'87 300D question

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Ernie Sparks - 19 Jul 2005 02:30 GMT

A friend of mine purchased an '87 300D since I had highly recommended an MB
diesel in the 300 series. I was on vacation at the time and when I returned
he brought the car by for me to look at. This is the 124 body style with a
six cylinder turbo, much different than my earlier 300D. He says the
previous owner claimed this car was imported from Germany for only the one
year although it was manufactured for sale elsewhere for at least a couple
of years.
I drove the car and it runs great with gasoline-type acceleration once the
turbo kicks in. Anyone had any experience with this year/model MB? Anything
in particular he should look out for?

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T.G. Lambach - 19 Jul 2005 03:19 GMT

This six IS is good engine but not as tough and durable as the old 5
cylinder diesels. The owner MUST NOT OVERHEAT this iron block, aluminum
head engine. That means good maintenance of the cooling system and
taking it easy on long grades in the summer.

Otherwise, what happens is a blown head gasket (that's the least of it)
and / or a cracked cylinderhead.

So there it is, nice car but with a caution about its cooling system.

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Conrad - 20 Jul 2005 17:11 GMT

> This six IS is good engine but not as tough and durable as the old 5
> cylinder diesels. The owner MUST NOT OVERHEAT this iron block, aluminum
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> So there it is, nice car but with a caution about its cooling system.

Amen. The early six diesels did not have nearly the development pedigree
of the five-cylinders. The aluminum heads caused problems over time even
without major cooling issues. At the risk of sounding "old-school", the
five cylinder iron/iron engines (and for that matter the four-cylinder
engines) were damn near bulletproof.

Cheers,

Conrad

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