so i went and bought a mercedes. my mother is jealous, but she hasn't seen the extent to which this noble machine has been beaten and abused. i feel a certain compassion and woe for it. it smokes, not just from the tail pipe, but from a cloud emerging from the engine and wafting into the car upon start-up. it piddles an as-yet-unidentified petrol-based liquid, the coolant is blackened and sweet. any incline over 30 degrees requires a redlined 2nd gear and dogged 20 mph. the passenger side handle has been forcibly removed, the gear shift boot has been replaced with dog fur, the power switches to windows and antenna are sticky and shorted... but he had been loved. as it turns out, i know one of the previous owners, 3 possessions removed. she's my boss. and her husband is a mechanic. the bad news, he tells me, is that they sold it because it smoked. having recently quit myself, i know how hard it can be, so i've decided to stick with the little guy, show him he's worth caring for. i know he'll get up to speed, i know his steering will tighten, his reflexes sharpening; i know the stereo will blast out of the sunroof as the vegetarian engine gargles its way down the alcan, purring like a domesticated lion. with therapy, time and requisite deposits of capital gain, he'll get his balls back. maybe some of his scars won't ever disappear, but at least he'll live with some dignity.
Vehicle: 1985 500SEL euro (SOLD), 1984 190d, 1996 S600
Posts: 34
I love my '84 190d. Its got its share of problems but it never fails to get me to work and back everyday! Save the s600 some miles and saves me some gas!!
Vehicle: 1984 190D: 2.2 5-speed, just over 500,000 kilometres
Location: Salt Spring
Posts: 29
Congrats on getting your Benz! ........ I'm a fairly recent addition to the club myself; I needed a safe but economical DD for commuting to work, running my pickup for that was just too expensive. So last year I bought a 1984 2.2 with nearly a half million K's on it, been mostly burning 100% biodiesel that a local guy makes out of used restaurant oil...... the exhaust smells like french fries! Mine has bad rust at the jacking holes & a little in the trunk wells, but mechanically she's pretty good except the air conditioning & Climate Control Unit don't work. You'll find that most parts for these cars are readily available from online stores, and as a DIY'er most of the work is pretty easy..... You'd be well advised to change all fluids & filters ASAP, just so you know where you're starting from, & maybe clean out the fuel tank vent... it hangs down under the tank, eventually gets clogged & causes all kinds of mysterious power problems. Its possible your crankcase vent system is cracked or plugged too, and that under-hood smoke could be from that or fuel/oil leaking out of perished hoses & gaskets....
Here's pix of a badge I got with a nice letter from MB Canada eh? ....and a shot of the remains of my battery tray which I tore out & replaced with a plastic box from local auto parts...
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When first introduced, the OM-601 was a diesel wonder. The engine was canted to accomodate the longer intake runners for more torque; aluminum head is crossflow ported and the aluminum cast valve cover was also designed to minimize noise; along with a double walled exhaust pipe.
I just got an '84 190D as well. The vacuum lines are a mess, and I made them worse trying to straighten them out and get the brakes and transmission working.
I *THINK* all of the EGR stuff is bypassed now, and only the shut-off, brakes, and injector pump/transmission are hooked up. The trans problem turned out to be the kick-down switch. Seems to be quite drivable now.
Next I have to figure out the turn signals, the stereo wiring, and the A/C.
The quarter panel with the sunroof motor is crunched, so it and the antenna are inoperative.
The rest of the car is pretty decent. We'll just have to see if an '84 with 244,000 miles
is worth a new quarter panel and paint.
....... I'm a fairly recent addition to the club myself; I needed a safe but economical DD for commuting to work, running my pickup for that was just too expensive. So last year I bought a 1984 2.2 with nearly a half million K's on it, been mostly burning 100% biodiesel that a local guy makes out of used restaurant oil...... the exhaust smells like french fries! Mine has bad rust at the jacking holes & a little in the trunk wells, but mechanically she's pretty good except the air conditioning & Climate Control Unit don't work. You'll find that most parts for these cars are readily available from online stores, and as a DIY'er most of the work is pretty easy..... You'd be well advised to change all fluids & filters ASAP, just so you know where you're starting from, & maybe clean out the fuel tank vent... it hangs down under the tank, eventually gets clogged & causes all kinds of mysterious power problems. Its possible your crankcase vent system is cracked or plugged too, and that under-hood smoke could be from that or fuel/oil leaking out of perished hoses & gaskets....
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