Liesl the diesel rocks. Blissful cruiser, think tank, whatever you want to call it- I drove it home from KC yesterday really enjoying the sturdiness. Show me ANY american car with 250k on it in as good a condition- I dare ya!
So now, the inevitable newbie questions:
.....Automatic climate control seems to work great at LOW speeds- tooling 'round town, idle, etc. Once I get on the highway, the air seems to be coming out but the heat is gone-- I see where the previous owner reported the same problem back in 1991 and it was the monovalve?
.....No dash lights: The high beam indicator lights, the idiot lights light, the rear defrost switch lights, and the PRNDSL on the console lights but nothing else- what gives? Fuses? lamps?
.....Although the car was not smoked in, the interior is quite dirty- what is strong enough to clean the ivory-colored vinyl on the doors and pillars and the ivory leather (not MB-tex) but not harm it?
.....As usual, the dash is warping and pulling away from the glovebox door and pretty soon it won't latch anymore- any fixes?
.....I know that there is different throttle response and acceleration characteristics with a diesel but it does seem there is a lot of pedal travel before the car kicks down into 1st and takes off, and then you're REALLY moving! Is there a throttle linkage I can tighten up somewhere?
I'm sure there will be more questions as time goes by- and I'll try to post pics when I can, too.
Thanks much,
-shawn

I got a stack of receipts from the seller dating back to 1987 when they purchased the car with 75k on it from ARistocrat in Kansas City. It was their company car and they've put mostly highway miles on it. I know highway miles are supposedly "better" on gas engines, does it apply to diesel also?

Thanks much for the advice- I see 2 black buttons under the dash lights: 1 is to zero the trip odometer and the other one is to change the clock time, I didn't find one to adjust dash brightness?

I'm guessing there are already posts on replacing a monovalve, huh?

There is bubbled paint (rust) behind the wheel wells and on the underside of the tailgate also, but overall the paint is in good condition with great shine. How can I tell if my jack lifts are good? I don't want to be in the position of having a flat and no way to jack up the car!

In the owner's manual the lightswitch is indicated as pulling out to position "A" which is fog lights (I have on clear and one amber) and then it mentions a position "B" which is optional but doesn't tell me what it is...do you know what it is?

The vacuum system seems to be working quite well- all door locks and power windows are working. Cruise works great except only seems to want to "resume" part of the time.

Shawnster,

Can't help you with most of your questions, but the dash light problem may just be that the lights are adjusted all the way down. There are two small buttons on the dash, one you push in to "zero" the trip odometer and one you can twist to adjust the dash lights. Can't remember which is which. You'll probably not be able to see much of the dash with the lights on full brightness. From what I've seen on previous discussions, there is a tendency for the clear plastic pieces, which direct the light through the dash, to yellow with age and therefore transmit less light. Also the small bulbs themselves dim over the years. My own car has the same problem. I can read the speedometer while driving at night but cannot read the odometer.

Good luck with your new car!

__________________
Dave
1995 C280
1999 Triumph Daytona 955I - my speed fix.
1982 300TD - Gone, but not forgotten.

If you pull it once it turns the foglights on, if you pull it out twice (pos. B) it's supposed to turn on the rear fog lights. I don't think it's in my 300CD. However, my 230E does have it.

The 300CD also seems to lack a light in the light switch. This is the light behind the amber colored part of the knob. It's supposed to be on when the fog lights are turned on.
Does anyone know what kinda bulb it is?

__________________
2008 BMW 335i Coupe

shawnster,

Congratulations on the new car!

The two stick like knobs that poke out of the dash board instrument cluster do the dash lights, the trip odometer (one stick - push it to zero the trip odometer and twist it to adjust the dash lights) and adjust the hands on the clock (push it in and twist it). All this stuff is detailed in the owners manual somewhere. Good luck, and enjoy the car, Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Simple green works pretty good on leather too. I tried lexol leather cleaner, but that stuff is too weak.

After you are done cleaning the leather, apply some Lexol leather conditioner so you replenish the oils that need to be in the leather.

I really was impressed with the overall condition of the car: no rips or tears in the leather anywhere, all wood is in excellent condition (except the strip on the glovebox needed redoing and I accidentally cracked it off by catching it on my coat when reaching into the footwell )
The carpet is nice and clean but faded in the cargo area. All chrome looks top notch. I think this was a well-cared for vehicle and that's why I was willing to pay what I did.
The drive back was a clincher: smooth, quiet, powerful at speed with plenty of passing power. Even when I would nail it to pass a semi I'd check m rear view and no cloud of smoke. No squeaks or rattles, just a curious whistle through the door when the wind would smack the door (need to replace the weatherstripping).
Oh yeah, the driver's seat's pretty squishy while the passenger seat has quite a bit of support yet: is it possible to swap 'em? Looks like there's clearance next to the console for the height adjustment lever...

Do you lean to the left or right when you sit in the seat or is it just too bouncy? Either case you need a seat spring frame. I dont think you can swap the seats, you have the armrest and the seat levers to deal with.

I would like to add a hearty second to what TurboDiesel said about the Lexol....if everyone put it all over their leather even just twice a year they would be amazed at the increased life of the leather... LEATHERMAN GREG ....

My actual experiance is with 126 seats, but if they are any indication - you can remove both the driver and passenger seats, then dissaemble the seat bottoms, swap the tired drivers "seat spring box"for the firmer passenger and vis-a-versa, reassemble the seat bottoms, and then reinstall the seats in their respective places and you should be better off. It's a fairly simple process, take care moving the seats out of the car you don't want to damage any trim or the seats, and before you will be removing and replaceing the actual leather seat covers appling some softening conditioner would not hurt and would probably be good insurance as depending on the car the leather can be quite dry and its removal/replacement takes some pulling and stretching. It's a cheap and enjoyable fix! Good Luck!

Hi Shawnster,on the seats,I believe that you swap the upholstered part,not the frame(which has the height and fore/aft adjustment).It looks like it's already been done in my car,but you also remove the seatbacks and keep them on their respective sides,armrest and all, makes more sense.Good luck

__________________
Democracy dies in darkness, you have to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight

Shawnster:

It's very possible that even after adjusting the dash light knob (the left black button which is also the trip reset), that you won't have dash lights. A short develops easily in that mechanism.

The fix is rather easy but involves taking out the instrument cluster (cf numberous posts). You then throw away the adjusting mechanism (potentiometer or whatever its called) and solder the two posts together. This will fix you up with the brightest possible instrument lights which in the end is barely bright enough.

Glad you had such an enjoyable first ride home.

Don

__________________
DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

Thanks much for all of your good advice, everyone. It was indeed the potentiometer- it took some time but I did indeed find the "sweet spot" and now have dash lights. Yup, barely bright enough but better than nothing. I've got some simple green so I'll have a the interior tomorrow.