Todd, Where are you located? If you are in the Seattle area, you and I could fix every one of these things in an afternoon after a modest parts order to Rusty and a quick stop at the Benz Friendz used parts warehouse. You can fix the odo with Crazy Glue - I did 2 of them myself. BTW, I think the 85 300CD is the pinnacle of Mercedes diesel production, but nobody should expect any vehicle of that vintage to be 'daily driver ready', I don't car how much it cost or who the PO was and what he did. Rubber rots. Bulbs burn out. Metal wears. Plastic decays. Lube drys. Stuff breaks. Things on a 20 year old car will need regular fixing, period. And I mean fixing, not maintainence. My 85 is a cream puff but requires regular TLC to keep it ready for the wife to drive. The nice thing is that the 123s are designed with obsessive Teutonic precision to be fixed, not throwaway like an old Ford. Enjoy fixing it or get rid of it. Regarding price, it is raining Benz diesels out here in Seattle. Plenty of great 123s and 115s to be had for under $1000 with no rust, but typically all carboned up with valves out of adjustment, weak vacuum, bad thermostats, etc, but nothing that the folks on this list couldn't tell you how to fix yourself. Cheers, Bruce "Smith, Todd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hello,
I am a recent newcomer and lurker on this list and I have enjoyed the expert advice and friendly atmosphere to frequently asked questions. About a month ago, I purchased a 1985 300CD from eBay that I had planned to use as a daily driver and as a suitable candidate for biodiesel. Unfortunately, neither of these goals has been met since some unexpected expenses have tapped my biodiesel fund and the car has issues that were not correctly presented during the sale. This has led me to the unenviable task of selling the car to recover the funds that I have in it. My goal is to accurately report everything that I know or believe about the car with enough pictures to hopefully cover all angles. I want the next buyer to be able to make an informed decision. Yes, I know that this is stupid since it will probably cost me the sale but I am tired of being burned and this is the only way to break the cycle. The pictures are available at http://photos.yahoo.com/tssmith2002 The car is white; the paint is somewhat faded but is generally okay, especially considering its age. There is rust on one fender and but the rubber covers over the bumpers still seem good. It may appear to have rust along the trunk lid but that is actually two leaves that I didn't't notice until I was looking at the pictures. I can take another picture if someone wishes me to confirm that statement. The doors are solid with the exception of the trim of the passenger's door. There is a picture with me placing my finger in the gap that is sprung from the trim. The interior is worn but still serviceable with the majority of the wear in the driver's seat. There is a tear or spilt seam in the middle of the back seat that looks like it needs some attention. I believe that the interior pictures cover the interior pretty well. If anyone needs a better picture or can make a suggestion as to something that a buyer might want to see; please feel free to ask me. Good points: 1) Car runs and I have driven it over 300 miles at Interstate speeds from Maryland to its current home in Charleston, West Virginia. 2) Aftermarket radio plays pretty well with good reception. 3) Climate control seems to work with the exception of A/C. 4) Front windows work howbeit slowly. The rear power windows do not retract, PO says that switches are bad but motors are good. (Motor condition not verified) 5) Rides pretty good for a car of its age. 6) My personal belief is that the engine and transmission is good but both need attention. 7) It's a MB diesel and if it finds a good home then it should run for a while longer. 8) Tires are almost brand new and show very deep tread. Bad points: 1) Serious vacuum issues: Engine doesn't't cutoff, Automatic Transmission shifts poorly, Door locks are inoperable, Cruise Control works but will not hold speed for long. 2) Extremely poor acceleration: This is my first diesel and first MB, so this might be user error. When at a light, I have to almost stand on the accelerator to get it to crawl through a light. It takes several car lengths to accelerator to 20MPH and then it seems to run better. It will reach 70+ MPH but it doesn't't like to hold it. Letting off the accelerator seems to have a large drop in speed by 10-15MPH almost immediately. 3) Power steering is inoperable. PO indicates that power steering pump leaks profusely and removed PS drive belt and pulley. I have taken pictures of belt and pulley and they are with the car but not installed. 4) Unknown mileage since odometer doesn't't work. The Title says 248K miles but the odometer says 238K and I have added ~400 miles on since I have owned it. I believe that the mileage on the Title is reasonably correct but I have no way of verifying what the PO placed on the Title. 5) Trunk lock has been drilled out by PO. 6) Since the engine doesn't cutoff, then the engine has to be killed with the fuel cutoff switch on the IP. The primary hood release has broken off at the handle and protrudes through the hood. Since the primary hood release is troublesome to operate then operating the car means letting the secondary latch hold the hood down. Unlatching the hood means pulling the tab for the secondary hood release at front of the grill. 6) A clunking noise that is seems to emanate from the rear passenger wheel. It is noticeable at low speeds and seems to quiet down at highway speed but it is always in the background. I believe that this may be a sticking brake since the brakes are very firm when pressed. Dr. Booth in answering a similar question that was posted recently suggested a possible bad half-axle. I am asking $1500.00 or OBO since that it what I have it in and I hope that this sheds some light on the car's condition. I hope that even if there were no interested party here that some feedback on what information someone might be interested in knowing would be appreciated. Pictures are viewable at http://photos.yahoo.com/tssmith2002 Todd Smith _______________________________________ For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net Bruce 82 300CD 334kmi 'His' 85 300CD 236kmi 'Hers' 75 240D 194kmi 'Donner' 77 240D 204kmi 'Blitzen' --------------------------------- Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click. From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fri Nov 18 20:58:46 2005 Received: from sccrmhc11.comcast.net ([204.127.202.55]) by server1.arterytc1.net with esmtp (Exim 4.52) id 1EdDJl-0005qs-Ue for [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Fri, 18 Nov 2005 20:58:46 +0000 Received: from [192.168.1.3] (c-24-3-195-27.hsd1.pa.comcast.net[24.3.195.27]) by comcast.net (sccrmhc11) with ESMTP id <200511182058420110028lhge>; Fri, 18 Nov 2005 20:58:42 +0000 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 15:56:42 -0500 From: Marshall Booth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Organization: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.4.1 (Windows/20051006) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Mercedes mailing list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> References: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> In-Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Antivirus-Scanner: Clean mail though you should still use an Antivirus Subject: Re: [MBZ] 124 Sway Bar Bushings? X-BeenThere: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.6 Precedence: list Reply-To: Mercedes mailing list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> List-Id: Mercedes mailing list <mercedes_striplin.net.striplin.net> List-Unsubscribe: <http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net>, <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> List-Archive: <http://striplin.net/pipermail/mercedes_striplin.net> List-Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> List-Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> List-Subscribe: <http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net>, <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 20:58:46 -0000 John Peterson wrote: > Regarding my front end clunk on bumps at low speeds, someone suggested that > I check / replace the front anti-sway bar bushings. Parts are cheap, $30, > and it is DIY job. Does anyone think this could be the clunk (dealer says > new control arms and bushings but I doubt this at 74k) I am trying to get > rid of? Any way to test the anti-sway bushings? I found the rubber hard, > but not rock hard. It is very hard to tell where front end sounds are > coming from There seems to be a rush to condemn the ball joints now. I've NEVER experienced "clunks on bumps at low speeds" when the ball joints were bad (but if they are REALLY bad they could I suppose). That HAS been a consistent presenting symptom with bad sway bar bushings. Bad ball joints (as well as bad rear suspension links) do permit the front end to seem "nervous" requiring a lot of attention when driving at highway speeds. In my experience, ball joints outlast sway bar bushings by at least 3:1. Control arm bushings and ball joints usually last AT LEAST 200kmi miles (and can last a lot longer if you drive 20+kmi a year). Early sway bar bushings however, often failed after 4-6 years and even the revised ones might not be expected to last more than 100-150kmi. I have revised bushings on two cars, but they don't have even 75kmi on them and that's true of MOST people that have replaced the bushings on 124s. Marshall -- Marshall Booth (who doesn't respond to unsigned questions) "der Dieseling Doktor" [EMAIL PROTECTED] '87 300TD 182Kmi, '84 190D 2.2 229Kmi, '85 190D 2.0 161Kmi, '87 190D 2.5 turbo 237kmi
