the bend it makes going through the transmission tunnel. I cut it a little long so it fits down on either side of the tranny and ends below the bottom of the tranny. It has been one year since I did this and it is working great! All of the condensate from the evaporator goes right out the hoses and onto the ground, not onto the floorboard. Be patient when you take all of this apart. The plastic pieces for the rear seat heat and all of the little parts get fragile.
John
86300sdl in hot, humid, NE Louisiana