New to me '85 300CD pics and ?s - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

TWeatherford · #1 08-01-2006, 07:43 PM

Here are some pictures of the 1985 300CD that I bought through the cars section of this forum.

It has just over 250K on the odometer which works. All in all I am very pleased with how its done so far and the overall shape of the car. The previous owners I believe took good care of it, lots of work done in the last year (like a new rear axle). I took it in to a local Mercedes mechanic and he looked it over for me quickly (had four cars in the shop already). He could tell from 10 feet away that the vacuum pump was shot. He has one sitting on a low mileage motor right now that he'll give me for $100, plus $25-30 labor with me watching. We're also going to figure out why the blower motor isn't working. He lent me two CDs for the 123's and gave me the little plastic cover for the "clutch bolt" on my sunroof motor, which with a little fiddling started working.
The AC compressor is siezed, which evidenced itself on my drive home when I heard a horrible noise from the engine, lost power, and got some smoke. It would come and go and I couldn't figure it out, but once I lost the belt all has been good. It has been retrofitted to R134a, oh well its cheaper. The cruise doesn't work (the fuses are good). One thing that bugs me is I have lost turn signals entirely, and the lights stay in the bright mode unless I pull the switch back a little. The rear windows don't work, neither does the passenger window (although it pushes up and down). The passenger side wiper works some, the drivers just wiggles a little. The previous owner gave me a new wiper arm that connects the wipers to the motor, hopefully that will fix it. He was also very kind and gave me some fuel and oil filters, a window regulator, and a used ignition switch.
Three of the wood pieces in the dash have fallen out. I figured I would scratch all the crap off the wood and plastic and glue it back in. What is the best glue for the job? And is pledge acceptable to clean it with. Can I use STP rubber/vinyl/plastic cleaner/protectant on the dash?
So thats where I am. I am going to take this Mercedes Mechanics advice since he has helped me a lot already and seems very reasonably priced. I plan to do most of the work on this car in the future. Do you think I could do the wiper arm thing in a day? I'll be going to college soon where I'll have neither a place to do it, time, or the tools handy, and I'd really like to have wipers. What about the turn signal/high/low beams switch? Actually at this point I'm considering buying a parts car if I can talk Dad into letting me park it somewhere (highly unlikely). If I could pick it up for $500 I could probably get my money back out next week.
I'm really glad I got the car, and really happy to have a coupe. Some construction guys where I work were giving me a hard time about driving a benz and I told them that it was four times as old with five times the mileage than there trucks but it drives better now than their trucks and will for years to come when their trucks are yard art. I'll be putting a smokescreen on soon, and converting to vegoil with a self designed but very high quality system. Its tempting to at least blend in this hot weather (just put $53, almost a full days work hauling rocks and mixing cement), but I am determined to never let those injectors see cold oil.
Anyway, sorry for the long rambling post if your still reading, and thanks for the information you've already giving me and any that you will give me.

andmoon · #2 08-01-2006, 07:58 PM

Congrats!
I think you can blend at least 70/30 D/V during the summer.

Jeremy5848 · #3 08-01-2006, 08:17 PM

....two of the doors are missing and there's a hole in the roof!

Seriously, it looks like a nice car. Congratulations. I thoroughly support your decision to use no more imported oil products than absolutely necessary. The problems you describe should not be show-stoppers and you can do much of the work yourself. The a/c compressor is probably the most expensive one.

The wood trim can be glued back on with contact cement. Clean off the back of the trim and the place where it goes, apply contact cement direct from the can with a small brush (or use spray-on but mask carefully). Allow the cement to dry, then press on. You can use Pledge or pretty much any furniture oil on the trim.

I would recommend 303 Aerospace Protectant for the vinyl -- not sure what is in the STP stuff. Don't use Armor-All.

The blower motor failure may be due to worn brushes -- search the forum for threads on that subject, lots of help available. The electronics in the climate control pushbutton unit may also be at fault for that. You can resolder that assembly and have at least a 50% chance of fixing it for free -- search for threads on "ACC or "climate control."

The cruise control module (up under the dash on the driver's side) also gets cold solder joints and is fixable the same way as the ACC -- search "cruise control."

When you get to college, write back to us here and tell us how the girls like the car!

PatricdeBoer · #4 08-01-2006, 09:09 PM

Whoa, I didn't know that the coupes had those kind of locks.

TWeatherford · #5 08-03-2006, 04:38 PM

Thanks a lot guys. I will be researching some cheap DIY repairs for the things you mentioned. Thats a lot of why I bought this car, there are enough enthusiasts that know enough about these cars that you can get any part or find out cheap, simple fixes.

I haven't had any time, but I do plan to bring out the best in this car. After I get the mechanical issues resolved, I'll get it looking like a nice benz. Buff and polish, repaint wheels, dash cover, Peterbilt semi "bull horns" neatly put on the front bumper, shotgun on rack in the back window, smokescreen and Vegetable fuel system. Can't wait to get started.

techguy512 · #6 08-03-2006, 07:29 PM

I recommend you "unretrofit" back to R-12. I just completely rebuilt my system, and if your condenser, evaporator, control units and hoses are good, you can do the whole thing yourself for well under $300 - including the R-12.

Good luck,
Bob
'82 300D

ConnClark · #7 08-04-2006, 11:13 AM

Hmmmm... An 85..... Watch out, with 85's . In the case of my 85, someone tampered with my car one night and disabled the Air Recirculation Valve on my turbo charger. This gave me better power and fuel economy but increased my emissions. 85 owners have a problem with strangers doing this in the night.

TWeatherford · #8 08-04-2006, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ConnClark

Hmmmm... An 85..... Watch out, with 85's . In the case of my 85, someone tampered with my car one night and disabled the Air Recirculation Valve on my turbo charger. This gave me better power and fuel economy but increased my emissions. 85 owners have a problem with strangers doing this in the night.

How do I know if this has been done to my car? How would I fix it if this were the case? You know, I want to learn as much as possible about these cars, so maybe I should do it on purpose so I can "learn how to fix it."

Today I was in town and this kid (I am a kid too) pulled up next to me in a riced out Nissan with loud, big exhaust and a similar sound system. He pointed at my car and laughed, not sure why. I didn't plan to mess with him, especially since my vacuum pump has been going for 1500 miles and is in desperate need of repair (which will happen the next day I drive it, the 14th). But as he started going, rocketing the little crap car up to very high rpms, I was keeping up with him. So I just laid into the gas a little more and went right up to 80. He went fast but in the end just pulled in behind me. I would have loved to give him a little smoke.
So far the girls think its a cool car but can't see me in it. I'm a cowboy who loves big trucks, horses, and guns. They can only see some retired guy in a hawiian print shirt getting out of this car. Whatever, I don't care. I've already got a shotgun in the rear windown. I also got a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit for the little cubby, but when I put it in I barely touched the cover and it broke.

Its just been baked in the sun for too long. Anyway, at least I'm prepared, or will be when I get some road flares.
Thanks again guys. The week I get back from vacation I am going to do a lot of work. Fix a lot of stuff, vegoil fuel system, smokescreen, maybe a new XM radio, repaint the wheels, and a good buffing.

ConnClark · #9 08-04-2006, 05:20 PM

The common technique of ARV sabotage these people do is to plug the ARV hose with a BB or in my case a small computer screw.