I just bought my first Mercedes. It's an '83 240D in very nice shape, with 126,000 miles. It runs well except for a very rough idle which may be caused by a damaged driver side motor mount. It runs very smoothly once it's in gear and moving.


Fixing old diesels is my hobby. I currently own a couple of '70s John Deeres and half a dozen '80s Ford diesel trucks, and some Lister generators.


What should I look out for on this new toy, besides vacuum leaks?

What are the trouble spots?

Where do I get a shop manual, and an owners manual?

What is the recommended engine oil?

Are there any specialty tools that are must-haves? Maybe a fixture for my dial indicator for injection timing, like on the old VW diesels I used to have?
What parts should I keep on the shelf, besides obvious stuff like filters and glow plugs?



Other than the motor mount, the only issues I'm aware of are a plugged vacuum leak in the mirrors and the air conditioner belt has been removed. There are the oil leaks on the exterior of the engine that I expect on an old machine, but no signs of rivers of oil, just black crud on the exterior.

Whatever you do, don’t be in a hurry.

The slow lane is your friend.

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1981 240D Four on the floor, Orient Red over Parchment, bought with 154,000 but it's a daily driver and up to 180,000 miles, mostly original paint and all original interior.

The owners book calls for 10w40 that’s what I use.
The owners book say’s change the oil every 5000 miles, that’s what I do.

When we first got the car I had the technician sort out the vacuum system. Only problem was the trunk lock. That leak caused the car not to shut off. It literally took him five minutes.

I also had the cooling system flushed, it was nasty.

I got lucky, the car has been extraordinarily well-maintained.

If the car has the original paint on it, be sure to look at the tricks to bring it back to life. It’s not easy.

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1981 240D Four on the floor, Orient Red over Parchment, bought with 154,000 but it's a daily driver and up to 180,000 miles, mostly original paint and all original interior.

Which oil viscosity to use is dependent upon the ambient temps where the car is used. I generally used 15W-40.

It is important to use C rated diesel oils that have soot carrying capacity e.g. Delo, Rotella, DelVac and ZDDP/zinc for the sliding surface flat tappet cams. Motorcraft diesel oil advertises 1000 ppm on their bottle, that's a decent amount.

Good luck!!!

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Adjust the valves, check the timing chain stretch.

shop manual:


https://www.startekinfo.com/StarTek/outside/12265/?requestedDocId=12265



When setting the injection timing it's good to have a drip tube. Ask or search the forum for setting the ip timing.

That link leads to a flash website that tells me I need disk 2. Is there a source for disk 2 other than startek? They want $3,000+ for a one year subscription!


In the mean time I found a two volume set of body and chassis manuals, and a one volume engine manual on fleabay. Hopefully they will be the right ones and certainly paper beats pdf for reference in the shop.

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'75 John Deere 450C (times 2)
'83 240D plus parts car
'87 F350, 6.9L IDI
'89 F350 crewcab, 7.3L IDI
'89 F-Superduty, 7.3L IDI
'91 F-250, 7.3L IDI
'91 F-350, 7.3L IDI
'94 F-350 Crewcab, 7.3L IDI
'94 E-350 Ambulance, 7.3L IDI

Moderators, I accidentally started two threads: this and http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/405473-i-just-bought-240d-what-now.html

Could you merge them?

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'75 John Deere 450C (times 2)
'83 240D plus parts car
'87 F350, 6.9L IDI
'89 F350 crewcab, 7.3L IDI
'89 F-Superduty, 7.3L IDI
'91 F-250, 7.3L IDI
'91 F-350, 7.3L IDI
'94 F-350 Crewcab, 7.3L IDI
'94 E-350 Ambulance, 7.3L IDI

just click on disk 2 when you open the link in my previous post. It's free.

Christuna, I must have done something wrong the first time, because it's working now. Thanks!

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'75 John Deere 450C (times 2)
'83 240D plus parts car
'87 F350, 6.9L IDI
'89 F350 crewcab, 7.3L IDI
'89 F-Superduty, 7.3L IDI
'91 F-250, 7.3L IDI
'91 F-350, 7.3L IDI
'94 F-350 Crewcab, 7.3L IDI
'94 E-350 Ambulance, 7.3L IDI

Check the Oil Cooler hoses and if there is any seepage change them. However, the Oil Cooler nipples are aluminum and the Oil Cooler Hose Nuts are steel. That often means the Nut is corroded to the nipple and when you turn it strips the treads off of the oil cooler nipple. (That happened to me.)
Look in the Repair Links for ways to decrease the chance of that happening.
Fast navigation http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diy-links-parts-category/146034-fast-navigation-do-yourself-links.html

The driver shaft has rubber flex discs on each end. Check both ends for cracks even though it is not as easy to see the front one. On the ones with automatic transmissions if the front flex disc comes apart it has been known to crack the whole tail end off the transmission.

Us only Bosch or Beru glow plugs. Do not buy Autolite Glow Plugs. Myself and others have had the tips on the glow plug swell. In my case it only took 6 months.

See the attached picture. If you already have the replacement oil cooler hoses one of our members said it was possible to (see the yellow line) cut the oil cooler nut length wise in 2 spots on opposite sides and stick a screwdriver in the slot and split the Nut. That avoids the turning of the nut that strips threads off of the nipples.
The oil cooler hose seals inside of the oil cooler nipple not on the threads so if the threads get a little dinged it won't make a difference. However, no one I know of has cut the nuts as suggested.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel