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new to the site, new to mercedes, new to deisel, new obsession

1K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  Rmac58 
#1 ·
hi guys, this is my first post. id like to thank you all for posting and helping so much. it has me obsessed with my car and fixing/maintaining it myself. i find it gratifying. thanks again, i love this site and my car.

so, a few weeks ago i woke up and saw a 1984 300TD for $650. i went and looked at it and drove it and couldnt believe the shape this car was in. i got it professionally detailed the next day(and honestly, the guy couldve squeezed another $200 out of me for a $40 wash).

so going into this, i was skeptical. the car is in immaculate cosmetic condition inside and out and no rust. at first glance of this guy i noticed his hands had been under the hood and he seemed pretty knowledgeable about mercedes. he explained that hes had about 30 of them throughout the years and 'is selling it because of the expense of his two houses.' he seemed pretty honest, although i dont know if what he said was untrue, but instead inaccurate.

either way, he told me about the glow plugs being out. but he had purchased the replacements(again, he couldve gotten more money for what took me an hour to replace).

ok so a few weeks later, after reading this site daily(thanks again) about something or another, ive been working on/in it.

ive replaced the glow plugs, both fuel filters under the hood, running it on 50/50, cleaned/replaced air intake and filter, oiled a few things that seemed to stick on the transmission(i have no idea what its called) cable and assembly(?), cleaned the banjo bolt and other bolts that kind of look like the banjo bolt(just for good measure), and some trim work and deep cleaning inside.

so after all of that the ol' gal is running twice as nice as when i bought it. please feel free to lend me any more ideas/suggestions on general maintenance. i paid $15 for firestone to pick it up and do an 'inspection' aka write up a bunch of shit of things i dont really need.. all of the fluids look good, but the tie rod on the front drivers side is bad. i can feel the wheel shake at about 50+mph. so that is my next project(i was actually coming to the computer to order it but i didnt plan on writing a novel beforehand :thumbsup:)

SO, my real question is this. it makes me smile proudly when i hear that turbo spool up. ive seen on here and on youtube the air intake mod. ive read everything on here, so i know the downsides to it, but is there any other way to get that airplane(haha) sound louder without getting debris in the engine?

also, here are some very general questions:
>on the shifting column, what do S and L stand for? im assuming theyre german for 'low' and something else..
>under the hood(ive found them on other year models in the salvage yard) i cannot find the box that contains the transmission vacuum valve levers
>i have some exterior trim coming up, so how do i safely remove the piece in order to replace the pieces that attatch it?
>how do those fools on youtube get these things to burnout(not that i would ever, just want more performance)?
>ALDA tweaking... good or bad idea?


im sure ill have more general questions soon if you guys end up helping me out..

ok well i was officially supposed to be in class one minute ago haha. well thanks in advance, and heres the pic

 
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#2 ·
Congrats, and welcome!

By the way, it's a 300D - the "T" in 300TD refers to estates or wagons (called Touring or T-model), not a sedan (300D).

S means Slope, L is Low gear. In diesel speak, S is smoke, L is lots of smoke :D

S is only up to 3rd gear (D is up to 4th), while L is up to 2nd gear but it's very high up in the engine speed range.

Leave the ALDA alone until you've sorted it out.

Your '84 might not have the transmission thingies atop the valve cover.
 
#6 ·
Agreed.

The only way you'll this car to smoke the tires is to install a different engine.

Sounds like the egr system has been bypassed, no thingies, this is a good thing.

You'll hear the turbo more if you remove any of the mufflers, I think you have two. Don't try to remove or change the air cleaner set up, you have cold air induction now.

Depending on which trim items you're going to remove, well, the way to do so varies, so you'll have to be specific.

Welcome and keep us posted.
 
#3 ·
ah thanks, ill change all that on my prof. ive noticed there are d, td, dt, and tdt.. they are all just d's unless its a wagon? i was under the assumption it was for turbodiesel..?
 
#4 ·
dieselgiant.com and peachparts have a lot of different writeups for maintenance, and while you can find the parts on diesel giant for much less they are rather difficult to find in some places
 
#8 ·
let me tell you from experience the air intake mod, or anything other than the stock setup really, isn't worth your time or money. You'll definitely hear the turbo spool up and down more, but the added back pressure in your engine is going to drive you crazy.

I made a series of air/oil separators to find the best combo, and all i can say is if you are attempting a mod with more than .25psi differential pressure, you are going to make your valve cover, oil pan, and god knows what else leak.

Now your engine may be in better shape than mine, I have some blow-by, but my recommendation remains. I do, however, have a stock/mod that I'm almost done writing up to will take care of my blow-by problems. However, it will look stock and use 90% of the same components.

Congratulations on your find, I hope she treats you well!
 
#9 ·
as for the trim, i used a plastic putty knife as recommended by the guy that sold me 10 little red things for $15(geez) at the parts desk. so all of my trim is on except for one piece. the front passenger door's lowest piece. i see that there is the hook into the body, but what else is supposed to be there to hold the other side on?

and as for my transmission, i had a breakthrough today(actually the opposite). it was shifting hard enough to give you whiplash, even after id alleviated some of it by adjusting the transmission cable. i found a (hanging on by a thread) bruss that was not doing its job. i cant even believe the difference that made

also, even though it is shifting beautifully, i want to replace the vacuum valve levers. ive found them on other cars in the junkyard, but i cant find them on mine.. any ideas? does my model not have them? ive looked everywhere within reason..

and yeah, i was mainly just curious about the turbo sound. i definitely dont want to compromise the engine. and i DEF wouldnt waste my money on doing burnouts haha

thanks for all of the support so far guys. im replacing my front drivers tie rod as soon as it gets here. im assuming i wont need the tie rod tool ive seen on some videos because there isnt the rubber housing on mercedes tie rods. if im wrong, or youve got some tips other than dont drop the car on myself, let me know.

also, is there a diagram of the vacuum system that anyone can link up? i see a lot of lines that are plugged and go nowhere. id be happy to post a high-res pic if anyone is well versed or just wants to take a look at it. my heater/air doesnt blow, but ive tested the blower motor and its fuse and both are fine. im assuming vacuum problems?

i feel like i need to donate to this site. you guys are awesome
 
#13 ·
as for the trim, i used a plastic putty knife as recommended by the guy that sold me 10 little red things for $15(geez) at the parts desk. so all of my trim is on except for one piece. the front passenger door's lowest piece. i see that there is the hook into the body, but what else is supposed to be there to hold the other side on?

and as for my transmission, i had a breakthrough today(actually the opposite). it was shifting hard enough to give you whiplash, even after id alleviated some of it by adjusting the transmission cable. i found a (hanging on by a thread) bruss that was not doing its job. i cant even believe the difference that made

also, even though it is shifting beautifully, i want to replace the vacuum valve levers. ive found them on other cars in the junkyard, but i cant find them on mine.. any ideas? does my model not have them? ive looked everywhere within reason..

thanks for all of the support so far guys. im replacing my front drivers tie rod as soon as it gets here. im assuming i wont need the tie rod tool ive seen on some videos because there isnt the rubber housing on mercedes tie rods. if im wrong, or youve got some tips other than dont drop the car on myself, let me know.

also, is there a diagram of the vacuum system that anyone can link up? i see a lot of lines that are plugged and go nowhere. id be happy to post a high-res pic if anyone is well versed or just wants to take a look at it. my heater/air doesnt blow, but ive tested the blower motor and its fuse and both are fine. im assuming vacuum problems?
These red fasteners are available here: Your Parts Search Returned 1 Part(s) along with many other items for your car, but it's mail order.
I can't find any info on that piece of trim, could you post pics of the back of it and the door?

I'm not familiar with the term bruss, so don't what you mean, but glad it's straightened out.

As mentioned, you don't need those levers on the cam cover, as a matter of fact, you can remove the black box entirely. The pics are from my SD, same engine and vac set up. Some of the plugged off lines are associated with the now bypassed egr system.
In the pic of the diagram, that is the factory set up, yours and mine are different.

The tie rod ends should have rubber a housing surrounding the ball joint, all cars should have this. So you can use whatever device to remove the old ones, as you'll be replacing them. There should be a hex in the end of the ball joint, this for you to hold it, keep it from spinning, while you apply proper torque, see the pdf. Once you have the old one off, adjust the new one to as close as the same length as you can. Then get an alignment.

Continue to ask and perhaps later you can help others. Post pics of your job, this will help too.

I'll post another response to complete the attachments.
 

Attachments

#10 ·
well i just went out and tried the heater since i fixed the line under the hood. when i turn the dial, i can hear a little clicking under the hood and behind the switches. im thinking it might be something other than the vacuum and blower now
 
#15 ·
im close-in SE. the only resources ive found so far are MBI and Pick-n-Pull. i hear there are w123 enthusiast clubs, but like i said, i 'heard'.

and thanks a lot Rmac. ill post some pics if im not getting rained on today
 
#16 ·
ok so ive been replacing old worn out vacuum hose connectors and i came across these guys. should they be connected? the red dots in the image are the hoses im referring to. the vacuum line on the right is army green with a brown stripe

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/members/owlthathurts-albums-references-picture2436-vacuum.jpg

also, i cant figure out how to put this trim back on.. there is the hook that goes into the body on the right of the pic, but am i supposed to use a double sided adhesive strip for the rest of it?

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/members/owlthathurts-albums-references-picture2437-trim.jpg

thanks!
 
#17 ·
^ The vac lines may or may not need to be hooked up. The one on the right is for the lock system, (send it full vacuum all the time) there should be A line going there, not sure if the other line (what color is it?), but more than likely the locks have a leak somewhere.

If you have another line coming off the main vac line, it should "T" into that the top of the VCV.

Your egr system may be bypassed, making the last comment a moot point.

Can't help with the trim piece, sorry.
 
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