I may have the opportunity to pick up a cheap 91 350SD (maybe $2500?). The car has been sitting on and off for a long time, the guy lives overseas and asked to store it at my place, which is where it is now. The engine runs well - except it has a turbo boost problem (has no boost, I have not looked into the problem yet. anything common I should look for?), I can see that someone has worked on the car as there is red permatex on several gasket surfaces. I have always been weary of the W140's, especially those equipped with the 3.5 RB. the car has 165K and is in good shape overall. I did drive it on a long drive, it ran/drove fine but was obviously a dog with no boost.
I would like to use this car as a winter car since my nice 82 TD is fast becoming a project car and I will not run it in the salt and plan on sealing it into the shop this winter for some major work/upgrades. This 91 SD would be good for my long commute this winter, better then the Tercel winter car I was planning on running, which feels like an absolute death trap.

I did research the W140 3.5's and have a few questions:

~Are they prone to this rod bending - or destined to bend them?
Are some more prone to this than others?

~The Cyl head# is as followed: 03 016 20 01 Are these OK?

~If I end up parting this car out, will the Fr vented rotors & calipers work on my W123 (w/ 16x7 Wheels)

I gotta say, that W140 is a nice car to drive, I would like to drive it in the winter and maybe have the wife/kids use it in the summer - that has got to be one of the safest cars ever built.
One thing I do not have time for is any engine swaps or similar BS with this car, I have plenty of more worthy projects already. I want this car to rack on tough winter miles.

Oh, one thing I should ad - the car has no rust, it is not from the NE. It does have some cracked bodywork on R RR 1/4- really detracts from Appearance.

A few other things:
~It does have some front end noise on the bumps, probably needs a ball joint or two

~ I'm only guessing with the $2500 - he may want way more, in which case I will not buy.

~Needs tires


I could see saving this car if the motor will hold up for a while

Did I hear that the trans can be problematic with these too? The fluid looks/smells fine, shifts a little firm, but feels OK.

well price seems nice but it will be another project car.

if it has been worked on before by some grease monkey you may be in for surprises.

expect to dump money into it.
if you are your own mechanic, that may help.

do a search on rod benders.

__________________
1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

Thanks, I did read the rod bender thread. I have heard about this in the past but was not sure if all 3.5's applied.

I am my own mechanic, but cannot afford the time (or a bunch of W140 parts) to go all through this thing, My TD is my Baby and is getting some major lovin this winter, as will my Samurai ( I recently cracked the 1.6 VW block when retourqing head of my totally rebuilt motor!)
I need to avoid another big time suck project, It's just that it is in my lot waiting for me - she's seems to have found me. The convenience factor is worth something to me.

Yea, the red permatex was a red flag, but it does run well and has no leaks.

Thanks again.

The only US car badged 350SD was a W126 in 91.

92-93 W140's were 300SD's.

94-95 W140 were S350's.

__________________
Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

Get his price nailed down first to consider any decision. Since he stored it with you he may be quite reasonable. Could be in a dreamworld just as easily.

If the rods are not bent yet just using a good celane booster may keep them the same. This engine does not bend rods in europe. The only difference is the celane value of their fuel. This engine may not have been designed or have a lot of tollerance to run on our poor celane fuel. Engine is the same basically.

Since you drove it some is it using any oil yet? If so the rods may be starting to go. The number twenty head is much better than the early ones as well.

Thanks, very interesting on the cetane, maybe fresh nozzles keep them happier too? these things all seem to nail, often seem neglected, maybe this contributes to the problem. It does not seem to use much oil, I am always careful about checking, but it has been a while since I drove it, I'll drive it again and check more accurately.
Oops yea, Iwas wrong, its not a W140.
the poor guy bought the thing site unseen, I think he paid way too much. Whatever, If I decide to make him an offer - it is what it is, he can take it or leave it. maybe while it's here I can swap front brakes with my TD
I have a feeling it'll be here for a while.

Good chance it will, even if *YOU* buy it.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

I think it was "Bliss is ignorance" for the guy who bought it - he got smooth talked by some dealer sight unseen in NJ.

I know better which is why I'm checking with you guys, shame though, I was pretty psyched on this car earlier!
I'll have to take a spin in it again to rekindle my interest.

Maybe I should save that 2500 and buy another 123 in FL next time I visit Dad, long as it's rust free and straight I'm happy, i have alot of good parts around for 123's.

I was taking a better look at the engine and noticed that the cyl head looks like new, or blasted and rebuilt, its very clean. I then noticed that the block had some nice black paint, makes me wonder if the motor was recently replaced (no service records at all, a total mystery car).
I looked for the engine code and could not find it, anyone know where they are on these?
Who knows, maybe it had a 3.0 installed. I doubt it, but it's worth looking at.

I took it on a drive, now the brake pedal is going to the floor and the driver window needs to be helped up or it jams sideways and makes a terrible noise.
Runs well though, and after the accident I saw on my way home from work last night on an icy bridge, it made me appreciate the safety of this car (provided I fix the brakes). That long wheelbase car with some studded snows would feel good on the slippery stuff I bet.

I just bought a W140 with no boost and it turned out to be something with the EGR and the linkage to the turbo wastegate had come undone. With those 2 things righted, boost was 1 bar, slightly above spec. It's likely if the engine was rebuilt (like mine was) that this stuff wasn't properly hooked up.

The block number is on the 'annex' ahead of the injection pump. It's on a horizontal surface you read from above.

Sixto
87 300D

This car has the potential to be a huge money pit. However, the price is good. If you pay that, don't spend any money on it, and get a year or two use out of it, it might not be a bad deal.

Scott

__________________
Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

It's easy to tell if the engine has been replaced with a 3.0 engine. 3.0 engines are loud and noisy. 3.5 engines have no diesel clatter whatsoever, none on a cold start, none at operating temperature.








'91 350SD 532,000
'94 SL500 44,000

__________________
jcciem
'94 SL5000 60,000
'91 350SDL 545,000
'91 350SD 197,000
'00 E55 AMG 77,000

Now that's opening a can of worms.

Sixto
87 300D