Newbie wants buy Mercedes diesel

The model to buy is a '83 - '85 300D Turbodiesel. It's a four door sedan with a five cylinder 120 HP turbodiesel. A/C, Power steering, brakes etc were all standard. These are comfortable cars to drive, efficient size and will deliver about 24 or 25 mpg in normal commute driving, more on the freeway.

The engine is all cast iron and very durable; that means its life expectancy is between 250K and 300K miles if reasonably well maintained, less if the owner has skimped on the oil changes. These engines are old technology, there are no computers etc. BUT the other side of this coin is that the engine's valves ought to be adjusted every 15K miles, preferably before the winter cold arrives. The maintenance schedule is: engine oil and filter change at 5K miles, valve adjustment at 15K miles and air and fuel filters and transmission fluid and filter at 30K miles.

The definitive test of any diesel's health and therefore remaining useful life is a compression test. Diesels are compression engines - the compression is about 21:1 and that heats the air in the cylinders sufficiently to ignite the fuel. So if the engine is worn the compression will be less and the engine will be harder and harder to start, particularly in the winter. So before passing any cash have the compression checked by an independent M-B shop as part of a prepurchase inspection.

Buy the best quality car you can, don't buy a run down car that's a "bargain". There are NO bargains only expensive repairs.

The cars are understandable to someone who has some automotive repair experience, C-D ROMs and M-B paper manuals can be found on ebay etc. If you buy one of these there are several on-line parts sources for a DIY owner.

Come back with specific questions when you find your car.

While you can;t beat the veteran 123 midel, my personal favorite is the

Bill Ditmire Ditmire Motorworks,Inc.

You're in the US and you're talking USD, right...?

DAS

Can't believe some of you guys think 40mpg is great for a diesel !!!! :-)

I've got a 250TD and can sometimes get 36-37 on a long run. However, here in the UK that is pretty poor for a Diesel.

I used to have an Audi A4 1.0TD and that would do 50mpg all the time. Some cars here in the UK can comfortably do 60-65 mpg.

your gallons are larger than ours and there is a size/comfort difference between an MB and an Audi. VW diesels can get over 50 mpg but the difference in size and quality of the car means much to many people

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because of the current email spam attacks my email account is not included, reply via the newsgroups or ask for a valid email address.

Bill Ditmire is in the USA, one of the few correspondents who actually states his location in every message. In these discussions it is very important to do so.

DAS

Current smallest diesel engine from Audi (in an A2) is 1.4.

DAS

Great info!! Thanks for your time :-) Keith

I'm sure the Renault Megan 1.5l Diesel can do close to 60mpg.

You learn something new every day !!!

As we did, when reading about your 1.0 litre diesel engine...

DAS

Amen! Amen! Amen!

You should have kept it for part car and buy another diesel instead of plunking $25,000 into it...

Hindsight is marvelous. Also sort of hard to keep a derelict car around when you live in the city on the 21st floor. And the parts, as bought, were worn out. The parts that are in it now however are very good. Nothing except the body and interior has more than 30,000 miles on it.

The 85 in California is a problem IMHO. It had an "oxidizer" that was problematic and because of it the air filter is different and $50 a pop to replace. They ended up putting in passenger front and it is shaped like a tub and not like a doughnut. wolf1

You can buy four California air filters for that price. Right here: