1990 Mercedes-Benz

-

5 Cylinder Turbo Diesel

Automatic

WDBEB28D2LB204986

Diesel

Power Windows

Here is an excellent winter project for the diesel lover in you. This car runs and drives, but needs some TLC to fix it up right. I bought this car on ebay on 10/15/10 to fix it up myself, but my wife took one look at it and told me otherwise.... basically the "it's me or the car" scenario.... So my loss is your gain! This car has a Michigan salvage title (I haven't even been to DMV with it) from the guy I just bought it from; "suntraider". All the seller info is filled out and signed, ready for you to fill in the buyer portion (still blank) and take to your friendly local DMV. This car idles a little rough, smokes a little (I'm thinking possibly an injector issue), is obviously not new; it has some dents, dings, damage and a little rust, but it has POTENTIAL! As a testament to that, suntraider drove the car himself from Detroit to Reno, by himself, to deliver it to me. Now folks, you may call that crazy, but I call it confidence. According to suntraider, the car made the trip with no problems, and got better than 30 MPG on average. I really haven't had time to do much with it, as I've been working on my 240D most recently. So I'm just going to copy and paste over his description from where I bought it less than (as I'm writing this) 2 weeks ago. I think his description is pretty thorough, and he obviously knew far more about the car than I do, both from his communication with the previous owner and from his own experience in tinkering with the car. I doubt much has changed since then, not that I'd really be able to tell, anyway. I am also using exactly the same pictures he did. Here's his description: PROS: replaced air filter, pre-fuel filter, fuel filter, intake manifold gasket, turbo to intake manifold gasket, egr gasket. serpentine belt. drivers-side seat switch. put back the engine vacuum system in it's proper order. adjusted the ALDA for fuel economy. did a diesel purge. fairly clean car with no cracks on the interior dash. minor rust which doesn't affect the vehicles abilities. previous owner replaced the cluster which says 270000, but had about 230000. engine runs smooth when reached operating temp. and constant speed in the highway. new drive shaft support bearing and bushing. new left rear cv joint rubber inner/outer and grease packing. has an alpine CD stereo with detachable front. Please check videos on youtube. CONS: smokes on idle, but it isn't oil because it remains at its proper level. nor is it antifreeze, reservior remains at its proper level. engine runs rough on idle, but has been running a bit smoother with fuel additive from auto shop. possibly unburnt fuel due to the ALDA adjustment. had difficulty removing the fuel injectors to clean the nozzles so instead i did a diesel purge. didn't remove the injectors so the first injector has liquid metal put around it on where the plastic around the fuel injector was. can be easily chiseled and with the proper tools the injector removed. the last aluminum fuel line connector to steel fuel injector was fractured so it was tightened down and clamped. generally, no leak in the fuel system. AC and cruise control are inop. Please check videos on youtube. Title is clean and no liens but is rebuilt/salvage because the cluster exchanged for an operating one with temperature, fuel, speedometer, oil pressure and tachometer operational. As well as being rebuilt numerous times from previous owners. This is a 1990 Mercedes 300-Series which had numerous recalls while doing a google search. As an owner, don't have any problems. Mercedes are the first in diesel. Comes with still in box or plastic bag, turbo to intake manifold gasket, pre-fuel filter and primary fuel filter, and oil filter. Brand new floor mats front and passenger (not shown). Headlights,interior lights, turn signals, and running lights operate. When cluster from another vehicle was installed the lights were not connected so there are no lights in the interior at night (anyone can easily install blue lights to shine on cluster plugged in at lighter bought at Walgreens or find the connection and connect to battery). Fog lights do not operate. Has a engine block heater installed to connect to a 120V AC plug fronm previous owner. Doesn't have an ashtray and vehicle was smoked in from past owner. note: the Mercedes was tweaked by previous owner to be more of a performance vehicle removing the EGR, changing the vacuum hoses so the computer(ECM) would read the right signals from valves, and ALDA on fuel pump. the antenna is there, but doesn't operate. some connections are there that relate to a sound amplifier and speakers connected to the after market Alpine stereo. again, by previous owner as well as the rear tinted windows and tinted rear light lens. Currently all the power windows front and rear functions. However, for some reason the rear windows may switch. One side may operate while the other side may not. Now, maybe vacuum pressure adequate all seems fine. The power locks and moon roof good. Also, passenger rear view mirror good. This vehicle is 20 years old and doesn't show too much rust and as mentioned does have a 12V AC heater so during the cold seasons must have been parked where an AC power source can be plugged. Vehicle is currently in an indoor storage (have an older 1984 Mercedes that I use and can only have one vehicle parked at apartment complex) and just ran it from a cold start after about 2 weeks started great. Will also change pre-fuel filter and fuel filter again (filtration in a 1990 for biodiesel is not as good as a 1984 Mercedes 300D) and also change oil and oil filter for anticipated long duration operation. Purchased a brand new battery. Installed a rebuilt starter. New wire connecting starter to battery positive. New wire connecting starter solenoid to ECM. New wire connecting crankshaft and camshaft sensors to ECM. Installed appropriate fuses in box. Glowplugs indicator lights up and again started car after 2 weeks in storage. Starts up with no problems. Braking is fine and all tire treads are fine and equal tread wear. He posted several informative videos of his time with the car on youtube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZlcDc2YSa0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnQYcCUQ32k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvc8al--ueg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4M-hUcxlf4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJoCzdpkLiM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvzYg6cn_d8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aTeM5W-ymI Again, I believe this car has a lot of potential. I think the body work is well within the capability of an experienced hobby mechanic (if your wife or significant other is agreeable), as well as the engine work, and the rest appears to be a matter of replacing parts like the exhaust and cleaning it up. Or just use it as a parts car, it's totally up to you. You, the winning bidder, will be solely responsible for pick up or transport. The car is in Fernley, Nevada (near Reno). Possession of the car and title will be given to you only after payment is received in full.