300SD Owners - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

TX76513 · #1 04-09-2004, 10:49 AM

Looking at a 85 SD that the owner want to get rid of as the miles concern him 300K. Car appearance is good (silver/blue), but would consider the interior very nice. Car drives out nice and shifts well - but looking in the bay the bowden cable is broken - is this not intergral of the shift down process? The owner explained that happened when the cruise control "ran away on him".

Any comments on this or other "you should look at" on this SD?

rickg · #2 04-09-2004, 11:20 AM

I don't know anything about the bowden cable myself. But might look further into this cruise control issue. What did he mean "runaway"?
My SD is on it's second engine, and I have assumed at least the second trannie. Have either of these been replaced? The engine may not have been, and be ok for awhile if cared for. But a trannie with that many miles on it I'm not sure I'd trust very far.

TX76513 · #3 04-09-2004, 11:47 AM

Rick, was just going to PM you about the SD. The owner is a recent college grad and 3rd Owner. The Trans was rebuilt 14 mo ago by XYZ trans shop for $2200. Very little in books and records. It did have some diag. run last year and they indicated some reduced compression in #1. It's suprisingly not a smoker even on pedal to floorboard. Evidentaly the cruise just started to increase rpm - and whatever he did to stop this caused the bowden cable to break (this isn't clear with me either), but it's broken. My SDL is so sensative to Bowden adjustment it's blows my mind that the SD shifts so well with it not connected.

rickg · #4 04-09-2004, 11:56 AM

Hmmm. Yeah, kinda wierd. I've not dealt with trannie stuff yet, so hopefully someone else here can give you some advice there. At least the trannie is fresh(supposedly). I'm just hoping the engine didn't over-rev and do some damage that'll show up later. How's the oil pressure at all stages? First start up, cruising RPM's, and idle when hot? That should show you the condition of the lower end. Long as it has decent pressure hot at idle, and pegs the needle off idle, the crank and rod bearings are still ok.

PC Dave · #5 04-09-2004, 01:31 PM

My cruise control "runs away" every now and again, usually when I hit "resume" from a lower speed after I've been forced to break. It just keeps building speed past the point where it had previously been set. This happens pretty infrequently, and when I hit "cancel" and then reset at the desired speed, it stays there. I'm surprised this would break the bowden cable or anything else - it's just the usual c.c. speed buildup, which isn't sudden at all. If it gets worse (more frequent) I'll replace the c.c. amp eventually, but the frequency hasn't increased over the 11,000 miles I've owned the car, so I'm not too worried about it.

vwbuge · #6 04-09-2004, 01:58 PM

I have an '85. It now has 301,000 miles. I bought it with 238,000 and it had unbelieveable records. Serviced by the dealer untill 110,000. Really good owner records since. It has the original engine and transmission. Everything operates very well. The tranny fluid has been changed a few times before I got it. I just got done switching my CA emissions to federal. I would look at the service records. That can make or break a deal when you're talking about a car with that many miles.

TX76513 · #7 04-12-2004, 02:21 PM

Just a follow up or possibly "the end" thread. Took the vehicle up in the air to take a look see underneath. Quite a bit of front-end work, sub frame mounts, trans mount, sub frame bushing, rear main and oil pan leaking

Did make an offer of $1250. Sort of dissapointed - wanted it to be a little tighter underneath.

rickg · #8 04-12-2004, 02:53 PM

Too bad. But if he takes that offer, you could still come out ok sounds like.