1983 Mercedes maintenance

1983 Mercedes Diesel Wagon 300TD-T 5-cylinder history

• 3.0 litre
• Chassis: 123.193
• Engine number: 617.952

November, 2006 MBI

• adjusted transmission (to extend life)
• fix heater blower button
• fix door locks
• new starter
• replace rear wiper gasket
• tried to fix leak in back door (still fills with water)

December, 2006 Jiffy Lube

• oil change
• new radiator cap
• change fluid in rear differential

December, 2006 MBI

• adjust headlights
• stop back door from filling up, rear drains both sides
• fix rear wiper (new motor?) [postponed until leak is confirmed fixed]
• connect front windshield washers, fix tank, replace grommets, replace hose from pump to valve

October, 2007 MBI

• replace thermostat (was overheating)
• replace oil filter housing (fix leak)
• oil change
• tune up

April, 2008 MBI

• roaring noise at 30-60mph

it was the front wheel bearings. Repacked and greased.

• blowing heater fuses all the time

cleaned connections.

• rear wiper isn't working

rivets had popped. Drilled new holes and secured wiper motor.

• trim missing on passenger door

installed used molding.

October, 2008 MBI

• new brake pads (with warning indicators)
• fix driver window switch
• AC recharge
• oil change
• door trim installed
• AC aux fan fuse fixed

October, 2009 MBI

• oil leak
  • found and fixed oil leak near air filter
  • replaced dirty air filter
  • found and fixed fuel leak at fuel filter (fuel filter was not tight enough)
• vibration noise
  • found and fixed vibration noise due to loose air filter
• broken backup light
  • fixed backup lens and light

• found missing rear axle boot
  • replacing rear axle
• found brakes at 10%
  • replacing brakes

• found exhaust manifold leak. It would cost $700 to fix. Not fixing.

October, 2009 Les Schwabb

• four new tires

P195/70R-14 90S Eclipse All season blackwall x4
$472.16

October, 2009

• new battery

December, 2009

• hard to start when cold
• glow plug light doesn't always come on when starting
• blows lots of smoke when it finally starts
• probably will use this procedure from Diesel Giant

http://www.dieselgiant.com/glowplugrepair.htm

• ordered 4 glow plugs and a relay from partsgeek.com for $103

January, 2010

• now it won't start
• found a loose connection to one of the glow plugs, tightened it
• replaced glow plug relay, still won't start
• ordered air filter, fuel filter, oil filter, one more glow plug, windshield fluid
• replaced both fuel filters and air filter, still won't start
• replaced all five glow plugs, found 3 were bad, still won't start
• found the new glow plug relay fuse had shorted, put the old relay back in, now it starts
• removed hood insulation so it doesn't fall down and impact accelerator linkages
• heater hose failed near number 5 glow plug and dumped all coolant
• ordered a new hose from MBI

January, 2010

• oil change

September, 2010 MBI

• fixed engine overheat problem
  • new water pump
  • new regulator
  • replace belts
  • reseal oil leaks
  • new oil pan
  • replace alternator voltage regulator
  • reseal dipstick tube
  • replace front timing chain rail pin
  • reseal turbo return tube

Total of $1898

October, 2010

• driver-side headlight out
• replaced bulb and cleaned corroded connection

the connection still does not seem solid. I might have to replace the connector

August, 2011

• John and Sam put new brake pads and rotors in front
  • Napa part 4885940 front rotor $36.98 x2
  • Napa part D311 P brake pads $59.69
  • Napa part 1385 oil filter $7.24
• new fuel filter
• new window and interior light fuses

August, 2011

• driver's door window regulator has two sheered pins, window won't operate
• I removed the regulator and tried to disassemble and repair, but it looks like I'll need to replace it
• a new part is $297 from AutoHaus and $98 from Parts geek or $438 for an original Mercedes replacement part.

July, 2013

• air conditioning is less effective than normal
• took it to MBI Motors and had this work done:
  • found AC compressor has two of three bolts sheered off
  • wiring and fuse fixes to allow troubleshooting of AC
  • new compressor and coolant would be about $1500
  • decided to disable AC for $106

October, 2013

• front passenger window won't operate
  • checking switches first, we spill a lot on those switches
  • disassembled and cleaned the

switches which look like this:

What the switch should look like

Reference:

Tips for fixing windows: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w123-e-ce-d-cd-td/1653133-300td-console-window-switch-help-please.html

If you need to get your Widow up you need some Jumper Wires to connect to the Battery (easier to pull the Battery out).
Touch one wire to each of the Terminal/Junction Block Screws and the Window will go one way. Swapping position of the Wires and the Window will go the other direction.
The Window Motors do not use the Chassis ground as part of their circuit like the Starter Motor does. 

switch continuity test

There are four pins for each window switch. On bank of switches controls a front and bank window. The driver side also has a child lock with an extra two pins.

O = open circuit + = closed circuit

rocker at rest

	A	B	C	D
A		O	O	O
B	O		+	+
C	O	+		+
D	O	+	+

rocker forward, window up

	A	B	C	D
A		O	O	O
B	O		O	+
C	O	O		O
D	O	+	O

rocker backward, window down

	A	B	C	D
A		O	O	O
B	O		O	O
C	O	O		+
D	O	O	+

Verified that the switch is operating properly. But the window still doesn't show any sign of life when the switch is pressed.

Notes and Part Numbers

oil change procedure

• Oil capacity: 8 quarts
• Oil grade: 15W40 Delo 400
• 2 13mm bolts hold the oil filter cover
• drain plug is 13mm
• a little glue to hold the gasket helps hold it in place while lining up the filter

replacement bulbs

Osram/Sylvania Light Bulb
1979-1987 Mercedes Benz 300TD
12V - 10w - Tail & Clearance Lamps.

Osram/Sylvania Light Bulb
1979-1987 Mercedes Benz 300TD
12V - 21w - Blinker, Stoplight & Backup Light. Nickel base

Halogen headlight
High and low beam
H6024

replacing fuses

tire size

P195/70R14 90S

fuel filters

There are two filters, primary and secondary.

• The primary is the smaller, in-line plastic filter.
• The secondary is the larger, metal filter that looks a lot like an oil filter.

These need to be changed regularly when running on bio-diesel or else power is significantly reduced.

dashboard indicator light

This warning light was puzzling, so I had to look it up in an owner's manual: