i got the road safety inspection done on monday... i'm legally free to ride!!! thanks for all help.

a few operational questions for the forum:

steering suspension - at 50mph+ i still have a mild sway even after replacing, tie rod ends and idle arm bushings.
- rear end sounds like something is loose. not the muffler, lugs are tight, shocks are secure and spare tire is fastened down.

oil pressure at the gauge - at start up it pegs out at 3, and stays at 3 while driving. come to a stop and the needle drops and holds between 1 and 2 until i thottle up and it returns and stays at 3 until i get off the pedal. oil level is just below the top notch of dip stick when checked after driving and waiting 5 mins after shut down.

tranny shifts - when cold, shifts from 1-2 hard, heavy thottle it's softer. same thing occurs for shift 2-3. when hot these shifts feel much better. i'm not sure if it shifts from 3-4, the engine sounds like rpms are max'd out at and after 45mph. 4th gear should quiet things down... seems odd and abnormal to be so very loud!

temp gauge - after 40 mins of driving gauge needle has never exceeded 40c. i was looking for it reach and hold at about 80c. normal operating temp - no???

acceleration - seems dangerously slow! they say the non turbo is known to be oddly slow on acceleration. what is a ball park estimate on how many seconds from 0-60? 18 - 20?.

fuel gauge - hasn't moved after 30 miles of driving. i filled the tank before i layed the car up for what turned out to be a year. is it stuck or am i getting good fuel mileage?

i plan on changing oil and tranny fluid, filter/gasket over next couple of days.

there are others things i'll try take a look at down the line. Thanks all.

oil pressure - what you describe is perfectly normal and what you want to see.

tranny shifts - if its not shifting into 4th, reach down behind the accelerator and unplug the kickdown switch, and see if that improves it. "loud" is subjective though. if this is your first diesel maybe you're just not used to how loud it is at higher rpm out on the road?

temp gauge - your thermostat could be stuck open.

^ Agreed.

Fuel sender is clogged up, remove and carefully clean. It's under the first aid kit.

Inspect the rear sway bar links, especially the ball joints.

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83 SD

84 CD

speaking from experience with my '78 123.150

steering suspension - Check your tires, rear end noise- check your rear sway bar ends. also, maybe your upper shock mounts behind the rear seat.

fuel gauge - this car should be getting about 25mpgs so not moving after 30 miles of driving would be pretty normal.

acceleration - thats probably gonna depend on weather or not you are having a transmission problem. Mine is a non turbo 617 and its the fastest (out of 3) 300d ive ever driven. 18s-20s is probably not too far off.

tranny shifts - believe it or not, its actually normal for the car to start off in second gear. so, you'll have 2 shifts then your in 4th gear. Check make sure that there is no slack in your throttle linkages.

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Current fleet
2006 E320 CDI
1992 300D - 5speed manual swapped

former members
1984 300D "Blues Mobile"

1978 300CD "El Toro"

ALSO..... it may be your shocks need to be replaced. I've owned cars that tend to want to steer themselves at speeds over 60mph and after replacing the shocks, the symptom went away.

Echo what some others have said:
Fuel Level gauge sounds normal.
Oil Pressure gauge is normal.
Check the swap bar to be sure it is connected on both sides.
Check all the rubber parts in the rearend.
Have fun!!!

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

If you want to start in first gear, put the shifter manually in L. Otherwise it will probably start in second. In most 123's that start in 2nd you can move the shifter into L then back into D all while at a stop, and it will start in first and not second. If you don't move it into L before putting it in D it will start in 2nd.

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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

To establish rear end bushing play if not obvious by inspection. I usually brake after being underway then accelerate and see if the steering needs corrected when I do. This test is far from absolute.

Really an inspection using a pry bar is better to check for excess lateral movement back there. Rear end steer is miserable. Of course you could have some other form of issue causing what you describe just as easily.

Second that on the shocks ,I drove 100 miles to pick up a 300td 2 yrs back ,broken shock up front made it abit like rolling over waves in a boat ,the bumps I could see upcoming would give me an upset stomach.

Okay, my 300D-turbo oil pressure pegs out at 3 until it is warm, then drops in between 1-2. When I am driving, goes up depending on how much gas I give it. Normal right?? I want to try to get. 1,000,000 miles out of her!!

^ Normal.

__________________
83 SD

84 CD

thanks again for all input...

gas hand moved near a 3/4 tank yesterday. this morning it was reading full again.
read a post stating this is directly related to failing sending unit. member highly recommended changing vice cleaning. based on experience - does anyone say cleaning is an reasonable first option?

oil pressure gauge appears normal. no more worries!

rear end suspension appears to be original... i'll start with bilstein replacement shocks and check sway bar while i'm there.

no one mentioned trailing arm bushing... any chance these could be part of the problem?

one more thing... when taking the on or off ramps (the heavy curve type) the sway at 30mph requires to much bracing, holding on and slowing in a car that all ready has a slow pick up (i don't want to break my speed down no further than absolutely necessary... my mechanic says the ride height looks good, so i should be getting 4 shocks instead of 2. does anything else help this excessive sway? i want stability, need stability. thanks guys.

check this out to determine if just a cleaning will help (hint: maybe!)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305771-finally-took-care-my-fuel-gauge-problem.html

Thanks... i'll clean the sending until for starters. awesome thread!! i'll have to search the forum harder the next time.

Check sway bar bushings? Particularly if there's rust on the firewall near the battery.