The New Project-- The Sleeper - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

greazzer · #1 10-27-2012, 07:27 PM

I ended up buying Tom's car. Met him around 515'ish last night. The battery did wear down but I was hoping it was just wore down because of the flashers. More on this. Then, asked about opening the trunk to put the spare away. Nope, she's sealed shut. So, FIRST REQUEST OUT THERE:

1. How can one open the trunk ? The locked was drilled out but it's not budging. I really need to get into the trunk. PLEASE any ideas. I really want to see the RUST ! LOL.

2. After driving about 80+ miles I realized that my fuel gauage did not budge a bit. I called Tom and, yes, it does not work. The was the 2nd "suprise". There's more. After driving about another 5 miles, I got fuel and I was super lucky because I had about 1 gallon left. I would have been very cranky running out of fuel at night in the rain and wind and cold in a strange area.

3. I drove the old girl to Lexington, KY for the night. About 20 minutes out, she almost overheated. The needle went a hair over the 100C point.

4. Got to the hotel in Lexington, and silly me I turned off the car while I went inside. Got a nice cheap room at Hotel Six for $45 bucks, BUT when I went outside to start her up and to go to the room, NO BATTERY. Battery is DEAD. So, this is the next major project tomorrow. Got a flash light to check out things under the hood while jumping the car. Checked the oil. It was OK -- more on this. Injector lines are leaking like crazy.

5. Got a jump the next morning and drove another 100 or so miles and the old girl got hotter ... in between the 100C and 120C marks. Got nervious. Pulled over but I could not shut her off because no battery. I squeezed the upper radiator hose hoping it was air or something along those lines. She cooled down.

6. Drove to the NC state line, and same deal, except she hit 120C. I pulled over and turned it off at the gas station. I did not care at that point. Filled it up again since I had no idea how much fuel was in it. After that, I could figure it out a little, but certainly enough to get me home. Checked the oil, and guess what, about 2 quarts low. Poop. Bought 2 quarts of oil at gas station prices. What a rip off. What's up with that. Waited about 15 minutes and got a jump and took off. No problems with the coolant the rest of the way home. Wait, there's more to the journey.

7. Checked the oil when I got home. It was off about another quart. No leaks, so I am hoping it was sticking rings or some sort of weird blowby but 3 quarts in 500+ miles sounds like a lot.

8. Anticipated about 10 hours of driving. Nope, more like 13. What's up with that ... After you hit 50'ish, you got a decent shimmy and shake and hit 65-70 it got violent. I am hoping it is just the tires and not the front end. Very rough calculations on fuel usage and MPG. Got around 29 MPG. Hoping some mainteance will improve this.

9. Just finished pressure washing the car to clean off a bunch of leaves, pine needles, and just dirt ! Blasted the engine too. Got underneath the car and what a RUSTY project I got. LOL. Not sure the old girl can be saved. The passanger side is toast and the driver's is right behind it. The trunk area from underneath is super toast. I got PERFECT Floor pans but not sure I want to waste them on this project.

10. The real reason I bought the car was the Getrag 717.400. Paid dearly for it, but I got it. Not sure about the engine at this point. Body is really, really rougth inside and out.

I am going to take it slow. Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow's projects are:

1. Battery

2. Return lines

3. Trunk Entry

4. Doors -- Locks do not work I also found out.

5. Vacuum and clean the windows and pressure wash it again.

TheDon · #2 10-27-2012, 08:12 PM

opening the trunks on the w123's without a key is easy. Use a 4x4 post or some sort of log and put something soft over the thumping end. Have a friend pull up on the trunk while you thump the area to the left or right of the license plate or just center if there is no plate. The shock should be enough to pop the trunk. Don't go to crazy and dent the sheet metal.

greazzer · #3 10-27-2012, 08:34 PM

OK ... Run that by me again ..

I take 4x4 or log, put a rag or something rubber or "soft" on the end, and "thump" where the license plate is, or to the left or right of the plate while someone pulls up on it ? I only have one screw holding the plate on because even the threaded inserts that hold the plate are messed up. I can remove the plate very easy.

That is it ?

t walgamuth · #4 10-27-2012, 09:17 PM

Its been a while since we had her on a long sustained run on highway. I would suggest checking the fan belt, a loose belt would explain the charging problem and heat problem. I did check the coolant and oil levels prior to leaving. The oil showed between the add and full mark. i suppose it may have had some condensation in there.

That battery should be good. its only a year and a half old based on the testimony of the PO.

oh yeah, did i mention it has the 23 gallon turbo diesel tank?

greazzer · #5 10-28-2012, 06:24 PM

Many Thanks to "The Don" !!

I did a modified "Thumper" After a few decents shots and no luck, I went ahead and jammed a big flat head screw driver into the hole that Tom drilled. I gave it a few good raps with the hammer and it popped right open ! 5 bolts later, and the entire lock mechanism is out ! I got about 15 minutes total in that operation and another 15 to get a lock into the trunk tomorrow. Not horrible. Spent most of the day looking for the key for the new lock component and painting the shutters on the house. In the background you can see where some shutters are off and others not. Pressure washed the engine bay and car and the trunk. Trunk was loaded with boards, junk, and a sway bar from something. Heavy coating of tar stuff to hide some very heavy duty rust. I can say after checking it out very carefully today, in-between painting shutters and pressure washing the porch, the car and looking for the key, this is a rust bucket. Poop.

The belts are fine. They are nice and firm. So, no belt slippage. Coolant is fine also. Did not drive it today so not sure about the overheating issue but it has nothing to do with coolant levels or the belts.

Took the battery to the Autozone and the guy checked it on a meter of some sorts. The battery is shot. Nowhere near 12 volts. After driving it 13 hours, it should have held a charge. So, got a new battery. Poop.

Tomorrow, installing new lock in the trunk if I can find the key. Hitting the yard for a fuel sender since that needs to be fixed ASAP. And, major interior cleaning, vacuuming, and cleaning the windows. Then, I will start tackling some long needed maintenance. I am also going to do a thorough pressure check on the engine since I think I am burning / losing oil somehow. I lost 3 quarts in about 500 miles. I confirmed there are no oil leaks in the engine that I could see. So, it has to be going somewhere. If the compression is down, then I guess the engine rebuild that Tom got was not so hot since after 65K miles, that engine should be in super shape and not blowing oil. Another possible poop.

greazzer · #6 10-28-2012, 06:31 PM

Here's the picture again.

bd1308 · #7 10-28-2012, 06:35 PM

Fuel sending unit can be cleaned. Cleaned mine in like 15 minutes, all that you need to do is take a blade and VERY carefully clean the crud off of the tiny wires in the sending unit.

t walgamuth · #8 10-28-2012, 08:34 PM

It's not been using oil so a change to new oil should take care of that. The water pump was probably new when the motor was done so it could be due. I am pretty sure we have not changed it since. The radiator looks very good. I don't think I replaced it but it does not look 30 years old.

greazzer · #9 10-28-2012, 09:04 PM

Here's a picture of the current throttle linkage. I have a WTB throttle linkage posted in the WTB/FS Section. You can see 30 minutes of pressure washing.

Does anyone know if the throttle linkage from a turbo engine is the same, with MW pump ???

Doktor Bert · #10 10-28-2012, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greazzer

The belts are fine. They are nice and firm. So, no belt slippage. Coolant is fine also. Did not drive it today so not sure about the overheating issue but it has nothing to do with coolant levels or the belts.

Rev the engine up and watch the lower radiator hose. I have seen them collapse when the radiator core is restricted.

Pull the thermostat out completely and retest....

greazzer · #11 10-29-2012, 09:35 AM

Howdy,

Anyone with a 300D NA "M" Pump accelerator linkage set-up out there ? Can someone just post a picture to let me know what it is supposed to look like ???? PLEASE !

My goal is to only drive it sporadically right now because too many mechanical issues right now. I think the 675 journey home was solely achieved with my guardian angel watching over me. Since I got a 3" BeCool Radiator and I am going with the EWP, I think I will just milk it until I can upgrade / properly fix the coolant system. I drove it to work today and it spiked again to a hair over 100C, so I have concluded that the cooling system is just bad. Another problem in a super long list of problems. Even the coveted Getrag 717.400 five speed has a problem with 2nd gear, but I am very hopeful that is something easy to remedy since if that proves itself to be a problem, then I just purchased a 3,500 pound paperweight as a super high premium per pound.