New Owner Introduction
 

Hi Folks,

I just bought a 1985 300D turbo MB with 208k on the clock tonight, I'd been looking at them on craigslist for a while as me and the wife needed to get another car as she's having a baby soon (we ride share to work in one car currently).

Anyway I thought maybe they were a bit old so I didn't actually go to see one particularly, tonight we went to see an audi and a bmw, but they were pretty bad (at the low price we were looking at). On the way back to the freeway I saw some for sale signs on the car, I stopped and looked inside and the thing was mint, like new.

Long story short I bought it, there are a few things wrong with it that I know of: Rear brake pads worn out, one side is rubbing metal to metal, it needs CV boots very soon, old and cracked in places from what I could see.
There is also a smell of diesel around the engine, need to look closer. It also ran a little cold on the freeway home, I think it was only around 60C or something?

If anyone has any advice for things to look for and check I'd really appreciate it, I'm also looking for somewhere to get my spare parts from, I thought about trying a mercedes dealer for the brake pads because I'm pretty desperate for those, I can't drive it until thats fixed. I'm in the bay area northern california.

Thanks !

Chris

In the same boat
 

Chris,

I had been looking a while and found what I think to be a mint for its age 84 300d T. Mileage is a bit higher than yours 250 i think, but I am looking for help in getting my feet wet. I would like to get any thing out of the way up front as it is not a car i need to drive just yet. So I am seconding your post, any advice for us new to the MB diesel scene?

sam

ps. how is that all going chris? good luck!

pps. I have a ford diesel and work on that regularly.

The dealer will be one of your best parts sources, so will an online firm called Autohaus AZ. Always check between the two because sometimes the prices will be drastically different. However, the dealer will be able to sell you every part for the car.

For rear brakes, make absolutely sure the inside pistons aren't frozen and the rotors aren't warped. Also, the E-brake pads are located inside the rear rotors. Adjust them down before you try to remove the rotors if you're going to do so. The brake pads the dealer sells are nicer. They already come with a no-squeak backing so you don't have to mess with gooping them up or using shims. And the pads are held in place with pins that are drifted into the calipers. They will pop right out with a small punch, but example them closely, you may want to replace them if they are excessively rusty. Clean them up before you put them back in, they could cause a good squeak.

Let us know how it goes.

Hey Sam,

Well I've done quite a bit to the benz since I got it:

Valve adjustment and new cam cover seal/gasket
New thermostat (old one broken)
Engine oil and filter change
Power steering fluid and filter change
Inline and screw on fuel filters changed
New fuel return hoses to fix leaks
New front brake lines (flexy)
Brake fluid flush all lines
New rear brake pads
New front and rear flex discs
New CV boots all joints
New belts (alternator, water pump, power steering, AC etc)

I have a couple of small things left, I used the flexx boots on the CV joints and when you get the technique down it goes very smoothly, however I didn't realise last week that I pinched one of the boots between the metal CV housing and the driveshaft, damaging it.
I did the flex discs this week and noticed leaking moly grease, the boot is slit in two places so I have to re-do that boot this weekend, a real nuisance so make sure you're careful with CV boots when you put new ones on.

All I have left is:

Fix CV boot
Transmission fluid and filter change
New rear brake lines (flexy) and flush
New rear tires
Bypass EGR valve

The car should be perfect then; when its done I've got to work on my wifes POS ford which needs lots of work at 78k miles....

chris

Nice work chris.
 

Thanks for the rundown. I had a feeling on most of those pieces. Rubber just gets old. Good luck with everything else.

sam

Yeah its the rubber parts that really degrade on these cars, I'd say the flex discs on the prop shaft are one of the most important to do first, I had checked mine when I first got the car and they looked old but not bad. After a few weeks of driving and changing them out, I examined them more closely and they were showing more stress than before.
If they fail it can be very damaging and bad...

flex discs
 

Chris,

I am not sure I am familiar. Have you taken care of this yet? Also, how much of a headache was the valve adjustment, and would you say it was a good place to start? thanks again,

sam

There are two rubber flex discs on the main prop shaft; one right next to the transmission end and one right next to the diff.
The front one usually causes problems first but to be safe its better to change both of them.
If they fail the shaft can come free causing a huge amount of damage to the underneath of the car.

The valve adjustment was fairly average as far as valve adjustments go, not too difficult really.