1987 300d 147,000 Miles
 

I Just Picked Up A 1987 300d With 147,000 Miles On It With Some Light Front End Damage But Mostly Plactic Is There Anything Specific To Look For And Arethese Cars Prone To Many Problems I See That A Lot Of People In This Forum Seem To Have One In There Stable What Is The Attraction And What Things Should I Do First , I Currantly Have A 1993 300d Also The Car Is From Texas Thanks For Any Imformation Peter

P.s. Sorry For The Caps

The 1987 124 cars as they are known are pretty trouble free. Unfortunately they are not quite as solid as the 123 series IMHO but make up for it in refinement and power. There are two areas of potential problems that come to mind that you should be aware of.

1. vacuum pumps. These have been known to let go without warning and spit parts into the cam chain with catastrophic results. If you are going to keep the car check to see if the pump has been replaced with a later version. There are lots of threads here on the topic but IIRC the newer pumps have rivits on the front cover and the original do not. There are threads here with photos of both types.

2. cracked heads. This is usually associated with overheating but I'm not sure any of us can say that is the only cause. If your head has a part number that begins with 14 stamped on the side under the intake runners you have an original head. Lots of cars, including mine, are still running around with the original head but many others have had problems. Mercedes has made a couple of redesigns and if your head develops cracks you'll need to replace it, it can't be fixed. You'll know if the problem is developing if the cooling system remains pressurized well after the engine is completely cool. Again, there are extensive threads here about the heads on these 603 engines.

All in all the 124 is a great car and the one I prefer for long highway trips. Fix it up and keep it, you'll very probably love it.

Evaporators are also known to go on these cars. The part is not too bad, it is just the 10 plus hours of labor it takes to put it in.

Sunroofs can also be problematic and are quite difficult to fix.

Use the search function and you will find remedies and great advice for all these issues and more. You have come to the right place.;)

one suggestion
 

having a 124.133 also, i say it is sheer joy to drive:D. be able to replace oyur own glow plugs to save oyurself lots of $ and be able to do other services too, like brakes and fluid changes (if oyur into it). there are alot of services with this car that are very doable for the person with even moderate mechanical ability. after having worked on my car many times i am struck at how the car is acutally engineered to be worked on.

tip: if oyur power seems to be lacking, start with checking the overboost solenoid, mine had a cakey black powder in it and it turns out (after replacing the solenoid, $38) it is an entirely differnt car now (i went from 7psi boost to 11). oodles of power now, the car has some suprising zip!

though this diesel has some electronic influence over systems management, it is not omnipresent like the newer ones and as such is very tweekable.

What is an "overboost solenoid"???? Could you give a link to the part somewhere??? I would be interested in knowing more about this.Thanks

here is a pik
 

this is a pik of it, it is also called a 'vacuum change over valve'. standing in front of the car with the hood open, it mounts directly to the right of the washer fluid resivior. it has three rubber hoses going to it (the size of vacuum lines) the top one feeds to the alda unit, the bottom one feeds to a nipple on the intake manifold and the third port at the very top goes to the atmosphere. its function is to shut off the boost pressure to the alda (a device that partly makes a richer fuel mixture for combustion) when a pressure sensor in the intake manifold senses too high a pessure. see the piks for vacuum routing and solenoid location.

Here - all new 1987 300D/TD owners need to read this:

http://www.w124performance.com/docs/mb/articles/124.1x3_buying_tips.txt

:)

great
 

great article, ill give it a reread later...i have had the center vent problem, clogged turbo boost problem, shredded wires in b pillar problem...ill check for more later :1blank:

Thanks For Input
 

thank you for all the input and when i get my hands on the car I will give an update and try to post some pictures is there a walk through for that thanks Peter

Nice...

My car has some issues that are listed here, but all in all I still think I did well. $2,000 for a solid car. I know, you will never find a more expensive MB than one that you bought cheap. I think I threaded the needle on that. Lots of good records. Most everything works as it should. None of the big, expensive issues. But still not a perfect vehicle.

-Jim

You won't find a perfect vehicle but the '87 300D turbo is a well made and great performing car.
And as was said, easy to work on relative to some of the newer models.

Easy being a relative term. I replaced my glow plugs last week. I still do not have the intake manifold back on yet.

-Jim

(By perfect I meant perfect operating condition of that model. Mine needs work. Not the major stuff, but work non the less.)