I got everything back together on my car a couple of days ago. I decided to take it out for a test drive. At about 35 MPH I started getting a scraping sound. I thought it was something rubbing against my front wheel so I took a look. The rubber boot around the driver's side shock is shot and I thought it was rubbing against the wheel. After 5 tries at trimming it up and finally removing it I figured out that it was not the source of the sound.

I still had the power cord for the block heater to put in so I put it up on ramps to do the job and to get a good look under the car to see if there was something loose down there. I didn't put the bottom panel back on the car. (The plastic skid plate like thing.) Apparently it holds the front of the second plastic plate in place. As soon as I got up to 35 MPH the wind was grabbing it and pushing it into the road.

Well, its all better now.

-Jim

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1995 S350D, Green with black leather interior.
Bought January 2008 w/ 233,xxx miles.
I did 22,000 miles during the first year of ownership.

that is usually my luck. I end up replacing something when it isn't even the problem. Oh well, at least it is fixed and you can drive it without any problems.

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1979 240d 216k (W123) Daily Driver
Volvo 245DL 210k

1979 300D FOR SALE
2002 Tahoe 91k FOR SALE

1980 300sd 177k (W116) Sold
1980 300sd Parts (W116) Junked
1979 240D 121k (W123) Sold
1982 300TDT 298K (W123) (Sold)

There is always time wasted when you make a mistake working on your car. Then there is the money factor.

I had a BMW 2002 that I got for $1,000. It ran great and I checked the oil and it was full. I know I should have changed the oil but didn't. Driving around one day and the oil light came on and the engine began to seize. I later figured out that the dipstick had been pushed further into the plastic sleeve cast around it so the oil read higher than it should have.

The worst case for your mistake is buying a new part, but it sounds like the existing one is still useable.

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Doug

1987 300TD x 3
2005 E320CDI

I added a couple of zip ties to it to make sure it would stay in place, even if the front panel was removed. The front panel will still hold it in place, but I figure that if I made the mistake once I could do it again.

-Jim

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1995 S350D, Green with black leather interior.
Bought January 2008 w/ 233,xxx miles.
I did 22,000 miles during the first year of ownership.