So I went and looked at my 1st 300D Today!
 

Today I went to inspect a few cars:
1st on the list was a 77 300D
2nd was a 81 300SD
3rd was a 85 300TD

I ended up only getting to see the 1st one as the others fell through on meeting me!

It shows 246k on the odo, but about 6 years ago his daughter cooked the engine to well done, and he replaced with a used engine . . . the oil cap just barely rocks on the cover when it is sitting there . . . Started in less than 2 sec once it had a 10 sec glow, ran smooth and quite quiet at idle, but I noticed that it took another 10-12 sec for the oil presure to come up on the gauge, is this normal? The odo appeared to work (it changed about 3 miles during my test drive, which seems right. Before I left I reset the trip meter, but the last 2 digits did not reset, it had 9.3. After my test drive it only had 9.5! Is this normal for the trip to die before the odo?

The drivers rear and pass front windows have issues . . . the front seats have been replaced, but are bad enough that the drivers has 2 rips about 8" long and both fronts have covers on them, the dash has a carpeted cover on it, I tried to peel it up, but it had velcro and some glue!?!

The doors all lock & unlock with the, he still has the original key, and service records for the last 10 years he had it, he got it from his Father who passed away, who had won it a few years previous in some gambling game . . .

I tried to look under the floor mats carpeting to see the floor, but could not figure out how to get it up, I thought it was just laying there, I did poke & prode but it seemed solid, the rest of the car is solid with just a tad of surface rust in the hinge pockets . . . he had the car painted about 2 years ago . . . he drove this car for awhile himself, then let his three children drive it till they got out of school . . . it has been rear-ended twice, once recently, but no damage to it other than a cracked tail light which has been replaced! The other veh was towed from the scene & totaled!:D

I took it for a drive, it seemed to have decent power (more than I expected!), handled well (last year he had the front end rebuilt!:D) braked well, seemed to run smooth, after I pulled out of the development temp was up to about 130 degrees so I floored it, and I could not see any smoke from the mirrors! Shifted smoothly too!:)

Anyways . . . I have a few more questions, and lots of pictures to go with them! You like pictures right?:D

Does this look to be sagging in the back, it is slightly up hill, but look at the rear wheel well . . .
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D006.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D019.jpg

It looks like the tranny is leaking, but it could be from the engine, what do you think? is it serious, or is that just rust preventative!:rolleyes:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D008.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D009.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D015.jpg

Some of the engine . . .
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D002.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D004.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D010.jpg

Is this the "normal" amout of blowby oil in the air filter?
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D016.jpg

When I 1st looked at the primary filter, i thought it looked good, I guess I did not look too close . . . when I downloaded it onto my computer I see little black flecks it it, do you think it has fungus among us?:eek:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D001.jpg

Is this the bleeder that is leaking in the upper right corner, wish I had brought my ramps with me so I could actually get under it, oh well, next time . . .
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D007.jpg

Is this common for the molding to shrivle up on the door piller?
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D011.jpg

What kind of A/C does this have? It does blow cold, but . . . only out the side vents, and defrost . . .:confused:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D014.jpg

I found this linkage on the engine side of the IP near the back that has a ball on it but no socket . . . what is it for?
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D018.jpg

What do you see that I didn't?

He is asking $1900 for it by the way, but has been for sale for a month or more . . . he is selling it because his kids all have atleast one veh each, and his HOA doesn't like him cloging up the street!

Looks like the usual stuff expected with a car of that age. Looks very nice overall.

Should have removed the seat covers to see what they really look like.

She looks OK to me. The glow plugs should re replaced with the newer parallel circuit relay and plugs. In your setup the plugs run in series.

As for the rest of it, My 1981 SD had the same issue with the window trim. It gets hard and shrinks. I don't know what you can do except replace it. You should take another look at the drips, but for $1900 it looks like a good car.

I pulled up the seat covers, but did not take them off, that is how I know about the rips they seem to be a shade darker than the rear seats . . . I did not take a picture of them though . . .

My main concern is the tranny . . . if you look in the one photo, it shows the black engine oil dripped down the bellhousing . . . but the tranny pan does not have that same color oil, unfortunatly I did not swipe it to see if it was red . . .:rolleyes: Do you think maybe the input shaft is leaking?

It also has a new rad, and yellow coolant!

After we left there we saw this . . .
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../77300D022.jpg

Was it cold when you started it? If he had just run the engine for a while or maybe drove it around, the oil pressure might not peg at start up. Normally, however, it should peg up to 3 every time.

That temp is pretty high too, although it might run a bit warmer in AZ than up here in MI. The price still seems a bit high - doesn't seem like this thing is super well taken care of...she looks nice though.

I'd talk him down a bit.

Yes I felt the engine & upper rad hose it was about the same as outside temp (90) (all temps are in F) Engine was 180 when I got back.

Yes it did peg at start up, but it was just delayed by about 10 sec or so before the needle came up to the top (45) it stayed there the whole time, I let it idle for about 2 min, then I bumped up the idle abit (no tach), and fiddled around with other things for another 4-5 min, then I drove through the development for about .3 - .4 mi

It can be confusing when you think that we like to keep our cars at 80 degrees and think 120 is too hot, then an older car owner starts talking about temps in F not C!

Best thing is to get a repuable MB mechanic to take a look at the car. Put it on a lift and really look under it. If there is no cancer, it seems like a good car. Oh BTW you have the Evil Servo type climate control in that car...

Think $400 - $600 for a new servo

Nice Finny! Those are my favorite model!

Looks like homemade glow plug wiring...

Is that what is needed to make the air come out the center vents?

I am not familir with that system, but I would guess that there are vacuum pots under the dash that open and close the flappers.

Yes owner admited to doing those, he said something about something was different when they changed out the engine . . .


One a different note. . .

My two bigger concerns are:

The tranny appears to be leaking up front . . .

He had three (3!) kids learn to drive on this, is this bad?

Most of the oil leaks on the engine look just like they need a new gasket . . . of course needs new belts, brake lines (rubber) and tires are checking . . . windows seem like one is the switch, the other is a regulator . . .

I know there are many more of these, but I needed to start looking at something to get a feel for what is "good" and "bad" I think he would take $1500 . . .

The owner did say that he had a CD with info on it to fix the vent issue . . . but he had not looked at it yet:rolleyes: It does blow cold air out!

I also liked the Finny, but my wife . . . not so much . . .she likes the look of the 123, even better than the 210 which surprised me!

you are gonna have a very messy upper oil pan leak to take care. Im doing that this weekend and let me tell you its quite a dirty job doing the upper oil pan thats been leaking for years. for the 77 300D. I would try to get the price down. Whoever does that upper oil pan is in for a lot of work and a big mess. I used engine degreaser too, but that put a didnt in that thick crude. also looks like the radial seals are leaking too.

Is the "upper oil pan" what I would call a "valve cover"?

What/where are the "radial seals"?