I just had to share this extraordinary coincidence...

This past weekend all THREE of our cars were rendered inoperable at the same time!! Unbelievable, huh? Here's the breakdown...

1. MY wife's VW Beetle TDi started having transmission problems Friday afternoon - I called our mechanic and he recommended towing it in just to be safe - would not want to burn out the clutch or something if we cold avoid it. So that meant staying OFF the road all weekend. Fortunately it was just overdue for a transmission service. New fluid and filter as she's back on the road.

2. My 350SD developed electrical problems that turned out to be a bad alternator. It is in the shop for a new alternator and a few other fixes, but rendered immobile nonetheless. The repairs should be done today, so hopefully I'll be back on the road this evening.

3. My backup vehicle ('94 Plymouth Grand Voyager mini-van) had a dead battery that needed a jump. Once that was done, I drove it all day and then in the afternoon used it to deliver some new oil to my mechanic so he could do an oil change on the 350SD while he has it. When I walked out of his shop, I noticed that the front driver's-side tire was very low. I jumped in and drove straight to Sam's Club (very close by) to get it checked. By the time I got to Sam's Club and talked with one of their people, the tire was nearly dead flat - just enough air in it to pull it into their bay. The tire had a huge gash across the shoulder that was unrepairable, so I had to buy a new tire. Fortunately they had one on sale that would suit my needs for $47.

All-in-all I got off pretty easy since nothing was a really huge problem - although I am sure the bill for the 350SD is not going to be pretty. I don't mind too much since the two diesels don't cost us much on a regular basis since we run them on WVO - we had repair costs like this when we drove gassers, PLUS We were paying for gallons and gallons of gas all the time! I just couldn't believe all this happened over 4 short days!!

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Autos:
1991 350SD 276,000 miles
2001 VW Beetle TDI 115,000 miles

Horns:
1955 Selmer Mark VI Alto (55,xxx)
1958 Selmer Mark VI Tenor (85,xxx)
1964 Selmer Mark VI Tenor (125,xxx)
1967 King Super-20 Tenor (430,xxx)
2002 Selmer Series III Soprano

For Jazz Saxophone enthusiasts - check out my website...
www.RustyBlevins.com

good excuse to look for vehicle #4

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Yeah, what are the odds of FOUR cars dying at the sametime? It's got to be astronomical!

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

gotta start turning a wrench Rusty. The alternator on the SD is definitely a DIY job and well within your abilities. A new alternator bought online shouldn't go past $150-$200.

Personally I couldn't afford to own my MB's if I didn't do 99.9% of the work myself (scratch that...100%).

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1982 300TD 210K miles ("The Replacement" aka "The Anvil") - SOLD
1979 300SD 245K miles (never ending project)
2007 Pinarello F3:13
1995 Ducati 916 (SOLD, sniff)
1999 Ducati 900SSie (SOLD)

Reminds me of back when I was heavily into aircooled VWs.

"Why do you have eight cars?"

"So I'll have one that runs."

From one Tenor Sax player to another . . . If I can do it you can too.

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Doug

1987 300TD x 3
2005 E320CDI

Hey, I'm one step ahead of you - or is that many steps behind... one or the other...

Look what just arrived in via UPS just moments ago...



I'm trying to do as much as I can, but as they say... "Rome wasn't built in a day!"
If it's any consolation, I did just replace the floor in our master bedroom - the carpet was old and funky, so I replaced it with nice new wood laminate. It looks great! A huge improvement - and only ended up costing about $500 for a 300 sq. ft. master bedroom since I did the install myself.

__________________
Autos:
1991 350SD 276,000 miles
2001 VW Beetle TDI 115,000 miles

Horns:
1955 Selmer Mark VI Alto (55,xxx)
1958 Selmer Mark VI Tenor (85,xxx)
1964 Selmer Mark VI Tenor (125,xxx)
1967 King Super-20 Tenor (430,xxx)
2002 Selmer Series III Soprano

For Jazz Saxophone enthusiasts - check out my website...
www.RustyBlevins.com

I had an ironically similar situation last weekend. My family owns four cars:
Honda Odyssey (2005?)
Chrysler Town and Country (95/96?)
BMW 525i (1989)
Mercedes Benz 300d (1984)

My mother and sister took the Odyssey out of town to visit friends.
The Town and Country's tranny or tranny computer is shot, it'll drive for a while, throw an error, and stop shifting. Gotta dispose of it somehow...
The 525i needed new front shocks, and the front wheels and supporting assembly were completely removed from the car when the weekend hit.
The 300d was up on blocks with the A/C belt hanging in preparation for a new compressor.


Not so serious as yours, but it was kinda humorous when we wanted to go somewhere and realized, "wait a minute, what can we drive?"

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1984 300DT turbo 138k mi

Still hauling me to school and back.

Handy Site:
http://www.dieselgiant.com/

If all mine break down at the same time, I'm really screwed!

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99 ML320
94 SL600
92 SL500
95 E320 Cabriolet
87 560SEC
86 300SDL Grease Car
80 380SLC Euro

13 Fiat Abarth
02 Maserati Spyder Cambiocorsa
00 BMW Z3
90 Rolls Royce Silver Spur
80 Ferrari 308 GTSI
88 Jaguar XJS12 H&E Edition
99 Land Rover Discovery

Mine all take turns playing 'Hangar queen for a day.'

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

8 MB's and only 2 drive... gotta love parts cars when an alternator goes down!
usually on a MB when the alt goes, it's the regulator/brush assembly, but I don't know about the 91's.
I have 4 daily drivers, two MB's and 2 Chevy's so far so good!

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

It happens, you really need to have the use of at least 2 if not three cars if you are going to drive an old MB. No telling when they will be down for maintance.

Nice Mity Vac, I'm sure your W126 will make you familer with it in short order...

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Sombody once said "if your gona drive old cars, have lots of em"

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

Exactly.

The '87 is down without a CCU.

The '84 is down with the driver's seat in pieces.

And if the 86 breaks??

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200