What challenges have you faced when bringing home an old diesel Mercedes? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

KAdams4458 · #1 03-08-2009, 12:33 AM

In an attempt to make myself feel not so alone, what troubles have you encountered while bringing home an old diesel Merc? Share your horror stories!

Today I tried to pick up a parts car. It runs, it drives, but it had a few bugs to iron out before piloting it about 100 miles back home. Small stuff, really. I was prepared for the leaking bypass hose, and even for the vacuum leaks. I brought along spare fuel filters, a spare battery, and a large selection of tools, rubber gloves, etc. Thanks to a little forum searching ahead of time, I had the leaking EGR system bypassed in a matter of minutes, and was fully prepared to replace the coolant bypass hose. From there, it went down hill fast. The snow and sleet started first, and then the ignition switch crapped out completely. WTF? I checked the weather forecast yesterday, and it didn't call for any of this!

Getting it to turn over and start was easy enough, but getting the power to stay on so that I had turn signals, wipers, and other essentials was just not possible. The slightest bump or tap made the switch flake out, and even wiggling it would occasionally cause the starter to engage while the engine was already running. I had to give up and abandon the car at the seller's house, and after ordering a new switch which won't arrive until Monday morning, I drove the 100 miles back home empty-handed.

Now it seems that freezing conditions are expected through the weekend. I don't think Monday is going to be much fun for me. The ignition switch will be a piece of cake, but getting the thermostat housing apart and back together again in the cold is going to be a really nasty job. To top it off, I then get to drive the thing for almost two hours without heat or defrost functions.

Sigh.

HighDesert Benz · #2 03-08-2009, 12:37 AM

a new one can be challenging sometimes to say the least. Hang in there

my personal one word solution= Trailer.

KAdams4458 · #3 03-08-2009, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HighDesert Benz

a new one can be challenging sometimes to say the least. Hang in there

my personal one word solution= Trailer.

Wise solution.

I'm trying to save the cash, since I'd also have to rent a truck. If it comes down to it, I'll just rent a U-Haul combo and be done with it, but would rather keep a few hundred dollars in my pocket by driving the thing home.

Oracle12345 · #4 03-08-2009, 12:50 AM

Getting one mercedes home the hoof wasnt aligned and hooked up properly and wasnt locking fully and worked free on the highway and broke the windsheild and the getting the car started was an effort since the guy bought the wrong glow plugs and to start the car i needed starting fluid to get it turn off over which took about 5 minutes

HighDesert Benz · #5 03-08-2009, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KAdams4458

Wise solution.

I'm trying to save the cash, since I'd also have to rent a truck. If it comes down to it, I'll just rent a U-Haul combo and be done with it, but would rather keep a few hundred dollars in my pocket by driving the thing home.

I understand trying to save some cash for sure. I just have a tendency to buy ones that have to be winched on the trailer (which luckily I have already). Actually driving them home rarely seems to be on option

.

good luck!

KAdams4458 · #6 03-08-2009, 03:43 AM

I actually purchased brand new Exact Fit wipers for the thing since rain is an issue in these parts, and I want to be able to see where I am going. Without thinking about it, I picked them at the parts store near the car, instead of the store near my home where I happen to have worked out a discount cash account. Paid just shy of $20 for two wipers that I could have purchased for $10. Ugh.

I'll pull them, clean them, and stash them back in the original packages until I need them. I think that should keep them as good as new until I need them again. (Hmm. Now I'm wondering if wipers have a shelf life.)

clarencethecool · #7 03-08-2009, 03:59 AM

i have aquired a 75 300d that needs some love to say the least. its a beast!!

few dents, skull and cross bones spray painted on the drivers side door in black over the newer yellow paint job(previous owner). transmission started clunking after the test drive and drive home. the exhaust hanger dropped on the way home and the muffler found a home on the freeway. horse hair is falling out of the seats. surface rust is visible on a couple of the floor pans, back drain has rusted out and needs some metal work. it had no mats. needs an alignment (interestingly i found a service record from les schwabb of the vehicle being aligned to 123 specs and not 115 specs...) gas gauge chooses to work currently and the speedo cable needs to be greased. back doors wouldn't open.

but hey! no engine or tranny leaks, and all the windows work!
800 bucks

just try to take one thing at a time!

Actros617 · #8 03-08-2009, 04:43 AM

Our first mercedes it a pita, it was a china blue bought it from a car lot, for $675 it was a 1977 300D, and it was an @$$ to bring it back home. So this is how the nightmare begins, after leaving the lot the tire started to vibrate IDK what speed it was cuz speedo broken, so we ignore it and proceed to the highway, about 10 min later the tire go BANG! Went to the trunk and the tire is flat, so we use our trusty toyota camry sport rim 1 inch bigger but it worked, proceeded on, about 2 miles tom home radiator hose self destruct sending smoke everywhere so we abandonour car and went to lows and pick up some pvc pipe b/c lows don't sell big heat resistance hose, went back and police were there, explain what went wrong and they left, installed our pvc hose and reach home smoke again b/c the pvc pipe melted in 2 miles...

FineOlBenz · #9 03-08-2009, 08:48 AM

I'm going shopping for another Benz today! Why are you bringing this $hit up?

I'll let you know how it went.

cessna5354 · #10 03-08-2009, 08:55 AM

The ride home would not be bad, not matter how horrible.

The walk up to the house to break the news to the Mrs. might over shadow the ride home.....

JimFreeh · #11 03-08-2009, 09:25 AM

I was looking for a W123 parts car...............

I buy a rusty brown metallic/palomino leather 1980 300D from a friend of my cousin. Drive the Dodge-Cummins up to Delaware to meet my cousin, then we decide to drive to DC in his 91 300D. The 1980 is roadworthy, so we figure it's cheaper to drive it back.

Get to Kenny's place, do the transaction, look the car over. Three eights tank of fuel, check, we can fuel up later, after we get out of DC (remember the sniper?). Keys and title, check. Fluids up? check. Looks like a tire is low, better air up.

So we go looking for a gas station with an air hose. This turns out to be much harder than I thought..... Also, the sniper has been picking off victims at gas stations. Makes us anxious to get going.

Finally find air, and head for the beltway. Accelerate down the on ramp, and the car loses power, dies and coasts up against a Jersey barrier. Not even room to open the door safely.

We decide that it's not smart to check the car out there, so we call for a wrecker and have the car towed to my Uncle's place. Bang. Add another $100 to the price of the car....

By now, it's getting close to rush hour and it's crunch time. We decide to not investigate the problem, and buy two 5 gallon cans and about 25 feet of fuel line, and fill the cans with diesel fuel.

We string two lines from the engine through the passenger front window, into the cans.

Bleed the system and the cars running.

Take off, and head towards Annapolis.

Car runs well the rest of the way until the fuel pickup line becomes uncovered, and the I coast to the side of the freeway (again)....

Bleed and crank once more, and we have her running.

Make it the rest of the way back to my cousins and my rig, then drive her onto the trailer.

Since then, I just use the Cummins and the trailer.....

Turns out the fuel gauge was hanging, car was on fumes when we picked it up. And I'm still using the fuel cans.

Jim

strelnik · #12 03-08-2009, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Actros617

Our first mercedes it a pita, it was a china blue bought it from a car lot, for $675 it was a 1977 300D, and it was an @$$ to bring it back home. So this is how the nightmare begins, after leaving the lot the tire started to vibrate IDK what speed it was cuz speedo broken, so we ignore it and proceed to the highway, about 10 min later the tire go BANG! Went to the trunk and the tire is flat, so we use our trusty toyota camry sport rim 1 inch bigger but it worked,...

What other brands of rims fit the Benz 112 MM 5 bolt pattern?

This can be helpful in emergencies.

fruitcakesa · #13 03-08-2009, 01:38 PM

I have a "what could have happened " car pickup
Last May,after I had arranged to have the 82 240d flatbedded to Vermont from Florida, my wife decided she could not wait till the end of June for the delivery, so along with our daughter she arranged to have it put on the Amtrak car train from Orlando Fl to Virginia and then driving it the rest of the way home.
In Virginia the car was off loaded and the two intrepid travellers piloted the bue beauty 480 miles home in one day with zero, zilch, nada problems.
Keep in mind this was our first foray into the world of Benz so there was minimal practical MB knowledge to fall back on and all that was in my head not the girls so the "what ifs" were not even in my head.
While the car was mechanically relatively sound, they made the trip with absolutely no spare anything but a tire
When they got home, I pulled it into the shop and crawled underneath.
All the rubber boots on the front end parts were either torn or non -existent and the axle boots were dried out and cracked but only beghinning to weep oil.
I guess in this case ignorance was bliss.

The 81 was driven home from 1 mile away with no problems.

IndianaJo · #14 03-10-2009, 01:48 AM

I bought a 300sd 95 miles away, very cheap but the fuel hose was leaking at the tank and the back driveshaft donut was broken. No car trailers over 14' long are for rent here, so U-haul is not an option, and wreckers are quoting $3 a mile off peak. Made two trips up there in 20 deg weather, fixed the hose pretty easily, the donut took 6 hours because I coudn't use a torch in his garage. I cleaned out the garage first time, the second time I went up his wife had stacked more stuff around the car I had to move out. Went up third time with my wife to drive home, 10 deg, plugged in block heater for 2 hours, car wouldn't start. Car also had no brakes, seller hadn't told me, and filling up the empty master cylinder didn't help. Stopped at junk yard on the way home, junkyard owner promised to pick up monday with his dodge P/U and trailer for $100. Monday was snowing and 15 deg, junkyard owner couldn't get his dodge diesel to start. Car seller had plugged block heater in for 3 hours, took junkyard owner with me for $60 and the car started right up. Seller had told me brakes would pump up if engine was running, they did but only on one circuit. Trip planned was very rural, took off with one brake circuit working. Had booked liability insurance on the car, you're fined in this state if a car is hit in a driveway and it doen't have insurance, $90 for 6 months. No license plate. Car started right up, junkyard owner drove it home for me, no heat (valve under hood was turned off, seller later told me.) No heat in my car either, rust had plugged up the heater core. When passed by junkyard, police were waiting for junkyard owner to give him a long talk about a stolen car that he had given to a relative. Made rest of trip successfully, car bulled up the hill at the property on 6" of snow, although I had a porta-pull and 30' of chain in the trunk if it needed help I had checked front wheel bearings, car ran pretty good once we got it started, but gee it was cold, and would have been nice to have a defroster. Seller had told me how to jumper the control block to make the heater blower work, but forgot to tell me about the hand valve he had intalled and turned off under the hood.

LNGfish · #15 03-08-2009, 09:09 AM

When I purchased mine a few years back I had the Seller drive it to me but it was only 75 miles or so. Of course I looked at it and drove it. It was in good shape and I paid more for it with 150K on a 1982. I still get information from him when I have a question on what he did over the years he had it. He's a diesel nut and got a new VW diesel that he loves and also a Jeep Liberty Jeep diesel that he likes also.

Good luck with your endeavors. I just changed the Water pump vent tubing to head Banjo Tube, funnie you mentioned it. The one Phil sent me fit perfectly.