300SD Starter Question

How hard it is to replace the starter? Is is a DIY or mechanic only on these cars?

I'm looking at one '84 on eHay that has a bad starter. Just curious what I'd be getting into.

Reply to
PerfectReign
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Starter is a DIY project... not hard at all.

Reply to
Tiger

Very straight forward if you are going to 'replace' the starter whole. Do not try to fix it, like I did, with new parts such as solenoid etc. I tried this once and even though the started appeared to work perfectly fine and it worked perfectly on the test bench, as well the worm gear and fly wheel teeth all lokked good etc.... I could never get the starter to work

cheers, guenter

Reply to
Guenter Scholz

Thanks!

I like it, but unfortunately it is about 70 miles away. I'm a bit hesitant to pick one up wth a bad starter so far away.

Reply to
PerfectReign

Bring a hammer and give it a whack on the starter and then try to crank it to life... alot of time, it will work. You should bring a jumper cable or battery pack in case the battery is weak.

Reply to
Tiger

If the body is good and the engine runs good, I wouldn't base the decision on just a starter motor. They are pretty cheap. $139.28 at AutoHauz with exchange.

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I don't agree that they are easy to change though. They are easy to change if the engine is out of the car sitting on the floor of your shop. In the car, you have to use a very long extension to remove the bolts on the back of the bell housing that attach the starter. I bought a 50 cm extension for the job. The bolts are allen head bolts, so you will also need an allen head socket, I think they are 10 mm.

You get to the bolts over the top of the transmission, feeding the long extension over from the rear. Once you know that trick it is only a matter of effort and persistence to get the bolts out.

There is a bracket on the front of the starter that attaches to the block of the engine. Those smaller bolts are also hard to get to.

Good luck!

Reply to
heav

.... good point. Cars/models can be different. I imagine it's the transverse mounted engine that are easy to exchange the starter on.... it's typically right up front near the bumper in plain sight.

cheers

Reply to
Guenter Scholz

thanks for all your tips.

I'm going to give up on this car for now. It is a good price, but is about

70 miles away. I don't feel like towing it from there.
Reply to
PerfectReign

You can push/tow start it. You need to get going about 35 mph in neutral and then drop it into low range. If the motor is any good, it will start right up. Then just drive it home.

Reply to
heav

Or if you have AAA Deluxe... free towing for 100 miles!

Reply to
Tiger

Heh - that would be cool!

Reply to
PerfectReign

I've read this advice elsewhere. however, I've tried this twice with not a single hint of success. I put it in first 'L' at about 40 since it maxes out at 42, and nothing happens. It doesn't even try to turn the engine over. Is my tranny screwy, or is this a myth that nobody has actually ever busted but keep passing on because they heard it but have never had to try it?

Reply to
weelliott

I have a 1982 300 TDT with a 4 speed automatic transmission. I have started it many, many times by push starting. You don't need to use low either, but you may need to if the engine is not working too great. One way to test this is to drive on an open road with little traffic, get going 60+ mph, put the tranny in neutral, switch the engine off, then put the key back to the "run" position and drop the tranny into drive, just regular drive, high gear.

The engine will start. So, depending on how big a mountain you can park on, you can start the engine cold using high gear too, but it just spins it faster, obviously, to use low gear.

I had a defective EGR valve that I had been unable to diagnose, and it made my car virtually unusable and impossible to start, but if I really wanted to get my Benz going for some reason, I would have my neighbor tow me about 2 iles above town here in the Eastern Sierra until I was 800 feet or so above town, get me turned around, and then I would coast until I got going about 35-40 mph and then drop the tranny all the way down to Low range. It never failed to start.

As I said above, I have push started my 1982 300 TDT many times.

Reply to
heav

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