Hi all,

I'd like to introduce myself to the community. My name is Bob from the San Gabriel Valley area in So California. I'm also a moderator of a Toyota truck forum called UltimateYota.com, a site dedicated to Toyota truck and SUV enthusiasts, so yes, I do know a thing or two about searching first

I picked up my blue, 20 yr old 87 300D Turbo about 2 weeks ago. It is an ebay purchase from a guy out in the midwest---no discussion of pricing as invariably, someone will say "You got ripped!" and i dont want to hear it (b/c frankly, i think i got a good deal ). This is my first Mercedes and my first diesel vehicle, so this is a brand new world for me. I have every intention of turning it into a WVO vehicle as I strongly believe that this is something worthwhile for many different reasons.

I've had about 10 days to really look over the vehicle, and for the most part, I am satisfied with the purchase and the vehicle. As I do not have a very big garage to work in, I took it to a local shop (who I did not like but will remain nameless) for a diagnostic, and they provided me with the following:

1) the belt tensioner is misaligned and the belt shock (dampener?) is worn
2) the suspension bushings, tie rods, etc need replacing
3) tires are bald (i knew that already)
4) shocks need replacing
5) 1 headlight has a tiny hole in it and plastic knob that secures it from the top is missing
6) AC vents are all broken
7) rust damage underneath the bottom edge of the driver's side. the area that i am speaking of is the area where you can jack up the vehicle (that hole). rust seems to have damaged the entire length. i'll need to examine the rust issue more this weekend.
8) small leak in power steering pump

there are some other things i discovered:

1) there's green coolant in there! i'll be replacing it with the mbz orange coolant
2) the nimwit who owned this car before painted the rim's center mbz logo black. i am guessing the father handed down his mercedes to little johnny who attempted to 'personalize' it with a can of black paint
3) busted driver's side visor. it just flops back and forth. i unscrewed it and the plastic support is broken in half. grrr...
4) it's been repainted. nice of the ebay seller to notify me late of htat fact. but it was not a terrible job (some run off and a slight orange peel). but i'm glad he had it painted b/c i certainly would have not or bought one that needed to be painted).
5) Antenna is not working and the bezel nut is torn.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things, but thats what i remember. On a positive note, here are the things that surprised me about the condition of it:

1. the engine runs well, but i think it can be improved. the belt is squealing and i do beleive it is b/c of the tensioner and/or pulley issue.
2. there are no tears in the seats whatsover.
3. everything electrical does run well
4. the AC blows cold---but it does not blow cold like my Toyota or Lexus (10 yrs old and 5 yrs old, respectively). wife says her family's 300D's AC ran just as cold as mine, so she says "its normal"
5. its quieter than i expected. i heard horror stories about diesels, but i'm pleasantly surprised.
6. i believe the trap oxidizer was removed. i have searched this place like mad for a pic of the TO, but no one posted it! i recall someone saying its a huge cylinder looking thing and "you'd know if you had it", but i dont think i have it
7. the original, metal fan is still attached. i believe i read someone's comment that if you still have metal, you'll need to replace it.

So here are my plans in order:

1) Get the tensioner related issue solved asap. i dont want to lose the engine b/c of this
2) change the coolant
3) perform a diesel flush and other engine-related tasks such as an oil change, fuel hose and filter replacement, etc. i want to get the engine in good shape
4) tranny filter and fluid replacement
5) Suspension

I am going to tackle this one by one (obviously). I need to make sure that this vehicle is road worthy and worthy of spending the additional money on the WVO conversion. i have the sources of oil (3 places) secured and I'm in the process of building a WVO filtering station in my tiny garage. that said, baby's gotta be in good shape before i make the additional investment!

Now I've done a quite of bit of research in the past few weeks, but I'll definitely need to ask you guys for advice and more detailed info. And that leads to my next question: are you guys ok if i keep all my questions in this post? Or should I add to existing posts? For example, the tensioner issue: there are definitely more than a handful out there. should i just add to those? I know every forum has its own unique culture and way of doing things. i just want to do it the right way.

also, I am a big believer in documenting and contributing back to the community. i would love to add some articles to your already awesome wiki. i've done quite a bit for the toyota 4runner community at my own personal website, www.4runners.org.

Anyways, as I said, I'm new to diesels and Mercedes. I hope you guys can help me and I'll return the favor as well.

Sorry for the first long post! oh yeah, how could i forget? pics:





Thanks and I look forward to your advice, comments, etc.

Bob