Here's a car I never appreciated back in the day, the 300D turbo. So to make a long story short, I picked up a 1984 at a dealers auction for cheap. It was the color (green) and the overall condition of the car that got me, other than that all I can tell you is that it sounded like a diesel, the air was cold, and it does'nt smoke, and it was cheap.
Since it did'nt come with any books or records I contacted the previous owner to find out what he thought. Turns out he was the original owner and he took delivery of the car in Germany. According to him the car has been faithfully maintained by Mercedes all of it's life, but he felt that original transmission would soon go bad, and that it had jumped timing and that it would need a new belt. That's where he lost me because I know that the car has a chain, and I felt that he may have been ill advised by his service consultant. At least I hope so for my sake.
So I have put about 1000 miles on the car, it's a little shaky when cold starting ,but smooths out quickly. It uses no oil. It idles steady at 650 rpm or so. It cruises at a touch over 3000 rpm at 70 mph.
I really like this car and need some info and advice, Thankyou,Dick

 

some remaining fuel on the chamber which takes time to burn.

 

No big deal , but how about the timing concerns ? How about rpm,s ?sound typical, or what is normal for this car?
I took a 400 mile cruise with it , it was 3/4 tank and I added a bottle of Lucas cleaner, about halfway into my trip it sounded like the muffler had come loose and was banging up under the car, but it was a sputter or some sort of back firing while I was cruising at 65 mph. It lasted for about 10 minutes off and on and has'nt happened since, so I'm hoping it was the Lucas.
I guess what I need to know is what to expect from this type of car, it is sluggish off the line but I hear this is normal? The 2-3 shift seems to linger when the turbo kicks in, is this acceptable for this type of tranny,or what would you look for? Thanks for the knowledge! Dick