New Diesel Mercedes owner - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

TexasMeat · #1 12-12-2003, 10:28 PM

Hello to all. I just purchased my first ever diesel powered car and it's a mercedes!! It's a 1982 300D turbo diesel 5 cylinder automatic trans with 208k miles on the clock. Well it's not perfect as I picked it up for a song and I was wondering if some of the problems it has are common. Here goes: The tachometer works intermittently, the backlighting for the guages does not work, I pulled out the window switches to clean them and now none of them work. Fuel guage likes to stay all the way empty and occasionally show me the actual amount that I have in the tank. Other than that, everything looks nice. I will try and snap some pictures later on tomorrow and post them here. Any ideas on fixing some of these problems? Thanx

bjcsc · #2 12-12-2003, 10:32 PM

Welcome aboard!! Actually every one of the problems you mentioned has the fix described in the archives. Get a comfortable chair and something to drink, and start searching; lots to read here. By next week, you'll have all that stuff fixed!!

diesel don · #3 12-13-2003, 12:22 AM

Dash lighting is a quick fix once you get the instrument cluster out. I recommend soldering the two posts together so no more shorts can occur in the potentiometer.

I suspect that the metal around the instrument cluster is not grounded well enough and therefore some of the instruments are intermittant. On one of mine, I just put a wire and attached it to a metal ground.

Let us know if you can't find the threads after a thorough search, but tons have been written and detailed on the subject

Don

Toblin · #4 12-13-2003, 12:41 AM

Your "new" car and where you are located means you have at least ten years of anticipated usage!

Welcome aboard. Very smart buy!!!

TexasMeat · #5 12-13-2003, 02:11 AM

I am in San Antonio, Texas. I tried the cigarette butt trick on the tachometer screw in thing in the engine compartment( what is that thing? relay??) and it did not work. Cant I just get a jumper wire to make it work all the time? The rheostat is most likely the problem with the guage lighting but as I said, I have never owned one of these cars so I am unfamiliar with how everything is wired together. Another thing wrong with the car is that the center vents dont blow hard at all but the other side vents blow fine. Do these cars have a feet area blower vent for heat and a/c or are the only vents up top on the dash? Thanx

Wes Bender · #6 12-13-2003, 10:52 AM

Welcome to the forum -

A jumper wire won't get the job done on the tach. Thats an amplifier in the round black enclosure. If the cigarette butt fix doesn't do the job, it may be something else. Check the sensor that is mounted near the crank front pulley.

I second the use of search on the forum. Most everything is covered to some extent.

Cheers,
Wes

kerry · #7 12-13-2003, 12:22 PM

All vents (including footwell) are controlled by vacuum actuators. It is typical for these to leak. Do a search on 'center vents' and you will find tons of fixes including replacing the actuators. The rubber diaphragms for the actuators are available from Performance Analysis 865-482-9175. About $5 each.

bjcsc · #8 12-13-2003, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TexasMeat
Another thing wrong with the car is that the center vents dont blow hard at all but the other side vents blow fine. Thanx

Don't forget to read your owners manual, or get one if you don't have one. Heat will not be directed out the center vents, only AC, even if all the diaphragms are brand new. It's by design.