EmJay's new 1985 300D - Printable Version +- STD (https://www.superturbodiesel.com/std) +-- Forum: Other (https://www.superturbodiesel.com/std/forumdisplay.php?fid=19) +--- Forum: Projects (https://www.superturbodiesel.com/std/forumdisplay.php?fid=14) +--- Thread: EmJay's new 1985 300D (/showthread.php?tid=6661)

EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-01-2015 More pics to come, but I scored this little gem off CL for $1600.  303K on the clock.  Starts right up, idles ooth.  Mostly original paint except on the trunk where a half arsed rust repair was attempted.  Aso trim on driver door broke off, still have but need new clips.  No biggie. 1.  AC doesn't work.  Blows hot air, seems that the blend door is stuck on high.  Need to assess the compressor condition. 2.  Tach doesn't work.  Where is the signal from on the 617? 3.  Bowden cable needs adjustment, hangs in higher gear when I need to accelerate after slowing down. 4.  Sunroof doesn't open at all.  No clue why, don't immediately care 5.  Rear passenger window doesn't work.  Hear a motor when I flip switch but nothing.  Will assess. 6.  Antenna missing.  Wire attached to trunk lid to get a rough signal.  I get talk radio and that's it.  Easy enough to fix. 7.  Really slow off the line.  Alda? Nothing major, it runs and that's all I care about.  Now for some eye candy. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - MFSuper90 - 08-01-2015 Not bad man! On the drivers side front fender there is a tach amp that is circular and unscrews off the bracket it is mounted on. The terminals in this circular connector get loose. I put electrical grease in them and pull the connector out of it's socket, jam a small amount of paper towels in it so it makes a better clamp. And it fixed mine! That's saying that your 85 isn't different then my 82 RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-02-2015 The 85 uses a different setup I read. Mine looks like a diagnostic port. With the similar issues in mine, I need to look for the OVP and check my fuses out. The reason it was cheap was because of the AC issues. But most of the issues are tied into the same system it appears. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - Greazzer - 08-02-2015 Very nice. Congradts ! My first MB was a 85. Do the basic stuff on the cheaps: 1. Adjust valves; 2. Get 2 cans of Gunk and hit the self-serve car wash and blast away on that engine; 3. New fuel filters; 4. Change oil; 5. Tranny service, flush and filter It looks solid. Pop on a piece of door molding, and wax er' up and it will look about new. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-02-2015 Thanks! Yes I do plan on the basics, the engine does need a little cleaning but not as much as my truck lol. A bit of diagnostic. The fuse for the tachometer was blown. I replaced but still no tach signal. Checked OVP, looked good and clean but still no clue how to test it out. I jumpered the KILMA and the compressor kicked on, but the belt is loose. Going to replace the belts with new, no idea how old they are and the compressor belt is noisy so..... Plugged in the pump for the heater core, no more full blast heat with the fan on, I can work with that. Checked pressure in the AC system, its full! Man what a PIA location for the high pressure side port. I also found one of the pink AC bladders disconnected and the lines teed off, I reconnected them. Still not much air flow from center vents. Probably need to do an adjustment to the Bowden cable. I don't like how late it shifts from 1-2, and fast from 2-3. 3-4 is fine. And WTF with the placement of the fuse box covers on these Benz's? Always a PIA to get out! RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - Greazzer - 08-02-2015 LOL ... yes, fuse box cover sucks. that HVAC system sucks too. If any of those pods or gizmos leak, it won't work. I know, I had one. BUT, good news is that all items can be replaced with new for under $500 smackers. On my old 85, the tach was very finicky. There is a trick using a piece of cardboard to make contact. It would work with mine sometimes. I never figured it out, but it worked most of the time once I changed the fuse and tinkered with it. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-02-2015 Are you talking on the tach amplifier? If you are, it looks like a diagnostic port on mine. I read somewhere that some of the 84 and all the 85+ used a sensor on the transmission instead of the one on the crank. Although I did notice a sensor on my crank so wtf? RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - Greazzer - 08-02-2015 No, there's a sensor at the crank like all the others. There's the round thing on the driver side in the engine bay near the glowplug relay. There's also some sort of electrical gizmo in the passenger side kick panel by the passenger's right foot if he or she was sitting. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-02-2015 He one in the kick panel is labeled EGR. My EGR is disconnected, does it need to be hooked up to have the tach work? RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - Greazzer - 08-03-2015 I don't remember except there is some sort of connection between the two (kick panel thing and tach). RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-03-2015 Well I have another mystery that needs solving. Today I took the new car on the highway. Lack of power going uphill (couldn't top 60.) Also, sometimes when from a dead stop there is a cloud of greyish smoke. Could the pump timing be off? Injector leak? Need for new injectors? Greazzer if you don't mind me asking what is the deal with your injector service? (noob question). Cleaning, tweaking, something else I'm missing? RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-03-2015 Took a look at my motor from the bottom, man there is a lot of newish oil down there. Confirmed leaking valve cover gasket. Should be easy enough. Also wondering if its easy to replace front crankshaft seal. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - Edian727 - 08-04-2015 if your gonna do a valve cover gasket adjust the valves while your in there. that is a regular maintenance thing on these. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-05-2015 Good tip, thanks! I'll Google the valve specs. Anyway scored a victory today, got the tach to work! No AC though. I jumpered pins for the ECU harness so the signal reaches the tach cluster. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/341652-quick-fix-1985-w123-tach-c-after-egr-failure.html Use seems to have helped some of my power issue. Still a slug on takeoff but it seems a bit faster now. I doubt it, but I will see how the tach affects performance. Also found a leak in the oil pan gasket, seems like an easy fix, is there anything I need to look out for here that I overlooked? RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - raysorenson - 08-05-2015 If the lack of power and smoking at idle gets worse with low fuel, it's your tank strainer. The EGR computer is responsible for turning the flywheel sensor signal into something the tach can use. Sounds like a great ride! '85's are the best. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-05-2015 Well, I did the fix listed in the link above (kinda, my terminals corroded and broke! So I cut and spliced the appropriate wires.). Tach works!  As I was reading the booster for the tach in the 85+ is on the tach itself, mentioned on page 2.  Transmission does seem to shift a bit smoother.  No AC though, when I swap belts I will try to figure out why. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-06-2015 OK so I'm now thinking about upgrades, but nothing extreme. First thing, the suspension feels like a fluffy marshmellow, I want it a bit stiffer but not like a lifted 4x4. Second, my driver seat sways into turns like a hammock. What seat replacements have been done? Mine is non electric, I don't care to have power seats, I don't plan on adjusting them much anyways. One driver car lol. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - fordheaded - 08-06-2015 I've switched the seat bottoms from one side to the other, passenger seats are always like new. Check your front suspension bushings; lower and upper control arms and anti-sway bar. That's a good start!! RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - Edian727 - 08-07-2015 yea there's a lot to the front suspension on the car. wagon sway bar are 25mm and most are 24mm, i know 1mm seems like a lil, but its like 18% stiffer. i had to replace all 4 ball joints, lower control arm bushing, sway bar bushing, all four, guide rod mount and guide rod bushing. still gotta do tie-rod ends, as no1 will align it if they have torn boots, and mine do on both sides. besides that if they're torn you know they wont be long before they go out. be careful who aligns it, theres caster camber and toe adjustments and they need to be done in a specific order or it wont turn out right. i love my car but wonder why the had to make it so complicated. Also i bought some cheap upper control arms and they lasted 1 year. still cost 50 each though, totally worth spending a little more on quality parts. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-08-2015 Yeah I don't like cheaping out on suspension products. When I can afford it I prefer Moog component. What's the preferred MB suspension brand? RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - raysorenson - 08-08-2015 Meyle? Loemforder? autohauzaz's website usually says who the O.E. supplier is. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-09-2015 Well I was looking at my suspension, all of the rubber seems to be good on the linkages and joints! Control arm bushings look a bit old, will look closer at a later date. So what DID I do today? I installed new Bluetooth stereo, tightened drive belts and tested AC components. The control unit looked solid, clean, no broken solder joints that I could see. Temp selector functions. Compressor won't kick on by itself. Pressure static is 100psi, running low is 40 high is 220. Whomever set the location for the high pressure side needs to be clubbed to death! Jumper the KLIMA relay and compressor works and ice cold air comes out. Wonder if bad relay or bad pressure switch. 90+ this week so cold air is staying on during diagnostic. Next for performance issue is to hook up boost gauge to see what the turbo is pushing. I have a small one that I can route no problem. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-09-2015 So, hooked up gauge.  Tops out at 7psi at ~4400 rpms.  So I deleted the ALDA and cleaned up some lines.  Will report tomorrow. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-10-2015 ALDA deleted, man what a difference! RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-12-2015 First tank refill, 12 gallons at 223 miles. All city miles, AC on for most of them. Not too bad for a 30 year old sedan. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - Greazzer - 08-13-2015 It also looks like you don't have the typical rust / rot areas ... very nice indeed ! RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-13-2015 Yeah, the only rust area was already repaired, with a poor paint job on the trunk lid. I can live with it as from 10 feet away it isnt noticeable. Curious, how does one identify what injectors/nozzles one has on their motor? I've seen you mention 240, 315 and 265? RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - raysorenson - 08-13-2015 I think you should put the ALDA back on and adjust it. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - MFSuper90 - 08-13-2015 I have no Alda on mine, and it's only smokey if you want it to be, and even then it isn't hardly. Just a little puff at the start then it clears up for the most part. Just depends on how you drive I guess RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - Greazzer - 08-14-2015 You can't. The nozzle is inside the nozzle holder (injector). Most likely, you have #240/'s., or at least that is my bet. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-14-2015 Makes sense. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-16-2015 Well no luck at the junk yards for injectors, did get a replacement radio antenna, its nice to ditch the coat hanger. Also adjusted valves and replaced VC gasket. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-16-2015 Car seems a bit more responsive. A little, not a lot. Of the 10 valves I had to adjust 8 of them, the last 2 were in good shape. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-20-2015 I finished my "ice cube" mod to the KLIMA relay, the AC kicks on and off like it should. I know I don't have the warmup protection built in, a quick flick of the on/off button can cure that. System is running at good pressures so I will take the risk of using the ice cube until I can figure out why KLIMA died. Also noticed the transmission shifts a bit harder when I hit the low only button on the AC, defroster and up/down I have smooth shifting. Guess the pink bladder for the defroster vent is leaking. Slowly but surely this thing is getting back up to snuff RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 08-22-2015 Photo bomb! EGR deleted And the air control valve too Seal separating from the front. Going to be fun to resecure. Can see the odometer and my floating boost gauge. #3 injector seems to be leaking. The VC no longer is though Clean back seat, minus all the Mahle filters and replacement belts. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 12-31-2015 Replaced fuel lines under the hood, the idle has smoothed out quite a bit. I also put in a manual boost controller, got my boost up to 12 psi.  More than that and I get some grey smoke and I don't know what is up with that, at 12 psi I get no smoke so I'm happy there Also decided to do the fog light mod on the front, so I can use them with the head lights off.  Mod instructions here.   http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w123-e-ce-d-cd-td/1392849-foglight-wiring-modification.html   I am planning on doing the rear fog light mod as well, but the thing is that I also want to do the 4 brake light mod as well.  So I am going to experiment using diodes on the rear fog socket, see if I can do both. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 01-03-2016 Finished with success! I have the 4 brake lights working AND the rear fog working as well. The diode went on the brake light feed connecting the rear fog socket to the harness, so there is no feedback to the brake lights from the rear fog. I still need to hook up the indicator light in the switch, just a ground wire and a bulb, easy piesy, just ran out of screws. Will try to get pics later. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 01-03-2016 Yes, I am using one socket for two functions. So how did I wire it up so that the two circuits are independent? Simple, I wired in a diode between the two sockets on the DS tail light, so that the signal from the fog input can't feed back to the brake lights. Its a 100v 6a rectifying diode, so I should be fine with a 12v 2a application. Rear fog: Extra brake lights: RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - NZScott - 01-03-2016 Very clever....I've been meaning to do that brake light swap for ages. With LEDs while I'm at it RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 04-14-2016 Ok so it's time for an update. For the past 3 months my car has been on the road for less than 300 miles. First reason was a leaking block heater and water pump. So I replaced all of the hoses, some I had to match and cut at the parts store. No biggie, just a plain that no one local had the exact hoses I needed aside from the upper, lower and reservoir. After a replacement water pump, thermostat, and gaskets the coolant system speed leaking. Yay! Also had to repair the block heater, was easy with flux, solder and a torch. So I drive for a week then my brake pad service light came on. Needed new pads and rotors. Looked at the hoses and replaced those too, they looked original. Then I noticed the torn CV boot. S***, need a new axle and had to open the pumpkin. RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 12-25-2016 Oh boy I'm bad about updates. #1, installed new nozzles from Greazzer. Runs like new, a lot less smoke at startup and when I floor it on the highway to pass someone. Smoother idle when warmed up. Yay. #2, noticed in the morning my brake petal is pretty stiff, even after warming up for 10 minutes. Also idles pretty rough. Driving for 5 minutes I have good brake petal, so my vacuum pump seems to work. Bad check valve on pump? #3, radio antenna died. Again. Thank goodness I have Bluetooth and an iPhone. Don't care really. Next. #4, installed my boost gauge finally. What do y'all think? Guess while troubleshooting vacuum issues I can use this gauge temporarily RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - MFSuper90 - 12-25-2016 I like the placement of the boost gauge, looks really good! RE: EmJay's new 1985 300D - EmJay - 12-25-2016 Thank you! Don't ask me where I got that one. It was on eBay many years ago. Was originally for my om602 powered B2000, for the vacuum system.