Anybody own a 300sd Mercedes?

[R.E. Miller]

I was wondering if any of you could give me a little insight on these cars. I am considering buying one for a commuter car, and have found on to look at. They seem to be built well, just interesed in any input from owners or users.



Thanks,

Russell

 

[LSMITH]

I work on a couple for guys I know. The 3. 0 5 cylinder is a pretty good engine, trannies seem to go forever and the car is built like a tank. They have their quirks, but all in all are solid.



There is one serious problem on the older Mercedes, and that is the climate control system. It was made for them by Chrysler and is junk. I would be very surprised if you could get more than a couple years out of the AC, and the controls in the dash seem to fail at a high rate.

 

[LSMITH]

If you have any specific questions let me know.

 

[willyslover]

just gave a 84 300SD to my Sister. . at 250K miles it still runs perfect and uses ZERO oil between oil changes... and looks great !

as LSmith states. . great car and very well built, the Air conditioner compressor is the week link in 250k miles it went through 6 or 7 [lost count] and there were a few troubles in the dash control for the same. a little low on power but there are some remedies for that also. the 5 clylinder is better than the 6 IMHO

 

[Skydiver]

1981 300D here

Climate controll is a pain. Have all ready replaced 3 G. M. pancake A/C compressors.

Great handling car. Be careful who you let change your timing chain. I had mine replaced at 122K and it broke at 180K. They should be good for 200K with regular service intervals.

Live and learn.

Tim

 

[Barry]

I have a beautiful 1990 300D that has been sitting in my shop since this summer. It has a broken timing chain and bent the valves. I have had the head in the shop for months and if I could find a whole engine in the money I would go that route.



Car has 124K on miles and was owned by "a little old lady". The wrecker hauled it in to the MBZ dealer and the estimate to fix was $7,000. Sooo, she traded it in and bought a new one. The died.



I bought the car from the used car manager for $1750 and if I can find a motor in the money, I'll be ok.



I have been looking for a cheap driver so I can park my dually and not use it for daily transportation... ... ... ...

 

[Motorhead]

I agree with the guys on the climate control. I think that the 5 cyl is the best engine... not as much power as the 6. The 5 cyl is bullett proof. A good wasto ck the engine is at hot idle remove the oil cap and see how muck blow-by there is. They usually have very little even with high mileage. Get a hold of me also if you have any questions Chris

 

[R.E. Miller]

Thanks for the help guys! There was a five cylinder for sale on e-bay 2 days ago, you might want to check it out. The car I am trying to look at might have been sold, I can't seem to get a hold of the owner. I might have to travel a little to get one, but it seems like it might be worth it



Thanks again,

Russell

 

[Skydiver]

- Barry,by chance do you know if the new chain on the 1990 D was laced in behind the old chain. My timing chain was pulled in behind the old chain and improperly bradded. It broke and took out the cam. Just had a high dollar paint job too. (insert dirty word here)>

- Motorhead,are you talking about the 350 6- cylinder diesels with aluminum heads. If so there were many of them that were replaced with factory crate motors and will have some sort of special tag near the front of the head indicating they were replaced. I almost bought one but I could see that the coolant reservoir was full of block-sealer. Beware!

If you can get a good 300 sd or sdl it should last for half a million miles.

Tim

 

[R.E. Miller]

SDL's?



Just a quick one here. I like the sdl's look, but I was wondering if they have an airbag suspension? If they do I will probably nix the idea of getting one. I have been digging around the internet, and have found 90% of the info about these cars to be good. It seems that mechanically they are good if maintained, but the "systems" in the car sound to be a little quirky. That is all stuff I can deal with, I have a first generation dodge he he he



Russell

 

[Motorhead]

Russel, If the car you look at has the Hydraulic level in the back, It will have a reservoir under the hood and a small Hyd pump mounted on the drivers side front of the cyl head. My wifes '84 wagon has that and the shocks are shot. My price to replace the shocks are $300. 00 EACH! Plus they have a $450. 00 leveling valve and pressure reservoirs also. I am going to convert hers to standard rear springs and shocks. Any 5 cyl manufactured after '85 (at least in Calif), has a cat on it and it de-rates the HP on the engine. It is mounted between the ex. manifold and hot side of the turbo

Spend the extra $$$ on one with less miles and records than buying a high mileage one cheaper.

The 123 sedans('82 thru '85 are nice cars too. They have the same engine and are lighter in weight. Chris

 

[R.E. Miller]

Thanks again for the good info. It looks like I will be leaning toward the sd's, due to the 5cyl and the simpler suspension design.



Thank you,

Russell

 

[Motorhead]

Russell, I don't think that all SDLs have that type of suspension. I would NOT walk away from a nice one just because it has that suspension. They can be converted easily to standard suspension if they are faulty. I think that it could be done for about $400. 00 in parts and a coil spring compressor. The pump can be dis-abled by simply removing the drive behind the pump... leaving everything else intact.

Ck under the back by the differential to see if it has a valve like this. The valve will be turned 90 degrees clockwise. Chris

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Hope this works (first time!!)

 

[R.E. Miller]

Yup, it worked! Thanks fo the cool info.



Russell

 

[JPETE]

I HAVE A 350SDL & A350SD WITH THE 603 ENGINES THEY ARE VERY RELIABLE AND FAST HAVE REPLACED 1 GLOW PLUG IN 98K MILES TRANSMISSIONS ARE EXCELLENT GET 25 TO 32 MPG. BOSCH INLINE PUMPS WILL LAST FOREVER