1985 300SD

[shoe]

I found a 85 300SD in the local newspaper. It does not give the milage but says the body is perfect. Heres the kicker the ad says it needs a head gasket. They want $1,900 for it. Alright I need yalls feed back. Let me know all I need about this model, and what problems I might encounter in replacing the head gasket. and yalls opinion on is it worth fooling with. I know that will be limited because of the limited amount of info. Thanks in advance. I may try looking at it today if so I will update this.

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Keith Schuster
99 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic
97 Dodge Ram
83 300D
auto\hydraulic mechanic 20 yrs

[stevebfl]

Tough call here. If the head is already off then you have some chance for an evaluation.

These engines are very hard blow head gaskets on (except for an occasional external oil leak). If it has the normal coolant type head gasket failure it probably has been overheated to the extent of abuse. When this happens two things are very common. The first is cracking of the cylinder head. While this is expensive it is predictable or diagnosible. Unfortunately the worse, very common, associated problem is the loss of temper on the piston rings.

This is hard to tell and doesn't really cause a problem for 10-30k miles. If you have this problem and want to do the work yourself, it still might be a good deal. The car is probabbly worth 6 grand and a complete overhaul is worth about 4-5 grand. The labor is 45 hours which winds up being more than half the job. Parts can be had at less than retail so there is a spot of profit for your labor.

If it were offered to me, I wouldn't take it. The job leaves no room for profit and could have much more risk if it currently isn't running. If it isn't running I wouldn't give more than a grand for it and would junk it rather than get 5-6 grand tied to a car that I can't test the tranny or A/C.

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Steve Brotherton
Owner 24 bay BSC
Bosch Master, ASE master L1
26 years MB technician

[shoe]

OK I spoke with the owner of this car. The car ran hot because of a small heater hose started leaking. He is the original owner. He had the motor torn down, the head is not cracked but the eng has 200K miles so the mechanic suggested he rebuild the engine. The owner did not have that much use for the car now that he is in the construction buisness. He says the trans, A\C and everything works perfect. Also it looks brand new when cleaned. The head is currently off the engine. Thanks

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Keith Schuster
99 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic
97 Dodge Ram
83 300D
Heavy equipment\hydraulic mechanic 20 yrs

[This message has been edited by shoe (edited 09-03-2000).]

[shoe]

Help I need more info.

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Keith Schuster
99 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic
97 Dodge Ram
83 300D
Heavy equipment\hydraulic mechanic 20 yrs

i second it beacuse my 85 500sel has had the same problem and i am fixing the head gasket beacuse i love the car it has 223k but you also have rember the tranny is coming up on service. even tough the body looks like there is no rust open all the doors and look on the bottom alot of times there is rust down there. Un less you could find on with a badbody and a great engine to change up the engine i would not just my 2 cents

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Dan Younes
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1985 euro 500sel 223k
1986 420sel 86k soon 2 be
1981 300sd 278k sold
1979 240d 298k sold
1983 300sd 272k sold
1989 chrysler 2.2l Turbo
Leabaron 140k
1989 Dodge Carvan Se 295k
1994 S500
(hopefully someday)

[This message has been edited by Benzman500 (edited 09-03-2000).]

[stevebfl]

If the car is cosmetically good. Good paint, good dash, good seats, that work, it might be worth a grand. The engine plus that means you will have 5-6k in the car. With no other problems (I have never seen a disassembled car that had a bad tranny or A/C [bg])its one he** of a piece of transportation.

If you can do the work yourself, oportunities to cash in a little labor are hard to find. Many a folk would like to be able to find a long term vehicle as simple and useful as those cars were.

If you aren't going to do the work, forget it. Too many risks!!

[shoe]

Thank's for the input everyone. I can do the work myself, that is not a problem. I was thinking if I could get away with just a head gasket then I would be into a nice car for a couple of grand. It sounds like that just a head gasket is hoping for to much. I have not seen the car so I dont know what "looks like new" means to this guy. Steve your right I've never seen a diassembled car have any thing bad!! It is a hour and half away from B.R. I might grab the wife and gas up the Harley and go look at it. Once again you guys have saved me big dollars. Unless its super clean I think I will leave it alone.

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Keith Schuster
99 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic
97 Dodge Ram
83 300D
Heavy equipment\hydraulic mechanic 20 yrs

[ctaylor738]

These are great cars, but its a real gamble, so don't spend more than you can comfortably walk away from.

Chuck