I just bought a 1 owner 300d that has had oil changes every 5k and valve maint. every 15k. I searched the archives and got opinions on timing chain replacement. The car has 197k and I want to have the chain replaced. How much can I look to spend? Also the a/c needs recharged due to leaks. The mech. that has serviced the car since 22k said there is a GM kit for $600 that converts it to R134 and replaces all the seals. Has anyone heard of this? I have not.

Thanks!

Let your tech check the timing chain first. I hate to see you replacing a perfectly good chain with a new one but the new one breaks later due to installation error. Ask the shop who replaces the chain the "what if" question - What if the new chain breaks after installation, who is going to pay for the engine repair?

David

Joe,

I agree that the chain should be checked. This is a relatively simple thing to do.

As for a $600 R134 conversion kit. I can't imagine what's in this kit. I sure hope that there is a compressor in that kit for that much money. These systems are changed to R134 in many different ways. Some folks just pump them down and shoot them full of R134, I wouldn't suggest that method. But I think a $600 kit is way beyond the opposite end of the changeover spectrum.

If you can find the leak and recharge the system with R12 it's probably best. However, if you didn't indeed repair the leak, you'll lose the "gaseous gold" to the atmosphere. It will definitely hurt your wallet more than the atmosphere. A more practical changeover than the $600 kit would probably be to empty as much oil from the compressor as possible, replace with ester oil, replace the filter drier with an R134 compatible one, and recharge. If you want to go a step further, also replace the o-rings everywhere with the R134 type o-rings and flush the system.

The pros on this site have converted many of these, they may have some better suggestions.

Good luck,

------------------
Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 516K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

I appreciate the info. guys! I was looking at all the records on this car and I discovered back in '95 the compressor,the drier,and I believe the evaporator(writing hard to read) were replaced. I am only an 1 1/2 hours from MBS and was wondering if Benzmac could do the conversion and a round about figure for the fix. I figure for all the help this site has provided me I should bring a little business your way. I truly value your opinion as well as the others and would like to keep it as close to perfection that I can!

Thanks!