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Car Forum / Mercedes-Benz Cars / September 2008300DS problems. Big and small.
’84 300SD. 250k miles. I picked this car up recently and have been sorting through the problems. I changed the oil and adjusted the valves. Did a lot of the little stuff like fixing the door switches so the buzzer would come on when I left the headlights on. The car has every option I wanted, but looks like it’s been soundly neglected. However, the price was right. So, I thought I would cast some questions upon the seas of knowledge in this newsgroup. This is just bloody strange: when I have on the right turn signal with the headlights, the wipers come on. Sometimes they do not stop when I shut off the turn signal (Usually at a crosswalk or a night without a cloud in the sky). Also, they do not seem to be “parking” in the down position. They are stopping in the middle of the windshield. I'm guessing it’s the turn signal stalk? The transmission hadn’t had it fluid changed in a long time. Did the fluid and filter thing. Will repeat in a few thousand miles. The tranny shifted badly and had some serious lag. Since doing the fluid change, it is working, well, perfectly. My Spidy-Sence tells me not to get too comfortable with it and that it will seem fine for a while them fail catastrophically. Is this the way this usually plays out? Since I could hear the motor in the electric antenna working when I shut the car off, though the mast stayed put, I opened up the unit. I can’t seem to find anyone who sells the little belt that broke, thus stalling the mast movement. Is this something available or has there been discovered a workable substitute? Does one need to lube the power seat tracks? Work perfectly but they sound like a Huey is settling down on the roof when I use them. The temp gage is stuck at 888 degrees. Oddly, it doesn’t seem that hot. Is there a fix for this? The dash lights seem to work only at specific places on the pot. Since Mercedes dash lights suck on a good day, I was just going to jumper across the pot so they are full on. Any reason I shouldn’t? Got one hell of an oil leak on the driver’s side of the engine. I did the valve cover gasket after the valve adjustment, but even after cleaning the block, still cannot find it. Ideas? I'll stop here since I'm just warming up. Thanks for any help that is offered. Ack! Too many questions... Answers as below... ’84 300SD. 250k miles. I picked this car up recently and have been sorting through the problems. I changed the oil and adjusted the valves. Did a lot of the little stuff like fixing the door switches so the buzzer would come on when I left the headlights on. The car has every option I wanted, but looks like it’s been soundly neglected. However, the price was right. So, I thought I would cast some questions upon the seas of knowledge in this newsgroup. This is just bloody strange: when I have on the right turn signal with the headlights, the wipers come on. Sometimes they do not stop when I shut off the turn signal (Usually at a crosswalk or a night without a cloud in the sky). Also, they do not seem to be “parking” in the down position. They are stopping in the middle of the windshield. I'm guessing it’s the turn signal stalk? IT does sounds like the signal stalk need to be replaced. Fix this and see what happens to the wiper... I am guessing the new wiper motor is installed but whoever installed it didn't set it in off position... he just installed it rather than let it cycle and stop. The transmission hadn’t had it fluid changed in a long time. Did the fluid and filter thing. Will repeat in a few thousand miles. The tranny shifted badly and had some serious lag. Since doing the fluid change, it is working, well, perfectly. My Spidy-Sence tells me not to get too comfortable with it and that it will seem fine for a while them fail catastrophically. Is this the way this usually plays out? I would do as you said... drive for 1000 miles and then change the fluid only and repeat one more time. Since I could hear the motor in the electric antenna working when I shut the car off, though the mast stayed put, I opened up the unit. I can’t seem to find anyone who sells the little belt that broke, thus stalling the mast movement. Is this something available or has there been discovered a workable substitute? I have that belt... I tried to fix mine but mine has broken gear also. I bought it direct from Bekker radio. Does one need to lube the power seat tracks? Work perfectly but they sound like a Huey is settling down on the roof when I use them. YOU can try... But they do sound a bit loud. The temp gage is stuck at 888 degrees. Oddly, it doesn’t seem that hot. Is there a fix for this? NO fix... you have to replace that unit. Which is rare to find used and too expensive new. The dash lights seem to work only at specific places on the pot. Since Mercedes dash lights suck on a good day, I was just going to jumper across the pot so they are full on. Any reason I shouldn’t? Got one hell of an oil leak on the driver’s side of the engine. I did the valve cover gasket after the valve adjustment, but even after cleaning the block, still cannot find it. Ideas? Are you sure it is motor oil? Could it be power steering fluid? How about diesel fuel? Diesel fuel hoses can leak like crazy when old. I would wash engine down to trace the leak. Got one hell of an oil leak on the driver’s side of the engine. I did the valve cover gasket after the valve adjustment, but even after cleaning the block, still cannot find it. On the left side is: oil filter, oil lines to oil cooler, injection pump that's lubricated by engine oil via small oil pipe, and power steering pump and its lines to the steering box. The oil filter mounting to the block is sometimes known to leak. That mounting pod includes the oil temperature thermostat (by the way) and connection to the oil cooler lines (hope that these aren't leaking). And, as Tiger said, the whole fuel system - high pressure and bleed off lines as well as the injectors - all leak possibilities. The high pressure lines use compression fittings which should be just snug enough not to leak. The injection nozzles sometimes weep at their center joint - just tightening the top to the bottom will fix that. The bleed off hoses are leakers but easily replaced. 1/8 ID fuel hose replaces them.  Signature© 2008 T.G.Lambach. Publication in any form requires prior written permission. > Got one hell of an oil leak on the driver’s side of the engine. I did > the valve cover gasket after the valve adjustment, but even after [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > © 2008 T.G.Lambach. Publication in any form requires prior written > permission. Thank you so much for your input. I'll report as things progress. You should spray the pot for the dash lights with contact cleaner. Be sure to get the type that does not include lubricant. You can find contact cleaner at Radio Shack or even at car parts places. The contacts inside the pot are oxidized and when the control is at a spot where the oxidation is bad you are not getting contact. T.G.Lambach is probably right about the oil leak. It is most likely related to the oil filter housing or the oil cooler lines. My 1982 300 TDT has 409,000 miles on it and I have had to replace the gasket between the housing and the block, and I have also had to replace the oil cooler lines twice. Threading the cooler lines in and out is maddening, but possible. I think you have to take them out toward the rear. I had my engine remanufactured last summer and I replaced the cooler lines when I had the engine out of the car and it is much easier then. Of course I also put in another new oil filter housing gasket at that time, so I have replaced mine twice in 409,000 miles. > You should spray the pot for the dash lights with contact cleaner. Be > sure to get the type that does not include lubricant. You can find > contact cleaner at Radio Shack or even at car parts places. The > contacts inside the pot are oxidized and when the control is at a spot > where the oxidation is bad you are not getting contact. I succeeded in restoring mine that way. I took it out and rotated it back and forth while spraying electronic parts cleaner in it. If that doesn't work, you can jumper across it or replace. They are available, but rather pricey, around $50 as I recall. > T.G.Lambach is probably right about the oil leak. It is most likely > related to the oil filter housing or the oil cooler lines. My 1982 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > then. Of course I also put in another new oil filter housing gasket > at that time, so I have replaced mine twice in 409,000 miles. Wow... that's expensive... I guess the alternative is you can hook up a car horn to the circuit... so when you open up the door with the headlight on... BEEEEEPPPPP!!!! LOL. I think it would be too loud. > Wow... that's expensive... I guess the alternative is you can hook up a car > horn to the circuit... so when you open up the door with the headlight on... > BEEEEEPPPPP!!!! > > LOL. I think it would be too loud. I rigged my own for less than ten bucks. I just got a SPDT relay and a buzzer from radio shack. I wired it so that there is one circuit that goes from the tailight terminal in my trunk to the NC(normally Closed) contact on the relay, then run a wire from the common contact on the relay to a buzzer, then to ground. That completes one circuit. Then run a wire from something that gets juice when the ignition is on(I used the cigarette lighter, er, I mean the cigar lighter.) This wire goes to the activation terminal on the relay, then you run a wire from the other activation terminal to ground. The NO(normally Open) terminal of the relay is left vacant. Basically when the ignition is on, the relay shuts, which routes power to the NO Normally Open terminal of the relay, but shuts power off to the NC side of the relay. So no juice gets through on the circuit that has the buzzer and the taillights. However once you shut off the ignition, the relay connects the NC terminal to common, which completes the circuit with the taillights and buzzer on it. I mounted the buzzer in the trunk since it was close to the taillights which seemed easiest to tap into by takign the cover off from inside the trunk and tapping into a wire as it goes to an outlet. Also the buzzer is loud and I wouldn't want it or need it inside the car. I actually put a piece of tape over the hole in it to quiet it down a little. Good Luck, Bill Gee... you definitely know electric. You should rig up so your flashers will flash also. >You should spray the pot for the dash lights with contact cleaner. Be >sure to get the type that does not include lubricant. You can find >contact cleaner at Radio Shack or even at car parts places. The They don't get dirty, they break. The nichrome spiral wound wire snaps and still makes contact with the other bit -but only occasionaly. Just pull it and reattack the wire to the other and and secure it with a bit of JB Weld. SignatureNeed Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org 1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net 633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net >looks like its been soundly neglected. However, the price was right. Yeah it works that way. >This is just bloody strange: when I have on the right turn signal with >the headlights, the wipers come on. Sometimes they do not stop when I >shut off the turn signal (Usually at a crosswalk or a night without a >cloud in the sky). Also, they do not seem to be “parking” in the down >position. They are stopping in the middle of the windshield. I'm >guessing it’s the turn signal stalk? Maybe. Get a schematic. Find what they have in common. Your problem will be there, or very close to there. >The transmission hadn’t had it fluid changed in a long time. Did the >fluid and filter thing. Will repeat in a few thousand miles. The >tranny shifted badly and had some serious lag. Since doing the fluid >change, it is working, well, perfectly. My Spidy-Sence tells me not to >get too comfortable with it and that it will seem fine for a while >them fail catastrophically. Is this the way this usually plays out? Yes. Make sure the vacuum system is to spec and the vacuum to the tranny is correct and to spec. http://articles.mbz.org/vacuum/ http://articles.mbz.org/transmission/ Alternatively, just yank the vacuum line to the tranny, it'll shift hard as hell but last WAY longer. >Since I could hear the motor in the electric antenna working when I >shut the car off, though the mast stayed put, I opened up the unit. I >can’t seem to find anyone who sells the little belt that broke, thus >stalling the mast movement. Is this something available or has there >been discovered a workable substitute? Yeah just get a replacement antenna. Cheap. >Does one need to lube the power seat tracks? Work perfectly but they >sound like a Huey is settling down on the roof when I use them. You can if you want to. Never seen one fail cause of lack of lube though and they all sound like hell. >The temp gage is stuck at 888 degrees. Oddly, it doesn’t seem that >hot. Is there a fix for this? Not a cheap one. >The dash lights seem to work only at specific places on the pot. Since >Mercedes dash lights suck on a good day, I was just going to jumper >across the pot so they are full on. Any reason I shouldnt. Yeah. The potentiometer is just broke. Take it out and repair it. http://articles.mbz.org/instrument/dimmer/ >Got one hell of an oil leak on the driver’s side of the engine. I did >the valve cover gasket after the valve adjustment, but even after >cleaning the block, still cannot find it. Ideas? Turbo oil return line seal. Il leaks every 100K miles or so. Pig to replace. You probably have busted air cleaner mounts too. Put a bit of rubber between the valve cover gasket and the mount there and they'll stop breaking. Make sure you have the upgraded breather hose. Run a couple of cans of Diesel Purge though it. You'll thank me later. >I'll stop here since I'm just warming up. Thanks for any help that is >offered. SignatureNeed Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org 1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net 633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net |
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