I am considering buying a 1999 E300D and the current owner says that the glow plug light is on.

The car has 227K miles on it.

He also says it starts and drives fine but I'm not near the car to verify that.

If it isn't just a glow plug(s), what else could it be and how much would it be to repair?

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1993 W124 300D
-297K on the clock as I type this.

Well that all depends on how many glow plugs break when they are changed. Search for OM606 glow plug stuck. There is hours and hours of reading on here.

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1987 300TD 309, xxx 2.8.2014 10,000 mile OCI


Be careful of the toes you step on today, as they may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow. anonymous

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

So if I was in that situation, knowing what I know now, I'd say, "I'll be happy to pay your asking price if you have a brand new set of glow plugs put in."

I bought my 1999 E300D about a year ago January. Early last month, I experienced a glow plug failure. The symptom was that the light was constantly on, along with a long stumbling warm-up. I read about pulling GP's while having the engine hot (which I did) and dousing them for days with PB Blaster (which I did). After that pre-treatment, I tried to pull them myself -- two came out like butter. Super easy. However, three of them were practically welded into the head. My mechanic had to pull the head and take it to a machine shop and have them drilled out (see below), and then he had to do some additional work to get the new GP's to fit tightly back in the head. My car was in the shop for nearly a month.

See my thread here. Cost was $2500, (not including the $1000 car rental fee) and he actually spent a ton of time and gave me a huge labor cost break.

BTW, I love this car... there are all kinds of great things about it, but this issue is well-known, so beware.

-Chuck

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1982 300D, anthracite grey, 260k miles, Greasecar
1999 E300D, black, 160k miles, Greasecar
2010 Honda Insight Hybrid
http://www.chuckwyatt.com
http://www.wordimpressive.com

+1

I did not have that situation but I did have my light go on after buying it and after testing it was 1 bad plug. I changed it myself and had to drill it and tap to get it out. It was a PITA but I never had to take my head off. I am of the school of thought that I will not change them unless they go bad so I never touched the other 5 and I will not unless they go bad.

I don't know about TX but here you can not transfer a car will a light on the dash as it will not pass inspection, to prevent exactly what he is probably trying to do.

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1999 E300 TD 190,000
1996 Passat TDI 225,000-sold
1996 E300 120,000-sold
1998 Jetta TDI 186,000 -sold
1983 Chev Suburban C20 6.2-sold

Whew....it turns out the seller is a prick so it fell through pretty quickly.

But, I do love the looks of these cars.

Do the 94-95 E300's have the same engine/issues?

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1993 W124 300D
-297K on the clock as I type this.

Oh come on now...you can't just leave us dangling here without providing us the details by which you made this conclusion?!

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2005 Pathfinder LE
2001 E55
1998 M3
1982 320i

Same engine, but no turbo or intercooler. I think they have the same GP issues, but let someone who owns one confirm that.

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1987 300TD 309, xxx 2.8.2014 10,000 mile OCI


Be careful of the toes you step on today, as they may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow. anonymous

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

Well, I asked him five or six questions only a few of which were yes/no answerable.

He replied simply "yes."

So....I won't be dealing with him.

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1993 W124 300D
-297K on the clock as I type this.

From what I've read the stuck GP's are really the big issue with the OM606. I have an 82 300d, and changed out the glow plugs with no issues at all. Love the power with the turbo E300 though.

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1982 300D, anthracite grey, 260k miles, Greasecar
1999 E300D, black, 160k miles, Greasecar
2010 Honda Insight Hybrid
http://www.chuckwyatt.com
http://www.wordimpressive.com