Hello All,

I spotted an ad for this car ($3500), and decided to take a look.
It's got 160K miles, looks very clean,great paint and body & interior, drives and shifts good, vacuum system works, air is broken, needs tires.
It is an 'original owner' car. The owner has no maintenance history and was rather vague about it. He runs a 2000 acre rice farm and maintains all of his diesel farm equipment as well as this car....says he uses a single weight 'Type II' oil as used on his other farm equipment. I suppose this might be ok as the temp range here in Northern Cal is 40-105 degrees.

Should I check this out further?

Thanks

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D

My feeling is that if someone doesn't have maintainence records, they probably didn't maintain the car. If an owner takes pride in ownership of their car and cars for it, the would maintain it and either keep the receipts or keep a logbook, etc.

Based on this, I then ask myself whether I would want to buy a car in this condition with this kind of treatment. Usually the answer is "NO." Although exceptions do occur. I bought my '84 300D from someone that meets your description, but I looked at the car as a very good starting point (it was, like your car, generally sound and in good cosmetic condition).

I have done a lot of work on the car since, and you can be sure you will also have to do a lot of work. It all comes down to how bad you want the car (there are lots of others for sale out there), and how capable you are of fixing your own cars. If you expect to buy a 20 year old car and pay a mechanic to keep it on the road for you, you will pay dearly.

Don't know if this answers your question, but my 2 cents anyway.

Greg
'84 300D 169k

Check the rugs, are they damp? Bad windshield gasket. Check under the battery if you can, very prone to serious rusting. Check rear winshield defroster, hard to fix. Check transmisson for smooth shifts, hard shift to second on full acceleration is probably ok. My car runs at 3000 rpm around 70~75 mph and I think it OK so you might want to check for slipping if it runs much higher. Check trunk or at least under car at the rear trunk wheel wells for rust/holes. Check Cruise and A/C. Ask him to pull out the air cleaner and look for puddling of oil in the housing. Not sure what this means but can't be good. Offer him 2500 cash and have the cash with you :-)

I've got an 83 300D (172K) that is mechanically great but the rest is really a lot of work to fix.
If the guys an old farmer he probably did care for it well. These guys know and appreciate keeping machinery maintained.

Thanks for the advice.
I'm still pondering the purchase. The owner's only recollection of work on the car is oil changes,alternator and motor mounts.
Not bad for 17 years of maintenance. Maybe he just has a short memory!

Thanks,

__________________
D

I keep better care for my car than anyone I know, and I don't keep records. I do however remember everything and can pinpoint every repair that has been done.
I think you could tell by talking to the guy what kind of care he took for the car. I recently figured that I change the oil on my car every 2000 miles, way too much, but I got a great deal on the oil, so what the heck.
I would buy the car if the interior and body is good - everything else is a simple fix!

Good Luck,
Adam Bush

I decided to go for the car. No photo yet, but it looks about identical to the gold one recently on Ebay. About everything works except the tach, body good (no rust) interior great.....but tje engine leaks oil around the valve cover.

Despite the lack of records I decided if the car had the same care as the seller's several airplanes (they were all immaculate)...and the car looks outstanding...I'd take the chance.
I changed the engine and tranny oil & filters,and adjusted the valves...the seller indicated he thought it had been awhile since the last valve adjust. It turned out one intake was down to .002 and a couple of the exhaust valves were .001 too tight. The cover gasket was brittle and snapped in half when I bent it....good I thought, this should be the cause of the valve cover oil leak. I put in a decent used one, but the oil leak is about the same (pretty bad)...mostly leaking between the #4 and 5 injectors.....a .0025" feeler gauge slipped right in this area between the cover and the head! I can only think the cover is warped or my gasket is really bad...but it looks fine.

D

__________________
D

Congratulations!

I think you'll solve the valve cover oil leak with a new gasket. These are pretty thick gaskets and can squish around as necessary to make the seal. Not too expensive. You'll be surprised at how nice and soft the new gasket will be compared to just about any used one.

A lot of private owners that do their own maintenance don't bother to keep records. You'll see a collection of records from people who can't do things themselves and always take the car to a dealer. I personally keep a spreadsheet with date, mileage and the repair - mostly for my own interest to see how long routine things last - by the time I'm ready to sell either diesel they will be parts cars only.

Ken300D
1987 351K miles
1982 330K miles

There is also a possibility that the valve cover is warped. Common on the 617 engines.

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Regards,
Aaron

Not bad. Post pics when you can!!!

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1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

Your tachometer might actually be fine. Check all fuses, and either replace them or clean the ends with a small wire brush. Also, give a light brushing to the fuse cradles to ensure good contact. The tachometer has its own electrical connection near the fusebox; it's a double-prong connector that may have simply come unplugged.

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Matt
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1995 E300 Diesel (Die Blau Frau)

dsmess.... What part of Nor Cal are you in???

Ken
Yreka, Ca