purchasing 87 300SDL what should I know
 

I'm a long time Jetta TDI owner, but after she was totaled by the insurance company I'm in the market for a MB, and I've found a nice 87 300SDL ($2900). It has 208,000 but the odamator stopped working some time ago. The only problem is the driver window doesn't role up and down all the way. And the tranny shifts really hard out of 1 to 2 and takes forever to shift into 3rd, you have to get her up to 40mph before she will shift over that.

So ball park numbers, what am I looking at fixing the tranny, I'm hoping it's a vacuum leak, but I'm thinking not. Tomorrow the owner is going to take it over to eagle tran's to have them take a look at it.

I took it for a test drive, and she drove fine, the temp needle was just above 80.C, But nothing to worry about. What I do worry about is the inspection sticker is out, and the car had been setting for two months. And it has a fuel leak coming from the hole in the metal injector line, going into cylinder 4. So nothing that I can't really fix, okay the tranny is something I'm going to leave to the pro's but I can fix the rest.

Here is what I'm thinking, I know on these cars your going to have to have a tranny rebuild sooner then later, so why don't I get it out of the way. I'm hoping to pick up the car for less then $2900 once I find out how much the tranny is going to cost.

What should I know about the make and model of these car. I've done some searches but the more I know the better.

Thanks so much for your help

Michael

For information about the W126 car generally, but written about the 560SEC specifically, (forgetting for a moment, the 2 less doors on its body and the gas engine), there is still enough there in the buyer's guide section, at www.mbcoupes.com and even a inspection checklist, that would help you a lot.

My guess is that a new transmission for a W126 probably would run you from around $1500 up to $2500 in a shop that did it right and gave a good guarantee. They are typically good for about 250,000 miles and are good robust units, but it sounds like this one is at the end of the road, so it is pretty normal.

The odometer plastic gears are probably stripped and need to be replaced, this happens sometimes.

It may very well be a good car, for the money, as really really good ones hit $8,000 to $10,000 or even more, in these frenzied times of high fuel prices and biodiesel interest which has caused the prices on these to really skyrocket.

Any of them from '86 up are of course the mildly upgraded Generation II ones, with smooth lower rockers, new interior patterns, some with ABS, airbags, and other nice equipment.

I hope the airconditioning blows cold. The body integrity needs to be good, avoid rust, look in the trunk, under the carpets, take it through a carwash on the test drive, and then carefully check for leaks into the interior and trunk.

Those transmission issues sound like vacuum adjustment problems, not a tranny issue. So with adjustment it will probably shift fine...just takes some fine tuning. The other things you mentioned are fairly easy repairs. Operating temp on these cars is 80-85C....on the SDL's you have to be extra good in maintaining the cooling system/belts etc, because overheating the engine can crack the aluminum head on the engine. As long as you take care of it the 603 engine will run a looooong time.

Looks like the trannie issue was simply a vac problem and they stated that it runs fine. Can't wait to pick it up from the local shop.

He stands, he shoots, he scores!!!!!

Coolio!!:)

So after having the vacuum modulator replaced the tranny shifts alot smoother, but not as smooth as I like it too. Looks like I still have a small vacuum issue to deal with. What should I be looking for under the hood with all those vacuum lines? What color lines should I be paying attention to?

Thanks for the help, I have a lot to learn about my new car.

If you haven't read THIS THREAD on transmission vacuum, please do so. It may answer all your questions or at least lead you to the answers. It has helped me get to smooth and proper shifting on my '82.

HERE is a general check list for 126's