Hi.

So I have been looking around for a 240D engine for a while now, and I stumbled across this ad on craigslist.org ( Engine and Automate Transmission from 83 Mercedes 240D Diesel ). The poster is selling his 240d engine w 185K miles on it, and his automatic transmission that was rebuilt less than 1k miles and 5 years ago (the previous owners had it rebuilt soon before selling the car, and there is a receipt for $1800 worth of work). Both components are from an '83 model year vehicle.

I called the guy, and he pretty much said, if I buy the engine, all the peripheral parts would come with it, with the exception of the oil separator, and the power steering pump. Also, it didn't sound like there would be a discount to buy both the engine ($900) and the transmission ($500).

Currently I have a '80 240D that needs and engine, but has a working manual transmission, and also a '82 240D with 208K miles and needs a new automatic transmission (its just getting worn out, and I can tell it's getting worse.).

Anyway, my thought is that I could buy the engine for my '80 240D, and buy the transmission for the '82 240D. My question is does $1400 sound reasonable for this engine and transmission? If not, what do you think it is realistically worth, and why? Also, I have heard that oil separators are rarer than hen's teeth nowdays, but as I understand it, because my 240d is an '80, i can use the entire air intake system, without needing to use the oil separator. Any advice on the oil separator situation?

I apologize for such a long post, but thanks in advance for any help you can give.
- Kyle

 

I kind of had the same feeling, but the poster of the ad has the records from the original owners, verifying the milage and stuff like that. I think he's planning on switching the powertrain with one from a 300D turbo (maybe w/ a manual transmission?).

Anyway, what do you believe the engine and transmission are worth? Honestly, I'm not aiming to get the lowest possible price here, but I just don't want to be ripped off here.

BTW: I definitely think that $900 for a long block with 185K miles is quite high, but I think that having it come with most of the peripheral parts bumps the price up a bit (dont you?)

 

Interesting point on the transmission rebuild, but the way the story was, is that the former owners were on a trip and the transmission crapped out, so they had it rebuilt (maybe replaced, not quite sure) there. But, yeah, that uncertainty is a bit troubling.

Plus are you saying $500 for just the longblock? or does the other stuff coming with it bump the engine up to $500?

Thanks for the responses BTW.

 

Well, I think that over 185k miles (I doubt it went that far without a rebuild/replcement), i'm sure an automatic transmission would wear down enough to suddenly give out like that (or at least become unbearable).

But anyway, I suppose then something more like $700 (probably still a bit to high), would be a reasonable offer for the engine, given that it does come with the "belt-driven accessories and manifolds" (everything but the power steering pump, and oil separator). As for the transmission I'm not sure, it seems like prices are all over the place, from $250 to $1000. It might be worth paying the extra bit just so that I can finally fix these two cars. I'm not expecting nor trying to knock off every last dollar from the prices, but I'll just have to see how it goes.

 

I suppose if someone babies an automatic, it would go pretty far, but i didn't think they'd go that far. Maybe those last 25-40K miles would be pretty bad? It is possible that their reverse went out, and they thought they should just rebuild it given that it did have a lot of miles. That might have been cheaper or more reliable to just have it rebuilt. Also, maybe a seal blew out in the transmission. I mean, there are a lot of people who neglect their cars, and there are a lot of people who have experience premature failures in their car even after proper maintenance.

Also, I was thinking, $900 might be too much for this engine if it was in Colorado, but things seem to be generally more expensive here in the SF bay area. Plus, I haven't seen to many of these engines around, especially not where I wouldn't have to pay $400-$500 just to ship it here.