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AFAIK, the transmissions and engines are fairly sturdy on those, although they can leak. Just drive it and have it inspected. The cheapest Mercedes often ends up being the most expensive, so be leery...but if it has been maintained, it should be OK.
I cannot believe that all 5 glow plugs can go bad at the same time, but I read somewhere that even if 2 go bad, the light will not come on- Is this true?
Is there any way to check the glow plugs?
Besides the plugs, anything else to check for?
In the past few days, it did seem that a little more smoke was coming at start up, and it was taking a bit longer for the engine to rev up- not too long; 15 secs. or so. I had attributed it to the cold weather- but could it be plugs going bad?
And if it is plugs, how easy are they to replace? The 5th. one near the oil canister looked tough to get at. Any old socket wrench will work?
Thanks for your help!
Yep, the glow plugs need replacing every couple of years. It's a must-do maintenance item.
You can take the lid off the black box on the left front fender and check the metal fuse 80 amps I think.
usually the glow plug light blinks when you need glow plug attention. Did this ever happen earlier?
I have had the plugs replaced before (when I didn't know too much about this car), but they replaced only 1 or 2 plugs. I can tell that 2 plugs have a nice "shiny" end where the wire is attached- the rest look old and crummy.
I don't recall glow plug light blinking- but about 2 weeks back, my wife couldn't start it. I went and waited a while and turned on the key- started right up. Just plain luck, I think.
OK- I'll replace all 5 plugs now.
I have heard about core reaming- is it really necessary when installing new plugs? I'd rather not fool with the threads.
Thanks,
Good news- the glow light comes on now, and the car starts.
Bad news- I cannot get to the other plugs.
The frontmost plug was bad- Using a 12mm deep socket, I could replace it. But I'd like to replace the other 4 plugs also, and am having difficulty getting them out. Tried deep socket, medium socket- but cannot reach them. Do the fuel lines need to be removed?
For future reference- the way to check if a glow plug is bad is to remove the electric lead going to it- then take a voltmeter (or test light) and put one end to the positive of the battery and the other end to the tip (end where the lead used to be) of the plug, You should get 12 volts. If you don't, the plug is bad.
Any suggestions on how to get the other plugs out? The 5th. one by the oil canister looks especially tight fit for space.
Ok, I'll try with a U-joint.
Neither the U-joint nor the deep socket worked for me.
What finally did the trick was a geared flex head wrench- worked like a charm. Next time I know!
I wouldn't rev a 300D over 4,500 rpm for very long or you'll be picking pieces up off the highway.
Diesels are most efficient at lower RPM. There is absolutely no reason to go up high on the RPM scale. All you're doing is wasting fuel.
Seems steep...I was quoted something like $2400 for a 4 yr/100K (I believe) warranty on my 98 C43.
Here's what you have to remember about these cars:
Basically they are pretty simple in the drivetrain department---a woodstove-simple engine and a good if a bit crude automatic transmission, connected to an IRS rear axle set up. So, if it starts RIGHT UP (hot or cold, not struggling, no cranking required), shifts okay, backs up, stops and steers, doesn't knock from the rear end going around sharp turns, doesn't sag in the rear end, that's all a good sign.
But what you have to worry about are the things ATTACHED to this simple drivetrain...the problematic climate controls (it's no fun having no heat) for one. Does the driver's window go up and down? What kind of crap is in the radiator and brake cylinders? Clean clear liquids or glops of goop? TIres any good? If not, you didn't buy a $1,500 car, you bought a $1,800 car.
These cars, being cheap, are often grossly neglected by their owners, so you don't want to be the one stuck with the deferred maintenance bill.
Interesting he said he had a compression test....that takes a very special tool. Who did this test and what are the results?
If the engine is a filthy greasy mess it's probably in need of some money and attention.
Have you driven a car like this on the highway? Are you okay with very slow performance and high fuel prices?
I have glanced under the hood and sat in the car, but I plan to look more closely at it tonight and drive it. The engine compartment was greasy by (gas)car standards, but not horrible. someone must have been taking good care of the interior and body to be in the shape they're in at 318k though. the black leather isn't even cracked anywhere that I noticed. he also proceeded to thrash it pretty good on the dyno, without a hickup.
I don't mind having to do a few hundred dollars worth of initial maintenance if it's going to be worth it, and more than likely I can do the work myself. will the gas mileage make up for the added cost of the fuel? what are some of the more expensive parts that can fail?
my needs in a car are efficiency and cost effectivness, not performance. thanks again for your quick, helpful answer.
But diesel fuel is only .20 or .30 cents more per gallon, and you'll get about 22 mpg average city/hwy, so really the extra cost of fuel isn't all that much. Now if you had a choice between this car and say a Honda Civic getting 30 mpg with cheaper fuel, then that could add up to $300-$500 a year.
Likely failures that might come up:
1. Window regulators---motors are too powerful and break the aluminum regulators.
2. Heat/AC controls fail. All too often.
3. AC compressor fails but it stinks even when working so no problem.
4. Dirty fuel tank, clogged filters (not very expensive to fix unless you have to drop the tank)
5. Starter motors (they work hard on a diesel)
6. Cruise control (probably doesn't work anyway).
7. Dashboard lighting (not so hard to fix)
8. Window switches get dirty, stop working.
I'd say of all of them, the heat/AC controls are your only big worry (aside from any calamity that might befall a car with 318K on it I mean).
If all you're looking for is the cheapest most reliable car to drive that doesn't cost so much to buy, then really you can't beat a good used clean Japanese car in terms of cost per mile of use.
A 300D is more of a hobby car, but one that can be used as an everyday driver.
You can always buy it and try it out. If you don't pay too much, someone else will be around to take it off your hands. The mythology of these cars, which is probably greater than the truth of them, keep them in an active market for bargain hunters.
Given your friends and resources, you might enjoy owning and learning about this car for a while at least. I don't think you can get hurt too badly...if the car proves troublesome, bail out. Don't sink a lot of money into a car like this, because you'll never recover it. Use it up and enjoy it.
Many thanks Mr Shiftright.
You can often check the u-joint by jacking the car up safely and supporting it with jackstands, then having the driveshaft flack in neutral, and then using a screwdriver in the joint to see if you can spot slack or play in the yokes.
Could be just too much play in the differential gears---which is fine, it can run forever like that as long as the diff isn't howling in protest.
Am trying to reason with the seller (who basically buys at auction and sells on ebay) about all this but getting no where. I know ebay has a purchase protection program and am planning on filing a claim--though I'm letting an attorney deal with the seller/ebay. Anyone had any experiences of this sort before? (Wished I'd discovered this forum before getting the car!!!!)
In my amateur legal opinion, I would say your best shot is to claim misrepresentation (fraud is too hard to prove). Just because a seller says AS IS, that does NOT allow him to misrepresent the car. On the other hand, if the car delivered to you was running well at the time, it might be hard to say he deliberately misrepresented it. Maybe he didn't know the evaporator was bad---but then, why not recharge the AC before selling the car?
Best thing would be if you could get him to just take it back and wipe the deal clean.
If you file a law suit, your attorney might be able to get repair records on the car, and THAT might prove interesting.
I just had a case where a guy bought a "30,000 mile, immaculate" Cadillac. The car was delivered and I appraised its value at $700. It was a disaster. Shocking.
Sorry for the mess.
My family and I just returned from a 2500 mile trip in our 83 300d. All went smoothly except that we ran out of fuel in the middle of a long tunnel on I95. A terrifying experience! The fuel gauge stopped working in the middle of the trip so we were relying on mileage. Didn't work. After we got out of the tunnel I took the access panel in the trunk off to look at the tank, and discovered that the tank appears to have imploded upon itself. Weird. The only that contributed to this that I noticed that could contribute to this is that there was a fair amount of vacuum when I would remove the fill cap. I quess I need a new tank now but would like to figure out why this happened before putting it in. Any ideas. Also does any one know where to find a good used tank for this car. Thanks.
Ray
Well, there are LOTS of these cars in the wrecking yards (they made a lot of them and most were driven to death) so you should have no trouble--but of course I'd have the used tank thoroughly cleaned out.
I think that aside from the turbo modifications, you're just wasting your time trying to coax more power out of this particular engine. It doesn't operate at high enough RPM for the cold air intake to do much good (if any) and with a turbo sitting in the exhaust stream, you have limited options for exhaust modifications.
But turbocharging is pretty effective as long as you build it to get most of your boost at lower rpm and you are careful not to add too much boost. Revving up a diesel doesn't do you any good, that's not where the power band is.
So I guess what I'm saying is don't apply gas engine technology directly to a diesel but rather study the strengths and weaknesses of a diesel and plan accordingly.