Is this the one with 125 hp, 185 ft-lb, and 0-60 in 14.4 sec? Yeah, it’s a keeper.
I drove a 1985 version and kept pushing on the throttle wondering when the car would realize I wanted it to go.
;-]
Ordinarily the car will start out in second gear. First must be “asked” for. @insightful what you do is floor the pedal to get the automatic transmission to go into low gear. Then you lift your foot slightly so the transmission shifts into second, usually with a chirp of the rear tires. Then you put your foot down, but not to the floor where it will think you want it to go into low again, and hold it there as the speed slowly builds. Once it’s at the RPM where you begin to think the hamsters will start to rebel, lift your foot again to go into third. Then it’s back down until the hamsters are ready for fourth. WHeeeee, it’s a sports car.
It amazes me how many people think ALL Mercedes Benz cars are diesels. I even had a friend insist that the 300SL Gullwing was a diesel. He actually called a local Mercedes shop while I listened to try and prove me wrong. Duh!
It would be a good idea to have a Mercedes specialist give the car a full once over and at least see if you can get it running and driving, Your closest Mercedes club should be able to help you find a trustworthy mechanic. http://www.mbca.org/local-clubs-sections
I have no interest in old diesels - smokey, noisy, and slow.
There’s no reason to get a Benz specialist involved to get it running. This car is pretty simple
Once it’s running, though, it might not be a bad idea
“It amazes me how many people think ALL Mercedes Benz cars are diesels”
It was a 300 SD. 300 series. I don’t know what the “S” is for but pretty sure the “D” is for diesel. There was an 82 on youtube for sale for $1500 so don’t think I’d put a lot of money in it. Ran good, new or good paint, good interior, etc. The only problem was the missing hood ornament. People like to collect them. Me too. I’ve still got my diesel Olds hood ornament.
Too bad Craig 58 is long gone. Didn’t he used to go on and on about how great his early 80’s Mercedes diesels were, how he could drive from Missouri to Colorado without a working alternator, etc and so on. . .
The SD means it is a short wheel base S class (large sedan) with a diesel engine.
Thanks guys. Some excellent advice. Appreciate it very much. If I can get the old girl running without spending a fortune, I’d be thrilled. I’ll move forward from there, slowly, doing as much work as I can. The next challenge will be to find a very good and trustworthy diesel mechanic. A couple businesses locally do Mercedes work but one is very expensive and the owner of the other is a knucklehead.
I bought it used from the only owner, an elderly couple, who lived in Florida. Its wheels were/are more modern than the '82 style. It ran like a tank on air. It had plenty of pickup and when the turbocharger kicked in, it was fast. Got good fuel mileage, too. It is fairly safe for a vehicle without the most advanced safety equipment. It weighs a couple tons and hugged the road like a sports car.
I love challenges and am motivated big time to try to beat the system through my own efforts and ingenuity. That’s probably why I live in abject poverty.
I also have a 2004 Solara with the 3.3L V6 and it is the nicest car I’ve ever driven.
No need to exaggerate
I worked at a Benz dealer for many years, and I’m familiar with your vehicle, and your engine
“Got good fuel mileage”
It was respectable, but not great
“it was fast”
That’s relative. Fast, compared to a naturally aspirated 190D, perhaps
“hugged the road like a sports car.”
Ha ha . . . that’s about the last thing I would accuse the car of
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have anything against your car, but let’s just be realistic about what it is. I can tell you’re fond of it, but don’t lose sight of reality
“doing as much work as I can”
Once it’s running, you should do as much of the overdue maintenance as you can. Buy a repair manual, and you’ll be amazed at what you’re capable of
I already told you, there is no reason to go to a Benz diesel specialist, just to get it started again
But once it is running again, it might not be a bad idea
"I presume what you are asking is what’s all to be expected should you decide to go forward. I suggest you secure a copy of several issues of magazines devoted to this field of endeavor. “Practical Classics” is a good source. “Classics” monthly, another.
What you’ll find is that a typical restore goes on for quite some time. It isn’t uncommon to see a restore reported in one of the magazines that started in the early 1980’s and just now finished. Of course it doesn’t have to take that long. There was another report of a fellow who wanted to restore his Jag, so he took it to a place that specializes in Jag restorations. The first thing the shop did was a thorough inspection, and a report that listed everything that needs to be done to bring it back to showrooms condition. The list was pretty long, 230 items I think. And the fee to do it all, well, you don’t want to know. So he decided to just have them do a subset of those items, and live with a car that was drivable, but not in showroom condition.
That’s the thing. You need someone who does this to do an inspection at their shop, and present you with the list of things needed to be done. Until you get to that point, deciding what to do next is pretty much a guessing game."
Excellent. Thanks GeorgeSanJose
I realize now, thanks to the input from you guys, if she will run again for a few hundred bucks, that will be great and I’ll go from there. I have time, just no money, so if it takes forever to complete the restoration, that is fine.
"Is this the one with 125 hp, 185 ft-lb, and 0-60 in 14.4 sec? Yeah, it’s a keeper.
I drove a 1985 version and kept pushing on the throttle wondering when the car would realize I wanted it to go."
I beg your pardon. MINE has 120 hp and it takes a week or two before accelerating.
If the car is just sitting around in the yard, field, or driveway then doing nothing just keeps it sitting there deteriorating. I’d not worry about a full restoration at this point. But, I would get the car running, roadworthy, and registered so you can drive it. That will keep it from deteriorating further. You can do a lot of the cleaning yourself so it can look decent. It might not be car show ready but a least you can enjoy it.
Drain the old diesel fuel in the tank. Get a new battery. Change the oil, transmission, brake fluid, differential fluid, and coolant. Then see if it will crank over and even start if you are lucky. Then trouble shoot as needed to get it running properly. Then test the brakes, if they function OK put fresh new tires on it and drive it for awhile. Expect more minor repairs as you put on some miles. I’d recommend replacing all the brake lines, metal and rubber sections both, within 3-6 months of getting it back on the road.
In a few years if all goes well you can start on a full restoration if you feel so inclined and have the money to do it.
I think OP’s fuel tank even has a drain plug . . .
Of course, I would also change the fuel filters and prime the heck out of the system before attempting to start it. I’m fairly sure there is a hand priming pump, at the fuel pump. If you don’t prime, you WILL have problems starting. Even on a car that hasn’t been sitting
"I think OP’s fuel tank even has a drain plug . . .
Of course, I would also change the fuel filters and prime the heck out of the system before attempting to start it. I’m fairly sure there is a hand priming pump, at the fuel pump. If you don’t prime, you WILL have problems starting. Even on a car that hasn’t been sitting"
Great advice and information. Thanks. I feel encouraged after hearing from you guys. Now, if I can just find somebody in the vicinity I can trust to touch base with as I troubleshoot to get it started. I can drain the fuel, change filters, drop in a new battery, and you are right; I’d forgotten, there is a hand priming pump. The glow plugs went bad occasionally, so I’m expecting they will need to be replaced. I can research how to test them and install new ones.
A little off topic but what the heck. When I was about 10 I was at the Shell station and a guy was there from New York with his Mercedes Diesel. He was saying that he drove all the way from New York to Minnesota for $3.50 in fuel. Now $3.50 then was a little more than now but still I thought man, I’ve got to have one of those. You could drive all over the country for little or nothing. I never did the math but he must have gotten upwards of 30 mpg and maybe diesel then was about 10 cents if gas was 19. I guess he was a salesman so maybe he puffed a little but at any rate I was impressed.
If you love the car restore it for your enjoyment, If you are looking for a feasible cost/benefit gain you might as well give up now.
I have no interest in old diesels - smokey, noisy, and slow.And I'm the exact opposite way.
An OLD diesel: mechanical injection, dead simple, good for a half-million miles, run on (almost) everything–a true “zombie apocalypse worthy” piece of machinery. A modern diesel has none of those advantages; at which point I say “why bother?” If you’re buying an oil-burner for 0-60 times, you’re missing the point.
The thought of pulling a 4BT out of a Frito-Lay truck, putting it in my F150 and acquiring a reliable waste-oil “hookup” makes me smile. The thought of buying my mom’s X5 diesel 10 years from now…a nice ride, but the engine is pretty irrelevant to the equation.
That car you saw was probably a lot smaller than OP’s 300SD
And the guy was probably being just a tad untruthful about his fuel economy
Most people I know . . . including some of my colleagues, actually . . . don’t have the slightest clue how to accurately calculate their car’s fuel economy
They always tell fanciful stories about how economical they are
Then I take one look at them, their cars, think about their driving style, and just smile
The ones that brag about fuel economy are usually the ones with big vehicles that like to lay rubber and race from one red light to the next
Makes lots of sense, huh . . . ?! 
Yeah it would have been about 1958 or so and it was that sportier model or whatever they had back then. No seat belts either and that flat steering wheel was a killer if you hit anything.