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Comments
You shouldn't pay any premium for a coupe body really because the price is determined by supply and demand and if anything people seem to prefer the sedan. The very idea of coupe and diesel is pretty strange if you think about it.
If someone is trying to foist a coupe on you as being "rare" you can reply "Shiftright says that to be valuable, it not only has to be rare, but someone has to care".
the coupe is beautiful without a b-pillar.
I also think running R134 in an old Benz isn't a great idea. The AC is bad enough with R-12 and R134 just further diminishes it.
I got my 300D AC to work pretty well, but I had to recharge it every 6 months and really keep on top of it.
If you have the AC compressor that sits on top of the engine, those are really bad.
But still, if you have a working compressor and you're full of freon, I wonder what the problem really is here?
This is a good parts and advice source: www.mercedesshop.com
Also I used to get good used parts on eBay. I fixed up my entire AC system with used parts and it worked, but it was an uphill climb.
I have a 1985 300D and the interior is pretty busted up. I went to a junk yard yesterday and saw a 1980 280 that has very similar door panels and seat. Do think if i were to put these in my 300D they would fit correctly? I really have about a million more questions but I'll just leave it with this one for today.
Taking off Door Panels
1. Remove large phillips screws from arm rest
2. Pry black plastic plate away from inner door handle, and remove screw behind it
3. Unscrew door lock knob
4. Carefully pry off door panel and try not to break the snaps
5. Remove chrome plate at door lock (maybe switch #4 and #5 here)
6. Lift UP with panel and it'll pop off--straight up---don't BEND it.
CAUTION: If you tear the plastic moisture barrier behind the panel be sure to repair it!
If you break too many clips you can buy these at the Benz dealer.
You could try and "load" the CV joints by making very hard right or left turns at high speed, like a sweeping turn on the freeway or on a curvy road. If you turn hard left and you hear a noise, it's the right one, and vice-versa.
They are pretty pricey items and I think there are two different kinds so you have to know which ones you have. Replacing both sides is probably around a $500 job if a shop does it for you.
By all means also check the driveshaft bushings and u-joints.
These trannies are pretty hard shifting and kinda ornery but you should be able to get them to work a little better. I think your problem is at the throttle adjustment. There is a whole elaborate very German procedure for this and I doubt any living person remembers how, but maybe those factory manuals would be a good investment for you. It's a set of 3 I believe, and costs maybe $200 or so. Sometimes you see them on eBay.
Also, check these guys for advice:
www.mercedesshop.com
drummer_d: The climate control servo is very likely the problem. You can troubleshoot it without the factory tools and manual, but you have to know what your doing. When you switch to defrost, the normal controls are bypassed and the fan goes on full. If the servo is working the heat goes to high level, and the a/c compressor is turned on to dry the air.
I didn't seem to have a whole lot of trouble keeping the climate control working on my old 1980 280se, but it was expensive. I had the luxury of having all factory manuals, which helps a lot. The climate control on these cars is complex (probably needlessly so) and can be hard to maintain in an older car.
I took the 280 to my house in Lake Havasu City a few times during the summer and found that the a/c just adequate as long as the car wasn't left out in the sun (parked in the garage when not in use) otherwise it couldn't handle cooling it off when it had sat in the 110-120 F heat. Dark tinted windows are a big help.
Shifty, I donated the 280 to KOCE last year due to old age and problems passing smog. The CIS injection was having problems and it would have cost me $150 (if it was just oxygen sensor) or over 1K (if it was the fuel distributor itself). It still looked good and ran good even running real rich. I'm just thinking about buying a classic SL........
They crop up from time to time. I like the later body style more than the earlier.
His car may have a different system, depending on the year.
I'm a new 1984 300D owner. (97,000 little old lady in a garage, no kidding)
I have been driving everyday back and forth to work for three weeks and have just started noticing that the accelerator while stick (returns to idle very slowly) when the car is just started "cold". After the engine gets up to temp the throttle is very responsive and shows no indication at all of sticking?
Thoughts anyone?
Yes, both are cracked but not really torn. No mechanic thought they were bad enough to warrant changing. but then again no one has yet to fix the noise. By the way I have gotten a bit nihilistic about it. Since the noise is so elusive as it happens only once in about twenty miles or so and has no apparent affect on the stabilty of the car I figure if it gets worse it will just allow me to find it. My latest scheme may be to hook up a small tape recorder with a bungee cord around suspected areas to see if I can pinpoint it. I never mentioned that I frist changed the center bearing as it was kaput and was very bummed to here the great mystery noise still rapping with mechanical immunity. lastly as I mentioned there seems to be just a bit of "play" in the drivetrain when i quickly pump the accealorator on and off...not so esxtreme with a diesel,, I do seem to be able to make the single baby rap happen..almost a clicking sound. So whatever it is I think it is defintely somewhere in the rear part of the drivetrain...I would hate to drop five hundred on anything that is still just a suspiscion. In the meantime I am trying to stay around town under thirty where the noise doesnt happen. IAny thoughts?
This is just my opinion, but unless your getting some vibration at highway speeds I would do nothing at this point. The noise you hear is very infrequent, and could caused by a number of things. These can be hard to find since you can't really duplicate the conditions unless your driving the car with the wheels on the ground. Jacking the rear up and running it with the tires off the ground to try to duplicate the noise probably won't help since it changes the drive axle angles on the IRS suspension. If it is a CV joint with some wear it probably will be OK for a long time, and you'll know when it is really bad since it will be noisy much more frequently.
I remember how I had a very strange noise on the 280 I had for a long time. It would always occur when the engine would reach normal operating temperature, and then would occur again when it cooled off. There would be a loud, muffled pop from somewhere in the engine bay. This went on for some years with no apparent ill effects until I finally decided to try and find out what it was. I let it sit in the driveway running until it would pop and then shut it off and let it cool until it popped again while listening and trying to determine where it was coming from. Of course this took some time and I did it over several days, but I finally localized it to the bottom of the engine. It turned out that it was the lower oil pan cover, which at some point in the cars life had been dented in the front. When I jacked it up and watched it during the warmup, cooldown cycle you could actually see it flex when the pop occured, it had been dented just right to flex under these heat/cool conditions.
Also, I really doubt this is the problem. I'll bet you need front end work. Your car has an enormous # of miles on it and you've reached the point where you need to go over this car carefully and look for freaky kinds of metal fatigue and suspension failures. Look at the arm that comes off the steering box, at your shock damper while you're at it.
If the front end is all tight, then your steering box is just worn out. I mean, it should be anyway so not the car's fault.
But I bet you have some bad link or bushing or some such. The front ends are pretty sturdy on these cars. Mine had about 252K on it and it certainly needed some front end work when I got it, but not too much.
A good front end place can spot the problem quickly and show you exactly where the play is.
You can buy any part for this car so don't worry about that.
Good luck and make sure your good old car is SAFE.
You have NO IDEA what it ook to get that box re-adjusted AFTER he spent hundreds of dollars properly replacing the worn out front end parts.
This is very valuable information. I can apply it to my 1978 300D. Thanks!
I have a transmission question. My 300D has a weak reverse gear. I can feel it engage but you have to be on a level surface and rev the engine to get it to roll backwards. It also tends to take a long time to shift between 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears. I noticed here http://www.transmissionspecialty.com/parts/parts/68942-01.htm that it can be a specific valve spring broken...but this transmission they are talking about has 4th and 5th gear. Can you identify which tranny I have in my 300D and how I can rectify this problem? Does this same fix apply to the trans I have?
Can reverse be brought back by tightening the band once the spring issue has been rectified?
Thanks in advance for your information and advice!
Dan
Best thing you can do is drop the transmission pan an take a look in there. If you see lots of debris, then that's it. If it is spotlessly clean, you might do a service and adjustment and see what happens.
I've never been in one of those trannies so I can't tell you any specifics, sorry.
You should do a load test on the battery and see what you got first of all. If the battery checks out great then you need to measure the starter motor current draw.
Does the starter make any noise at all?
Oh, juggle your automatic trans lever and run it through the gears. Your neutral safety switch could be bad or the linkage out of whack----forgot that.....(this is the switch that will not allow you to start the car in gear). To access the neutral safety switch you may have to crawl under, I don't recall. You can probably bridge that switch to bypass it and then test everything.
Perhaps I need a new ignition switch, but I want to make sure its not something simple first.
Any help would be appreciated.
--jeff
You can check the starter for current from the ignition switch. Might take two people to do this, one with test light, other working the switch.
Thanks.
I can jump it at the starter. Any ideas?
it's a 1979 300d
First, I found reasonably priced replaced lines from a discount OEM shop online. I went through the hassle of disconnecting the lines, draining them (as much as possible) and then tried to pull them out. No dice. They are rigid from a good length and run between parts of the engine and frame. I connected them back and ran for quite some time with a leak. No fix.
Then, through another project, I found a hose fabricator in South San Francisco called Adam Hill. They mainly make high pressure hoses and connections for hydraulics. Working with their shop guy, we figured the correct metric fitting (9) degree elbow on the attachments to the oil cooler and straight fitting for the attachment to the oil filter housing. I then removed the fittings on each end if the original cooler hoses, drained them as best as I could, then cut them out with a hacksaw.
I then ran the hoses around the engine, instead of between it and the frame. Get a stubby 1 and 1/16" wrench to remove and install the fittings. There isn't much room to move the wrench, so patience must be in huge supply.
Hope this helps someone.
--jeff
You will probably have more problems with the climate control and body systems than with the drivetrain. A factory manual would be much preferred for those type of problems. Again, these are just my opinions, everyone's experiences differ somewhat.