1968 Mercedes-Benz 200-Series

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Diesel

Here is a really solid 1968 Mercedes Benz 220D. I hate to get rid of this car, especially when fuel prices continue to rise, but I have bills to pay so it's time to let it go. A lot of money was invested in order to restore it, and it is already most of the way there. The owner passed away, and I purchased it from the owner's sister. She was told that her brother purchased a new engine and injection pump for it and soon after it was installed, he stopped driving it. When I bought it, I was told that the car had been sitting a while, but the engine had less than 2,000 miles on it. It was started up on a regular basis, just not driven very often. Besides the new engine and injection pump, it also has a new starter, driveline support, and a number of other new parts, but I don’t remember what they are. I don’t have the receipts for these parts, but I do have the manual that came with the new engine (dated 1996 from EIS engines in Portland), and it explains how to break it in, maintain it, etc.. The man who had the work done passed away before I bought the car from his sister and it seems the paperwork was lost in the shuffle. The odometer says 69,177 miles, but does start over after reaching 99,999 miles. Besides, I was told that he replaced the instrument console with another one at one time, so I’m ot sure how many miles are on the body and transmission. As you can see, the interior, engine compartment, and body look very nice for a car this age. The body is really straight. The only area of concern that I could find is a small primered area on the passenger's side on the rear quarter panel just behind the wheel well where there is a small rusty area, as you can see in the photo. A very small area in this primered section has a rust bubble, but it is not rusted through and is an easy fix for painting. Everything else on the car looks solid, and I couldn't find any rust anywhere else. The underside of the car still has its original sound deadener and is also in good shape. The steering is really tight, feels like it may have had some of the steering components replaced recently. The transmission also feels solid. An electric cooling fan was installed in place of the regular cooling fan. I was told that it was installed to give the car more hp because it takes less energy to run the electric fan than the belt driven one. It is operated by a manual switch just under the dash, but the engine runs cools enough that I have only needed to use it when going slowly up steep hills. One of the tires on the front is worn, but has tread on it and is still usable, the other front tire has a lot of tread left and is in pretty good shape, and the two on the back have lots of tread on them and I was told although they are older tires they have very low miles on them, under a few thousand miles. It does have two problems that need attention. The first one is the rear end that does have a whine. It has plenty of gear lube in it, but does make noise. I have been driving it like this, and it isn't getting any worse so I imagine it is just worn and will go quite a few more miles, but it should be fixed or replaced. It isn’t a loud, grinding sound or anything like that, it just sounds worn out. (I think someone probably ran it with low oil at some point, I don't know.) I’ve gotten used to it, and don’t really notice it much anymore, but again, it should be fixed and was next on the restoration list. The other problem is that it is a cold starter. You have to give it a shot of starting fluid to get it going. I understand this can be hard on an engine with glow plugs, so I just give it a very quick, small squirt of fluid into the air cleaner inlet and turn the engine over without using the glow plugs and it starts right up. Once it is running and warmed up, you can go shopping in town or wherever and as long as you don’t spend too many hours in a store letting it cool down, it will start up just fine. If it is a little hesitant from sitting a while, but isn’t cold, you can turn on the glow plugs for a bit, and it will fire right up. I don’t like using starting fluid, so I haven’t driven it much since I bought it and was planning on fixing the problem soon. I guess the new owner can take care of it. It does smoke some when you go up hills or accelerate sometimes, and this could somehow be related to the starting problem, I don’t know. As I use it, it seems to be doing better and smoking less, so maybe it’s just from sitting and will clear up, or maybe it needs new injectors or a timing adjustment, I don’t know. I noticed once when I had it full of passengers and groceries from a trip into town the tire would rub on something when I took sharp corners at high speeds. I later took a look under the car and couldn't see where the tire was rubbing, but when I took the wheel off I did notice that the dust cover ( or whatever you would call it ) near the disk brake unit was very close to the brake disk so I think it might torque it just enough to rub once in a while. I also noticed that little bars that are part of the rear suspension are missing. The car sits level like it should and handles great so I don't think it is much of a problem, but this could be the reason that something touches on hard corners with a load of cargo. They are just little metal bars and I think one of them is in a box of parts I have for it, I will have to go take a look. I imagine you could fiind them on the net, or perhaps at a wrecking yard or the Mercedes dealer. I also has a couple of small chips in the window that I didn't really notice until my wife pointed them out, no big deal. I oiled the door hinges etc.. so they work really well and it shuts solid, but the windows are stiff from sitting. They do roll up and down, but the mechanisms should be lubricated. I grab the window and help it up while I roll it up with the other hand. Anyway, that's about all I know about the car, if I think of anything else I will put it in the auction. If you have any questions just ask, and yes, it does have a clear title in my name. If you are looking for a really solid classic Mercedes diesel that gets good mileage, is heavy, well built, will last for many years, and actually appreciates in value, this may be just the car for you! Plus, other than the rear end, the important components are either very solid and in good shape, or have been replaced (like the engine and the starter). This is a great classic that is not far from being restored back to tip top shape. I will need a $200 deposit within 48 hours after the auctions closes and the car must be paid for and picked up within 30 days after the auction closes. Thanks for viewing this auction! On Jun-08-11 at 20:00:15 PDT, seller added the following information: Use the FREE Counters 1 million sellers do - Vendio! On Jun-08-11 at 20:07:29 PDT, seller added the following information: Get more for your items with eBay Market Research.On Jun-08-11 at 20:08:44 PDT, seller added the following information: Get more for your items with eBay Market Research.On Jun-12-11 at 23:10:29 PDT, seller added the following information: Get more for your items with eBay Market Research.