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DoctorHfuhruhurr

It sure smells like a tractor...

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DoctorHfuhruhurr

 

It smokes like a tractor and the diesel sounds like a tractor but it's a car.  1981 Mercedes 300SD Turbo.  0-60 in under 5 minutes!!!!  The highest priority is fixing the heating system which is stuck on.  It can be a bit of a roaster on a 95 degree day.   It's a bit slow but once it warms up the turbo brings some power to the old diesel.  It has 136k miles, but that's not much for these engines from what I've read.   It's not worth much, but it was given to me and will be fun to waste some money on.  It's hard to refuse free stuff.  It's been garaged most of the time, so there's no real sun damage inside.  It drives really well at higher speeds on highways. 

viber image.jpg

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squonk

I remember working on Winnebago Lesharro motorhomes. 4 cly Renault diesel with a 5 speed. a whopping 46 horsepower.:auto-layrubber: The only thing it could pass was a gas station. Then they Threw a Turbo on and got it to 76 ponies! :auto-rally: The only good thing about them is that they blew up all the time! :banana-wrench:

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953 nut

My wife had a 560 SL for a few years; one thing is absolutely true about a Mercedes, parts cost double what any other brand will and every time you encounter a new adventure you will need to buy another otherwise useless tool. It did drive well and really hugged the curves of our mountain roads, but I did a bag Happy Dance the day she decided to sell it.  :banana-wrench:

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DougC

Put a shut off valve in the heater hose going to the heater core. Shut the flow off in warm weather and open the valve to flow through the core when the weather is cold. cheap and quick fix.  :handgestures-thumbupright:

 

 

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formariz

Having owned Mercedes for quite some years, let me just tell you that what you have there is a REAL Mercedes, not the over glorified tin cans that they make now. I drove that exact same model for years until it had over 500,000 miles. It is still going today in someone else's hand with almost 650,000 on it. There is also a 240D in the family from1978 with half a million on it. Those things are nearly indestructible. On top of that they have character. People know that it is either you or a concrete delivery coming. There are no other cars on the road that will last like that with that kind of mileage on them. Yours is a mere baby! My mistake was to fall for the allure of the new sleek models . Like I said before over glorified tin cans. Every time i see one of like yours I just look at it with respect.

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clueless
16 hours ago, squonk said:

I remember working on Winnebago Lesharro motorhomes. 4 cly Renault diesel with a 5 speed. a whopping 46 horsepower.:auto-layrubber: The only thing it could pass was a gas station. Then they Threw a Turbo on and got it to 76 ponies! :auto-rally: The only good thing about them is that they blew up all the time! :banana-wrench:

Back in the late 80,s my dad bought one used, the guy said it didn't have enough power for him and boy was he right. I drove it a couple of times and told my dad that there must be something wrong, nobody would build something this big with so little power. Dad and mom used it to go on short trips around here so he didn't seem to mind the lack of power. My sister her husband, my wife and I decided to take it to Gatlingburg Tn. not a great idea! When we hit the hills of north Al. you just kept the gas pedal on the floor, once we were in the mountains forget about It. Dad sold it a couple of years later, couldn't stand the price of parts, small lower radiator hose over $100.00. A few month later saw it and the guy who bought it, ask him what he thought about it's lack of power, he said the cat converter was about 90% blocked. He had a new one installed and it was much better. I drove it and it had at least 50% more power, Don't get me wrong it was still slow. 

 Way to much coffee this morning:banana-blonde:

Chris 

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squonk

The turbos would burn out the seals and the power increase from the extra oil burning was very noticeable! :lol:

 

Only vehicle I ever saw where you had to replace the differential  fluid every 5000 mi. or the gears would burn up! :banana-wrench:

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