Project 1987 Mercedes 300TDT - Part 2: Where do we stand?

One of the first things that needed to be done, was to figure out what condition the vehicle was truly in, and what kind of maintenance had been carried out on it by the previous owners. And while I've researched this car pretty heavily, and spent a lot of time reading on the forums to know what to look for, there is really nothing better than having someone take a look at it who has worked on these cars their whole professional life.

Turns out there is an independent Merc mechanic in Easton that fits the bill...lucky me. I took the car in to have it looked over and assessed (something that really should have been done before I purchased it). Turns out that God was definitely taking care of me on this transaction... not that I'm not really surprised by that! Who was pretty surprised was my mechanic regarding the condition of the car. He kept saying while he was looking it over "Now typically this part is worn out by now......oh, it looks like it was recently replaced with a factory part" or "This is a place notorious for leaks........Wow, I've never seen one that didn't have oil there!". Needless to say I was pretty happy when after our first meeting he tells me that I've got the nicest one of this model he's ever seen



At 198K miles its important to stay on top of routine maintenance. Usually you would start by by checking the service records for things like fluid changes, and scheduled maintenance to see what was needed. However none of those records came with the vehicle, so we had to establish a new baseline. Essentially we had to change all the fluids and do some proper preventative maintenance and document it.

1. Oil Change/Oil Filter
2. Automatic Transmission Fluid change/ATF Filter change (pan off)
3. Rear Differential Fluid change
4. Coolant change/system flush
5. Brake Fluid change/brake system flush
6. Power Steering Fluid change/Power Steering Filter
7. Both Fuel Filters including pre-filter
8. Timing belt inspection/cleaning

Changing the Oil Filter (canister type)


Draining the old oil (filter must come off first to open system)


Removing old Power Steering filter


New Power Steering Filter labeled and in place


Searching for the drain-plug on the Transmission


Drainging the Transmission Fluid


The Transmission pan removed showing the Filter assembly prior to replacement


Draining the rear differential


View from atop the lift while bleeding the breaklines


My mechanic also lets out some floor space to a guy who races vintage imports




Now that I have a pretty good feel for where we are I can start on some of the projecty stuff that I've got in the works; namely the cruise control, and the window/door projects. Stay tuned for more.