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  #1  
Old 04-09-2013, 06:48 PM
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Going to look at a 1980 300SD (W116). What should I look for?

I'm going out tomorrow to look at a W116 300SD that's for sale in town. I'm wondering, what should I be looking out for? What are problem areas for these cars? What parts are stupid expensive to fix (Besides all of it)?

Did the diesels get the 4 wheel hydro suspension?

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  #2  
Old 04-09-2013, 06:54 PM
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No cars got 4 wheel hydro suspension back then. You want to check the evil servo.
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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
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  #3  
Old 04-09-2013, 06:59 PM
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Rust on that model.
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  #4  
Old 04-09-2013, 07:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kerry View Post
No cars got 4 wheel hydro suspension back then. You want to check the evil servo.
Just self leveling in the back, like the 300td? I thought I had seen hydro leveling in the front as well in a stock video from Mercedes.
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  #5  
Old 04-09-2013, 07:57 PM
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This is the video. Looks like the level control is on all 4 corners.

http://youtu.be/g75P9F7Qpbo
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  #6  
Old 04-09-2013, 08:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Everybodyghost View Post
Just self leveling in the back, like the 300td? I thought I had seen hydro leveling in the front as well in a stock video from Mercedes.
I don't think that it had SLS at all. The 6.9 had the aforementioned suspension.
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1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

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Old 04-09-2013, 08:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Everybodyghost View Post
This is the video. Looks like the level control is on all 4 corners.

Mercedes-Benz Fascination W116 S-Class Sedan Documentary (English) - YouTube
You're right, it does. Never heard of it on an 116 SD.
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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
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  #8  
Old 04-09-2013, 08:27 PM
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yes, the servo is probably the most problematic thing on the W116 300SD and rather expensive, so make sure the climate control does what you tell it to do (keep in mind that it does take about a min to go from max heat to max cool). also check the steering coupler for excessive play (some will have lost all the rubber bushings), easy to replace though. check the floors and make sure they aren't wet; sometimes the sunroof drain lines will come loose and let water into the front footwells. also check under the fuse box where all the wires go through the firewall; push around to make sure there is no rust hole there (it's common for water to collect right there).
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1991 420SEL (work in progress)
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Old 04-09-2013, 08:30 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jooseppi Luna View Post
I don't think that it had SLS at all. The 6.9 had the aforementioned suspension.
Damnit! That looked so cool.

Quote:
Originally Posted by shadetree77 View Post
yes, the servo is probably the most problematic thing on the W116 300SD and rather expensive, so make sure the climate control does what you tell it to do (keep in mind that it does take about a min to go from max heat to max cool). also check the steering coupler for excessive play (some will have lost all the rubber bushings), easy to replace though. check the floors and make sure they aren't wet; sometimes the sunroof drain lines will come loose and let water into the front footwells. also check under the fuse box where all the wires go through the firewall; push around to make sure there is no rust hole there (it's common for water to collect right there).
Thanks. I guess I could swap in the manual heater control from a 240d, right? Are 300d's and 300sd's much different?
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  #10  
Old 04-09-2013, 08:33 PM
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Yes, they're different. Engines and transmissions are similar.
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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
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  #11  
Old 04-09-2013, 10:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kerry View Post
You're right, it does. Never heard of it on an 116 SD.
The w116 series 300sd models had conventional shocks. No SLS, no anti-squat (6.9 only) or other such goodies.

RUST.

RUST.

RUST.

Bear in mind these cars can look fine up top but be so rusty underneath you can't raise them on hoist. That actually happened on one car I was looking at to purchase (hoist went up, lots of loud cracking and snapping noises, car stayed still... owner was not pleased when he returned to claim it).

If you are serious about the car, after seeing it, you should have it examined by a knowledgeable mechanic, particularly for underbody rot. Visual inspection will not necessarily suffice.

The climate control is not a direct swap to eliminate the servo by swapping in manual system (as with a w123). The only year w116 cars were imported to North America with a simpler, manual system was 1973. So there are very,very few cars out there with the european system setup.

Edit/addition: floors and frames rot on these cars. Do not judge based on appearance. Inside floors have a layer of bonded sound insulation that looks like metal but can hide rust (actually promotes it as it gets wet and stays wet, floors can rot from the inside). Underneath, many cars came with thick rubberized undercoat that hides soft or rotten floor panels very nicely. As compu_85 says, bring a screwdriver to the party....

Bear in mind these cars were designed in the late 1960s/early 70s (production started in '72 on that body style). Remember what cars rusted like back then.

I had one of these for 8 years. They are great cars if you get the right one....
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2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

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Last edited by Zacharias; 04-10-2013 at 01:27 AM.
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  #12  
Old 04-09-2013, 11:43 PM
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Yup, the 6.9 was the only one to get the 4 corner SLS system. The rear only system was probably optional on the gas models.

2x on rust rust rust. Bring a screwdriver. Any bubble or imperfection in the undercoating should be prodded. The undercoating cracks and wicks up moisture, so the metal turns to dust underneath.

-J
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  #13  
Old 04-10-2013, 08:30 AM
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As others have advised, check the function of the climate control and take a good look at the servo. It's located under the hood near the firewall on the passenger side. If it looks like the photo below (aluminum body) then it is the upgraded version and the odds of a few years of trouble free operation are good.



If the servo looks like the next photo (plastic body) then it is more likely that you will have a failure sooner rather than later.



That all being said, I drove my SD for 10 years with a plastic body servo that operated flawlessly. When if finally did bite the dust I replaced it with an aluminum body version from George Murphy.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1980 300SD - 495k miles - 'The Ambassador'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Former Family Members
95 C280
73 280SEL
90 300D
87 300SDL (X2)
86 560SEL
84 300D
80 300SD

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  #14  
Old 04-10-2013, 08:35 AM
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Own one.

Window regulators
Vacuum leaks(door locks)
Oil leaks
Valve adjustments
Valve head cover oil leaks
Climate control(aux water pump, amplifier, Leaky Servo)


Love driving it
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  #15  
Old 04-10-2013, 08:42 AM
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Speaking of Rust

Rust has been mentioned by several posters for good reason. The W116 is susceptible to rust, especially if you ignore a water leak for to long like I did. Here's a link to a thread from a few years ago when I thought I may have let mine rust to death, but ultimately decided to repair. Worth looking under the carpet for rust in the areas where mine was eaten up.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/304311-death-ambassador.html

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1980 300SD - 495k miles - 'The Ambassador'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Former Family Members
95 C280
73 280SEL
90 300D
87 300SDL (X2)
86 560SEL
84 300D
80 300SD

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