Yesterday I tried removing my starter motor from my 85 300SD. I disconnected all the wires and brakets and the lower allen bolt. No joke it took me at least 4 hours yesterday trying to get that upper allen bolt loose and another 2 hours today. Who ever tightened that bolt must have torqued it to at least 200 pounds. after trying all the angles and a foot long breaker bar. I put my 10mm allen wrench parallel with the ground and my breaker bar perpandicular with a bottel jack underneath.....The front passanger wheel was completly off the ground and all the weight of that side on that wrench,breaker bar, and jack.....It still did not break loose. I had a 10mm 3/8" drive socket and my breake bar with an over all length of about a foot and a half. I bent the male adapter at wratchet and the 3/8" extension. I had so much muscle into it that it turned the male end at least 45 degrees. supprisingly i did not strip the bolt but after doing the bottle jack idea a dozen times, it finally came loose. Now, How do i get the starter out...my manual says to loosen some steering linkage but I cannot understand what I could possibly loosen that would give me enough room to get that thing outta there. thanks
-Stephen

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68 250s SOLD
78 300d non turbo SOLD
1980 240d manual SOLD
1981 300SD 360,000 miles I think she's doomed for a parts car but has a good engine SOLD the engine to spamman
1977 300d non turbo SOLD
1985 300SD california car
1978 240D Manual

Used a bottle jack on the differential drain, but wouldn't want to try it on the alternator.

Looks like I will be replacing my starter this week. Its pulling 19amps with the key out of the ignition. Luckily I used antiseize on those bolts when I installed the starter 5 years ago.

I was able to remove the starter last time without touching the suspension. I just had my wife turning the steering wheel as I wiggled it out. When I reconnected the battery, I found out she left the key in 'Start', but thats another story.

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Greg Schwall

1983 300SD - 465,000 miles

Haven't done it on an SD but on a D, the starter comes out by turning the wheels all the way to the right. It's a 3d puzzle.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

On a W123 you can remove the stater with the suspension intact by moving the steering back and forth.

wow! looks like you are getting close to a half a million on that car....how does she run? have you done any major maintanance on it (rebuilt engine..valves)?
-Stephen

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68 250s SOLD
78 300d non turbo SOLD
1980 240d manual SOLD
1981 300SD 360,000 miles I think she's doomed for a parts car but has a good engine SOLD the engine to spamman
1977 300d non turbo SOLD
1985 300SD california car
1978 240D Manual

What kind of mechanics aganizes other machanics by torquing down a bolt 10 times the amount that they need? That is one sick person!
-Stephen

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68 250s SOLD
78 300d non turbo SOLD
1980 240d manual SOLD
1981 300SD 360,000 miles I think she's doomed for a parts car but has a good engine SOLD the engine to spamman
1977 300d non turbo SOLD
1985 300SD california car
1978 240D Manual

the upper bolt on mine got tightened too. I put it in when I mated the motor to the tranny. I did not put it in that tight, I had to use a massive breaker bar on the thing to break it loose and wouldn't have if it wasn't on a lift. Lower bolt wasnt bad at all. Over 2k, the upper bolt tightened that much. Weird.

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1981 300SD 512k OM603

I dont know about 2000 pounds of torque but i do know that the passanger front side was sitting on that wrench and it wouldn't budge. I guess it could be 2000 pound. but the wrench wasn't a foot long with the bottle jack on it. the wrench is probably 6 inches or less. what does that convert to? 12"=2000 as 6"=1000??? i dont know the conversion. What ever IT WAS......IT WAS alot.
-Stephen

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68 250s SOLD
78 300d non turbo SOLD
1980 240d manual SOLD
1981 300SD 360,000 miles I think she's doomed for a parts car but has a good engine SOLD the engine to spamman
1977 300d non turbo SOLD
1985 300SD california car
1978 240D Manual

Engine was rebuilt at 385,000 after my father-in-law (previous owner) drove it with a dead water pump. The tranny has about 130,000 on it. I've rebuilt most of the suspension over the last two years.

My starter only had 20,000 miles on it. Either I got an atypical Bosch rebuild or their quality is going downhill.

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Greg Schwall

1983 300SD - 465,000 miles

sorry meant 2k miles

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1981 300SD 512k OM603

So you dont recommend a Bosch rebuild? I thought those were the best aren't they? that is what I ordered from NAPA. oh well i got it for 183 bucks. we will se how long it lasts
-Stephen

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68 250s SOLD
78 300d non turbo SOLD
1980 240d manual SOLD
1981 300SD 360,000 miles I think she's doomed for a parts car but has a good engine SOLD the engine to spamman
1977 300d non turbo SOLD
1985 300SD california car
1978 240D Manual

I can't yet vouch for the quality of the rebuild since the new starter is rolling around in front of the passenger seat, but I got rebuilt Bosch unit from california_alternator_starter on Ebay for $99, shipping included. I though I was pretty smug, getting one for that price since, heck, I've R&Red starters before, how hard can it be? I'm not even going to try. I found one local independent MB mechanic who was willing to install it for me. But now the old one is behaving, so there it sits.

Now what are the chances that I will hear that I bought a crap starter from a known Ebay shuckster???

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1979 300D 275K

You mean one of the two california rebuilders with perfect feedback? Not much chance with them of bad work in my opinion. What they have done and continue to do is hard to accomplish in my opinion. They have to be dilligent.

You mean one of the two california rebuilders with perfect feedback? Not much chance with them of bad work in my opinion.
What they have done and continue to do is hard to accomplish in my opinion. They have to be dilligent. Their mailing charges are reasonable as well.
No dud requirement is also a bonus. You can pay far more for much less in my opinion. If paying more for less makes you feel better thats okay as well I suppose.
Once you establish a bolt is too tight for it's size consider using a little heat. Easier than dealing with something stripped as a consequence of too much torque. Especially the top starter bolt.
The old story of never enough time to apply a little heat but hours to figure out a way to get a stripped fastening out sometimes.