#3 Service?

I just had my 1981 300SD serviced for the winter. Invoice says "#3 Service 2.5 hours."

What exactly is # 3 service? Are these prescribed levels of service and what others are there?

Reply to
Gogarty
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#3 Service?

I just had my 1981 300SD serviced for the winter. Invoice says "#3 Service 2.5 hours." What exactly is # 3 service? Are these prescribed levels of service and what others are there? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx my idea of getting my 82 300SD is making sure the battery is 3 years old or less. it passes a load test and checking the coolant.

have had 2 SDs & 1 240D. i would NEVER take them to a DEALER. find a good independent shop

82 240D 200,000+ miles 84 300SD 220,000 + miles 82 300SD 251,000 + miles & my daily driver.

case

the case, minus a few cans!

Reply to
IF YOU CAN'T SWIM DON'T JUMP IN

I never take it to a dealer. Mine is a good independent shop that I have been using since I bought the car. But I have never seen that term before. Amonmg the things done besides changing the oil and all the filters the valves were adjusted.

Marvelous cars, aren't they? I have no idea what the mileage is on this one. The odometer says 184,000. But awhile back we discovered that the odometer hand been changed out and replaced with one from an '84. So there is no way to determine the actual mileage, but one would expect it to be more than 250,000.

Reply to
Gogarty

I was at the dealer last week picking up some parts for my 300SD. In the service dept, they have a sign with prices. 30K service starts at $460, 60K starts at $680. I thought these were supposed to be reliable cars? What the hell exactly do they do at these milages that should cost anywhere near that money? For god sakes, I've had seveal pontiacs and the required periodic maintenance up thru those mileage levels was oil changes, change the air filter, and check the fluid levels.

Reply to
Chet Hayes

DAMN FORGOT ABOUT THE VALVE ADJUSTMENTS OOPS

case

the case, minus a few cans!

Reply to
IF YOU CAN'T SWIM DON'T JUMP IN

Yeah, but even so. Those prices? For my 2.5 hours labor at $75 per hour I got oil and transmission fluid, valve adustment, replacement of all filters, various fluids and purges, functional check on glow plugs, etc. A pretty thorough going over. I always have the valves adjusted in November to ensure easy starting when it gets cold. My question had to do with the designation "#3 service" and is there a manual somewhere that tells you what comprises a #3 service. Maybe I'll ask the mechanic next time I see him.

Reply to
Gogarty

How many miles a year do you put on a car to need valves adjusted every year? These cars are supposed to be built so tough, it's hard to imagine they could need adjusting so often.

Reply to
Chet Hayes

The 617 engine has mechanical lifters. Almost by definition, anything mechanical starts getting out of adjustment the moment you start running it. Not enough to matter, of course, but over a year, enough. My understadning is that the valves on the 617 should be adjusted once a year or every 15,000 miles. Can't hurt. And she has stopped smoking, though that may have been as much a dirty air cleaner as anything else.

Reply to
Gogarty

You are absolutely right according to my experience. I drove a 240D _forever_ and the body finally rusted away from the engine that was still running strong as ever, started beautifully in Ontario winters etc. I did not know about regular valve adjustments, my dealer didn't think it _that_ important and the car went 100k without any adjusting. When I finally had it done, the mechanic noticed that the clearences were still pretty good

regards

Reply to
Guenter Scholz

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