Yup, go ahead and call me a fool! I bought this '87 300D without looking in the overflow tank. Looks like the Exxon Valdez came through there. Assuming this has an early cylinder head - where's the number on 'em? - any ideas on where to find a good, used head?? There's still the chance (however slim) the guy will give me my money back, but I'm going forward with the assumption that I'm going to have to fix the thing....

Jay.

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On the road, currently:
'83 300D (German spec.) 168k mi. - - Wolfgang (tucked snugly away for the winter!)
'87 300D 375k mi. - finally went over to "The Dark Side"
'87 300TD 225k mi.
Cannondale 66cm CAAD5 w/Campy/Jamis Aurora
Hujsak Custom Fixie/Landshark Track Shark Custom/Ahearne Custom 29'er

Confirm the cargo on the Valdez before replacing the head. Was it carrying ATF or engine oil?

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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

It'd be pretty funky lookin' ATF! The car runs pretty good, otherwise....

Jay.

__________________
On the road, currently:
'83 300D (German spec.) 168k mi. - - Wolfgang (tucked snugly away for the winter!)
'87 300D 375k mi. - finally went over to "The Dark Side"
'87 300TD 225k mi.
Cannondale 66cm CAAD5 w/Campy/Jamis Aurora
Hujsak Custom Fixie/Landshark Track Shark Custom/Ahearne Custom 29'er

Could be a gasket issue, if you're really lucky.

Casting number is above the #2 injector, 603.xxx.YY.zz where YY is the casting number.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Could be residual oil from a previous head gasket failure. Flush the cooling system with diswashing soap solution. You might have to do it a few times.

The conundrum if you need a head gasket is whether to replace only the head gasket, do a valve job or replace the head while it's off.

Sixto
87 300D

Sixto, we all know about your "while I'm in there" compulsion ;~)

It can easily double the cost, ... the reason I have so many projects in the planning stages.

As an Engineer, I had to learn to say the hardest two words: "good enough", when it met the customers' specifications (including Mercedes-Benz). I still have difficulty saying that when I work on my cars though.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I learned that working on government projects

Seriously, an added complexity in this situation is that the car is new to this owner and the PO appears less than forthright. Do you risk a bigger problem driving it as is for a while to generate a to do list, or slap a head gasket on there to discover more reasons to pull the head?

Sixto
87 300D

Is this a car that was on CL lately? Is it a blue one with chromed wheels? I've seen a few recently for relatively cheap.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

I got ahold of the p.o. I feel better. He says his kid accidentally poured some oil into the burp bottle while doing an oil change?? Sounds plausible. Why would it be black, though?? I'm going to put the pressure tester on it sometime in the next couple days.

Like I say, the car runs pretty nicely. It needs motor mounts in a bad way. The rear suspension is a little loosey-goosey, but looks pretty easy to overhaul. The parts are cheap. If it does look like the gasket is compromised, I'll take the head in to Bearing Service. See what they can come up with....

I've poo-pooed these cars way too much. Many apologies to anyone I may have offended in the past!

Jay.

__________________
On the road, currently:
'83 300D (German spec.) 168k mi. - - Wolfgang (tucked snugly away for the winter!)
'87 300D 375k mi. - finally went over to "The Dark Side"
'87 300TD 225k mi.
Cannondale 66cm CAAD5 w/Campy/Jamis Aurora
Hujsak Custom Fixie/Landshark Track Shark Custom/Ahearne Custom 29'er

Because he's lying to you.

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Corey

'83 240D, 190kmi

People do stupid things like that. It won't take to much effort to find out if he's a liar or not. I imagine if the test comes back dire he will be shocked.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Absolutely no way that even a trained monkey would mistake the white plastic expansion tank with flip-lid for the aluminum top of the engine with a black plastic marked oil twist cap. Nobody who has EVER changed oil, even once, would make that mistake, if so he would NEVER have figured out the oil filter.

I wouldn't have been afraid of the car until I was told that, the guy isn't even a very believable liar IMO.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Depends on the age of the kid. Don't know if am a trained monkey or not, but when I was 3 I used to like to play "Fill'er up with Ethyl". In my mind Ethyl came out of the garden hose, and went in the tailpipe. I have since grown out of that habit.

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1979 240D, 4spd manual, Power Sunroof, manual windows, 147k miles, Pastel gray/Black MB Tex.
1991 300D 2.5 - Smokes like it's on Crack!

did you also try shoving potatoes into the tailpipe???? Maybe a few firecrackers????

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All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to stand by and do nothing.

Too many people tip toe through life, never attempting or doing anything great, hoping to make it safely to death... Bob Proctor

'95 S320 LWB
'87 300SDL
'04 E500 wagon 4matic

yeah, right. that was the best he could come up with?

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1987 300TD 231,000
#22, afterglow, plastic fan, euro lights, alternator upgrade, cluster housing update