after 23,000 miles in a 81 240D 4 speed manual - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

rkerste219 · #1 12-09-2006, 07:57 AM

Purchased late April 2006

History of car: no maintenance records

body 170,000 miles
engine 70,000 - this is an educated guess by old owner
glow plugs and relay system overhauled
some rust in battery tray
some rust on inside of doors, on the bottom

Major work done since April:
new tires
brakes all around
rear calibers

Since end of April 2006
miles driven 23,577 – mostly interstate at 65mph
6 oil/oil filter changes
2 fuel filter changes
2 air filter changes
4 front end alignments
2 valve adjustments
1 power steering filter/fluid change
lowest mpg 24.4
best mpg 34.1
average mpg 30.4

overall comments:
for such a old car, very pleased overall
wish mpg to be higher
1 qtr oil burned per 1,000 miles, lower if I dive 55-60
hate to drive over 65 due to oil consumption
need to check for excessive chain stretch
solid ride down interstate
very comfortable ride,
no cruse control, the amp (I think this is the term) is missing
rear defrost does not work
vacuum leak, only when doors are locked
I can lock doors long after shut-down Can not unlock doors 1 minute after locking (after shut-down)
speedometer and odometer quit working after a bump on the interstate (going over a bridge)
started right up yesterday morning 18 (F)
need to do something about the rust

Bob 1981 240D

t walgamuth · #2 12-09-2006, 08:11 AM

sounds like you have a nice car there.

240ds are one of the finest cars ever built by anybody. probably the highest quality most reliable car ever.

in 20 years now is the first time i dont have any. and it is because i had three extra benzes and just put them all up for sale and of course my two very nice 240s sold first.

and since i put another one on the road recently i now have two extra benzes.

there are worse problems a guy could have.

tom w

SUNRG · #3 12-09-2006, 08:42 AM

why 4 front end alignments? what oil are you running? the CC and rear defrost don't work on my 81 240D 4M either - i'm hoping to fix both.

cheers!

rkerste219 · #4 12-09-2006, 09:52 AM

why 4 front end alignments? when I purchased 4 new tires from Firestone, also got their "lifetime" alignment, so .... every 5 - 7 thousand miles, I have the tires rotated and an alignment for free

what oil are you running? Shell 15W40

Bob 1981 240d

Gurkha · #5 12-09-2006, 10:06 AM

Little bit high oil consumption for a OM616 with such low mileage, believe it or not, OM616/617 start breaking in at 30,000 miles, I have a OM616 turbo in my vehicle and at 68000 miles, have no oil consumption whatsoever, I drive in searing hot weather or ice cold and at varying speeds of around 60mph and occasional 90mph max conditions permitting, I use Delo 400 and have also used Delvac MX, I posted the pictures of my insides on the forum, its quite clean, a testament to Delo, my compression is excellent and my engine starts up at quarter turn in 5C weather here. I suggest do flush your engine with Auto RX and then use Delo 400 or Delvac MX and see what happens.

300SDog · #6 12-09-2006, 02:27 PM

Rust priority..... Deffinitely jump on the battery tray or it will rust through into passenger compartment. Also hood hinge pocket drains should be poked clean. And underneath plastic trunk liner behind wheel wells you have 2 more rubber drain nipples accessible from below that should be poked open. Found 4" of standing water under my plastic trunk liner.

Is it burning all that oil or some leaking? Common culprit is oil filter cannister bracket 3x8mm allen bolts to tighten it up. Also try torquing the pan bolts and replace the rubber valve cover gasket. And under the alloy valve cover you will see a few "stops" that meet the cylinder head, preventing overtightening. These alloy stop bits can be filed down a couple mm to give the gasket a tighter seat.

SUNRG · #7 12-10-2006, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 240Dog

... Also hood hinge pocket drains should be poked clean. And underneath plastic trunk liner behind wheel wells you have 2 more rubber drain nipples accessible from below that should be poked open. Found 4" of standing water under my plastic trunk liner.

i just read your post and went out and cleaned re the hinge poscket drains (thankfully they were already functioning but now they're completely clear).

also, i've been having water get in rear floorboards (area behind the front seats) and i was wondering where this could be coming from? underneath? are there drains somewhere else that may be blocked? any help will be greatly appreciated and i will create a pictorial how-to for clearing all drains on 240Ds / 123s (unless something like that already exists).

thanks and cheers!

300SDog · #8 12-10-2006, 10:20 AM

Yeah those hood pocket drains are ingenius, they channel rain water to wash the wheel well/rocker corners of salt. Have never experienced the phenomenon of backseat floorboard puddles, but have read rear window rubber gasket and/or sunroof drain are suspect.

And another place that deserves rust preventive measures is bottoms of doors from water seeping inside em past window seals. Cheap poorman's fix is to strengthen cracked window sill rubbers with black electrical tape, running a strip full length on each and then wrapped over the lip where the window slides. These are horizontal window sill seals that look like rubber squeegees I'm talkin about, not the verticle fuzzy rubber ones.