Today I finished the brakes on the 73 220d. One caliper had seized and the owner just let it sit in the shed for 4 years.

I r/r the bad caliper and replaced the lines and fluid. With a new battery, the old girl started with no issues. Amazing.

She moved on her own power today after 4 years.

Just one little issue though. the go pedal does not come back up sometimes. I have to put my foot behind the pedal and 'pull'. I traced back the linkages and couldn't really find the problem (yet). Any ideas where it's getting stuck? i've pretty much wd40'ed every pivot point i can find.

It's an amazing car to drive. So much character!

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

WD-40 is more of a solvent than a lubricant. Use grease in the linkage ball joints/pivots.

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current vehicles:
'82 240D - 125k - daily driver
'85 380SE - 299k - on dry dock
'87 Vanagon - 183k - sold

My 300SD has a spring underneath where you can adjust pull back tension. Crawl under and look. It's like 4 inches long.

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1982 300SD

You're actually supposed to use ATF in the ball and socket joints to lube them.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Manual trans? I just went through this on my 240D...
Pop each socket off its associated ball and use a Qtip loaded with ATF to lube it. Take a GOOD hard look at the socket and make sure theres no serious wear there. One of mine let go on the highway (look Ma, no throttle!).
Mine would get sticky after a longish highway drive, turns out there is a shock absorber of sorts in there which slows the throttles return to prevent bucking while you drive (especially important when driving in heavy traffic) and mine was getting sticky.
The shock is fairly expensive (~$60) but worth having. I've been driving without one for a month now and while its not all that bad its not something I'd really advise doing...

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Sadly Benz-less

underneath what? the pedal under the dash?

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

yes i've seen the little shock absorber. thanks. i'll check it out

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

I had the same issue with my W115 when I got it, it to had been sitting for years.

There is a pivot on the passeger side of the engine block under the exhaust manifold. I had to remove that part and take it apart. Rust had caused it to not pivot anymore.

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1985 300TD Turbo Euro-wagon
1979 280CE 225,200 miles
1985 300D Turbo 264,000 miles
1976 240D 190,000 miles
1979 300TD 220,000

GONE but not forgotten
1976 300D 195,300 miles
1983 300D Turbo 175,000 miles

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e485-1-2-1.jpg

great! i'll work on it this weekend. thanks!

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

Had the exact same problem on mine. Took it off, cleaned up the rust and put some synthetic grease in and on it. Problem solved. Now the hard part, replacing the broken plastic bracket on the firewall drivers side. It's a pain to get off. The price is right. Only $9.00 for two of them from the dealer. One on each side of the horizontal accelerator shaft. It's a shame the PO mashed the pedal down so hard that they broke it.

Such is life. At least the parts were cheap.

PS and don't forget the pivot on top of the valve cover, where the fast idle cable joins into the linkage. It has 2 plastic bushings inside and is held together with a C clip. Mine probably had not been greased since the factory, and I just caught the problem last week. Now it works a lot better. ('71 220D) Ron

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1971 220D, daily driver, new paint, 142K
1973 220D, low compression
1975 300D, back on the road! 166K
1971 220D, salvage, rear hit, engine excellent
1972 250, bad cam, but runs!
1971 230, engine stuck
1971 220D, low compression, rusty
1976 240D, salvage, engine excellent
1966 230SL, water in oil after rebuild