Finally, it works like a charm!! (300CD)

[Holson Adi]

Good Day!

Even though it snowed and rained the whole day here in Boston, but today the old geezer came back to life after the alternator died last night.

To my luck, I found a Mercedes shop (well Euro car shop) just behind Fenway Park... so I went there and even though they quoted me a ridiculous price for an alternator and the labor... I must say i'm satisfied.. all the warning lights are off.
I hope that was the last 'major' repair...

I've had to replace alternators on two MB's [123/124]...
We did try regulators and brushes first.. didn't work...
But, at least I tried that... with the 124.. a new alternator.. without checkin the old one out first...

so my friend and I went driving around the city...it's comfortable and he loves it so much.. I was surprised.. I thought I was gonna hear things like "dude, it's old...", etc...

Except for a 300TE 4-Matic who decided to be a jerk and cut through traffic almost clippin my side mirror.. it was a good day...

next up... fix power window... and I think the car should be a B+ mechanically. The sunroof can wait til summer...
In fact the shop told me that it could be that they disabled the sunroof.. so any directions on how one could disable the sunroof?

BTW, it's an Anthracite Gray (I think it's the name of the color) 300CD 1983. This whole diesel thing is getting into me!!



Oh well gotta study for a Comp Sci. mid-term now...
Sorry, I just had to share it..

BTW, does anyone know of a reliable and affordable MB garage in Boston area? This one wasn't so bad.. there were a lot of 300D's and 240D's...

oh one more thing..
the right rear blinker is dead... i should replace that before I inspect the car I guess..
is it the standard blinker light?

Thanks!!!
-Holson-

[diesel don]

Holson:

I applaud your hiring a garage to do the alternator. Just did one myself and it took forever and my hands are still healing.
I paid a little over $100 for the rebuild and did the labor myself, but I'm not sure I'd go through that torture again on my 300TD.
What was the amount they quoted you if I can ask?

Don

[Holson Adi]

I feel like slapping myself, but I paid $200 for the Bosch Alternator (60A)....no more.. next time I'll find a different place.
That place is only good for things that need to be fixed ASAP.. (like the Alternator)..

The garage looked soo ghetto from the outside.. but inside I did find Porsches... kinda weird.. I saw a lot of W123's rotting away outside of it.. made my rotting CD look like a new car... :p

I'm still wondering whether or not I should just attempt to work on the RR power window myself...
but I might end up ruining Everything.. that's quite a risk..
i started fixing the little things..

I tried to look at the tachometer cig. butt fix (I was going to use styrofoam(sp?) instead)... However.. the car was cold and the hood was sort of stuck... so I decided to forget about it for now.

[Holson Adi]

I just realized that the blinker now works.. I guess I just have to improve the contact...

Yes it does have a Turbocharger. This car is by no means slow.. I was doing 90mph and it was beautiful at speed.. if only the RR window was completely shut...

It has enough power to at least hold that speed even on an incline.

The interior is.. uhm... it's beige sort of color.

[Holson Adi]

Fixed the Tachometer today, easy fix.. but I came late to class.. :p
oops..

I finally learnt how to open the hood.

However, I'm really happy. This morning it was like 25 F in Boston and I could see that everything was frozen. The 300CD just sitting there, looking good among all the new cars.
As the city froze.. so did my car... It took me a while to open the door.. the lock was frozen. I put some force and it finally opened.
So that's not a problem.

Good thing wass that the OM617 just came to life right away! (Well after the pre-heat light went off that is).

Some people get really curious when they hear this Mercedes coupe start like a truck..

I'm looking at repairing the rust but that costs quite a lot and I think I'll just do that when I feel like getting a complete repaint.

dude. On the rear window you have two switches. One back by the window. And the other on the console. Have you tried both switches? Before you tear into the window area. You are better of use a Volt ohm meter and test both switches. Swith are a heck of a lot cheaper than motor or gear. Also the sun roof you be a bad switch check it also.Charlie

[Holson Adi]

Hi Charlie,

Yes I have tried both switches. The motor actually works and I can hear some pretty loud knock as a silver part moves up to the window.
Both L and R switches that are below the windows themselves just don't work anymore. However, no one sits there so I'm not gonna fix that..

I don't think I'm gonna fix the rear windows anytime soon. But, I will definitely check the sunroof switch. I don't hear the motor either...
so i guess it could be either the switch, motor, or maybe even the fuse. But, I've replaced the fuses...

[Holson Adi]

Hi TXBill,

The rear window is now closed, I figured out how to do it (your way) when I was about to just duct-tape everything.

I can't wait to get the car back from the body shop (rust removal). It should look a lot better w/o the rust...
I still need an alloy spare tire/wheel + the spare wheel holder though.. so if anyone in Boston has one to throw away, let me know and I'll be glad to pick it up for a price..

The car has a spare wheel from a W115 car (the wheel says x 115 xxxxxxxxx) with 175/70/14 tires... yuck.

[Aaron]

Holson,

Your regulator is bad, and this job is not pretty on the coupes.

[Holson Adi]

Originally posted by Aaron
Holson,

Your regulator is bad, and this job is not pretty on the coupes.

uh oh...
I couldn't find the parts for it either...
I don't think I'm going to repair 'em anytime soon. Earliest would be next year in Summer... right now I just wanna concentrate on the antenna and the sunroof (work on 'em myself)..

The A/C might need to be looked at as well.. summer is approaching and if it's as bad as it was last year (98F) then I better get it to work..
I need to find a place that would still recharge R12....the MB dealer wouldn't do it.

[Holson Adi]

Here she is, no more rusty quarter panel (rust cut out and replaced by sheet metal)

[The Warden]

Sweet lookin' car!!

If you can't find a place that'll do R-12, there are kits out there to converto over to a R-134A system...basically get the system evacuated, replace a couple fittings, put new oil in, and put the refrigerant in...I did it myself on an old IH Scout; worked well other than an apparent leak somewhere...

Or is this a bad idea on M-B's for some reason?

[Holson Adi]

Thanks for the kind words,
They repaired the right rear quarter panel in front of the RR wheel. I was amazed at the quality of the paint job (considering they didn't paint the whole panel).

I saw them cut parts of the coupe's original rusted panel.. that was a horrible sight...

I'm not sure if I wanna ask a shop to convert it to R134a when I can do most of it myself. I think I'll just find a kit and try to fix it myself... let's see what I'll break..

or I can opt to fix the sunroof and windows and just open it up in Summer

What shop did you get your rust repaired in Boston last summer?? Was the quality of the work good and were the prices reasonable??? Would you recommend them???

I have to change the passenger door on my '82 Gold 300CD-T (due to a car accident), get a new RR window (as somebody broke into my car), and repair a few rust spots.

I can't afford to pay through the nose so I can't do all these cosmetic repairs all at once. Plus, I'm still trying to determine if I will keep the car long enough to warrant paying for these repairs.

A question I do have is if it is possible to get the RR window replaced despite the fact that I have a rather large dent in the area right above the rear right wheel due to a car accident??? If so, would anyone have any idea how much that would cost???

Thanks!!!

[Holson Adi]

Originally posted by cjbeers
What shop did you get your rust repaired in Boston last summer?? Was the quality of the work good and were the prices reasonable??? Would you recommend them???

I have to change the passenger door on my '82 Gold 300CD-T (due to a car accident), get a new RR window (as somebody broke into my car), and repair a few rust spots.

I can't afford to pay through the nose so I can't do all these cosmetic repairs all at once. Plus, I'm still trying to determine if I will keep the car long enough to warrant paying for these repairs.

A question I do have is if it is possible to get the RR window replaced despite the fact that I have a rather large dent in the area right above the rear right wheel due to a car accident??? If so, would anyone have any idea how much that would cost???

Thanks!!!

Hi!
I fixed the rust at Glenville Terrace Auto Body
617 783 1515
10 Glenville Ter. Allston, MA

I bet if you look outside of the city you could find better shops. They spot painted the repaired spots (so if you look you could find the repaint).

However I don't care as the car isn't perfect....as long as it looks decent.

I could've done a complete repaint for more money.. but I didn't want to bother. I'd rather have a small spot with a rather different color than a whole panel with a different color.

BTW I have seen your car. I parked my CD right behind yours on lower Bay State Rd. one day I see that car every now and then. It looked nice until I noticed the right side.
I go to BU so my car was always there.

BTW that right rear window is expensive and so are the window mechanisms..

I would recommend the body shop as I think they did an amazing job. I mean I didn't expect too much you see. They did a lot of work (welded new metal on)