Phew! What an ordeal, but I finally made the decision to get the car. This was harder than proposing to my wife and getting married It's a 1981 300sd with 224k miles (WOW!, that's a bunch of miles).

One of the few things I want to do to the car is fix the upper engine mounts? It looks like there is a large mount that the engine appears to "sit" in, then at the top of the shaft, there appears to be some donut type mount. What part is this in Fast Lane?

How difficult are these to replace? Is this topic going to be in the FAQ? Also, what would everyone recommend as far as first things to do? Fluid/filter changes? Diesel purge in the tank?

Another thing is the seat switches in the door panel for the electric seats. I've seen something in Fast Lane called Seat Switch and Seat Switch Kit, do I need both? How hard are they to replace? Does the whole door panel have to come off?

Thanks for all the help guys!

Should have the car Friday or Monday (I'll have to update my tagline )

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1994 C280 204k miles

Motor mounts are very tedious, but not 'hard'. Expect it to take an entire saturday to do them. Not much room to work with and those allen head bolts can be tricky.

I'll see if I can get a picture up of the driver's side switch. There is one "pivot" piece sticking out that would be for the seat back switch, but I don't see one for the lower seat switch sticking out. It might have been broken, it's flush with the plastic plate. I can stick my finger in there and move the seat o.k.

The passenger side has both switches still attached, but the seat back switch is broken, it just spins on the pivot piece.

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1994 C280 204k miles

If you are good with small things and have good mechanical skills you can take apart the door switch and clean the contacts.

This is a pretty challenging job as each pole has 4 ball bearings, 2 springs and 1 connector. Make sure you take it apart carefully or it will all fly out at you and you will have a mess, if you need details just ask and i'll help best I can, I've done it a bunch of times.

John

Idle seems too low. I've looked at the w123 books and they say:

"On models with pneumatic governor equipped fuel injection pumps, turn the preglow starter switch fully clockwise, then turn it counterclockwise. Make sure there is a half turn of travel until the idle speed increases. Adjust the locknut on the cable at the bracket as necessary."

Where/what is the preglow starter switch?

I'm going to work on the upper (and possibly lower, haven't had a good look yet) ball joints next week.

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1994 C280 204k miles

Well, I can't get the actual photos to pull up )-:, but this will have to do for now.

Exterior Shots:

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1994 C280 204k miles

Interior Driver and Passenger door seat switches:





Passenger mirror (either need new glass or mirror???)

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1994 C280 204k miles

Looks like those handles were used and abused! The bad news is, you will need new switches, and more bad news, yes, you will have to pull the panels. Now for the good news, you can fix your doors all in one shot with the panel off. If you are good with electronics/mechanics, I would highly recommend picking up everything used, INCLUDING the switches. Many people will disagree but I have had great success cleaning these switches. The passenger door pull handle looks a little sad, you may need that assembly as well, and the only way to tell is once you get inside of her. You can pick that up used as well; I have not seen many go bad. As for the panel removal, i will give you step by step instructions as i have done this many times on my 83 300SD

1. On the side WITH the complete parts there should be a plastic cover on the underside of the door handle (the only you pull to open door), underneath this there is a phillips screw, remove it. Once that is removed, pry off the seat buttons using a flat head, or just pull real hard. Once those are removed, you *should* be able to move that black trim piece by manipulating it out around the arm rest "arm" enough to get to the top screw of the armrest, this must be removed carefully, and I still haven’t figured out the exact science to that one. Move on to next step
2. There are a total of three screws holding in the armrest, one is visible easily on your driver's door, and the other two are angled in on the bottom half of the arm-rest. Be especially careful with the middle bracket, most are cracked and about to break at this point. Once the armrest is removed, you can remove that black trim piece you got loose in step one.
--Recommended procedure with middle bracket, IF it is still somewhat intact. Get some nylon cloth from a hobby store, and some 5-minute epoxy. Fiberglass the inside of the bracket, and make sure no 'glass is showing or directly in the holes (the screws still need to go in) I have done this to all mine and so far no problems.
3. Once the arm rest is removed, there are two small phillips heads located by the door latch that hold on a chrome u-shape trim piece, remove those
4. Remove the door lock knob by turning it counter clock wise (or left), it just screws on
5. Remove the door light underneath the door by inserting small straight slot where the "slot" is. Disconnect wires and set aside, careful, the bulb will be HOT
6. This is where things get touchy due to old/brittle plastic. The panel needs to slide STRAIT UP! it DOES NOT pop out like newer/modern cars, if you pop out you’ll regret it BIG TIME. There are clips that hold the top of the panel on to the door, these are the most fragile things in the world. It may help if you roll the window down, just BE SURE TO LIFT STRAIT UP, i am emphasizing this as I almost ruined a panel on my car when i didn't know that, and most other cars panel’s pop out.
7. To remove the seat switch, there are two screws that hold it in, one on the top left, and one on the bottom right. Remove those, the screws do adjust the alignment of the switch, so take a mental note, you may have to adjust them later, which i believe you can do with the panel back on. Remove from car, and get a nice/clean, padded work area, so bearings don’t roll

8. Next, to take apart the switch, there is one phillips screw on the back of the switch, remove it. To get the switch completely apart you must mess with the little locking tabs, ROYAL PIA BTW. I highly recommend you mess around with taking apart/cleaning your existing broken switch, and that way when you get your switch that can be fully restored, you already know what to do, and you have spare bearings (trust me, you WILL lose some....). After that, it's all a breeze. Be sure to leave the "garbage" bag on the door panel, it blocks moisture. Installation is the reverse of assembly, and I’m sure you can figure it out, but if not, shoot me an email and I’ll see if I can help out.
---To clean the switches, all metal contacts must be thoroughly cleaned, ALL OF THEM! I can't stress that enough, one forgotten contact and one function of the seat simply will not work. I use sandpaper. Don’t forget the bottom of the metal "rockers"(you will see what I’m talking about), as well as the tips.

Final note, if the panel DOES NOT slide up easily, don’t force it, chances are I forgot about a couple screws somewhere, I don’t think I did, but my car isn’t right in front of me. Good luck, and if you need any other trim removal tips ask away, I’ve taken most of the interior of my car apart! You will love this car, they are so easy to work on and ride extremely well for their age!
Ryan

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83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.