I bought a 1979 Mercedes 300SD Turbo Diesel. The car was in great shape and only had 45,000 miles on it, no rust and the engine runs strong. It did have a brakes problem.
The owner that I bought it from had been driving it around for some time (he never did tell me how long) with toasted brakes. I didn’t know they were toast at the time but the car was really cheap, so I bought it.
The big issue with the car is that when you reached around 50+ mph it would start to shake and shudder violently. So much so that it was very unsafe to drive. I could also smell burning brakes. The first thing I did was get 4 new tires on it, and an alignment. I suspected it needed much more then that so from there it was to a repair shop.
It turns out the previous driver had cooked the brakes. He had been driving around with a bad master cylinder, the shuddering was the brakes being applied on and off while driving. That explained the burning brakes smell (from the front) as well. I was a strapped for cash so they replaced the wheel bearings, rotors, pads and master cylinder. After that, it drove ok for about 40 miles or so, then the shudder started again, only not as bad as before.
I parked it in the back yard for the next two weeks. At that point I took it out again for about a two mile test drive to see if I could spot anything that set it off… about a mile into the drive, the brake light came on and I lost about 50% of my braking power. Parked it again.
About two weeks after that, I brought it to the repair shop again for round two (This time when I started it, the brake light didn’t come on, and the brakes behaved normally…???) . This time, they replaced the front rotors (and possibly another item but I can’t remember off the top of my head). It drove great for another 30-40 miles again and then the burning brakes smell came back. I could also feel a little bit of the shaking coming from the steering wheel again. I decided to have the tires balanced again. While there the burning smell was strong, the tire and brakes guys said it was probably just everything re-seating and not to worry about it to much.
All went well for the next little while. Several days went by where I would feel the vibration start, but then go away again before it became to bad. It was just kind of annoying. Then Friday, it started coming back like it was originally. I commute 70 miles each way for work.On the commute home Friday, it started the same old original shaking and shuddering again. It was about 25% of its original strength, it only lasted a mile or two, then vanished again. By the end of the long weekend, I was starting to think maybe I was over estimating it, so I drove it to work again. Same thing, once on the way it did its shuddering and shaking, stronger this time, it does it for a few miles then vanishes. Over lunch, I took it the dmv and the shuddering was just as bad as it was when I bought it. I got about 2 miles down the freeway and it started shaking violently once it was up to 60mph, the shaking comes back under control somewhat under 55mph, but the problem persisted for most of the 12-13 miles to the dmv. When I parked, there was the strong smell of burning brakes again. On the drive back to work, it behaved normally, although I didn’t go faster then 60mph. The shaking seems to start at the beginning of the commute, lasts for 10+ miles or so, then goes away.
Obviously, I will be driving it home and then parking it once more until I can afford another round of repairs. As it currently stands, I’m not sure what could be left to replace on the brakes. It stands at around $2200-$2300 of repairs so far that have not gotten rid of it.
I am completely mystified to what is going on? Any ideas would be really, really appreciated. Its incredibly frustrating and I am starting to feel like I am throwing a lot of money at a problem that just won’t go away.
Thanks and sorry about the long post.
Jon