I just purchased a 1985 300TD Wagon this afternoon....I am a little over my head with this one as i am now seeing things under the hood that i have never seen before. So I ask that you impart some of your knowledge.

the car does not sit too low but sits lower than I think Mr Benz thought it should

I see a reservoir with a green tag on the left front of the engine compartment...after wiping off the grim I read the green tag and it says hydrolic fluid...this puzzles me because I asked the man I bought the car from if it had a rear leveling hydrolic system...he told me NO NO nien..I believed him because he owned the car since new and was a German, and I figured Germans know German cars.. but at 78 years of age...I am sure he forgot more than I will ever know! LOL....So it appears I have some sort of hydrolic leveling system on this car after all

Question

What should I check for to determine what I in fact have and if it is working. The engine needs a bath and i plan to steam clean it tomorrow...so i will have a better look see at it.

If the system is bad...can it be fixed at a reasonable price and if not is there a mod that can be done such as air shocks or a regular analog suspension system to replace it

More question at day break!!! and thanks for any advice

 

Thank you for the info..I have a question about "ALDA/EGR removed and by-pass oil filter" could you elaborate on why you have done this and the benefits. EgrI understand.

 

I have a wagon and have converted the rear.
I am VERY happy with the results.
I think that this is a like a knee or hip replacement. It may not be as good as the original was supposed to be, but is MUCH better than the non-working original.
My problem was trying to find reasonable sources for parts and people knowledgable on how to diagnose and repair that system. If yours is not working and you just start swapping parts you can spend well over $1k and not fix it. The conversion was done and running for about the cost of one SLS rear shock.
I have the Mercedes Source conversion and with light loads, passengers or just the driver I can report that it drives exceptionally well, handling is vastly improved as is ride quality over my failing SDLS. I have not tried to haul heavy loads or a trailer, but sicne the car is only rated to 1050 lbs capacity stock, I think that I will be OK.

 

mr2by4 I would like some info on how you did the conversion

 

I was recently looking at a '83 wagon (might buy it yet) and the owner said a previous owner had replaced the rear suspension with "Argentinian taxi springs". Anyone else hear of this expression?

 

Agree! My 85 wagon has similar hacks, rarely does anyone know that it has a self leveling Hydrolic suspension! Here is how i know mine was mollested.

1.missing Oil supply tank.
2.hydraulic pressure pump suction line/ return lines have been nipped/cut/capped!

I'm slowly working out her bugs, to get her back to stock.

Some car owners are at fault for hacks, However, I place way more blame on uproffesional mechanics/techs for major hacks typically derrived from working on cars they are not certified to work on.

I am a car hobbiest with barely NO diesel or Benz experience (6 months). with a simple shop manual and forum help am astonished/horrified that I could still point out hacks being done by local techs regarding simple mechanical theories.

For ex. Before I ever even gave diesels a though in my head, I asked a DetroitDiesel union tech, why don't diesels utilize spark for ignition? His answer, " I don't know", so I googled it, and in 1 sec understood why.